Archive for Pregnancy
With smaller families all the rage these days, some parents may worry over the consequences of having just one child.
New research suggests that, as teenagers, only children fare no better or worse in social skills than adolescents with siblings.
“I don’t think anyone has to be concerned that if you don’t have siblings, you won’t learn the social skills you need to get along with other students in high school,” said study researcher Donna Bobbitt-Zeher, assistant professor of sociology at Ohio State University’s Marion campus.
Downing found in past research that, for kindergarteners, having at least one sibling seemed to benefit how teachers rated the kids’ social skills. Bobbitt-Zeher and Downing wanted to see whether this benefit persisted into adolescence.
They examined data of more than 13,000 middle and high school students who each had to list up to five male friends and five female friends.
Overall, students were nominated by an average of five other students as a friend. Results showed no significant differences in popularity between those who had siblings and those who had none.
“What it suggested is by the time students are in adolescence, if there was a benefit to having siblings when you were younger, having time to have other interactions – boy scouts, sports, youth groups – those things might compensate for not having a sibling so that by the time they reach adolescence the negative effect was not there,” Bobbitt-Zeher told LiveScience.
Whether a teen had brothers or sisters, step- or full siblings, didn’t make any difference in the results.
The team also investigated whether parents of only children are somehow different than those who have larger families and it was these differences that somehow influenced their kids’ social skills. They accounted for socioeconomic status, parents’ age, race, and whether a teen lives with both biological parents or not. None of these factors mattered in terms of the results on social skills.
In more recent research, Downing has followed his kindergartener participants from his past work to check out their social skills in 5th and 8th grades. He found that by the time they reach 5th grade there is no real difference in social skills between only children and those with siblings.
Past research has also suggested that for cognitive skills having no siblings is the same as having just one sibling. But any more than one sibling and those kids showed poorer cognitive scores. The general idea is that having more kids in a family dilutes resources, including time a parent has to help children with homework or to work with them on certain verbal or math skills.
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Posted on August 18, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
The larger a pregnant woman is when she checks in on delivery day, the greater her risk of having a cesarean section, according to a US study.
Nearly one of every three births in the United States is now delivered by cesarean, a surgery that has been linked to complications for both mother and baby such as infection, bleeding and hysterectomy.
This rate is about 50 percent higher than it was in the mid-1990s, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“As clinicians, we are faced with so many issues when taking care of patients with higher BMI (body mass index), and one of them is a greater risk for cesarean,” researcher Dr. Michelle Kominiarek of Indiana University told Reuters Health.
She added while previous studies had already linked cesarean delivery and body mass index (BMI) – a measure of weight that takes into account height – none had been large or detailed enough to determine how other factors might alter that risk, such as prior births or cesarean sections.
So Kominiarek and her colleagues collected data on nearly 125,000 women from the National Institutes of Health’s Consortium on Safe Labor who gave birth between 2002 and 2008. They analyzed the circumstances surrounding each birth, as well as the delivery route.
A total of 14 percent of the women underwent cesareans, report the researchers in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. They found that for every unit increase in BMI, as measured on arrival for delivery, a woman’s risk of cesarean delivery rose by 4 percent.
The team also discovered that this risk varied depending on whether or not a woman had given birth before or had previously undergone a cesarean section.
A one-unit increase in BMI raised the risk of cesarean 5 percent for a woman delivering her first child, 2 percent for women with children and prior cesarean, and 5 percent for women with children but without a prior cesarean.
These effects remained after accounting for factors such as maternal age, race and cervical dilation at hospital admission. Overall, those who had a prior cesarean had about double the risk of having another: More than 50 percent of laboring women with a BMI over 40, which is considered morbidly obese.
Part of the motivation for repeat cesareans is concern over a vaginal birth tearing scars left over from the previous surgery. Other factors associated with the risk of cesarean in the current study included an age of 35 or older, black or Hispanic race, and diabetes.
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Posted on August 18, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Babies communicate long before they say their first words, says Linda Acredolo, Ph.D., professor emeritus of psychology at University of California, Davis, and author of Baby Signs. “Babies are born with the ability to express several emotions, including distress and contentment,” she says. When we read their cues and respond quickly to their needs, she adds, babies feel secure and the parent-child bond is strengthened. Of course, easier said than done – not all babies send the exact same signals, and sometimes it takes months before you feel truly in tune with your baby. Still, some general principles apply.
