An Alternative to Breastfeeding

 There is agreement among healthcare professionals, infant food manufacturers and mothers that breastfeeding is the best choice for feeding infants during their first four to six months of life.

But, there are several reasons why a mother may not breastfeed her baby:

• • Medical or other health reasons may prevent a mother from breastfeeding.
• • Working outside the home makes it more difficult to breastfeed exclusively, especially if there is no support at her workplace for her to either bring her baby or to express and store her milk.

Tips on Breastfeeding

 Healthcare professionals, infant food manufacturers and mothers agree ... breastfeeding is the best choice for feeding infants during their first four to six months of life. It provides complete nutrition and helps to support the infant's immune system until it begins functioning on its own.

Breastfeeding is a natural process that enables each mother to nourish and nurture her baby. But breastfeeding is not always simple or easy. Learning the "whens" and the "hows" of breastfeeding will ensure a good start to a healthy relationship.

Childbirth Epidural

What it is:  Anesthesia administered to a laboring mother into the epidural space at the base of the spine to numb the lower body. It decreases or eliminates sensations to that area of the body.   

When they are used:  According to Holly Richardson, CD(DONA) of childbirth.org, "Nationwide, the overall rate runs consistently over 85%"  Epidurals are given to laboring women planning vaginal births based on her decision to receive one and they are also used in lieu of general anesthesia in the event of a cesarean section.  When I say 'based on her decision to receive one' I do not mean to imply that all or even most pregnant mothers are made aware of the benefits and drawbacks of the procedure.

Electronic Fetal Monitoring (EFM)

What it is:  There are two types,  external and internal.  External EFM is done by placing two straps around the laboring woman’s abdomen that measure fetal heart rate and uterine contractions.  Internal EFM is done after the membranes have ruptured (or been ruptured) by placing a small corkscrew shaped wire into the baby’s presenting part (head or buttocks) and a catheter placed into the cervix to measure uterine contractions.   

When they are used:  Once again it varies.  ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) recommends EFM be used intermittently, for 15 minutes every hour.  Some hospitals and physicians use them perpetually from admittance into the hospital and some do not use them at all, using instead a stethoscope to monitor heart tones in the undelivered baby.   

Childbirth Routine Procedures

There are many procedures that a laboring woman’s physician or hospital  may offer or even insist upon, varying from seemingly benign monitoring procedures to analgesia and anesthesia to birthing position.  Here we will take a look at some of the more routine procedures and their risks, benefits and reasons for being performed.  My purpose here is not to say that any of these procedures do not have their place in certain birthing situations, only to point out what possible risks and side-affects their routine use can lead to.

Childbirth Classes

Not all childbirth education classes are created equal.  Prepared childbirth offered by a hospital, birth center, or physician's group is typically a class teaching physiological changes during pregnancy and labor as well as information to prepare the couple for delivery in that particular setting.  It does not necessarily mean instruction in birth options.

There are three different types of childbirth educators that I am aware of:  the independent educator; the educator employed by a hospital or birth center; and the educator employed by a physician or group of physicians. 

Antibiotics Aside

Even so, some skeptics are beginning to question antibiotics’ near-universal use for AOM — including parents like Rebecca Keith, a Seattle mother of two, who has experienced firsthand antibiotics’ law of diminishing returns. Her son Alec, now five, began suffering frequent, painful episodes of acute otitis media when he was one. “For the first year, he was on amoxicillin a lot,” Keith recalls. “But after a while it stopped working. So we went through a string of others: Septra, Augmentin, Vantin, you name it. Sometimes he’d have to take three different drugs in a row before the infection would finally clear up.”

Just Say No

Each year, more than 100 million antibiotic prescriptions are issued in the United States, and many of those are written for children. Last fall, a coalition that included the CDC and the American Medical Association launched a nationwide publicity campaign to promote the more judicious use of antibiotics. Among the key targets for their message: parents, pediatricians’ offices, and childcare centers.

