Pox Parties: Not as fun as they sound.

I'm sure your kid appreciates waiting until after his third birthday to expose him to chickenpox. "You're welcome, kid."

I'm a part of a pro-vaccine group on Facebook (probably to no one's surprise), and there have been a number of posts regarding so-called "pox parties" in different metro areas. These Facebook groups tend to have up to 200 members each and are, I would assume, comprised of parents who have decided not to vaccinate their kids against chickenpox (and likely other diseases) in favor of providing "natural" immunity via exposure. Can't attend a pox party? Simply ask to be sent a lollipop with the infected child's saliva on it!

First, gross. Just... really fucking nasty.

Second, if it smacks of a form of biological warfare, that's because it kind of is. After all, it's a federal offense to mail an infectious biological substance through the mail if it doesn't meet certain qualifications (and I can guarantee that sending a spitty, pox-laden lollipop does not qualify). But it doesn't seem like any of these parents truly give a shit.

Third, and probably most importantly, this is dangerous. Forget legality, or disgustingness, or any other appropriate angry knee-jerk reaction to these idiots. We're talking about people who are deliberately infecting a population with an incredibly contagious disease that has real-life complications, including but not limited to encephalitis, pneumonia, and skin infections (including necrotizing fasciitis, which is when your skin is eaten away by bacteria). Not to mention the higher likelihood of getting shingles as an adult.

It's not only limited to chickenpox, either. There are groups and individuals asking for more dangerous pathogens such as measles, mumps, rubella, and other vaccine-preventable illnesses. Don't believe me?

See for yourself.

And...

Oh, and that big ol "Report Group" button? Doesn't do anything. FB NO CURR about spreading infectious diseases, just taking breastfeeding boobs off their site. PRIORITIES.

I've already had my rant about how parents not vaccinating their kids is leading to a rise in measles and other such non-vaxxing bullshit, so I want to focus on chickenpox for a moment.

While it's considered a rather "harmless" childhood disease, the fact is that it can still lead to some pretty nasty complications. In fact, before vaccines against varicella were available, about one in 400 kids who caught the chickenpox landed in the hospital. Fortunately, the vaccine prevents these complications; within six years of its release, we actually saw a 75% drop in hospitalizations as a result of complications from chickenpox.

And if your kid receives the first dose between 12 and 15 months? Their likelihood of catching the infection drops, with an immunity rate between 80 and 94% compared to non-vaccinated kids. After the second dose between ages four and six, they're 98% protected.

There's evidence to suggest that getting the vaccine can stave off shingles, too. Chickenpox is a herpes virus that can remain dormant inside your cells after an initial infection until something causes it to flare up again, and the risk of it developing into shingles increases as you age. My father-in-law had shingles (on his face!), and that shit is no joke. There's a reason why people are sometimes put on suicide watch when afflicted with severe cases: The disease causes terrible, long-lasting pain.

In a 14-year-long study, vaccinating against varicella has shown to drop your chances of getting shingles by 39% compared to being unvaccinated. While it's uncertain whether these effects last into old age when you're most likely to have such a flare-up, though, is undetermined, as most of the varicella vaccine recipients have not yet reached middle age. Still, the chances are relatively good.

But of course, natural immunity must be better, right? I mean, compare the risks you have with the vaccine -- you have a one in 2,000 chance of suffering a (likely minor) side effect! That's nuts, why would I subject my kid to that! I would much rather him have a one in 400 chance of landing in a hospital at a pox party, and... uh... well, at least my kid will have a lot of friends to stick with him at the hospital.

In short, not vaccinating your kid is incredibly short-sighted, but these pox (and other communicable disease) parties are FUCKING STUPID. By doing this, you are intentionally introducing into a pocket of society a disease that, if herd immunity is able to do its thing and we have a rate of immunity via vaccinations of at least 85%, could be eradicated. It's incredibly selfish and maligned.

It will be YOU who brings back an epidemic, YOU who puts your child and the community at risk, and YOU who perpetuates a disease that can -- and will! -- kill people. All for the sake of your... gods, I don't even know. The hell are you thinking.