“Compared to crying, facial expressions are certainly more subtle,” says David Hill, M.D., adjunct assistant professor of pediatrics at University of North Carolina Medical School. Watch closely, however, and you’ll soon catch these familiar expressions:
Gaze aversion
A baby who turns his face away from you needs a break from eye contact. “From about two months on, babies disconnect if they’re feeling overwhelmed or over stimulated,” says Dr. Acredolo. “Sometimes, the baby will turn his head to the side almost stubbornly, or play with his fingers or toes, or even start crying — anything to break contact with an adult.”
What to do: New parents sometimes get overenthusiastic when interacting with baby, says Dr. Acredolo. “These parents will try moving into their baby’s line of sight even if the infant has turned away, or they may keep talking, tickling or jostling to win back their baby’s attention,” she says. Respect your baby’s need for down time, and wait patiently and quietly until he turns back to you. “Then, smile broadly and re-engage with your baby,” she says.
Smiling
The first true smile usually occurs between six and eight weeks, says Dr. Acredolo. “At this early age, smiles are likely a signal of physical contentment,” she says.
Copycat
We are blueprints for our babies. “Between three and six months, most infants will learn to imitate facial expressions — fear, surprise, sadness,” says Dr. Hill. By nine months, a baby will take in a new situation (i.e. the appearance of a stranger), then look back at her mother’s face. “If the baby sees the parent is also distressed, then her anxiety will increase,” says Dr. Hill. “Usually, the baby will start clinging or crying.”
What to do: Remember that if you’re feeling stressed, your baby will be too. If it’s a minor case of anxiety, take some deep, cleansing breaths and consciously relax your facial muscles to ease tension. “In many cases, the act of smiling itself is likely to calm you down,” says Dr. Hill. “Follow that with strong, smooth touch such as hugging or patting, to let your baby know everything is okay.” (Of course, if you’re reaching the point of anger or frustration, you should always hand your baby off to someone else. If you’re alone, put him down in a safe place like his crib until you’ve calmed down.)
BODY TALK
Studies suggest that about 90 percent of communication by babies and adults is nonverbal, says speech-language pathologist Diane Bahr, author of Nobody Ever Told Me (or my Mother) That! “For instance, many babies make little fists when they’re hungry and begin feeding,” she says. “Once they are satisfied and full, their hands relax and open.” Other common body language cues:
Arching his back
Starting a few weeks after birth, babies begin arching their backs when they’re in discomfort, says Michele Saysana, M.D., director of the Pediatric Hospitalist Program at Riley Hospital for Children at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Often babies arch their backs when they’ve had enough to eat and want to move away from the breast. (Around 4 or 5 months, this movement might mean something completely different — that your baby is trying to roll over for the first time.)
What to do: Your baby probably just needs a change of position (after all, she can’t move very much herself yet.)
Rubbing eyes and/or ears
Babies will rub their eyes and ears with their hands when they are starting to tire. “Before 6 months, they rub their faces against something if they are tired or itchy,” she says. “After that, they might discover an ear by accident, and take comfort in pulling or rubbing it. Ears are a sensitive part of the body, and babies like feeling them.”
What to do: Start your bedtime or naptime routine as soon as baby begins rubbing his ears and face. One caveat: If your baby is rubbing his ears, has a temperature of over 101 degrees, and is fussy, he may have an ear infection and you should call your pediatrician, says Dr. Saysana.
Rooting
The rooting reflex is a key to survival, as it helps the baby find food. “A newborn will turn his head whenever something touches his cheek,” says Dr. Saysana. “The reflex disappears after the first few weeks, although babies will still turn toward you to nurse — it’s not automatic anymore and becomes a cue they are hungry.”
What to do: Use the rooting reflex to your advantage while your baby figures out feeding; a simple touch of the cheek will help him find the breast or bottle.
Startle reflex
Loud noises, bright lights, or a head bobble can trigger the startle reflex — babies jerk, spread out their arms and legs, then quickly pull them back in and cry. The startle reflex is present at birth, but fades between three and six months.
CRY BABY
Crying is the quickest way for your baby to let you know she’s tired, hungry, in pain — or just plain fussy. But which cry is which? Start listening for variations around one month, explains Bahr.
Hungry cry
A baby will generally wake up hungry and crying for food. “It’s a short, low-pitched cry, just over a second in duration,” says Bahr. If you don’t respond quickly, the cry becomes louder and more intense.
