Daddy Blog 24/02/09

Daddy Blog from Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Since finding out we are pregnant, my mind has been racing a mile-a-minute about a million different things. Everything from how to be a super-supportive loving husband throughout the pregnancy, to researching home or hospital delivery and midwife or OB/GYN, to types of pre-natal classes and things like hypnobirthing and the effects of fetal ultrasounds. Are we going to vaccinate and what are the arguments either way? What do I need to do as a soon-to-be father? So many things. So I joined a bunch of forums, have been researching lots of the above, and reading the book I bought.

Two of the big things that have been consuming my research are home or hospital birthing, and vaccinations. We watched "The business of being born," which I coincidentally downloaded a few weeks before we even found out, just because I figured it was something important to know about for future reference. While being very one-sided, it opened my eyes to the whole process. Mama Bean and I would love to have a home birth with a midwife, but when we called the 4 midwifery places in town, they all had waiting lists. Hopefully since ours is so long away we'll get accepted.

Mama Bean had her first Dr. appt last Thursday with blood work and stuff and did a second pee test which confirmed everything. She's going for the big workup and exam and everything this Thursday.

To vaccinate or not has also been a big thing that I've been looking at. What suprised me the most when I first delved into the issues was how militant everyone is about the topic. And it is both sides, not just one or the other. They both think that they are 100% right and the other side is totally wrong, and not just wrong, but creating a health hazard, and blah blah blah. It'd be really nice to find a forum to discuss the pros and cons without WWIII starting. Mama Bean is starting on the non-vaccination side, and I'm sitting on the fence. I've heard great arguments for both sides. See I don't want my child to be another little hole in the fabric that is "herd immunity" that covers our society, yet I can't condone pumping all of that shit into a little baby whose immune system isn't even fully functioning yet.

I have been reading about alternate vaccine schedules, which I find quite intriguing. Along with separating the MMR vaccine into separate vaccines. So I will continue to do lots of research about this topic and talk to Mama Bean about it and she'll look into it as well so we can make an educated decision.

What really confuses me is that the debate over circumcision is this virulent crazy mess where people get so up in arms about it, yet the potential health risks don't come anywhere close to that of vaccinations. But circumcision is part of the past, questioning vaccinations is something new, and therefore wrong.

My life as a parent will be one of questions. I will not just accept the norm as best for my child, or my wife. And everything I learn I will discuss with my wife. It's a life I look forward to.