Britney Spears’ hospital stay has been extended to two more weeks. But before this, she made sure to fill the news with her antics, of driving around in her new car and getting lost, then getting hysterical. Britney supposedly has been prescribed with medications for bipolar disorder too, which she did not take and thus aggravated her condition.

There have been a lot of speculations already as to why Britney is going through a very bad meltdown. Some say her break-up with former boyfriend Justin Timberlake unhinged her. Some say it’s the break-up of her marriage. Some also say that this is a result of too much (fame, fortune) too soon.

Most probably, it’s a combination of all these. I also think postpartum depression should be added to the list of contributing factors.

Mayo Clinic states that symptoms of postpartum depression vary depending on the form of depression:

Signs and symptoms of the baby blues ? which last only a few days or weeks ? may include:

~ Anxiety
~ Sadness
~ Irritability
~ Crying
~ Headaches
~ Exhaustion
~ A sense of inadequacy

Postpartum depression may appear to be the baby blues at first ? but the signs and symptoms are more intense and longer lasting, eventually interfering with your ability to function. In addition to the signs and symptoms listed above, you may experience:

~ Constant fatigue
~ Lack of joy in life
~ A sense of emotional numbness or failure
~ Withdrawal from family and friends
~ Lack of concern for yourself or your baby
~ Excessive concern for your baby
~ Less interest in sex
~ Severe mood swings
~ Impaired thinking or concentration
~ Insomnia

With postpartum psychosis ? a rare condition that develops within the first six weeks after delivery ? the signs and symptoms are even more severe. In addition to the signs and symptoms listed above, you may experience:

~ Fear of harming yourself or your baby
~ Confusion and disorientation
~ Hallucinations and delusions
~ Paranoia

We have to remember that Britney was the Pop Princess for a long time, with everything going for her. But then she was suddenly married. Then she got pregnant. And within months of delivering Sean Preston (now two years old), she was pregnant again with Jayden James (now sixteen months old).

Especially during her first pregnancy, the tabloids have not been kind to her. Imagine being pregnant, with all your hormones raging, and being called fat and ugly at the same time? Imagine being under the mercy of paparazzi when you’re dealing with the changes in your life and the impact of the baby on your marriage?

And then her parenting skills were also criticized. I am not saying she didn’t make some bad calls but I will also not pretend to know how it felt like to be called a ‘bad mother’ by the press.

Having a baby was one of the more difficult times in my life. I only got to enjoy its rewards because I got steady and unconditional support from people who truly loved me. But every little thing can get to you. Every little thing can seem personal. And having to deal with so many changes is already enough to make a woman go mental, however briefly.

So imagine being Britney.

And then consider the fact that it’s not unheard of to hear extreme cases wherein a mother ends up committing suicide or killing her child/children because of postpartum depression. Britney dressing up and going on drinking binges and smashing her car on other cars is actually still tame, only her tricks usually make front-page news.

So could Britney be suffering from postpartum depression too? I say, highly likely.

Every addition or subtraction in a family results in great stress. Every addition or subtraction results in changes, big and small, for everyone.

When your first baby was born, chances are, your world was turned upside down. Your priorities changed. Your plans were rearranged and always, the biggest consideration for every family decision was how it would affect the baby.

Contemplating on having another child is much the same, only you will have more kids to consider and balance against your plans for the family. If before you were able to get by with minimal outside help (day care), now you might end up being totally dependent on one to keep sane.

Expenses will also escalate, a little or a lot, depending on your lifestyle and whether the next child will be of the same sex, or if he has special needs. Most probably too, the last vestiges of your romantic illusions about having a baby will be eradicated as you deal with jealousy and discipline while also grabbing every opportunity to love and teach your child how to live.

You may also have to examine your motivations for having another one, and prepare yourselves for the possibility of having another child of the same sex, or the opposite sex, or a child with special needs, or multiples. All these possibilities have to be considered and talked about, but not dwelled upon, if only to prepare each other for each other’s reactions when the next one arrives. At least, ambivalence or sadness will not be a surprise.

And as with the first baby, you have to prepare for the new one. Read up and ask about jealousy and sibling rivalry, and take notes on ways to keep it to a bare minimum. After all, the challenges will be multiplied.

The good thing, however, is that you die again from the old ways of being and doing. You develop new skills, become better at time management and being focused on goals.

You become more efficient in multi-tasking and there will be an extra pair of arms to wrap around your neck to tell you that you’re doing a great job.

The Inside Edition recently featured a reborn artist, who had seven miscarriages and decided to put her grief to good use by making reborns.

Reborns are basically dolls, factory made or specifically sculpted, which are transformed into lifelike baby dolls through painstakingly applied paints (blue tones for the veins are applied first and covered by flesh ones) and body parts (goat hair are sewn onto the head and the body is weighted down with materials like polyfill or beads to give the appropriate feel when held).