Pain cry
A cry of pain comes on much more suddenly than a hunger cry. It’s about twice as long, and continuous– that is, it doesn’t rise and fall in pitch.
What to do: Go through a mental checklist when trying to comfort your baby. Could she have a wet or soiled diaper? Could she be too cold — or too warm? (A baby waking up in a car seat, for instance, is often overheated.) Look your baby over from head to toe. Sometimes a piece of clothing or edge of a diaper is pinching her skin.
Tired cry
Between two and three months, your baby’s cries will become more varied, and he may develop a cranky, “tired” cry. “It may be a softer variation of his distress cry, says Bahr.
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Posted on August 18, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Recent research has found that those babies, whose mothers had the flu while pregnant, are more likely to have schizophrenia later in life.
It was explained thus by Temple University psychologist Lauren Ellman – when a woman catches flu when pregnant, she produces certain immune proteins in response to the flu, and this raises the exposure of the unborn baby to those proteins, consequently raising risk of certain abnormalities of the brain, which could lead to schizophrenia.
This is not to say that all women who had the flu when pregnant had schizophrenic babies, but the risk is seen to rise.
Earlier this link between flu infection and schizophrenia was not fully understood, because for the most part, infections do not cross over from the placenta to the baby. Now it is understood that it isn’t the infection, but rather the maternal reaction to it that has the negative impact on the fetal brain.
So this is one more reason for pregnant women to practice good hygiene that is frequent hand washing, keeping away from infected people and practicing proper immunization protocols.
Posted on August 17, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Pregnancy is an important phase in a woman’s life, so everything is done to ensure the woman’s safety and the baby’s health at its best.
To do this, there are diagnostic tests you have to undergo to check every stage of development during pregnancy to determine possible complications.
Diagnostic and screening tests are both medical and laboratory procedures to identify any abnormalities.
A diagnostic test tells you if you or your baby has a particular existing health problem, while a screening test will tell you if you or your baby might develop a risk of developing a certain disorder or health problem during the course of the pregnancy.
Routine diagnostic tests are done to you during your first prenatal visit which includes:
1. Pregnancy test, although you have done this at home there is a need to do this to determine if you have an abnormally high count of HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) which can be a sign of a possible case of H-Mole.
2. Complete Blood Count, this test is done to determine if you have a possible anemia that should be corrected early in pregnancy. This test will also identify a possible infection as shown by an increased white blood cell count.
3. Blood type, to determine your blood type in case the need for transfusion arises.
4. Blood Test for RH factor, Rh screening is done after a history of 3 consecutive abortions to determine the need for administration of RhoGam.
5. Urine Test, to determine a possible urinary tract infection and presence of sugar or protein that could be a sign of a health risk for diabetes or eclampsia.
6. Sonogram or Ultrasound, to determine the developing placenta’s location.
7. Oral glucose tolerance Test, to determine if you have possible diabetes.
8. Screening test for HIV, Hepatitis B and other sexually transmitted diseases which you can pass on to your baby or put the baby’s health at harm.
9. Amniocentesis or Chorionic Villus Sampling may be requested by your health provider if you are at high risk of having a baby with certain health and genetic conditions like Down ’s syndrome and Trisomy 18.
These tests are done during your first prenatal visit, but this does not mean that’s all into it.
You are just one step closer, what’s important is to visit your health provider regularly during your second and third trimester for a regular physical exam, because problems that were not there at the start may later develop as you progress with your pregnancy.
Posted on August 17, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
There is perhaps no parenting decision that tugs on the heartstrings as strongly as whether to let a baby cry him or herself to sleep.
At one end of the spectrum are parents who use some form of “cry-it-out” method to teach their baby to sleep through the night. The method is characterized by periods of letting a baby cry – from a few minutes to more than an hour – without picking him or her up. At the other end are the “no-cry” types who consider letting a baby cry for any length of time to be cruel and unusual punishment.
Stuck in the middle are a lot of exhausted parents hoping to make the right choice – especially since sleep deprivation in infants has been linked to behavioural and cognitive problems, not to mention its effects on mom and dad.