Inject, inject, and smear on all manner of antibiotics to combat your ailments

Just over a half century ago, death from such diseases as pneumonia, tuberculosis, and meningitis were common. But the introduction of penicillin and other antibiotics during World War II revolutionized medicine and saved countless lives. Today, we routinely ingest, inject, and smear on all manner of antibiotics to combat our ailments.

But there’s trouble in paradise. Rather than passively succumbing to antibiotics, bacteria constantly evolve new strains to deflect the drugs’ firepower. For decades, drugmakers were able to stay one step ahead of the microbes with revamped antibiotics.

Too Much of a Good Thing?

 It all happened so fast, recalls Suzanne Michaelson. One minute she was getting ready to put her feverish three-year-old, Katie, to bed. The next, her daughter was foaming at the mouth, eyes rolling back in her head, and Michaelson was screaming to her husband to call 911.

Before long, an ambulance arrived to speed Katie to Children’s Hospital in Columbus, about ten miles from the Michaelsons’ suburban Ohio home.

St. Valentine's Day Crafts

• Try decorating with paper ring chains. Cut strips of red, pink, and white construction paper and tape the together the ends and form a linked chin. To further decorate them, you can color hearts on them first, or use stickers.  

• Another fun idea is to cut hearts and cupids out and tape them to a window. We used to tape them to our huge picture window when we were children. Then hang the chain up around the window frames.  

How to make your own Baby Board Books

Supplies You'll Need

•     30X20 Foam Board
•     Old Sales Ads (Any will do)
•     Glue or paste
•     Clear Contact Paper
•     Yarn or that plastic weaving thread
•     Carpenters knife, or sissor blade
•     Nail
•     Yard stick, and pencil
•     TLC

Birth Options

Many of you have noticed that the topic of pregnancy has been missing from my site.  The reason for this is that I never had anything particularly useful to impart on the topic of pregnancy and childbirth, this is due largely in part because of my own unresolved feelings regarding my first birth.  During my first pregnancy, my fear of pain during childbirth was much greater than my need for knowledge.  I think I even instinctively knew that if I did too much research on birth options I would likely find out information to discredit the method I was going with…which was as pain free as I could manage to get.  I read What to Expect When Your Expecting, a bland book devoid of birthing options and we attended hospital offered ‘prepared childbirth’ classes.

Pregnant tips for Eating

    Many women think that when they become pregnant it means they can eat anything they want. This is not true. What you eat during pregnancy can really affect the health of your baby and your own pregnancy, actually making it easier.

•         Your daily energy needs will increase by only 300 calories per day (100 calories = one slice of bread and one small piece of fruit), and this only during the second and third trimesters.
•         Vitamin and mineral needs, on the other hand, are high from conception to delivery. So, you must eat more nutrients for the same (or slightly more) calories.

Staying Healthy During Pregnancy

When you are pregnant it is even more important to stay healthy than when you are not pregnant because everything your body deals with your baby also has to deal with. To help your-self and your baby to be as healthy as possible, some simple measures can be taken.

1) See your doctor as soon as you think you may be pregnant.

    A doctor can provide you and your baby with special care when necessary and will keep track of how both of you are progressing throughout the pregnancy.

Fetal Movement

Q.     I am 16 weeks pregnant for my first time. I am sooooo anxious to feel some kind of life inside of me, but I haven't yet. How much longer before I get to feel my first “signs” of this little person being alive? Maybe I am a little impatient, but after the first three months of being incredibly sick, I feel like I deserve a little flutter of joy.

A.     Lots of women don't feel the baby until even 20 weeks. Think goldfish, butterfly, fluttery. My kid, however, first said hello with one big punch. By the way, the due date is 40 weeks from the first day of your last menstrual period.

Frugal Holiday Basics

Here are some guidelines for coming up with inexpensive solutions to holiday mayhem, though it really applies year round. Some of this info may seem old and outdated, but it is rooted in classic frugality! I have gleaned these things from many years of frugal holidays, as well as reading lots of great books on frugality, my favorites being the The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyzyn and some of the books about the Great Depression. It is amazing how resourceful you can be when you have to be or choose to be , without having to give up your quality of living.