These dolls are usually made-to-order and no doll is alike. Some order one made to look like themselves when they were a baby, or to look like their child when their child was a baby. Some order to give as gifts to those who have lost a child or had a miscarriage. Some just order to add to their collection.

Since much effort is invested in these dolls to make them as lifelike as possible, people can mistake them for the real one… initially. And because they are made, they are always perfectly cute, complete with buntings and caps. They cost around $800 or more and take an average of two weeks to produce.

Personally, although I may find them cute, I’d really think it creepy for anyone to play with one. But that’s just me. I also don’t dig those candies that look like babies (or bread that looked like human body parts… but yes, you don’t eat reborns).

What about you, would you like to own one?

Researchers at McMaster University have found that exposure to nicotine while the baby is still in the womb, whether because the mother was smoking or through secondhand smoke, compromises the baby’s ability to respond to oxygen deprivation which increases the chances of a baby falling victim to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

The birth supposedly triggers a baby’s oxygen-sensing mechanism, which remains active for several months after the birth, that allows a baby to react accordingly in occasions of apnea or asphyxia. Basically, the adrenal gland releases catecholamines which contains adrenaline, the building block of our ‘fight and flight’ response.

Exposure to even little amounts of nicotine compromises this mechanism resulting in babies born with a compromised ability to detect oxygen deprivation, unable therefore to respond accordingly by moving its head.

Resources:
Medical News Today

Juno is a critically-acclaimed dark comedy on teenage pregnancy. Juno, the heroine, finds herself pregnant at age 16 (just like Jamie Lynn, yes) and deals with her pregnancy in a ‘cool’ and brave way.

The movie has gotten many nominations from different award-giving bodies (four in the Oscars) and I could understand why because heaven help me, I really enjoyed the movie. I would even go out on a limb here and say it was perfectly cast. Ellen Page (Juno) was just so natural, Juno’s parents were so cool and supportive and Vanessa (played by Jennifer Garner) was so heartbreakingly endearing.

But I won’t go into details lest I spoil it for everyone else.

This much I will say though. The movie again is a good movie to watch: entertaining, enlightening and inspiring. But I cannot help but feel that it failed somehow in getting across the stigma and serious implications of teenage pregnancy. The heroine always came off as cool. She may have done a brave, right thing for her child, but I still worry about what teenagers will take away from the movie. Will they be inspired to abstain? Will they practice safer sex practices instead? Or will they at least practice safe sex? And for those in a similar plight, would they choose to get an abortion, maybe even without a parent knowing? Or would they brave the nine months to give the baby up to adults who actually want to have kids?

See, not all parents will be supportive. Not every teenager who gets pregnant will have supportive friends. Not every teenager know where else to get support and help to come up with decisions they can live with.

But I’d still encourage parents to watch the movie with their kids. What the movie fails to accomplish, the parents can supplement.

Say what?

Conceptionmoons (conception honeymoons) are big these days. Couples are encouraged to take trips to relax and time these with the woman’s fertile period. This is a great idea for those who are already trying to conceive but don’t want to commit to the whole fertility workup just yet… or those who have been undergoing fertility treatments for so long and want a break from the needles.

It can just be a weekend in the country or a beach getaway to enjoy some sun and a lot of fresh air. It can be the perfect time to return to bird watching or stargazing. It can even be the perfect time to try new things, like bungee jumping or white-water rafting. It may sound weird but adrenaline rush actually makes people more libidinal, maybe because they get to scream and sweat the stress off their bodies. At least, making love would not seem like the chore it has been for the many months that you’ve been trying.

And I’m sure you’ll agree, we all need a break from work anyway!

Maybe you’d want to take it a step further. If you’re willing to try anything, why not time these conceptionmoons with fertility festivals? The Hounen Matsuri Festival in Japan happens every March. Squeeze in a trip to the wonderful Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium and learn about dolphins there or get made-up like a geisha and have wonderful pictures taken.

Or maybe it’s really wonderful beaches and surfing that appeal to you. The Obando Festival in the Philippines happens every May 17-19. Maybe you can spend several days first in Palawan or Davao (or even popular Boracay) to destress before attending the festival and dancing in the street with the many believers who have been blessed with, or are asking for, a child. These things are not going to hurt (well, maybe your pocket) but will be enriching experiences to bond you closer with your partner and lead you both to reflect on why you really want to have kids.

Laugh, swim, frolic the stress away. Let the sun do you good. And in the event that you don’t get pregnant during your vacation, at least you are now refreshed for more of the workups and you got a much needed break away from it all.

Seriously, there’s no better reason to travel… especially since traveling may take a backseat for awhile when you do get pregnant or when there’s already a baby.