New research on infant sleep appears to deal a blow to those in the cry-it-out camp. Penn State researcher Douglas Teti examined the role of emotional availability on infant sleep and found that regardless of a family’s night-time routine, infants with parents who were responsive and warm had fewer night wakings and an easier time drifting off. In his study, which involved infrared cameras placed in families’ bedrooms and nurseries, a lapse of more than a minute resulted in a lower emotional availability score.
While more research is under way to further test those findings, Dr. Teti, a professor of human development and psychology, says his work adds to a growing skepticism toward sleep training – not only that it may not work, but that it may, in turn, affect the parent-child relationship itself.
Since his landmark book Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems was published in 1985, pediatric sleep expert Richard Ferber has became the best known advocate of a “controlled-crying” approach. He advised parents to leave their infants in their cribs for increasingly longer periods of time, starting with a few minutes (the method spawned the verb “to Ferberize”). They were instructed to pat and comfort their baby through the crying, but not pick up or feed the baby.
Other authors and consultants have since added and subtracted behaviors to create their own formulas – staying in the room or not, being visible or not, soothing by voice or not, touching or not – though many caution against sleep training under six months. Parents often pick and choose from the methods, and some, misinterpreting Dr. Ferber’s technique, simply shut the door.
In Dr. Ferber’s second edition, published in 2006, he added a preface clarifying the difference between his method and a shut-the-door approach. “Simply leaving a child in a crib to cry for long periods alone until he falls sleep, no matter how long it takes, is not an approach I approve of,” he wrote.
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Posted on August 17, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris and his partner David Burtka are expecting twins, a boy and a girl, this fall!
The 37-year-old actor took to Twitter to confirm the happy news:
“So, get this: David and I are expecting twins this fall. We’re super excited/nervous/thrilled. Hoping the press can respect our privacy…”
Last year it was reported that the soon-to-be dads had paid a visit to the Growing Generations surrogacy agency in Los Angeles – the same agency used by Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, whose twins were born June 2009. It looks as though those rumors may not have been far off!
Neil and David, a chef/actor, have been together for approximately six-years.
Congrats to the happy couple!
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Posted on August 17, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Paz Vega and husband Orson Salazar have welcomed their third child – a baby boy!
Hola! is reporting that the 34-year-old actress welcomed her second son via cesarean section on August 13 at the Ruber International Clinic in Madrid.
Representatives from the hospital have said that both mom and baby are in perfect health and that they may be discharged on Tuesday. Though a name has not been officially confirmed, one journalist – from El País – took to Twitter to say that Paz and Orson’s latest addition has been named Lenon.
The Spanglish star and her hubby, who have been married 8-years, are also parents to son Orson, 3, and daughter Ava, 1.
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Posted on August 17, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
An American doctor has been accused of attempting to prevent homosexuality with the use of an experimental prenatal treatment. As reported by HealthDay News, pediatric endocrinologist and researcher Dr. Maria New of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Florida International University, is at the center of the accusations by medical ethicists who assert her endorsement of the use of dexamethasone for the prevention of the development of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) may be motivated by a hidden agenda. CAH may cause females to be born with indistinct genitalia.
Alice Dreger, professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine is quoted in the report as stating of New, “Her main goal has been to prevent ambiguous genitalia and all the things that come with it, including what she calls ‘behavioral masculinization.” New reportedly denies the accusations.
Several medical societies are now reportedly drafting guidelines regarding the use of dexamethasone for CAH set to be published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism in September.
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Posted on August 17, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
It is a general rule that you avoid drinking during pregnancy because it can lead to a number of problems, including birth defects for the baby when born. But should that rule be hard and fast?
Well we are now being told that there could be an exception to that rule in one study conducted: it was found that moderate drinking in early pregnancy could lead to having better behaved children!
Having a drink a day in early pregnancy was seen as being linked to better behaved children when compared with women who did not drink at all in that time.
The children of women who drank moderately were seen as having fewer emotional and behavioral problems through childhood and through adolescence, it was seen. They were less likely to internalize behavior (such as depression that could be caused by directing negativity towards one’s own self) or externalize it (indulge in aggressive behavior).
This does not however mean that you go and grab the closest drink that you may find. The study revealed that moderate drinking may be harmless, not that it is advisable.
This is only to indicate that low level drinking by a woman early on in pregnancy is not something she should feel guilty about. Also there is strong caution against large amounts of alcohol or any kind of binge drinking.
Even after the study the guideline for drinking during pregnancy remains the same: “avoid alcohol once your pregnancy is confirmed.”
