Over 600,000 Bobby Chupete pacifiers have been recalled. The mouthguard is too small and is a choking hazard for infants and toddlers. The pacifiers are distributed by the Grand World company.
For more information and pictures of the pacifiers, visit the Web site of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Nope. Sometimes genetics plays a part (for example, you and your mom both have a uniquely shaped uterus, a liver disease, diabetes or high blood pressure), but usually your mom’s birthing history will not impact yours.
C-section, or cesarean delivery, can be a lifesaving operation when either you or your baby face certain problems before or during labor and delivery. Read more about reasons for cesarean section and watch our videos at this link. Many women who deliver surgically never planned to do so, but an emergency made it necessary. Some health care experts, however, believe that other, non-emergent c-sections are not medically necessary. A cesarean section is major surgery and should be done only when the health of the mother or baby is at risk. Even if you had your first baby via cesarean delivery, you may or may not need to deliver a second baby that way. It all depends on the reasons for performing the first cesarean and how the incisions were placed in your body. It’s important to discuss this with your health care provider before your next birth experience.
Assuming your preconception visit with your health care provider shows you’re in good shape physically, conception may depend on the type of birth control you have been using.
• If you have an IUD (intrauterine device), you can start trying to get pregnant as soon as you have the device removed.
• Barrier methods (such as condoms, diaphragms and spermicides) stop working as soon as you stop using them.
• If you’ve been on birth control pills, you may not have regular periods for a month or two after stopping the pills.
• If you take Depo-Provera, it can take from three months to one year to ovulate regularly after your last injection.
Check out our ovulation calculator to get an idea of your most fertile days. If you have irregular periods, it may be more difficult to determine the best time to conceive, so talk with your doc or midwife about what’s best for you.
“Thank you for the advice,” I said with a fake smile and walked away. I recently endured a 10 minute lecture from a woman I’d never met before. I was minding my own business, just trying to order a cup of tea when she said, “Oh, your baby is so cute! How old is she? Is she sleeping through the night?” Thank you, 9 months and no, not yet. She started in with, “well, this is what you have to do…when my daughter…” I’ll spare you the annoying details, but she rambled on and on about letting the baby cry-it-out and yada, yada, yada. She kept repeating, “you HAVE to! You just HAVE to do it!”
I kept thinking, is this lady for real? Let’s get something straight here. I don’t just HAVE to do anything. And, the way I care for my child is none of your B.I. business! (BTW - What does that mean? I’ve been saying that since I was a kid and I have no clue. It is a NY thing I wonder?) It was almost like she had this rehearsed speech ready to go in the event she stumbles across some innocent, unsuspecting mother in a coffee shop. The last thing she asked as she looked me up and down was, “and you are married, right?” Walk away, Anne. Just walk away.
Sharing our experiences as mothers is a beautiful thing. I encourage this sort of exchange for a living, but holy cow! There has to be a better way to encourage each other without being offensive. I’ve been noticing (and experiencing first hand) that women can be very hard on each other. Do you know what I’m talking about?
It used to be that pregnancy finally offered a good reason to sit down and put your feet up. But times have changed. Most pregnant women in good health should try to get 30 minutes of aerobic exercise (walking, swimming, dancing) on most, if not all, days. Dang! No excuse to snooze here!
Most of us are aware of the many benefits of exercise, but when you’re pregnant and feeling wiped out? Actually, regular exercise gives you a healthy buzz helping you feel better physically and emotionally, and the calories burned help prevent outrageous weight gain. Exercise can relieve stress (what stress?) and build up stamina needed for labor and delivery. It can help prevent gestational diabetes, a form of diabetes that sometimes develops during pregnancy. It can also help women cope during the postpartum period (did someone say stress again?) Exercise can help new moms keep the “baby blues” at bay, regain their energy and lose the weight they gained during pregnancy. All good stuff, so go for it!
But before you go out and run a marathon, talk with your health care provider. Not all pregnant women should exercise, especially if they are at risk of preterm labor or suffer from a serious ailment, such as heart or lung disease. So check with your doc or midwife before you start an exercise program.
Next, pick things you think you’ll like. Who’s going to stick with a routine that’s a total drag, even if it is good for you? Make it fun - try several things. Check out running, hiking or dancing, if you like. (Belly dancing for pregnant women is an absolute hoot!) Brisk walking for 30 minutes or more is an excellent way to get the aerobic benefits of exercise, and you don’t need to join a health club or buy any special equipment. I found swimming at the local YWCA a great sport, especially in the third trimester when my knees were hurting me. The water supports the weight of your growing body, protects your joints and provides resistance that helps bring your heart rate up. Our colleague Anne got a real charge out of yoga classes designed for pregnant women. You may find that a variety of activities helps keep you motivated to continue exercising throughout your pregnancy - and beyond.
Be careful when choosing a sport. Avoid any activities that put you at high risk for injury, such as horseback riding or downhill skiing. Stay away from sports in which you could get hit in the belly, such as ice hockey, kickboxing or soccer. Especially after the third month, avoid exercises that require you to lie flat on your back. Lying on your back can restrict the flow of blood to the uterus and endanger your baby. Finally, never scuba dive. As great as the water feels to you, this sport may lead to dangerous gas bubbles in the baby’s circulatory system.
