- Keep in touch:
- (mis)Adventures in Reproduction: Diagnosing Bad Luck
- Simon Says “Let’s Stop Climate Change”
- (mis)Adventures in Reproduction: An Update
- Expecting Great Things: A Toast to the End of 2010
- Holiday Gifts for the TTC Gal in Your Life
- Holiday Musings from an Infertile
- Life After Miscarriage: How does this story end?
- Life After Miscarriage: Who is that in the mirror?
- Life After Miscarriage: The Place Where Pain & Grief Meet Closure
- Life After Miscarriage: Recovering from Surgery and More
Recent Blog Posts
How Will The Health Care Bill Affect My Pregnancy?
The recent passing of the health care bill has been big news this week. While there are those who are thrilled with the news and those who are less than excited, one thing remains true – in form or another, this bill will have an affect on every person in some form or another. However, it can be hard to cut through all of the excess and figure out the hard facts.
A question many pregnant women are facing today is:
How will the health care bill affect my pregnancy?
Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker, has been quoted saying that the bill features help for women’s health care issues: “It’s personal for women. After we pass this bill, being a woman will no longer be a pre-existing medical condition.”
Immediate Effects For Women:
- Insurance companies will no longer be able to charge higher premiums on the basis of gender.
- All health plans will also now be required to cover maternity and newborn care, as well as pediatric services expanded to include dental and vision care.
- Medicaid will expand services to pregnant women and new mothers, offering more family planning services, home visiting programs and postpartum education and support.
- Working moms will also get a boost, as employers will be required to offer breaks and space for nursing mothers to pump breast milk.
Read more about how the health care bill affects women at Forbes.com.
Check out The Washington Post for a calculator to find out how the health bill will affect your health care costs.
Choice Moms: Becoming A Single Mom by Choice
Thanks to Mikki Morrissette for her wonderful comments about Pea In The Podcast on her website:
“The Pea in the Podcast is one of the best I’ve seen for women in the waiting-to-deliver room.”
ChoiceMoms.org was created as a resource for women who for whatever reason find themselves a single parent. Subjects covered by the website include trying to conceive, becoming a new mom and resources for being the best parent possible. There are several upcoming events in different cities which are “designed to connect like-minded women who are thinking, trying, waiting, being or becoming single mothers by choice.”
New Study Finds Acupuncture May Ease Depression During Pregnancy
According to March of Dimes, over twenty percent of women experience some form of depression symptoms during their pregnancy. Treatment for these symptoms is very important to ensure the safety of the mother and baby. However, some anti-depressants are known to have negative side-effects for pregnant women. No wonder the blogosphere has been abuzz lately with news that depression during pregnancy may be offset by acupuncture treatments. A recent study from Stanford University School of Medicine found that women treated with depression-specific acupuncture had a 63 percent response rate compared to a 44 percent response rate in women treated with control acupuncture or massage. Dr. Shari Lusskin, director of reproductive psychiatry at the New York University Langone Medical Center, while excited about the new findings mentions that this is not an end-all cure. “This is one treatment, and perhaps it will become another possible treatment tool in our therapeutic toolbox,” said Lusskin. “Acupuncture is not a substitute for the appropriate use of antidepressant therapy especially in women with a prior history of response to antidepressants.”
5 Pregnancy & Baby Apps For iPhone
You’ve seen the doctor and you’ve read every baby and pregnancy book out there. What next? Who says you can’t have a little fun with this incredible nine-month long journey. Use these iPhone apps to help keep track of all of your pregnancy details from date of conception to the birth of your newborn.
1. Pregnancy Tracker
Keep track of your baby’s development – and your fast-growing belly – week-by-week, read the latest posts from the WTE message board community, get daily tips for each day of your pregnancy, and more!
- Due-date calculator
- Week-by-week details on your baby’s amazing growth and development
- Weekly baby illustrations
- Updates on your changing body
- Slideshow of your belly pictures
- Countdown to your due date!
2. NineMonths – Contraction & Movement Timer
Ninemonths is an app that will come in handy towards the end of your pregnancy because it tracks movement and contractions. From their website: “Designed under the supervision of a board certified OBGYN Dr. Herbert S. Coussons. Our goal was to build an extremely simple to use application that computes results in a form that can be read directly to your medical team. Clinical beta testing has produced fantastic results and we are excited to release NineMonths to all mothers/fathers to be.”