Posted on August 14, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Frasier star Kelsey Grammer, 55, and his new girlfriend, British flight attendant Kayte Walsh, 29, are expecting a child together.
“Kayte and Kelsey are happy to confirm what Kayte’s father told the London Daily Mail is true,” Grammer’s publicist confirms with People.
At 55 the Cheers star is two years older than Kayte’s father, Alan Walsh, who confirmed his daughter’s pregnancy to the Daily Mail. “It’s great news and we are very pleased for them both,” he said. “I don’t know how long they have been together and I have not met him yet, but I’m looking forward to it. We just found out about her pregnancy a couple of days ago.”
Kelsey’s marriage to Camille Donatacci, with whom he has a daughter Mason, 8, and son Jude, 5, ended earlier this year. He also has a daughter Spencer, 26, and Greer Kandace, 18, from previous relationships.
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Posted on August 14, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Birth order within families has long sparked sibling rivalry, but it might also impact the child’s personality and intelligence, a new study suggests.
The results lend support to some previous hypotheses – for instance, that the eldest sibling tends to have higher aptitude. But the study also contradicts other proposed ideas, for example, that first-borns tend to be more extroverted.
The findings shed light on the influence of sibling relationships, which often receives less attention compared with that of the mother-child or father-child relationship, said Tiffany L. Frank, a doctoral candidate at Adelphi University in Long Island, N.Y., who lead the study.
They also suggest some inherent differences between siblings exist, differences that might arise no matter what parents do. “While parents might want to treat each child equally, it’s almost impossible,” Frank said here at the 118th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association.
Most previous studies on the influence of birth order have looked at children from different families. For instance, some studies have looked at U.S. presidents, Nobel Laureates or NASA astronauts to see whether they are mostly first-born children or later born children.U.S. presidents and science Nobel Laureates were found to be overwhelmingly first-borns, as were 21 of the first 23 NASA astronauts. However, these studies cannot take into account influences that arise from children being in the same family, such as the competition that might exist between siblings, Frank said.
In addition, most previous studies have asked subjects to think back to their childhood or adolescence, a method that might lead to inaccuracies if subjects misremember their past.
In the current study, Frank and her colleagues surveyed 90 pairs of siblings in high school. Subjects were asked to report their grades and rank themselves as compared with their siblings on intelligence, work ethic and academic performance. The researchers also obtained academic tests scores and grades to verify the students’ own reports.
While the first-born tended to do better on measures of intelligence, the younger siblings had higher overall grade point averages.
Younger siblings might earn better grades, because they received mentoring from first-borns who already had to tackle certain subjects, the researchers say. Also, later born children might feel extra pressure to be competitive, and might try to out-do their older siblings in the hopes of gaining extra attention from parents.
In a second experiment researchers looked at differences in personality between 76 pairs of siblings in high school. Subjects rated themselves on a series of statements designed to assess personality.
Later born siblings were found to be more extroverted (sociable, outgoing), sentimental, forgiving and open to new experiences than their older siblings. First-borns were found to be more perfectionistic than their younger siblings.
The youngsters might also be more open to new experiences, because they “see the obstacles that their older siblings have overcome and therefore feel more secure in challenging themselves,” the researchers say.
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Posted on August 14, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Congratulations to Jason Schwartzman and his wife of one year, clothing designer Brady Cunningham!
During a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the I ? Huckabees star announced that he is going to be a dad.
“I have this mustache, and the reason I have this mustache is, when I was young, my father had a mustache … growing up, it embarrassed me,” the actor/musician, 30, said, and added, “I’m expecting a child in December…”
Here is the interview where Jason talks about his father and how he plans to make his kid laugh:
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Posted on August 14, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Baby talk is found across languages and cultures, but the brain mechanisms that underlie it are not known.
Reiko Mazuka, Yoshi-Taka Matsuda and colleagues at the Riken Brain Science Institute in Tokyo used functional MRI to assess brain activity in 35 first-time parents whose infants hadn’t started to speak (preverbal) and compared them to 30 men and women without any parenting experience. The study also included 16 mothers with toddlers who spoke two-word utterances and 18 mothers with children in elementary school.
The participants’ brain activity was monitored while they listened to recorded baby talk, which triggers brain activation patterns similar to those that occur when someone speaks baby talk, also called infant-directed speech (IDS).
