It's Not Just the Vaccines: The Journey of How We Got Here

Today you are going to read a story about Craig, Lilly and their baby Elizabeth. The story of Elizabeth, and the details of her birth and medical history will give you a very intricate look at how our current medical model shapes our health, and the health of our future generations. These details are based on true stories, but the characters themselves are fictional. As you read this please pay attention to the timeline of events, the medications given, and how every decision we make regarding our health effects our lives and all of the generations to come.

This is Lilly’s first pregnancy. She is a healthy 25 year old with no pregnancy complications. Her unborn baby is also developing with no complications or concerns. She and her husband Craig go to her 41 week appointment and the doctor informs them that "If you do not go into labor in the next few days on your own then we schedule your induction". Lilly and Craig don't know any different so they agree. At any rate, they must listen to the doctor. 

Days pass and no labor, so they go in for the induction. Lilly is barely dilated 2 centimeters, so the doctors try to soften Lilly’s cervix with a drug used vaginally called Cervidil. They then watch and wait. After several hours Lilly has dilated to 3 centimeters, so they decide to start the induction drug commonly known as Pitocin. Contractions come on hard and strong, as Pitocin mimics Oxytocin, the natural hormone that the body produces to start labor. Hours in and Lilly can no longer handle the strength of the contractions, and due to Pitocin affecting the oxygen delivery to the baby through the placenta (a common side effect), the baby’s heart rate begins to drop. Lilly is quickly given an epidural so that she can relax, and with hope that this helps level out the babies heart rate. Lilly can sleep as she no longer feels the contractions, but soon the baby is showing signs of distress. Lilly is flipped onto her sides while laying in bed, but due to the epidural she is unable to get up and walk. She is confined to her bed. 

 After some time the doctors start to worry about the baby’s lowered heart rate, and a c-section is decided. Lilly is wheeled into the OR where she is given a laundry list of medications, spinal anesthesia, antibiotics, opioids and the c-section is performed. Baby Elizabeth is soon born, and she is suctioned and put in the baby warmer. Craig is over admiring their new baby girl. Lilly is sutured up and sent to post-op where she will rest, while baby is being examined. All of the vernix is wiped off of baby and the baby is swaddled. She is then given antibiotic ointment in her eyes, and the vitamin K shot. Baby Elizabeth stays in the warmer until mom is able to see the baby. 

Breastfeeding and skin to skin is introduced as soon as Lilly is awake. She has a hard time sitting up to breastfeed due to her sutures. She is exhausted and feels light headed due to not having food during labor, and all of the medications that she has had. Elizabeth isn’t latching right and Lilly starts to cry from all of the stress. The nurses take the baby to the nursery to supplement with formula so that Lilly can get some rest. 

The next day Lilly is struggling to breastfeed, so a lactation consultant comes in and ensures her that breastfeeding is relatively easy and not meant to be painful. They try many different positions to hold the baby to ensure a better latch. Meanwhile Lilly is struggling. The Pediatrician comes in to give Elizabeth her first Hep B vaccination. Lilly doesn’t even consider the ramifications of that because no one discussed it with her or Craig, and they are too exhausted to worry about it. 

The next day the new little family is sent home. Lilly’s mom came to stay for a few days to help them get settled, and then she has to go back home, which is several hours away. Craig’s mom and dad live out of state and will visit when they are able. Craig and Lilly are on their own. Lilly is really struggling to nurse, and the scar from her incision is very painful. Everyone is telling her that this is normal. Elizabeth cries all of the time. Is it colic? Is is the wrong latch? Lilly cries a lot too. Both she and Craig are exhausted. By the end of the first week Lilly’s nipples are bleeding a little and she is just so tired. Craig, exhausted and wanting to help his wife decides to go and get formula. “We will just supplement,” he says. While Lilly and the baby are sleeping Craig calls the daycare to make sure that Elizabeth is on the list to start daycare in a few weeks. “Gosh, its hard to believe she will be starting daycare so soon”, thought Craig. He can barely conceive leaving the house at this moment let alone both of them going back to work. 