All ultrasound systems help in determining the following:

~ Determining the age of the baby
~ Analyzing development of the baby
~ Evaluating multiple pregnancies
~ Detecting structural problem with uterus
~ Detecting placental abnormalities
~ Detecting abnormal bleeding
~ Determining ectopic pregnancy
~ Detecting ovarian tumor/fibroids
~ Locating the placenta

But aside from the usual trans-vaginal ultrasounds (done early in the pregnancy to determine if there is a baby growing inside you) and pelvic ultrasounds (performed during the second and third trimester), there are three other specialized ultrasounds you may choose to have or that may be prescribed for you to get in the course of your pregnancy:

The 4D ultrasound
The latest in ultrasound technology, this type allows live action images of the unborn child. For 20-40 minutes, you can watch your baby smile and turn in living color. Usually, you also get a video or printed shots. Keepsake clinics where these can be gotten (aside from hospitals) are generally strictly-monitored, with this ultrasound having to be medically ordered/required (usually tied up with a congenital anomaly scan) and performed by a licensed sonologist. Usually performed between the 20th-27th week.

the congenital anomaly scan/screening
This is a very detailed scan where special attention is given on the fetus’ body parts. It can also detect possible congenital anomalies with varying detection percentages like Spina Bifida (90%), Anencephaly (99%), Hydrocephalus (60%), Congenital heart disease (60%), Exomphalos /gastroschisis (90%), Major kidney problems (85%), Major limb abnormalities (90%), Diaphragmatic Hernia (65%), Cleft lip and palate (80%) and Down Syndrome (50%). It is also performed between the 20th-27th week of pregnancy.

biophysical profile (BPP)
A BPP is usually performed in the last trimester of a pregnancy, often ordered for women with high-risk pregnancies. This test measures the health of the fetus by measuring the baby’s heart rate, muscle tone, movement, breathing, and the amount of amniotic fluid around the baby.

High-risk pregnancies or strong illness histories could prompt your OB to order the above, whether you like it or not. But parents also have a choice to request for a 4D ultrasound or congenital anomaly scan. However, it will be good to note of the controversies surrounding these two.

Some from the medical field believe that a 4D ultrasound usually has “non-medical indications”, after all, having a keepsake usually overwhelms the true purpose of the ultrasound for the expectant parents. Obstetricians are also divided when it comes to congenital anomaly scans since it does not really offer guarantees, something that was detected now could still mend itself in due time or something could not be detected at all.

Such scans purport to forewarn about possible medical problems a baby might have so parents can deal with it accordingly, like having a heart doctor ready for a baby detected to have a heart anomaly. But it also raises the issue of depression among parents during a time when ignorance could may very well be bliss (e.g. in minor cases as a cleft palate which wouldn’t require URGENT surgery or intervention, but would nonetheless burst the expectant parents’ happy bubble). And in case there is a major anomaly detected, like Down’s Syndrome, will the parents abort the baby? Can they still enjoy the pregnancy knowing they are to expect a child with disabilities? Will they have anyone to support them?

Thus, it is very important for parents to talk about the negative possibilities and their implications first before getting such tests.

Resources:
Life Issues
Mums

I started spotting the following day after an OB confirmed my pregnancy. And then, before I had time to really digest everything that’s happening, I was ordered to go on bed rest.And it turned out, I would be on bed rest for three months.

That is a lot to ask from an active woman who loves the outdoors, one who especially loved climbing mountains and jumping off bridges into rivers. Personally, I think it is one of the hardest things for a pregnant woman, the realization that her body isn’t hers anymore, at least for the time being.

But one’s got to do what one’s got to do. Everything to keep the baby safe, after all. So my hubs and I camped on our living room so i’d be close to the TV, the bathroom, the computer and everything else. Exchanging notes with fellow Moms who were put on bedrest, here is how we made bed rest work for us:

1. We SLEPT a lot! This went a long way in relaxing us and rejuvenating us. We relished that we need not be slaves to alarm clocks anymore (except to remind us of pre-natal vitamins and uterine relaxant drugs we had to take).

2. We CATALOGED and ORGANIZED. It was the perfect time to organize the wedding pictures and bills and what-have-you’s that have piled up. It whiled the hours away and resulted in less clutter in drawers and cabinets.

3. We WATCHED TV. Loads of it. We didn’t just embrace all of Oprah and Ellen and Tyra, we also made room for all the reality shows we could find. We caught up on our showbiz gossip. We followed The Amazing Race and American Idol. Some of us even checked out the cartoons kids are watching now, and all the documentaries at National Geographic and Discovery Channel. Some of us also bought complete seasons of favorite soaps and became Grey’s Anatomy, Heroes, Desperate Housewives, etc. fans overnight. I personally watched all of FRIENDS’ episodes twice.

4. We READ a lot. I read all Harry Potter books at least twice. I re-read all my chick-lit novels and had my husband buy more. We read pregnancy books and breastfeeding books and parenting books. We read nursery rhymes out loud. Some of us chose an author and attempted to read all his works (I chose Mark Twain).