#micdrop

Father's Day celebrations and my love for Tula

For Father's Day last weekend, at Matt's request, we went to Harper's Ferry for a short hike and to explore the town. We had a lot of fun, and even though we didn't take the actual hiking trail (I mean, that shit was FOUR MILES, we would have died! #outofshape), we really enjoyed the old shops and the historical train station.

While there, I got to try out my new babycarrying love: A standard Tula. I had heard about them from other babywearing mamas, but I've stuck with my Beco Gemini for as long as I possibly could have. Tycho was quickly outgrowing it, though -- it really is suited for smaller babies -- so I had to buck up and get another, larger carrier.

Thankfully, just as I was on the serious hunt for one, Tula came out with a foxes print! They're only available in Europe (and if they ever come out in the US, I'm going to kick myself), so I paid the extra expense for shipping and received my very first Tula a week later.

And let me tell you, people... there's a reason why it's called Tula Love. Because LOVE. It's supportive, lightweight, easy on the back and hips, and generally made Tycho feel weightless... and considering his recent growth spurt, this kid ain't a lightweight anymore. It hugged his body perfectly, helped him feel super comfortable, and didn't bother him in the slightest even considering he was carried in it for at least two hours. I'd say it was a win all around.

Overall, we had a fantastic time, and I enjoyed breaking in our new carrier. We'll have to head out there again when we're not so terribly #outofshape. ;)

Handsome hubby and darling son. :)

Please note the post-baby pudge, which is still there over a year later. YAY.

#datass

Family photo! ♥

Our "little" boy ain't so little anymore!

Nenes at the train station. :)

The deed is done! Short and sassy.

I'll admit that I was a bit terrified as I walked into the salon, armed with Pinterest ideas and a resolve that could not be broken. I was going to accomplish this, dammit!

But that didn't stop the butterflies from fluttering up as my all-time favorite Deva stylist, Patrik, guided me to his chair and asked if we were going back to the asymmetrical cut I had before (which he gave me and I LOVED). I told him that, no, I planned on going short. Like, SHORT. And I showed him photos, saying that he should only do it if he thought it would look good.

He took one look at my face, his eyes bright, and said, "Oh yeah, this'll be great."

And he put his magic touch to the test.

I couldn't be happier!! It's light, airy, a bit edgy, and very, very short.

I admit that I was terrified as I watched the curly tendrils fall to the floor as he snipped away, but he took away most of the apprehension by starting right down the middle and doing a very drastic chop. No turning back at that point!

In the end, I'm incredibly glad that I did this. And thank you all for your confidence in helping me choose and stick with such a short style. :)

| Mixed Elements - Patrik Simpson |

Snip snip, hack hack. Time to cut these curlies back!

I’ve reached my breaking point with these long(-to-me) curly locks that I’ve grown out for the past few months. The heat index is climbing into the 100s, the humidity is picking up, and it’s pool season, which is fantastic for curly hair, let me tell you.

In other words, my hair has recently been nothing but a frizzed-up mess pulled up into a ponytail strictly for the sake of convenience.

My "style" as of late. Sexy, non?

It’s time to go. Why bother having it if you're not enjoying it.

But when it comes to haircuts, especially for curly mops of hair... how low (erm, short) can you go?

I’ve been hemming and hawing over it for weeks now. I’ve always wanted the freedom of super short hair, seconds to wash and fewer to style. I’ve been looking up photos, reading reviews, scoping NaturallyCurly.com for other women who feel the same: That long hair is nice and all, but it ain’t all it’s cracked up to be!

The problem is finding photos of incredibly short, curly hair and trying to imagine how you’d look with it. The best I have are photos from when I was really young and my parents kept my curls short for the sake of convenience; it was cute, but they didn’t have a curly-hair maintenance regimen like the one I’ve perfected over the years. So it ended up mostly a frizzy, if adorable, halo of unkempt curls.

But it's totally adorable when you're, like... three.

(My sister, on the right, has incredible waves now, and can go from straight to curly with the help of but one haircare instrument. Why couldn’t I have that!!)