Over the course of the next two weeks Lilly decides to switch completely to formula because breastfeeding was just to hard.  She started some antidepressants because she just did not feel like herself anymore, and she didn’t want her medications to affect Elizabeth through her breastmilk. Plus she really wanted to have a glass of wine or two once she was feeling like herself again.

Lilly took Elizabeth to the Pediatrician for her 1 month vaccinations, and Elizabeth cried for a few hours after and ran a small fever. Lilly gave her Tylenol per the doctors orders. At 6 weeks Lilly and Craig were both back at work, so Elizabeth had her first day at childcare. She went to a childcare center where there were many other kids. Lilly worried a little bit about this, but she and Craig both had to work. They had a rather large house payment and two car payments. Craigs income could cover most of their main bills, and Lilly’s income primarily went to their savings, to pay for daycare, and then for their extra curricular activities like eating out, date nights, weekends away, etc. They really were looking forward to their first weekend away in a month from now. Now that Elizabeth was formula fed they had a lot more freedom to come and go when Lillys mom came into town to watch the baby. 

At 4 months old Elizabeth was diagnosed with some eczema. It wasn’t bad, just on a few spots on her arms and legs. The doctor prescribed topical steroids. At 6 months old Elizabeth had been sick a lot, and catching all of the germs at daycare. She had already been on multiple antibiotics, including  receiving her routine vaccinations. By 8 months she had surgery for tubes in her ears due to constant ear infections. By age 2 they discovered that she had a pretty severe peanut allergy, so peanuts were removed from her diet. By age 4 she had a tonsillectomy due to routine strep infections. She was routinely given her vaccinations per the appropriate schedule. Overall, Elizabeth seemed to be developing just fine according to the standard growth curve. She was a little slow to talk, and showed some issues with knowing her letters and numbers, but overall she seemed to be meeting all of her milestones. She even started gymnastics and ballet. 

In 1st grade Elizabeth started showing some learning delays in reading, and some attention issues. She was evaluated and given the diagnosis of ADHD. She had routine coughs and always seemed to have a runny nose, and was diagnosed with allergies. She slept well, but suffered from chronic constipation, which she was given Miralax for, and Children’s Claritin for the allergies and runny nose. Elizabeth was a very picky eater and only ate a few things, and really had issues with textures. So mom and dad did give her a multivitamin.

In the 5th grade, age 10,  Elizabeth was showing signs of extreme anxiety at school and with friends. She still struggled to pay attention at school and often missed important assignments. At this point in time she was on medication for ADHD, eczema when it flared up, Claritin and Miralax. 

At 12 years old Carrie was given the HPV vaccine, which shortly after she developed migraines. By age 13 she started her period, and her periods were terribly heavy and painful. By age 14 she was given birth control to control her cycles. She also suffered from severe cystic acne, which she was given the medication Proactive.

Elizabeth continued on this journey throughout high school and into early college. By the end of college she met the love of her life Owen, and they married at age 24. They were super excited to try for children, so they started immediately. Due to all of the medications Elizabeth was on, her busy work schedule, and eating out a lot, she was carrying more body weight than her doctor liked. She immediately weened off some medications, including birth control, started working out, quit drinking alcohol and vaping (which was only done casually on the weekends), and managing her stress by taking weekly yoga classes. She and Owen tried for months and still no baby. Months turned into years. Craigs sperm was tested and it was fine. Other than really heavy periods, Elizabeth was also cleared from any underlying medical issue that would prevent pregnancy. After several years of no success they started down the path of IVF. After several failed attempts they were able to conceive. 