The brain scans showed that mothers with preverbal infants had increased brain activity in areas of the brain that govern language. This heightened brain activity did not occur in any other group, including mothers whose children had started to speak, according to a Riken news release.
Among mothers with preverbal infants, those who were extroverts also had increased cortical activation in speech-related motor areas of the brain, the investigators found.
The results show that there are clear distinctions in how people process and generate IDS. This is evidence that baby talk acts as a link for linguistic transfer from mother to infant and plays a crucial role in the early stages of infant language acquisition, the researchers concluded.
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Posted on August 14, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Every woman who is trying to conceive knows the connection between ovulation and pregnancy; that the ovulation is necessary for a pregnancy to occur.
However, ovulation and pregnancy are not always possible to control or time. There are signs of ovulation that one may want to look out for; but even assuming that everything is in place a pregnancy could still take time to occur.
Here is something about ovulation and pregnancy that a woman should keep in mind if she is trying to get pregnant:
The best time for intercourse so that it results in a pregnancy is on the day of ovulation and up to six days prior to that day.
Having sexual intercourse after the day of ovulation will not generally result in a pregnancy.
However, it is understood that the egg will be viable for up to 48 hours after ovulation so there is a slight chance of a pregnancy occurring then.
While it is important to find out when ovulation takes place and to have intercourse accordingly; there is no certainty that conception will take place on the day that a woman ovulates.
In fact there is only a one in three chance (about 33%) that a pregnancy will result by having sex on ovulation day. That chance drops to 8% if the intercourse occurred 5 days before ovulation.
So then we know this connection between ovulation and pregnancy, but it is not always that easy to detect when ovulation takes place. For this it is important to understand the signs and symptoms of ovulation:
- Keeping a record of the menstrual cycle is the easiest way to keep track of when ovulation takes place. The general rule governing the ovulation of women with regular 28 day cycles is day 14 or the middle of the menstrual month when calculated from the first day of the menstrual period.
- The basal body temperature is one of the key indicators of ovulation. The basal body temperature is elevated by a few tenths of a degree during ovulation and will stay that way for a while after that. Monitoring this rise of temperature is an accurate way to pinpoint ovulation. The drawback is, this is a way to detect a pattern and this wont warn you that you are about to ovulate. It will simply tell you that you have done so.
- Vaginal or cervical mucus is another indicator of ovulation. Many women experience sticky or creamy discharge at times other than when ovulating. Others have no discharge except at the time of ovulation. At the time of ovulation the discharge will appear to be the consistency and appearance of raw egg white. It is clear and stretchy. Though this is not a definite sign it is a good indicator.
- Increased sexual desire is another indicator. Many women feel extra randy about a day or two before ovulation, which is the right time to have intercourse if one wants to get pregnant. This is nature’s way of ensuring that ovulation results in pregnancy.
Posted on August 12, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
If it is your first pregnancy you may be wondering what to prepare and what things to bring to the hospital on the day of delivery. But, before you think of the things to bring you should get yourself ready. Here are a few things to remember:
1. Keep in mind the date given to you by your Obstetrician, you should be prepared two weeks before and two weeks after your expected date of delivery. So on these dates you should focus more on getting enough rest and sleep to prepare you for the big day.
2. You should have the energy to push and you should have mustered the breathing techniques you will use during labor and delivery. Practice deep breathing exercises that are used during labor and shallow breathing with pursed lips when you are just about to deliver.
3. When contractions begin to get regular and intense, have a quick shower and then have yourself brought to the hospital immediately.
4. It is also a must to make arrangements what number to call, who to call and who should bring you to the hospital.
5. Have the things ready in one bag so you will just snatch it and you are off to go.
6. Although you will feel a mix of emotions on the day itself, try to relax it will help a lot.
Then have a checklist of all the things to bring that you should have ready inside one bag. The list should include the following:
1. Have at least 3 or 4 sets of baby clothes to be used during hospital stay, several diapers, mittens, bibs and baby wraps.
2. Have at least 3 set of clothes for you, if you are going to breastfeed find clothes with front openings. Keep several sets of underwear including panties, maternity napkins, maternity bra and your girdle. The girdle will serve as support to lessen the pain when moving around.