Or worse, seeing you try to pull it off as a teenager, with the same lack of haircare knowledge:

Oh. Oh god.

Ain’t nobody gotta see that. Yikes. This is more "fluffy helmet" than "short and chic".

I’ve faced facts, though. As much as I love long, flowing tendrils of curly hair, I don’t have the body, time, or patience to deal with all of it. So rather than torture myself with this hair that I can’t control (see above note about the ponytail), I’ve decided I’m going to take a chance.

That, and I have in my arsenal a kickass hairstylist (who managed to give me my favorite haircut ever) and styling products that are strong enough to tame the beast while still smelling sweet. So in short (ha!), I feel better equipped this time around to get, style, and maintain a kickass short hairstyle.

I’ve got an appointment this weekend to take it all off. Hopefully, I’ll end up with something like this:

... instead of what I once had, an I’m-essentially-an-honorary-Jew-check-out-this-Jewfro.

(And yes, I realize they’re all ethnic. You know how hard it is to find a white chick with super short curly hair?! Impossible! And shit like this doesn't count. So work with me, here.)

I’ll have an update for y’all when I come back from the salon on Saturday. Hopefully it’ll look as awesome on my head as it seems in it. ;)

DADDY IS THE BEST!

Right now, it's all about mommy. Crying? Mommy. Need a change? Mommy. Want a snuggle? Mommy. I fell on my butt and I can't tell yet if it hurts?

You guessed it.

One day that'll change dramatically, and I think part of my heart may rip out (then dance down the street, celebrating its newfound freedom, lol). When it does, I will fondly remember this infographic...

Happy Father's Day, y'all. ;)

Diaper Junction giveaway: Armadillo, BG's newest arrival!

So one of my favorite places to shop for diapers, Diaper Junction, is giving away a new bumGenius Armadillo cloth diaper! I'm stoked about this -- I have yet to get the color myself as it's still processing, but I'm anxiously awaiting the new addition to their line of solid diapers. It looks goregous, right?!

Want to get in on it? Click the image below to enter the giveaway, letting them know in the comments whether you've seen an armadillo in real life. If not, what other strange creature have you seen?

This giveaway is open to the US and Canada until tonight at 9pm EST. Commenting is the only required method of entry. :) Good luck!!

Your unvaccinated kid can't play with my vaccinated kid.

I’ve heard the argument time and time again from parents who choose not to vaccinate their children: “If your child is vaccinated, why are you worried about him catching anything from my unvaccinated child?”

To most people, this would be a pretty compelling argument. After all, my kid is protected, so who gives a lick about your kid. Neither is a threat to the other, right?

What many parents don’t understand (or flat-out deny) is that, while vaccinations are highly effective and greatly decrease the chance of contracting preventable diseases, no vaccine is 100% effective. The CDC reports that “most routine childhood vaccines are effective for 85% to 95% of recipients. For reasons related to the individual, some will not develop immunity.”

Therefore, during an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease, those unvaccinated children can and do increase the risk of disease for everyone that may have been exposed, even if the people who have been vaccinated greatly outnumber those who have not. While a small portion of the vaccinated population may be affected, this does NOT prove that vaccines are ineffective.

To gain a greater understanding, we have to look at the percentages involved. A great example of this has been provided by the CDC:

In a high school of 1,000 students, none has ever had measles. All but 5 of the students have had two doses of measles vaccine, and so are fully immunized. The entire student body is exposed to measles, and every susceptible student becomes infected. The 5 unvaccinated students will be infected, of course. But of the 995 who have been vaccinated, we would expect several not to respond to the vaccine. The efficacy rate for two doses of measles vaccine can be higher than 99%. In this class, 7 students do not respond, and they, too, become infected. Therefore 7 of 12, or about 58%, of the cases occur in students who have been fully vaccinated. 

As you can see, this doesn't prove the vaccine didn't work - only that most of the children in the class had been vaccinated, so those who were vaccinated and did not respond outnumbered those who had not been vaccinated. Looking at it another way, 100% of the children who had not been vaccinated got measles, compared with less than 1% of those who had been vaccinated. Measles vaccine protected most of the class; if nobody in the class had been vaccinated, there would probably have been 1,000 cases of measles.