3. Baby Tracker: Nursing
New moms, listen up! Looking for a quick and easy way to keep track of your nursing sessions? This iPhone app will save you time and trouble with a timer and log to keep track of your nursing session details.
4. Foods to Avoid When Pregnant
As we discuss in our nutrition podcast, what you eat during pregnancy is very important. Use this handy iphone app to help you make the right nutrition choices for you and your baby.
5. Pregnancy Calendar
Keep track of your weight during pregnancy, get week by week pregnancy progress updates and even create a birth plan! This app helps you prep everything you need for your trip to the birthing room: medical information, what you want to bring, people to contact, etc.
Babymoons: One Last Hoorah
It can be argued that pregnancy is one of the most exciting times in a person’s life – and not just women. This is a time to be celebrated, when a couple can bond over the experience of planning to bring a new little life into the world. It’s no surprise that this also a time where couples choose to take a vacation – one last trip before their lives change forever. The concept of a “babymoon” is becoming something of a trend these past few years among expecting couples. One last vacation before “the happy couple” becomes “the happy family.”
Check out our podcast for more information on how to pick the best time to take a babymoon and how to find the best destination for your needs.
Circumcision: It’s YOUR choice!
The New York Times says “Public health officials are considering promoting routine circumcision for all baby boys born in the United States to reduce the spread of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS.”
I do not understand this at all.
The study on which this idea is based was done awhile back on African men in an area where AIDS is rampant and condom use is rare. I cannot imagine a study with less relevance to the lives of American men.
If American men are practicing safe sex — i.e. condoms use, etc — what does their foreskin have to do with anything? Absolutely nothing. So are we promoting safe sex, or are we promoting circumcision, CDC? I don’t get it?
I have not spoken with a single doctor who says there is any reason at all to recommend routine circumcision of boy babies, and I have talked to a lot of doctors. It is a choice parents can make, and many do, for many reasons. That is what is great about being a parent…you get to make that choice.
If you choose to circumcise your boy baby, I support you in that choice (which is actually none of my business, anyway, so who cares what I think?). There are religious reasons and cultural reasons and personal reasons that make circumcision the best choice for many families.
If you don’t choose to circumcise your boy baby, that is also a perfectly valid choice. According to Baylor College of Medicine pediatrician Dr. Sara Rizvi (and she is far from alone), there is no medical reason to circumcise .
I, personally, would never choose to circumcise a boy child (barring some great new revelation about the practice), even if the Centers for Disease Control was actively promoting it, particularly if that promotion was based on the suspect assertion that the practice might decrease the H.I.V. infection rate in America.
That is my choice.
The American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend circumcision of baby boys. I does not not recommend it. It’s the Switzerland of the circ debate. It says (although I understand it may be rethinking its language)…
“Existing scientific evidence demonstrates potential medical benefits of newborn male circumcision; however, these data are not sufficient to recommend routine neonatal circumcision. In circumstances in which there are potential benefits and risks, yet the procedure is not essential to the child’s current well-being, parents should determine what is in the best interest of the child.”
The bolding and italics were added by me lol, because that’s how I feel. This is a parent’s decision. No one else’s. What you decide for your baby is no one else’s business.
The end.
For much more on caring for your newborn, from their foreskin (or circumcision) to their belly button and so much more, please listen to what our wonderful pediatrician has to say in our Pea in the Podcast on Caring For Your Newborn.
My Daughter’s Car Seat Saved Her Life
One gray morning last week my daughter and I were in a terrible car accident.My beautiful four year old and I careened off the road at between 60 and 70 miles an hour. We launched through a guardrail and began to roll. I don’t know how many times.
Then, in a quiet field in rural Texas, motion stopped.
Most of this I know because it has been told to me. I have been told that my car and another collided along the highway. We were traveling the speed limit, but that was fast. I lost control of my SUV.
I lost control.
My baby was in the car.
I remember snapshots. Frozen images on which I fixate. I can’t remember what came before. I can’t remember what came after. So I loop what I remember until I realize my heart is racing, I’m drenched in sweat and I’ve lost my breath.
I see a guardrail. I think of my baby. I see an airbag. The fabric has a pattern on it. I think of my baby. I smell something acrid like gunpowder. I think of my baby.
The car rests. There is a shower of blood.
I think of my baby.
“Baby, are you okay?” (Please God, please let my baby be okay)
“I’m okay, mommy!”
I turn to see the eager face of my saucer-eyed child. It looks…it looks like she might really be okay!
