Our girl was doing great at her one-year checkup on June 23, 2016. The doctor said she was healthy—no fever, heart rate 92, weight 20.3 pounds. She got her MMRV (mumps, measles, rubella, varicella) and Hep A shots that day. Switching to whole milk, sleeping through the night, no worries at all.

Just seven days later, on June 30, we found her gone in her sleep, face down in the crib. The autopsy said asphyxia (trouble breathing), with lung swelling and blanching on her face. But no clear reason why—it called the manner "undetermined." Kids her age should be able to turn over if they're stuck. The whole check failed to find any disease or injury.

Research papers in our files, like the one on sudden death in toddlers, talk about links to febrile seizures and brain changes in the hippocampus. Norah didn't have seizures we knew of, but it makes us wonder if the shots played a part. VAERS (that's the report system for vaccine side effects) has stories like this. We're in vaccine court now (Case #17-2061V), fighting for answers. It moves slow, but we're strong for her.