Chickenpox

Luke had some spots a few weeks ago that Grandma and I thought were surely the chickenpox but the Dr. said they more likely bug bites infected with impentigo. He even sent a "swab" off to the lab but it came back negative. HOWEVER, two weeks later Gemma developed the same type of spots covering her entire body! There was no doubting in this case. Then about a week after Gemma, baby Marshall developed a hand full of spots and is currently in the active phase of his virus. Gracie had one vaccination for chickenpox so we don't expect her to get it. Meanwhile we took Luke in for the IgG Antibody titer to see if perhaps he did in fact have the chickenpox a few weeks ago(we all think he must have). We are still awaiting that result to determine for sure if we are done, or if Luke is next!

As a family who chooses not to vaccinate, the chickenpox is an event met with mixed emotion. On one hand we are relieved to have the virus while the children are young and we'd rather have it in the summer when the kids don't have to miss any school. On the other hand, there is no convenient time to be quarantined. The week of 4th of July when cousins are in town would not have been our first choice.

The good news is that the infections have been a breeze. Gemma only had two restless nights and barely acted sick during the days and Marshall is maintaining his happy disposition, seeming hardly bothered.

Making the decision not to vaccinate our children was by far the most difficult decision we've faced as parents so far. We are so grateful to Dr. Sherri Tenpenny of Middleburg Heights, OH (Cleveland area) for her guidance and support. We thank her for her boundless energy and her tireless and courageous effort to encourage parents to make an informed decision about vaccination! Learn more about her work at http://www.sayingnotovaccines.com/.