5. We took up NEW and PRODUCTIVE HOBBIES. I digiscrapped. Some took up scrapbooking with fervor. Some took up knitting. Some took up cross-stitching. Maybe you can even dabble in board games or video games (depending on the terms of your bed rest, of course).

6. We turned to the INTERNET. We did a lot of research online, a lot of shopping too! We also found support and comfort from fellow Moms who went through, or are undergoing, the same confinement.

7. We ACCEPTED help and the situation. We delegated tasks even. Someone else had to take care of the dog, the fish and the chores. Daddy had to take care of the other kids and Mommy too. To make it easier for the household, however, we also made sure we had our box or basket near the bed containing things we might need or want during the day, so we need not keep calling someone for help. We also took it upon ourselves to balance the checkbook, monitor the cashflow, and list up the groceries. We also scheduled visits from friends so we wouldn’t be deprived of socialization and adult company.

8. We TALKED to our significant others, family members and friends. We shared our feelings, we cried over shoulders, we discussed our fears.

9. We SKIPPED WORK and other STRESSORS. Aside from the very occasional call to direct a subordinate, tell someone where the file is, update the boss on our progress (especially if the bed rest was going to take longer), we all made sure we avoided doing anything related to work. That way, we didn’t dwell too much on which projects were left unfinished. We also let someone else take care of other stressors like an ailing family member. And hard as it was, we tried not to worry about the finances for the time being (while also curbing some cravings and shopping itch).

10. We FOCUSED ON THE GOAL which is a safe pregnancy. We found that when you know your priorities, it is easier to let go of everything else and make the necessary sacrifices and compromises.

Though bed rest is not a proven remedy for pregnancy complications, it has been proven to take pressure off the cervix and reduce strain on your heart, thus improving blood flow to the kidneys which helps eliminate excess fluids. Bed rest also increases circulation to the uterus and the placenta, facilitating the baby’s growth. Most of all, it minimizes the level of stress hormones in the bloodstream that can trigger contractions.

So if you’re like me and your OB issues instructions for you to get some bed rest, don’t panic! And don’t think you’re going to go insane (we didn’t!).

Remember, it can actually be the greatest opportunity to prepare for the baby too.

The dilemma: Mom is itching to start shopping for the baby’s layette and decorating the nursery but she still doesn’t know, or doesn’t want to find out as in the case of Jessica Alba, the baby’s sex .

The solution: Go for greens and yellows! (Fine, even orange and red, if you want)

Maybe i’m just being subjective because I love these colors but I also really think, for first-time parents especially who may or will have more kids, investing in cool shades of green and yellow is a really practical thing to do.

First, they’re happy colors and should be reason enough.

Secondly, both boys and girls can be dressed up in greens and yellows so the frogsuits and blankets and high chair and pillows you buy now can still be used by any succeeding baby, yours or your neighbor’s.

Third, you will have enough blues and pinks once word gets around that you’re expecting, or had, a boy or girl.

And though technology has made lives easier for us in many ways, it is still not fool-proof. I can name at least three couples who were told they will be having a boy and so bought everything in blue only to give birth to a girl. You may say that babies are too young to be affected by the double-standards society has set for us, but trust me, it can get quite tedious having to correct people that your baby is a boy even if he’s wearing pink (and vice versa).

And too many blues, even in light shades, can look a tad well… blue. Which is why, when we found out we’re having a son, I invested in a lot of whites with blue accents instead, and all the rest in yellow and green.

They make the baby pictures more interesting too!

Do you remember a time when households had to borrow a camera from a neighbor or an aunt just so the latest addition to the family will have his picture taken? And do you remember a time when pictures are taken only during special occasions like birthdays and the Holidays (you know, those classic poses behind a birthday cake or in front of a Christmas tree?).

Well, in this digital age, that time is no more. Even cellphones can capture a baby’s everyday smiles now. And babies nowadays have hundreds of pictures taken even before they reach the age of one.

So what to do with these pictures?

Well, aside from uploading them to the internet to share with friends and family from afar, or posting printed copies on your ref, bulletin board, door, or bedroom wall, you can also use them for personalized souvenirs and giveaways for special occasions.

Babies Online’s Personalized Gifts section offers so many ways. First, there is the tie-up with Clark Color where registered members can get 15% discount on photo gifts. Now you can paste that sweet face on mugs, teddy bear shirts, buttons and many more. Choose a really great picture and have it printed as a mouse pad, which all your friends are sure to use. For my son’s christening, I had his picture printed on a mug and asked the recipients (via a note inside the mug) to use the mug as a coin-tainer for loose change.

Other personalized gifts offered by Babies Online include Personalized Books and Music CDs. These are sure to tickle your baby pink to hear his or her name read or sung out loud!

And then there’s my personal favorite, The Birthday Chronicles is a must for every scrapbook and would be a brilliant giveaway for christenings and dedications. It would also be lovely to have it framed and every child you have to have one. It’s the best easy reference for how the world was like when you were born. It’s even a perfect birth announcement.