Elizabeths pregnancy was successful, but due to the shape of her pelvis, and high blood pressure she ended up having a C-section. Elizabeth had all of the necessary vaccinations that were suggested during her pregnancy, and her infant son did as well. She didn’t even try to breastfeed because she needed to get back on all of her medications as soon as possible, like Claritin for allergies, anti depressants, and medications for constipation. The first few months of her sons life were great. Her son was a a great sleeper and eater, and he was meeting all of his milestones. Other than the same kind of eczema she herself had he was a totally normal baby.

At 2 years old Elizabeth brought her baby in for his first MMR vaccine, which she wasn’t concerned about at all. 24 hours after receiving the vaccine she and Owen noticed that their son stopped making eye contact, and over just the matter of a few weeks his once very fluid vocabulary for a 2 year old dwindled down to none. Scrambling, scared and concerned Elizabeth and Owen took their son in to see the Pediatrician, in which their son was diagnosed with non-verbal autism.

This type of scenario happens every day, all of the time. From a homeopathic perspective this is layer after layer, medication after medication, of suppression, and quite frankly, bandaids to a much deeper issue. Where some of these issues can be viewed as simply hereditary, what one has to ask themselves is “what turned on the gene?”.  If we were all meant to get the diseases that are laid out in our genetics we would, but not all do. The main issues that are laid out in this story not only look at the physical implications of what is happening to our children, but also a glimpse at the imbalance in how we live our lives. Putting our children in daycare because both parents have to work, or because they want to live a certain lifestyle with lots of material possessions. In 2025 we live in a world where it is almost 100% necessary for both parents to work just to survive, and I am talking basic needs survival, not to own new cars and large homes.  

Women and families lack support and/or a village with families being scattered, or not connected emotionally. Childbirth, postpartum and breastfeeding are made out to be easy, while Instagram moms paint pictures of perfection while creating absolutely unattainable lives for the average person. Medications are dished out without even considering root cause, and things like ear tubes and tonsillectomies are done as if on an assembly line. “It is normal for her age”, the ENT specialist told us when our daughter had chronically enlarged tonsils. Systemic inflammation is not normal, especially in a child. 

Because we lack grounded elders to support new parents, and a village teaching parents to listen to their intuition in the care of their children, these parents turn to their doctors (and God help us even Instagram) for guidance. Who else can they go to? The doctors only know to prescribe medications, and  may give some moral support if you are lucky to get a kind one. Once on the medications it seems like an easy fix, so it continues. Remove, medicate, remove, medicate, remove. It isn’t until someone, somewhere realizes how unnatural this cycle is, and how our bodies and our lives are not meant to live this way that things begin to change. If that doesn’t wake someone up then it is typically a chronic disease diagnosis that does.

Our unborn children are exposed to up to 8 medications (some have mild cross placenta exposure) in an induction and c-section. Not to mention that an infants microbiome is not developed when they are born, and with a c-section they miss that opportunity to pick up healthy bacteria via the vaginal canal. This microbiome development is the foundation of their babies immune system. Yes, c-sections save lives, but routine c-sections, and intervention after intervention, lack of breastfeeding is where the imbalance begins. Doctors are fearful of complications, as OB doctors have the highest rate of lawsuits than any other medical specialty. Essentially they are just covering their own ass.

This is how we got here folks. So yes, vaccines most likely do not directly cause autism, but really it is the colossal shit storm of medications,  unnecessary interventions, stress, environmental toxins, over exposure to bacterias in childcare settings, lack of breastmilk, and THEN one vaccine after another. The foundation of health is laid the second you find out you are pregnant. Taking care to remove toxins while pregnant, avoid vaccinations, eat organic foods, manage stress, are all things that aid in creating a healthy foundation. It all begins here, and right now, our foundations are crumbling in the developed world. We cannot look at one thing, and not look at all of it. Even if scientists are able to create “healthy vaccinations” someday, which I pray that they do, this does not fix the crisis of health deterioration in this country. We have to fix it all, and it all begins at birth, and in the early years of life with the health of the parents and our children.