3. Extra bottles and nipples for feeding, you may want to include a breast pump.
4. All your prenatal record and laboratory tests.
5. Alcohol and betadine solution in case it would be needed plus extra analgesics and antipyretics.
6. Your toiletries and other personal belongings.
7. And of course your credit card and have extra cash ready as well.
Doing an early preparation will save you time and lessen your anxiety so you can better focus on your delivery and think of happy thoughts in your upcoming new responsibility of raising your child.
Posted on August 12, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
A study released last week by the National Association of Child Care Resource Referral Agencies finds that the cost of center-based care has now surpassed the cost of public-university tuition in a majority of states.
In the past 10 years, the agency’s latest survey found, the cost of child care for the youngest children increased twice as fast as the median family income throughout the country, and in half the states it far outpaced the rate of inflation. The recommendation of the Department of Health and Human Services is that parents spend no more than 10 percent of their family income on child care. But in 36 states, the cost of center-based care for an infant exceeds 10 percent of median income for a married couple, and for single parents, the cost of center-based infant care exceeds 10 percent of median income in every state.
Exact numbers vary — from a low of $4,550 per year for infant care in Mississippi in 2009 to a high of more than $18,750 in Massachusetts. Infant care was particularly expensive — the yearly cost of care in a center is higher, on average, than the the yearly cost of food in every region of the United States. But even as children graduate to the toddler room, care hardly becomes a bargain. The monthly costs for center care for an infant plus a preschooler are higher than the median cost of rent, and nearly as high as the monthly mortgage for most families. (Costs for school-age children ranged from $2,160 in Mississippi to $10,400 in New York.)
Comparisons to college tuition also vary from state to state, but almost everywhere the ratio is startling. In 40 states the average annual cost for an infant in center-based care was higher than a year’s tuition and fees at a four-year public college. In Massachusetts, the yearly infant care cost exceeded the yearly cost of tuition and fees by $9,533; in New York, Wyoming and Washington, D.C., the infant-care costs were more than double the college costs.
What is the cost of child care where you live?
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Posted on August 12, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Justice Francis Spina wrote in the decision that “a female employee is only entitled to (the Massachusetts Maternity Leave Act) when she is absent from employment for no more than eight weeks.”
The case was brought by a housekeeper for the president of a small Quincy telecommunications firm, Global Naps Inc., who said her supervisor told her that she could take an unpaid maternity leave longer than eight weeks. But the plaintiff, Sandy Stephens, said that when she called her supervisor anticipating her return to work after 11 weeks, she learned she had been fired.
Though Stephens cited a Massachusetts Commission against Discrimination guideline that advises employers to notify employees in writing if they don’t plan to guarantee a job beyond eight weeks, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the guideline is not law.
Natalie Lukasik, 32, of Rockland, said the current law means she will quit her job on Nov. 14, when she is due to deliver a baby boy.
“They wouldn’t hold my position (beyond eight weeks),” she said. “There is no pay, there is no maternity leave.”
Also sporting a baby-bump yesterday was Milton hairstylist Sandra Carter, 26, who wondered how mothers could be expected to leave their infants at just 2 months old. Carter, whose due date was yesterday, said she’s one of the lucky ones – she doesn’t have to worry about jetting back to work, but she thinks the state should mandate a 12-month maternity leave.
State law guarantees women unpaid leave of up to eight weeks, which is often super-ceded by federal laws that guarantee 12 weeks of leave for workers at companies with 50 or more employees.
Portia Wu, vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based National Partnership for Women & Families, called the ruling “astonishing.”
Yet Wu pointed out that Massachusetts ranks in the middle of states as far as maternity leave benefits go. The most generous is California, which provides parents six weeks of paid leave and four months of partially paid leave.
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Posted on August 12, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Alanis Morissette is pregnant!
The singer, 36, announces the happy news in the new Us Weekly magazine.
In Us’ “25 Things You Don’t Know About Me” section, Morissette lists “I am pregnant!” as No. 25.
Morissette wed rapper Souleye, 30 (real name: Mario Treadway), this past May 22 at their Los Angeles home.
“We’re very excited to embark on this journey with each other,” she wrote on her Twitter page at the time.
Congratulations to the musical newlyweds!
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Posted on August 12, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Pregnancy is a time of wonder and amazement — and for women with pre-existing diabetes, it is also a time for extremely careful (and sometimes baffling) disease management. How do you plan for this? What risks are involved? What can you expect? The August issue of Diabetes Forecast, the consumer magazine of the American Diabetes Association, features articles about pregnancy with pre-existing diabetes to help. With good care and planning women with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes can have safe pregnancies — and healthy babies.