Get Involved!

One of the ways we have brought our family closer together is by doing service for others. A great deal of the service opportunities that we have been able to take advantage of, were born out of our involvement in our community. 

My wife and I have been part of the Friends of the Library group in our town. This involvement has given us and our children the chances to be involved with the campaign for a new library and the many fun and fulfilling activities that have gone along with that. 

Keeping Your Cool When All Around You Is Chaos.

The toddlers are playing up, the baby is crying again, the washing needs folding, you can't see the floor, and hubby is due home any minute for the tea you haven't had a moment to think about, let alone prepare. Sometimes you just have to accept that you are not having a good day and make the most of it. The problem with these sorts of days, is that they seem to come as an endless stream of them. It tires you out, wears you down, and life becomes no fun at all. What can you do about it?

Having more than one small child in the house, is always going to be a hassle. Add a baby to the mix, who does not sleep through the night, and seems to need feeding constantly, and you have the recipe for a very demanding time.

An Alternative Way when you just Can't Get Pregnant

Trying to get pregnant is a frustrating and sometimes heartbreaking business. There are those of us with medical problems. We seem to endure an endless round of embarrassing tests. The concept of fertility, or lack thereof seems unending and for many women unbearable, as they question the very essence of what makes them women. There have been huge inroads made by the medical profession into this problem though, and most weeks we can pick up a paper or magazine and read again of somebody's 'miracle' child. It gives us the hope to keep trying for a child of our own.

About Us

Thank you for visiting my Home-page. There are a lot of great things about being your family, but there's also a lot of extra problems. There are times when you may feel you would like to have someone to take care of you.There will be other times when you'll want to be free to do what you like, without the responsibility of taking care of a child. It will make a difference if you are on your own with your child, or if you have a partner. It will make a difference if you have the blessing and practical support of your family. These things can make it much easier or much harder to be a teenage parent. Being a parent is one of the most difficult things you can do, but it is the most important....and it can be fun. We Share your thoughts and feelings. Please come back and visit again! Enjoy your visit.

So your pregnant and your thinking what know?

So your pregnant and your thinking what know? There are choices open to you none of them are easy but the important thing to remember is this is your body, your life and your decision. Nobody but you can decide whats best for you, take peoples advice, talk to people and listen to them but its you that makes the final disition.

Keeping the baby
 

Keeping the baby may seem like the right thing to do and in many cases it is but this does not mean that its right for you.

All about Baby weaning

Equipment needed

You need not spend a great deal of money of weaning equipment and you will find that most of the things you already have around the house. You should look at equipment that the baby can use later on to help them feed themselves that way you will not have to splash out again.
 

High chair:
 

You will need a high chair or a clip on chair that can be clipped onto a table make sure you buy a chair with lap and shoulder safety harnesses

Gift Money & the Three-Part Rule

When you take a look around at folks who have or have had financial difficulties, oftentimes, the source of the problem is a lack of understanding of how money should be allocated when initially acquired. Maybe a person has just been hired into a position that pays much more or has just launched what he expects to be a successful business venture. With stars in his eyes, he goes out and purchases all the new toys he ever wanted. Six months later, he can't pay his bills because the income he predicted never came in, or his assets are tied up in material goods. (Now granted, this is not always the reason for money issues, because sometimes people simply fall into hard times, whether it's due to the economy or serious illness or a myriad of other reasons.)

Keep Your Kids Safe Online

Thousands of children and young people use the Internet every day without any problems at all, but  we’ve all heard about it’s darker side and the danger they could find themselves in. Here are ten quick tips  to make sure that your kids enjoy using this wonderful resource without putting themselves at risk.

1. The most important thing you can do to ensure    your child’s safety on the Internet is to be there when they are using it. Don’t let children surf in their bedrooms or in a separate room to the rest of the family.