Sure, you can still give cupcakes and pies or knitted and cross-stitched somethings. I’m just saying that you might want to maximize the photos you have painstakingly taken (and with babies, it sure is not always easy to get them looking at the camera!). And there really is so many ways now to personalize gifts, it’s crazy.

ET has confirmed that Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott are pregnant with their second child. This fantastic news is coming along the heels of another good news, that ‘Tori and Dean: Inn Love’ has been picked up for a third season. ‘Tori and Dean: Still Inn Love’ will follow the couple going back to Los Angeles and looking for a pre-school for son Liam Aaron (now ten months old) while preparing for the newest addition to their family.

The couple’s reps have yet to issue an official announcement, however. Tori waited till she was already four months along with Liam before confirming her pregnancy which will probably be the same case for this one. The couple has been outspoken about their desire for another baby soon after having Liam so they must be ecstatic about being blessed yet again.

Yes, if you’re a woman who insists on a drink while you’re breastfeeding, you CAN have a beer. However, the Subcommittee on Nutrition During Lactation (1991) recommends that the nursing mother limits alcohol intake to no more than 0.5 grams of alcohol per kg. of body weight (e.g. a 60 kg-woman is allowed no more than 2 beers, 2 ounces of liquor or 8 ounces of wine per day). Anything more than that may result in development problems for the breastfed baby.

And if you’re one of those who have been advised to drink dark beer (like a Guinness or Heineken Dark or a Cervesa Negra) to boost your milk supply, now is the perfect time for you to also know that it’s a myth. The alcohol will relax you and may make your breasts seem fuller. The alcohol may also increase the prolactin levels in your blood. But these do not necessarily mean that your milk supply has increased. In fact, studies show that milk supply actually drops when a mother has had a drink, but the breasts feeling fuller and the baby sucking more aggressively due to the decrease in milk supply may deceive a mother that she actually produced more milk.

Milk supply will be affected by one’s diet, and establishing a good one will always be affected by proper latching, frequency of feeding, and breastfeeding attitude. And if you can make just one more sacrifice, don’t drink and feed.

Resources:
Having a beer to nurse
Beer, can it really help low milk supply?

I don’t think I can.

A woman in Brighton, England has already given away seven babies and is willing to carry and give away another. She was reported to have said that, “I don’t love the baby and I don’t want the baby for myself – the baby is conceived for my couple.”

This is actually baffling for someone like me, who has seemingly loved my unborn children even before I actually conceived them. Heck, before I found someone worthy to conceive them with even.

The Free Online Dictionary defines surrogate mothers as “a woman who agrees to bear a child for another woman, either through artificial insemination by the other woman’s husband or partner or by carrying until birth the other woman’s surgically implanted fertilized egg”. In a lot of countries, surrogacy is legal provided that only the reasonable expenses are paid for by the prospective parents. These expenses include, but may not be limited to, fertility procedures, prenatal check-ups and lab tests, food allowance, vitamins and/or other drugs required by the surrogate mother. Sometimes, this may also cover a minimal allowance for the mother in case she suffers from loss of income due to the pregnancy.

Surrogate mothers come in various forms and shapes. It can be your sister, your sister-in-law, or your mother. It can be a friend or a stranger a surrogacy agency has set you up with. It can even be outsourced now. But whoever they are, they are heaven sent to couples who are unable to conceive on their own.

Now, many say that a child becomes bonded to his host, usually his mother but in this case, his surrogate mother. Firstly, it’s her voice he hears all the time. Secondly, unborn fetuses seem to share the mother’s emotions through the hormones associated with them. Some studies also suggest that mothers who felt no attachment to their unborn child are more likely to have kids with emotional problems.

So isn’t there some disconnect somehow after the baby is given up?

And yet, there have been many adoptive parents who have lovingly cared for children they didn’t conceive, proving that being a psychological parent is the more important thing to be.

Still, I really don’t think I am made of the same mettle as these surrogate mothers. It must take great courage and a really strong self-concept to be able to nurture a child within you, and then have the grace to give it up.

Are you?

Resources:
Ask Dr. Sears

I had a nephew who did not taste a drop of breastmilk in his short life. And I say ’short life’ because he was diagnosed with a congenital type of cancer at age two. He, Pyro, valiantly fought for over a year but the cancer was too aggressive and his body so young. I had often wondered if things could have gone better for him had he been breastfed. He died at age three.

I was a breastfeeding advocate even before I got married. And when we found out that we were pregnant, we made sure we got all the help we can get to prepare for the baby. We attended breastfeeding seminars and in these seminars we were often told that one of the benefits of breastfeeding is lowering risks for certain types of cancer for both the mother and the child.

So having suffered much pain over the loss of my nephew, I vowed even more to breastfeed my child.