She didn’t have a single scratch on her. Not one. Her perfect pink skin remains unbroken. Unblemished. Unbruised.
The blood was all mine. Thank God. I am recovering from a head and hip wound after being taken by helicopter to the hospital, but I, too, am okay.
This is what remains of my SUV.
How is it even possible that my daughter was unhurt?
She was firmly strapped into her car seat with its five point harness. That car seat was tightly connected to the “latches” embedded in the rear seat of the car. It was positioned in the center.*
I am not one to advertise for a particular brand of car seat (unless they’re paying me obscene amounts of money lol. Not the case here). The National Traffic Highway Safety Administration says “all car seats rated by NHTSA meet Federal Safety Standards & strict crash performance standards.” You can evaluate the safety of the car seat you’ve chosen for your child here. I don’t think you have to go deeply into debt to get a safe car seat for your baby.
That said, my child was protected by her Britax Marathon. Her head does not yet reach the top of this particular child safety seat, and the sides seem to surround her. I think that may have shielded her from the variety of things that were flying around as we were rolling.
But I believe the most important contributing factor to my daughter’s survival of this devastating crash was the proper installation of the seat, and the fact that she was properly strapped in. In fact, a police officer has told me as much. But this is not as simple as it seems.
The good folks at SeatCheck.org tell us 7 out of 10 kids in child safety seats are not buckled in properly. The NHTSA tells us motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children between 2 and 14 years old. I think that is reason enough to check your car seat. Make sure it’s properly installed. Make sure you know how to buckle your baby in correctly.
You don’t have to figure this out on your own.
The NHTSA knows who the experts in child safety seat installation and use are where you live, and they have a searchable database. It wouldn’t hurt to stop by and let the experts help you out.
This isn’t the first time we at Pea in the Podcast have talked about child safety seats, and it probably won’t be the last. Hopefully it will be the last time I will share such a personal story with you about the importance of car seats and proper installation.
Please, take another look at the picture at the top of this blog posting. The newspaper photo.
That’s my car.
That’s my baby.
Alive. Amen.
-Bonnie
*Several smart parents have informed me that many cars do not have “latches” for center positioning, so please check your owner’s manual before latching your car seat in the center.
Bored? Fun Ideas To Get Active During Pregnancy
We all know kids — and parents — in our northern climes go a little stir crazy when they’re housebound in the winter. But those of us south of the Mason-Dixon are stuck in the house NOW. The temperature is hovering around 100 nearly every day. It’s too hot to even think about thinking about going outside.
If you’re in late pregnancy, this is a giant disaster! You feel like a whale who somehow beached itself on the sun. Awesome!
But as I listen to my four year old sigh with a pitiful yearning because she’s bored! bored! bored! I realize we must DO something about this. Thomas the Tank Engine isn’t cutting it.
So what do I do? I dunno. I am so bad at the “fun activities” portion of parenting. There are only so many batches of muffins you can make and puzzles you can do.
I have a friend who is a pro at this stuff, so when I’m out of ideas, I turn to her. She is a lawyer-turned-stay-at-home-mom to a five, four and one year old, so she needs to be! She posted much of the following recently at her own blog, The Runaway Lawyer, but she agreed to guest blog here.
Though most of you who read this site are pregnant, or hoping to get pregnant, lots of you have older kids, or nieces and nephews or friends’ kids you may be asked to entertain, whether it’s a sweltering summer day, a bitter winter day, or just a rainy day. Hopefully, The Runaway Lawyer has some ideas that will help…
Make your own sidewalk chalk. We’ll have to try that – we go through the stuff like water.
National Geographic-sponsored Geography site for kids: My Wonderful World.
Make your own Word Search. I made one with all the kids’ names and pets names and such – you could make one with all of your child’s interests or local place names, too.
Simple Recipes for Kids including special diets (gluten free, vegetarian, etc.)
DLTK’s Chore Chart Generator. Ok, this one is fun for moms, maybe not so much for kids. I told the Beastlings that I would give them a penny per check mark at the end of the week and that was enough to motivate them…for at least the first week. That site has a ton of other activities as well – definitely worth checking out.
Summer activities from Activity Village.
Mazes from All Kids Network.
First School: Preschool activities and crafts. A wealth of ideas for the parent and homeschooler.
Kids-R-Crafty: This site offers activity sheets, coloring pages, dot-to-dots, mazes, vocabulary and worksheets in both English and French.