I for one am grateful to be able to give my son the possibility for immunity against communicable diseases such as, but certainly not limited to, measles. Considering the example above, though, and what’s going on in our community today (one small example is a recent outbreak of pertussis in Virginia, which is scarily close to where we live in Maryland), I am scared shitless for my son and, thinking about it on a grander scale (some might call it a socialist mindset!), for others’ children.

After all, it’s the unvaccinated crowd that has reintroduced and continue to introduce the disease into our communities. The many examples going around recently serve to answer why a vaccinated person may be concerned about contracting a disease from the relatively small – but continually growing – unvaccinated sect of the population.

As much as anti-vaccinators want to deny it, it’s herd immunity that has allowed them the privilege to choose whether or not to vaccinate their children. After all, if enough people are vaccinated, then I don’t have to worry about my kid, right? Right!

... wrong. Considering how rapidly the number of anti-vaccinating parents is growing, I imagine we’ll soon fall below the recommended threshold of 85% of the population being vaccinated to guarantee herd immunity. And that could come with some very scary results.

I recently came across an interesting simulation that shows just how herd immunity works. I really encourage you to try it, if only because it’s an interesting show of how statistics work. You can see how, sure, some of the vaccinated population will be affected by a disease, but for the most part, so long as it remains over 85%, the rate at which the disease catches on is actually quite low. (To try, you’ll need to enter “0.85” for “immunization rate” on both the right and left.)

When putting in a lower vaccination rate (say, 0.8 or lower), the disease spreads more rampantly, guaranteed to affect all of the anti-vaccinators while taking some vaccinators along with it, considering the 5-15% margin of error for vaccine effectiveness.

This is unacceptable. As it stands, in the modern first world, measles itself has a mortality rate of 1 to 3 deaths per 1000 cases, depending on the country and the study. There is no study that says anything lower than 1:1000. And if we were to get down to the actual reason why we should be concerned about herd immunity, it’s meant to protect those who literally cannot have vaccines, such as the immunocompromised or babies too young to be vaccinated.

Herd immunity is NOT meant to protect those children whose parents decide, based on false “science” and other woo, that vaccines are so dangerous that having them is worse than contracting an otherwise preventable disease.

As for the vaccines being dangerous, the numbers speak for themselves, especially when compared to the dangers of the infectious diseases they prevent:

DISEASE 

Measles 

Pneumonia: 6 in 100
Encephalitis: 1 in 1,000
Death: 2 in 1,000 

Rubella 

Congenital Rubella Syndrome: 1 in 4 (if woman becomes infected early in pregnancy) 

VACCINES 

MMR 

Encephalitis or severe allergic reaction: 1 in 1,000,000 

DISEASE 

Diphtheria 

Death: 1 in 20 

Tetanus 

Death: 2 in 10 

Pertussis 

Pneumonia: 1 in 8
Encephalitis: 1 in 20
Death: 1 in 1,500 

VACCINES 

DTaP 

Continuous crying, then full recovery: 1 in 1000
Convulsions or shock, then full recovery: 1 in 14,000
Acute encephalopathy: 0-10.5 in 1,000,000
Death: None proven

To clarify, this post is not meant to change anyone’s mind on whether or not to vaccinate. I wish it was that easy, but for the most part, those parents who decide not to vaccinate will not change their minds, regardless of the facts, science, and evidence used to convince them otherwise, nor the way those facts are presented. Sobering, isn't it? So this is not a post of conviction.

Instead, this is a note to all those anti-vaccinating parents out there. Before we hang out with you, before I potentially expose my child to yours, I will ask whether your child is vaccinated. I will decide whether or not my child is safe around yours, considering your answer. And I will pull my child from the situation, regardless of where we are or who is with us, if you are an anti-vaccinator.

Because considering these numbers, and considering how many whackjob parents Tycho and I will inevitably come across where anti-vaccinators’ children are allowed to roam free (including but not limited to his daycare and school), I simply cannot take the risk.

Vaccine denial is dangerous. And I will never knowingly put my child in danger.