When you exercise, pay attention to how you feel. Don’t overdo it—try to build up your level of fitness gradually. If you have any serious problems, such as vaginal bleeding, dizziness, headaches, chest pain, decreased fetal movement or contractions, stop exercising and contact your health care provider immediately.
With a little bit of caution, you can achieve or maintain a level of fitness that would shock your grandmother. You’ll feel and look better. And yes, you can still put your feet up—after you’ve come back from your walk.
For more information, read the March of Dimes fact sheet Fitness for Two.
When I’m frazzled I love to go dig in the dirt. My daughter does, too. When she is at home and the kids are napping, she’ll go poke around in the flower beds or weed the veggie patch. She made fabulous mud pies as a child! There’s something very satisfying about prompting things to grow, too.
We were chatting last night about harvesting all the basil and making pesto before the first frost comes. (Guess what’s for dinner?) Time to finish pickling and putting by the rest of the goodies, too. We also talked about soon having to put down manure or fertilizer and other things to beef up the soil over the winter. This got my husband saying that he needed to fertilize the lawn a couple more times before heavy frost - this guy is way into green grass and hates a weedy lawn.
These are all good things that you may be thinking about soon, too. But they got me thinking that it’s important to make sure you keep your kids off the lawn while the fertilizer is going down. If your troops are more like a bunch of wild giggling goofballs who run around in bare feet in all weather like ours, you’ll want to be sure they’re not up to their ankles in potentially poisonous chemicals. So read the labels and corral the kids with pumpkin carving and apple bobbing if necessary.
We are proud to announce that we have been named to the 2009 Working Mother 100 Best Companies list and are the only nonprofit advocacy organization included.
Now in its 24th year, the Working Mother 100 Best Companies program draws attention to the significant contributions working mothers make to industries and the companies that recognize the importance of tapping this essential labor pool. Profiles of the 100 Best Companies, as well as national comparisons, are in the October issue of Working Mother and at workingmother.com.
“The Working Mother 100 Best Companies stand head and shoulders above the rest,” said Carol Evans, CEO, Working Mother Media. “For example, in the last year, we saw the number of companies nationwide offering flexible work arrangements diminish five percentage points, while the 100 Best Companies stayed steady at 100 percent. The 100 Best provide leadership where and when we need it most, furnishing a framework of support for working families during good times and bad. If all companies adopted these best practices, more families could weather the economic storm,” she added.
Is your company on the list?
How do you decide on the right name? Is it tradition in your family to name a boy after his dad or grandpa? (What if Gramps’ name was Ruprect, or Nana’s name was Azubah… no offense to the Ruprects and Azubahs out there!) Do you want to avoid tradition and come up with something new? Do you like currently trendy names, like Tiffany or Jason? Do you want to be really creative and craft a name that nobody else has used, like Uniquah? (Be careful and ask yourself if you would want to be saddled with that name for life!)
When we were thinking up names for our children, I bought a huge book on names and what they all mean. Sometimes I’d land upon a name that I loved the sound of, but then discovered it meant something weird like rock fungus or fish slime – not something I really wanted to be calling my offspring! So I’d keep looking. I ended up naming my son Nathan, which means gift – and he certainly has been that to us. I named my daughter after a flowering groundcover that I’ve loved for as long as I can remember and she has always been absolutely beautiful to me.
So you’ve picked a fabulous name and you’re all set… you think. My daughter liked a few different names for her first born but favored one – plan A. When the baby arrived, however, my daughter looked at her and thought “Oh no, she doesn’t look at all like that!” and went to plan B. Might be a good idea to keep a few names on standby!
Just for fun, here are links to a couple of name websites: http://www.nymbler.com/, and http://babysnames.org/. Got any other good suggestions?
When you’re next waiting in line at the grocery store or flipping through a mag at the hairdresser’s, grab this week’s People. The September 14th issue of People Magazine features the March of Dimes “Hollywood Moms.” Highlighted are nine celebrity moms who are dedicated volunteers for the Foundation. Woo-hoo!
You may not be thinking about having another baby right now, but that might change in the future. So it’s important to stay healthy for yourself, your family and in case you decide to get pregnant again. Here are some things you can do:
- Leave time between pregnancies. For most women, it’s best to wait at least 18 months before getting pregnant again. This gives your body enough time to get ready for another pregnancy. it also helps you adjust to life as a mom. Babies are born healthier when there is plenty of time between pregnancies. But not all women can wait that long because of their age or other factors. Talk with your doc or midwife about what’s the best interval for you. Use birth control (your provider will help you choose the best one for you) until you’re ready to get pregnant again.
- Take a multivitamin with folic acid in it every day before you get pregnant.
- Get a preconception checkup before you conceive to make sure you’re as healthy as you can be.
Make a reproductive life plan with your partner. Ask yourselves: How many children do we want? How far apart do we want them to be? How can I stay healthy before my next pregnancy? How will I keep from getting pregnant until we’re ready for another child?