Making Learning Fun: Preschool and early childhood activities and printables to make learning enjoyable for parents and child.
The Crafty Crow, for you advanced as well as beginner crafters.
Enchanted Learning for complete early learning curriculum – absolutely brilliant and HUGE site – if you have small children, you must check it out.
——————–
Thanks, Runaway Lawyer! Time to get my kid off the couch, grab a muffin, and DO something!
Top Baby Names of 2008: Make Way for Emma!
OK, moms-to-be, get out your list of names. Today’s the day you find out if every child in America has the name you have your heart set on for your baby.
For 2008, the top name for girls — after 12 years of Emily supremacy — is Emma. Emma also happens to be my dog’s name. It’s very confusing on the playground! 
Number one for boys, for the tenth year in a row………..(drumroll, please)…..
Jacob.
Here are the top names of 2008, according to the SSA…
- Jacob
Emma - Michael
Isabella - Ethan
Emily - Joshua
Madison - Daniel
Ava - Alexander
Olivia - Anthony
Sophia - William
Abigail - Christopher
Elizabeth - Matthew
Chloe
Note: Rank 1 is the most popular, rank 2 is the next most popular, and so forth.
Some unusual names made their debut on the SSA hot 1,000 this year…
These names include Isla (623), Mareli (718), Dayami (750), Nylah (821) and Jazlene (831) to name a few for the girls. For the boys: Aaden (No. 343), Chace (655), Marley (764), Kash (779), Kymani (836), Ishaan (851), Jadiel (874) and Urijah (889). Social Security officials expressed hope that parents were not naming their sons Marley after the badly behaved dog who starred in the movie “Marley and Me.” Beckham also made the list for the first time, coming in at number 893—undoubtedly influenced by the arrival in the United States of British soccer star David Beckham.
…and a shout out to the President!
The name everybody is wondering about, Barack, did not make this year’s top 1,000 boy’s list, but it did set what is believed to be a record by skyrocketing more than 10,000 spots in rising from number 12,535 in 2007 to 2,409 in 2008. Social Security’s sophisticated predictive models are forecasting an increase well into the top 1,000 for Barack for 2009.
Another spelling of the popular boy’s name “Aidan” (my daughter’s name) has made it’s way on to the list (Aaden). Greeeeeeeeaaaaaaaat.
The Social Security Administration doesn’t account for alternative spellings when it compiles its list, but our baby naming expert does. Jennifer Moss wrote the book on baby names, and here is Moss’s list of the big baby names for 2008. Aidan has been the number one boys’ name there for a long, long, long time.
I spoke with Jennifer in our Pea in the Podcast: What’s in a Name? about what you can do if you have your heart set on a name that is overwhelmingly popular these days, like Aidan (meaning: little fire) or Emma or Emily or Jacob. In fact, naming your baby is such a momumental responsibility, it might be a good idea to give this podcast a listen no matter what you’re thinking about naming your baby! Jennifer is a great resource for all things having to do with naming your baby.
Good luck with this intimidating decision!
Remember, Pea in the Podcast has a fan page on Facebook. Please join us! We’d love to have you.
We also tweet. We’d love it if you’d follow us on Twitter.
-Bonnie
VBAC Is the New Black! Why VBAC Is Making a Comeback
One of the mommies featured in our Pea in the Podcast on VBACs is pregnant again! Yay! Kim’s story of her succesful vaginal birth after a c section is inspiring, and here’s hoping she has another successful VBAC.
If you’re interested in trying for a VBAC, the International Cesarean Awareness Network website is loaded with information for you, including a checklist that will get you started.
But of course the first place you should go is to Pea in the Podcast to hear Kim’s story. I would be proud of her even if she hadn’t been one of my best friends since second grade! 
To be clear, if Kim has another c-section, that would not be the end of the world. I will be just as proud of her. Having a healthy baby is the most important thing, no matter how they’re delivered! Sometimes a c-section is necessary. That’s how my girl got here!
If you’re pregnant for the first time, VBAC is not one of the millions of things you will have to consider before your baby’s birthday. However, you may want to prepare yourself for the possibility that you might have a c-section, no matter what you’ve planned (I planned a peaceful natural childbirth, in dim room with soft music and liberal use of the birthing suite’s jacuzzi tub). To familiarize yourself with what would happen should you end up giving birth to your baby with the help of a surgeon, please check out our Pea in the Podcast on cesarean sections.
-Bonnie
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