Breastfeeding was one of ten recommendations in the conclusion of a recently published report (Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective) by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR). It was found that after looking at a host of variables with diet, nutrition, weight and activity, lactation was the only one found to lower risk of breast cancer throughout a woman’s life. This is especially good news since the breast cancer that afflicts women before menopause is different from the one they have after menopause. It is believed that the protection is linked to breastfeeding’s effect on a woman’s hormones, which delays the return of menstruation. It has already been established that the fewer menstrual cycles a woman has during her lifetime, the lower her risk for breast cancer gets.

Breastfeeding also protects the child from cancer in two ways. First, breastmilk provides protection from the more common childhood cancers like leukemia by passing on the mother’s antibodies which boosts the baby’s immune system and possibly stops any genetic changes. Secondly, breastfeeding protects from developing obesity in the child, possibly due to the transfer of appetite-regulating hormone leptin. Fats from childhood are carried over into adulthood, an excess of which has been convincingly linked by AICR experts to cause six common cancers: colon, kidney, pancreas, endometrium, adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and post-menopausal breast cancer. Essentially, not being overweight when you were young because you were breastfed will lower your risks for these types of cancer in adulthood.

These findings should especially encourage more women to breastfeed exclusively for six months to get maximum benefits. Furthermore, the longer a woman breastfeeds, the more anti-cancer benefits she gets for herself and gives to her child. Breastfeeding has been touted to have so many benefits and medical research has proven again and again that these are true. There really is no good reason NOT to breastfeed and surely, the threat of cancer is more than enough reason to insist on all the protection one can get… and in breastfeeding’s case, give.

Talk about long-term investments.

Source:
Medical News Today

I don’t know about you but the day I learned that you can shake a baby to death, I actually lost sleep. I was already in college but it was only then that I fully appreciated how fragile a baby really is.

It is a little surprising though, and unfortunate, how many people are still unaware that shaking a baby can be harmful, and how medical attention is delayed because a baby’s silence is usually mistaken for a blessed relief from his squalling.

Dr. Robert Reece, a clinical professor of Pediatrics at the Tufts University School of Medicine, defines Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) as “a term used to describe the constellation of signs and symptoms resulting from violent shaking or shaking and impacting of the head of an infant or small child. The degree of brain damage depends on the amount and duration of the shaking and the forces involved in impact of the head. Signs and symptoms range on a spectrum of neurological alterations from minor (irritability, lethargy, tremors, vomiting) to major (seizures, coma, stupor, death). These neurological changes are due to destruction of brain cells secondary to trauma, lack of oxygen to the brain cells, and swelling of the brain. Extensive retinal hemorrhages in one or both eyes are found in the vast majority of these cases. The classic triad of subdural hematoma, brain swelling and retinal hemorrhages are accompanied in some, but not all, cases by bruising of the part of the body used as a “handle” for shaking. Fractures of the long bones and/or of the ribs may also be seen in some cases. In many cases, however, there is no external evidence of trauma either to the head or the body.”

SBS is usually a result of frustration by an adult, or an adult-sized person, and is thus often related to abuse. Research shows it to be a leading cause of infant mortality in the United States, with an estimated 1,200 to 1,400 children receiving medical treatment for it yearly. Around 25 percent of these babies die. An estimated 80 percent of the survivors, on the other hand, are left with some form of life-long brain injury, ranging from learning disorders to paralysis and retardation.

SBS has been found to more likely result in death compared with short falls, even accidental ones down stairs or from arms of caregivers.

While SBS could be easily prevented, the frustration that results in a shaken baby is not. Babies, some of them high-need, communicate through their cries, something which an exhausted parent or impatient sitter can consider personal. This is all the more reason for parents to prepare themselves for the coming baby.

Sometimes, knowing what to expect is enough. Sometimes, knowing who can be at the end of the line when you’re at the end of your rope can be your saving grace. Warning family members who do not always know their strength may make them avoid rough play or decide to put the baby down for a while when all means to calm it has failed.

On a related note, one state in the country has decided to take the fight against SBS a step further. Child abuse prevention experts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Injury Prevention Research Center and School of Medicine and Duke University Medical Center will undertake a $7 million statewide shaken baby prevention project. The project aims to significantly reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries that occur when frustrated caregivers shake crying babies as well as educate these caregivers to vent frustrations in healthier ways.

Resources:
National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome
Medical News Today – Shaken Baby Project

My pregnancy came in the heels of two deaths in the family, which made it such a blessing that I didn’t wait for the birth to announce something. I sent out handmade (well, printed) Infanticipation Cards to friends and family and relished their glee when they called or e-mailed to congratulate us and wish us good luck after receiving the cards.

Fast forward to about nine months later. Turned out my baby had no intentions of coming out, something I had not counted on. And then I required a C-section, another thing I had not considered. And then our wonderful firstborn was colic, something nobody can really prepare for.

