"Oh and congratulations," my doctor had said to me.  "You're rubella immune.  Your parents did the right thing with you."

That was two weeks ago.  And at the time, I didn't really give the news of this so-called immunity all that much thought.  I remember thinking, 'Who gets rubella these days anyway?"

How quickly things change.

As you may have heard, news broke yesterday that an adult in Waukesha has somehow contracted rubella.  You know, German measles.  It's an infection that primarily affects the skin and lymph nodes.  This is a generally mild disease in children, it is uncomfortable for the average person... but it is especially dangerous to pregnant women.  Like me.

Rubella can pass through a pregnant woman's bloodstream and infect her unborn which can cause all kind of problems in developing babies, including growth retardation, mental retardation, malformations of the heart and eyes, deafness, liver spleen and bone marrow problems.

Needless to say... immunity or not... I don't plan on interviewing any rubella victims.  Or any measles victims for that matter.  Frankly, I'm just too afraid.

As a reporter, I've been in all kinds of risky situations.  I've been exposed to toxic fumes, sub-zero temperature, done live shots in very bad neighborhoods.. heck, just going up in the chopper is dicey.  But in all of these situations, it was myself that I was putting at risk... not an unborn child.  Everything changes when you have a child.

As it stands right now --- aside from the rubella case in Waukesha --- there are 4 confirmed and 3 probable cases of measles in the greater Milwaukee area.  I'm worried my health.  But I'm even more worried about my daughter and husband.  Because one case of the measles, is one too many.  And this thing has the potential to became a major outbreak.

One-third of kids in the Milwaukee Public School system have not even been vaccinated against measles.  God forbid the disease makes it there.  And I myself have done interviews with parents who won't vaccinate their kids because of fear of autism or their religious beliefs.

I would never try to tell people what is best for their child.  But I do know that rubella and the measles are two diseases that could be easily prevented.  The hope is that these few cases can be contained. 

But what if they're not?