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Karamea
18-12-08, 05:54 PM
Hi, I was told about this forum by 3monkeys/Paula.

My name is Anna and I live in Wellington, I'm 25.

I have a son, Kaitiaki, who is 2y10m old. He is unvaccinated. I also have a partner, who is 25.

My son was an accidental conception. I had only met his father a few weeks prior. I would not have considered myself 'altnerative' at this point. However I managed a drug-free water birth (in hospital) at 42w1d. I would not be induced and despite an odd presentation I would not be induced and I would not get out of the pool. My midwife was not 'alternative' either but she trusted my body and I trusted her. My son was born perfect.

As a baby he had severe reflux, vomiting, diarrohea, eczema 24 hours a day. My GP sent me away with a steriod cream (and no other solution), but not before insisting on vax'ing... my gut said "no" (even though my father is a snr paedatric nurse and very pro-vaxing and we were all vax'd as kids)... I went away and researched and research via books, magazines, non-vaxing friends, internet forums and internet searches.

As a result I completely overhauled my way of thinking, my whole entire life. I was breastfeeding and eliminated all gluten, dairy, nuts, eggs, and sythethic chemicals from my diet... within a few months all my son's 'allergy' symptoms had 100% disappeared. I have exclusively used herbal medicine and homeopathy for minor ailments for my family. All the commercial cleaners, shampoos, disposable products (e.g. nappies, tampons) and cosmetics were thrown in the rubbish bin. I started shopping at the local organic store and getting organic vege boxes, and growing our own veges, herbs and fruit trees. We moved from the town to the country (beach) where my partner is from (on to family Maori-owned land), where we used a tank water system and bathed in the creek instead of having showers. To date my son has never had antibiotics, any pharmaceutical medicine (some Pamol before I knew better), and eventually I breastfed him til he was two and a half.

My life and my outlook has changed dramatically over the last three years. One thing I believe staunchly now is the inadequacy of the 'medical model' (the conventional medical system) to treat causes; I have also had my eyes opened to the 'realities' of pharmaceutical drugs. Through many different sources I have strengthed my belief in NOT vaccinating my family (many thanks to Hilary Butler's two books, fascinating, passionate, thought-provoking!)

I now live in Wellington. My partner and son still live at our beach house. My partner, after working as a labourer (he is clincally blind) to support my choice to be a stay-at-home-mum and breastfeed, is now a stay-at-home Dad whilst I further myself as the main income-earner and complete my Bachelor of Arts in Education & Maori Studies through Massey extramurally. My son plays in the dirt, swims in the sea, bathes in the creek and runs through the cornfields. I work full-time at Victoria University. Life has many twists and turns.

I look forward to meeting you all and getting to know you.

Special thanks to those who have set up these forums.

3monkeys
18-12-08, 05:58 PM
Yay Anna, awesome to see you.

Seaweed
18-12-08, 06:16 PM
Hi Anna. Pleased to meet you :D

Serephina
18-12-08, 06:22 PM
Welcome Anna, great to have you on board :)

Momtezuma Tuatara
18-12-08, 06:23 PM
Awesome intro Anna. So that's who you are. :D

Do you get to go home in the weekend?

Karamea
18-12-08, 06:43 PM
Hi Seraphina, and Hilary. Thanks for the welcome.

Yes, I do go home often... every 2nd weekend, sometimes more often, as much as I can (it's a 5-hour trip each way). The NakedBus company (www.nakedbus.com) releases it's tickets online every few months, if I keep an eye on it and book all my tickets the day they come online, I get them for $1 each... keeps costs down, as we have a lot of debt to pay off - debt we incurred to cover our day-to-day expenses whilst I wasn't working trying to get my son's health under control.

:)

Momtezuma Tuatara
18-12-08, 06:48 PM
Awesome. Now I need to hit the sack before it hits me. :coffee:

Wonder-Full
18-12-08, 07:23 PM
Hi Anna

I've seen you around along with 3monkeys on another NZ board but I haven't posted there for over a year probably.

Anyway, nice to meet you.

Nikki

(off to make my own intro lol)

deesalie
18-12-08, 07:24 PM
Hi Anna

My daughters name is Anna... it's a lovely name ;)

Welcome!

Quickening
18-12-08, 08:26 PM
Hi Anna! It is always wonderful to hear about how peoples lives have changed as they've set themselves on the path of self education, learning and discovery. Lovely to have you here!

Lioness
18-12-08, 09:25 PM
Hi Anna. Wonderful to meet you. :)

Ayla
19-12-08, 08:26 PM
Hi Anna, nice to meet you :wave

FrangipaniRose
21-12-08, 08:30 PM
Hi Anna!

Cool to read all that - I didn't realise you were studying as much as you are, plus the work! Busy mama!

:D Lauren