So despite the happy news of a healthy baby, we were not able to send out birth announcements. I just didn’t have the energy to make one, or order some.

Now, granting that most mothers don’t end up as tired and uninspired as I got, here are some tips for those who are planning to send out one:

1) KISS – Keep it Simple and Sweet. One picture would usually suffice. One quote would usually suffice. The necessary details are the date, time, full name of the baby. You can also include his weight and length or probably where he was born.

2) Be creative, unique, inventive – Digiscrap it. Send a bag of rice. Send out a onesie-shaped card in blue or pink. Send out teddy bears in blue or pink. Be funny with rhymes. Use a picture of a clock indicating the time of birth instead, or a picture of the newspaper that day (complete with the headlines). If it was a particularly long labor, say so on the card so the recipients can say the obligatory “Ouch” before their “Congratulations”. Send out chocolates with personalized wrappers.

3) Save Money – print the birth announcement yourself using your printer at home. Or have your digiscrapped layout printed like a photograph or postcard. Get excited friends to order it, and pay for it, for you. Recycle materials. Be resourceful with materials.

4) Utilize the Internet – get ideas for announcement wordings all over the net. Search for suppliers in your area the same way. Compare package prizes. Create a Free Online Birth Announcement or photo slide or video and send this out instead. Register in sites where you can upload pictures of the new baby, like Multiply or Friendster and get your friends to add your baby up!

5) Prepare Beforehand – digiscrap the layout weeks before your expected confinement so that you need only add the details later. Address the envelopes already. Have stamps ready. Buy the CDs (if you’re giving away a compilation of lullabies) ahead of time and burn the ‘album’ and print the labels already. Decide on a particular Bible quote or Chinese Proverb already.

Sending out birth announcements isn’t really imperative, but it is one of the surest ways to spread cheer and goodwill around. More people will also get to celebrate with you, because not everyone will celebrate Valentines, or a birthday, or Christmas, but everywhere in the world, a birth will always be a reason to believe in the wonderful.

Okay, so you have already installed the gates and the proper latches. You’ve purchased a hearth pad, the toilet bowl has a lid lock, the detergents and other household chemicals are all in cabinets not within the baby’s reach. More so, furnitures’ edges have been cushioned and mats have been lined with non-skid material.

You are all set!

Oh no, actually, not yet… unless you have crawled your way around your home.

Though the other measures you have already implemented are not without their merit, most parents usually forget that they are baby proofing their homes (or the hotel room, or grandma’s home) for people coming from a totally different perspective. We tend to protect them from what we can anticipate with our five-to-six feet frame, and yet these kids will spend at least three years on all fours, depending on how soon they learn to walk and how soon they cease from lying on the floor or playing under tables.

So crawl your way around your home and see it from a two-foot perspective. Things like a splinter of wood or a nail hanging out, or a bunch of rope that hasn’t seen the light of day for years under a cabinet can all pose serious dangers to your child. Attend to these to truly have a childproofed home.

Sure, accidents will still happen but at least you can rest easy letting your baby crawl around because you know you’ve given baby proofing your best shot.

E! News reports that Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has been given by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) ten days to respond to a 20-page deficiency report concerning the medical mix up involving the drug heparin.

The incident transpired last November when nurses gave 1,000 times the needed dosage to three patients, two of whom were Dennis Quaid and Kimberly Buffington’s newborn twins. Though the twins and another patient did not suffer adversely from the mix up, it still resulted in a prolonged confinement for fraternal twins Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone, who were born on November 8.

Heparin is a blood thinner generally used when patients receive fluids through a central line to avoid clots forming in that line which can result in death. Too much blood thinner, however, could lead to life-threatening bleeding, or hemorrhages.

Cedars Sinai was quick to acknowledge preventable errors made by their staff in following standard procedures in the administration of a high-alert medication. The infants required only a 10 unit/milliliter dosage but were given a 10,000 unit/milliliter solution by nurses who failed to double check the labels. It was fortunate that a doctor noticed blood oozing from the twins’ IVs in time for the mishap to be corrected. The twins were given protamine to reverse the effects of heparin.

This is not the first time heparin featured in a medical mix up. Back in 2006, nurses at an Indianapolis hospital also made the same mistake which affected six patients and killed three. It could be two incidences too much for actor Dennis Quaid, who has filed a case against heparin-maker Baxter Health Care Corp. for creating a dangerous situation by using nearly identical labels for the 10 unit/milliliter and 10,000 unit/milliliter solution.

Cedars Sinai has already undertaken measures to re-train their medical staff, segregate the high-concentration heparin and review all policies and practices involving all high-risk medications. CDPH will decide on a course of action against the hospital pending their response.

Having suffered from allergic rhinitis most of my life and having required emergency care several times for allergic reactions to pain relievers and, of all things, pancakes, my husband and I have talked about what my allergies could mean for a pregnancy.