If you have diabetes and want to become pregnant, the first step should be visiting your doctor — or several doctors. Depending on your diabetes management, you may want to see an endocrinologist in addition to your ob-gyn for a pre-conception visit. When choosing your doctors, keep in mind that you may have appointments as often as twice a week, so try to find a physician that you are comfortable with and whose office you are comfortable getting to.
While pre-existing diabetes automatically puts your pregnancy in the high-risk category, healthy habits can lower the chance of problems for both mother and child. First and foremost, keep your blood glucose in check — in general, your A1C should be below 7 percent before you conceive. Your health care team may also want to discuss your weight, use of prenatal vitamins and other supplements, the status of any diabetes-related complications, and your current medications (such as ACE inhibitors or statins, which are not considered safe for use in pregnancy). Polycystic ovary syndrome is associated with type 2 diabetes, so for some women with diabetes, asking about fertility treatments may also be in order.
Once you become pregnant, your body’s changes can make blood glucose levels go from one extreme to the other. “I spent the entire first trimester with my face buried in the fridge,” says Kerri Sparling, 31, who has type 1 diabetes and whose daughter was born in April. “I was low all the time. It wasn’t until probably the second trimester that the insulin resistance kicked in. Everything I ate, the insulin didn’t cover it.” As your body changes through your pregnancy, so will its reactions to the elements you normally use to manage your blood glucose, so be prepared to communicate with your health care team often and make any necessary adjustments.
From pre-conception planning to integrating diabetes management into your birth plan and facing post-partum depression, having a baby can seem like an overwhelming task for women with diabetes, and yet, many women with diabetes find they have the best glucose control of their life during pregnancy. “This was so, so important to me that I was willing to do whatever to make sure she came out right,” says Sparling. “It’s so worth it.”
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Posted on August 12, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Congratulations to Jeff Gordon and his wife Ingrid Vandebosch who welcomed their second child on August 9. The NASCAR driver announced the happy news on his website:
“Leo Benjamin Gordon was born at 8:53 a.m., weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces and was 19 inches long. He’s happy and healthy, and Mom is doing great,” said Gordon.
Jeff and Ingrid are already parents to 3-year-old daughter, Ella. The four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion won’t be home for long! He’s heading to Michigan later this week to participate in all on-track activities at Michigan International Speedway, site of this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
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Posted on August 12, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Commuters at some railway stations in Switzerland are finding a new convenience via a vending machine: pregnancy tests.
The Austrian Times reports that pregnancy testing kits are being stocked in the machine at stations during a month-long trial.
Makers Maybe Baby said the idea is that women will not have to be embarrassed by buying a test from a pharmacist.
“We’ve had a few demands for refunds where people thought they were getting chocolate but they seem to be very popular,” a rail worker told the Austrian Times.
The Daily Mail said a sex clinic in London is trying something similar by offering teens pregnancy tests and infection checks from a vending machine originally meant for soda drinks.
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Posted on August 12, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
24 star Annie Wersching and her husband Stephen Full have welcomed their first child, PEOPLE reports.
Annie, 33, gave birth to Freddie (middle name: Wersching) Full on August 8 at 4:46 PM in Los Angeles.
Baby Freddie weighed in at 7 lbs., 15 oz, and was 18 inches long.
“He has a full head of hair and is very calm and sweet and adorable,” Wersching says. “We are all feeling great!”
Wersching and Full, an actor and comedian of Disney’s I’m in the Band, married at their Los Angeles home in September 2009.
Congratulations to the Wersching-Full family!
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Posted on August 12, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
Rod Stewart is going to be a dad again.
His wife, Penny Lancaster, 39, discovered she was pregnant again while the two were celebrating their third wedding anniversary in June in Portofino, Italy, reports Hello! magazine.
Rod and Penny have a four-year-old son, Alastair, and Rod also has five other children from previous relationships — Kimberly, 30; Sean, 29; Ruby, 23; Renee, 18 and Liam, 15.
They said in a statement to Hello: “We were thrilled and delighted to be able to tell Alastair that he was going to be the big brother to a little baby, expected just before Mummy’s 40th birthday.” And just after Daddy turns 66.
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Posted on August 12, 2010 | Filed under Pregnancy | Permalink
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