Three Months New

Have you ever taken a look at your life and wondered where time has gone?

Today I did just that.

My little Dash is 3 months old today. She's growing like a weed, too. In the last couple of weeks she's started laughing and holding on to nearby objects, like my shirt or the straps on my ergobaby carrier.

Her head control is still coming along nicely and she now spends a good half an hour in the exersaucer each day, sometimes more.

I keep forgetting to place her on her tummy to develop those necessary muscles and to help with the curvature of her spine and for that I feel like a "bad mommy". I had a similar problem with my other 2 children. It seems like I'm in a constant battle between the baby just eating and not wanting to put pressure on her tummy while she's got a full stomach and waiting too long, so she's tired and doesn't want to be anywhere but in her bed.

Perhaps tomorrow I will remember?

At her 2 month well baby visit, I asked the doctor if I could get Dash tested for the MTHFR gene mutation. I knew through my repeat pregnancy testing that I was negative for the mutation but my desire to know if Dash had it, inherited through her father, was enough for me to subject her to a blood draw.

Yes, the mutation is that important to me. I have learned so much about what MTHFR can do and the impact that it might have on vaccinations that I simply needed to know. In short, the mutation alters how a specific enzyme works in the body. That enzyme has some very important roles in the body and when it's mutated, certain processes in the body don't work.

Here you can learn what that a decent list of health problems are associated with MTHFR, including depression, ADHD, autism, migraines with aura, certain cancers, early miscarriage, and bi-polar disorder.  It's an important gene mutation and the medical community seems to be picking up on that slowly but surely.

According to this site, 98% of those with autism spectrum disorder have at least one of the MTHFR gene mutations. Roughly 40% of the American population has one of the mutations. The difference between those two populations (MTHFR mutations vs no mutation) is huge.

Can you see why it was important for me to know??

The results from Dash's test came in a few days ago: Negative for MTHFR gene mutations.

Phew!

With this in mind, I will soon be pursuing the immunizations I had skipped before. It will be a slow process, and there will be vaccines along the way that I will skip, but at least now I am less concerned about adding stress to her body in a manner she may not have been able to handle before.

I have no scientific studies to back it up, but I believe that immunizations are a link in the chain that causes autism. I also think that additives such as folic acid (which those with the mutation do not handle well) and high levels of heavy metals are other links in the chain. When the body can't process things, they build up to toxic levels, causing damage to the brain.

Am I right? I don't know! But I have known a few mothers who have reversed their children's ASD diagnosis through dietary and lifestyle changes in conjunction with therapy.

But without the gene, this is one less thing for me to worry about (but still something I am keeping my ear on because it matters).