Fortunately, I was one of those whose allergies got better while I was pregnant. Pregnancy Weekly estimates that about a third of pregnant women suffer worse allergies during their pregnancies. Another third observes some, or a lot, of improvement while another third do not notice any change in frequency or severity at all.

However, I was not exempted from suffering from non-allergic rhinitis, which most pregnant women experience around the first trimester, when pregnancy hormones are at its peak. At least, it was only mild nasal congestion and not the runny nose, watery eyes and migraine headache type of rhinitis that usually besets me. Imagine having to deal with that while also dealing with all the other pregnancy symptoms!

But what does one really have to keep in mind about allergies during a pregnancy?

Regardless of whether one’s allergies have improved or not, authorities would always advise that you inform your doctor/midwife of your allergy history. Managing allergies during pregnancy is more than possible, it is also very doable. One may not possibly avoid all the triggers but keeping your surroundings clean, from your home to your office desk, is a good start. Use of hand held vacuums will not be backbreaking for the infanticipating mother but will also usually take care of dust and dander.

Minimizing intake of foods that commonly cause allergies, like dairy products and seafood, may also be beneficial provided that a pregnant mother still gets all her caloric requirements and finds other sources for calcium, protein and other minerals. Highly allergic mothers, however, should probably consider avoiding these foods altogether during the pregnancy but should only do so with the supervision of their OB especially since they may require supplements.

Minimizing stress through better time management, task delegation, adoption of calming hobbies, yoga and regular exercise, if allowed by the doctor, will also boost the immune system. Carrying allergy cards, or allergy translation cards when travelling, may also come in handy in case of emergencies where the mother cannot provide an allergy history or other pertinent information.

Although pregnant women are discouraged from taking drugs unless absolutely necessary and without the okay of their doctor, it is also imperative that allergy sufferers do not unnecessarily compromise their bodies, and therefore, their babies. Compromise happens when the allergy gets so bad that one cannot eat or sleep or function properly anymore. Untreated asthma may also result in high blood pressure, toxemia or premature delivery. Given that pregnancy hormones may aggravate allergic reactions, one should also be on the lookout for possible anaphylaxis.

Treatments for rhinitis like nasal saline, antihistamines and decongestants can go a long way in providing relief for the pregnant mom. Asthma medications’ risks to the fetus are also lower compared to the risks of an uncontrolled asthma.

Pregnant women and their partners, should know the fastest way to the hospital in case of an allergy emergency. Lastly, pregnant highly-allergic women should also follow my doctor’s advice and have a slip ready bearing “strong history of allergy” upon admission for the delivery to forewarn the medical staff.

Managing allergies requires a lot of caution and managing allergies while pregnant will require a more constant kind of vigilance. But again, managing allergies during pregnancy is possible and very doable.

It was on E! that I first encountered the term. Celebrity fathers, having tons of disposable income, are all jumping on the push present bandwagon by lavishing baubles (usually of the diamond kind) on the mother of their child after the birth.

Pierce Brosnan was reported to have given his wife diamond and gold bracelets plus a two-week trip to Bora Bora. Ben Affleck supposedly gave Jennifer Garner purply jewelry after daughter Violet’s birth but Jen was reported to have had them returned. Tori Spelling, being the heiress to an empire and therefore having more money, was rumored to have gotten a boob job as a push present to her husband instead.

Push presents (gifts given after the delivery of a child, with the word ?push? referring to labor) have caught on over the years, made more popular by celebrities and even exploited by jewelry makers. Supposedly, it is anything that rewards the mother for all the pregnancy sacrifices she had to make, acknowledges the pain of labor (or being cut), commemorates the birth of a child and celebrates the new addition to the family. It is actually a tradition common in some parts of Europe and Asia (like England and India) that has just been brought into the mainstream.

People are still divided on the wisdom of this practice. Some find it illogical, for why would you reward a woman for something she is biologically programmed to do? Some find it impractical, why spend more money on a material thing when a new baby will already stretch the family budget? Some find it insensitive, that women cannot be happy and grateful enough for having been given the gift of a child while others out there are finding it hard to conceive. Some find it just adds additional stress to the couple because they get sucked into peer pressure, with Daddy having to deliver and Mommy having to get something.

However, some dads like honoring their wives? sacrifices and thus consider them deserving of the treat. Some dads also acknowledge budgetary constraints and their wives? personality and tailor the gift accordingly. After all, push presents need not always be jewelry, or diamonds.

It can be any jewelry with the baby?s birthstone. It can be parenting books to help you both cope with the new baby. It can be salon or spa gift certificates for when the wife wants some pampering. It can be funky and fashionable nursing clothes. It can be Swiss chocolates, especially if she deprived herself of sweets during the pregnancy. It can be a weekend getaway a month after the birth to rekindle the romance in your relationship. It can be as simple as her favorite flowers, or as thoughtful as chores coupons.

So, are you for push presents?