First Blog: With the Blinders On

I've recently discovered that for many, many years, I have been guilty of going through life with the blinders on. I have watched too much television. I have shopped mainly in the middle isles of the grocery store. I have taken medicine without questioning why. I have put far too much trust in others to tell me what is right and healthy. I have done this because mostly everyone else does this. Not any more.

I'd like to think that it was my college education that changed my way of thinking about such things, but that was merely the beginning. When I took a course called Drugs and Society and learned about the fact that drug companies are in control of the medicines we are prescribed, not our doctors, I was alarmed. Although I had mostly steered clear of any medicine that masked symptoms as opposed to solving problems, (like taking Tylenol for a headache instead of drinking water because the headache was most likely caused by dehydration) I became even more wary of the things that my doctor was "recommending" and why.
We had also discussed the way in which drug companies manufacture a drug and then create a condition to treat with it.

College simply justified what I had already begun speculating, that just because it's on television, or on a label, or even because a doctor says so, that doesn't mean that it's best.
It wasn't until my husband and I found out that we were going to become parents that I really began questioning the things that I had blindly done for my entire life.

Although I knew that eating healthier and weaning myself off of television were just a few simple ways of providing our child with a better environment than the norm for this society, it wasn't easy. Being pregnant and tired made me feel torn when I would walk into the kitchen and begin to choose between actually making something healthy or popping in something frozen that I had sneakily purchased when my husband wasn't with me.

We didn't always agree on everything at first. He was adamant about homeschooling our child, while I am a teachers' aide in a public school and felt offended by his opinion. After months of discussion, (luckily pregnancy lasts for 40 weeks instead of 4) we came to an agreement about schooling. Public school was just yet another way in which I had my blinders on and did what I and everyone else around me had done. Now I see that being able to teach our child to live a healthier and truer life from the beginning is the best gift that we could possibly give.

One thing that we effortlessly agree upon is to question vaccinations. Today, we had a prenatal consultation with a pediatrician. We didn't have many questions to ask other than where this person and the practice as a whole stand on vaccinations for infants. She was alarmed by the question. She told us that she was very pro-vaccine and then went on to list at least 5 vaccines that the baby "must" have. She rattled of names, which were mostly initials of names and what they are used for. I asked her if, when the time comes she would be willing to explain each one and what it is protecting the baby against, how long it has been around for and what are the risks/benefits. She answered me by saying that she would check to see if she could find some vaccine doses that were separate instead of in combination with others. In other words, the baby would need to have all of them and there wasn't anything to discuss. I told her that I had opted not to receive the flu or the h1n1 shots and she looked at me like I had just told her to go eff herself. It seemed as though she is used to people coming in with their brand new babies and letting her stick them with whatever she saw fit without the slightest bit of trepidation. She clearly wanted us to put our blinders back on.
Needless to say, we are going to be seeking a caregiver who is more open to discussion about what is best rather than expecting blind acceptance.

These are all just examples of ways in which I am making an attempt to keep my blinders off in this world. Part of me wants to move my family to a deserted mountainside and completely shut out the rest of the world. (I know that my husband would not be hard to persuade.) Unfortunately that is even more unhealthy and just another way of wearing blinders. Instead, I make an effort every day to stop and question why we do the things we do and if there is a healthier alternative.

Hopefully, this is the right place to gain support to do so.
Do you have your blinders on?