News Moms Need

The dangers of button batteries, roughly the size of a dime, are back in the news. According to a study just published in the journal Pediatrics by a group of researchers from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH, there were an estimated 5,525 ER visits caused by batteries in 2009, with the majority of them occurring in children under the age of five.

Swallowing a button battery can cause serious problems if it becomes stuck in the esophagus. (Kids have been known to stick them in their nose or ear where they can be problematic, too.) Lithium, which makes these little batteries more powerful, also makes them more dangerous.  If they are surrounded by liquid, they can generate an external current and can release toxic fluid that can burn through tissue and even cause death in as little as two hours. If you suspect that your child might have swallowed a button battery, don’t wait but immediately take him to the emergency room to have it removed.

Products designed for children should meet certain standards to ensure batteries cannot be easily removed - such as adding a screw to secure the compartment door. Do the ones in your house meet these standards? Much of the time protections on children’s products do not extend to products meant for adults. It’s crucial that all of us are proactive – that we search for, identify and secure the button batteries we use.

Here’s a list of some of the items you may have in your home, purse, or car that use button batteries (who knew?!) Check these out:  toys; wireless game controls; hearing aids; digital thermometers; watches; calculators; fun flashing jewelry and shoes; remote control devices, including the wireless access for your car door; greeting cards; flashlights; digital bathroom scales; laser pointers; back-up for your PC or digital clock; PDA devices; battery operated children’s books; glucometers, security tokens; video game cartridges or memory cards; solar/electric candles; bicycle LED head and/or tail lights…

Lock your spare batteries in a cabinet where you also lock poisons or your medications. Make sure you share this information with your friends and family members with young children. And don’t forget to tell grandparents who often are out of the loop on things like this but care for your little ones.

I could hear the siren getting louder as they got closer  to the house. I couldn’t believe that was coming for me. I felt a little embarrassed. Was this really necessary?  I’d never been inside  an ambulance before. The truck pulled in the driveway. They shut the siren off, but the lights were still going. Oh, brother! And here comes a police car, too. My neighbors will  be so worried. I was approached by one of the medics. He started asking a ton of questions at once and on top of that was speaking so loudly. I literally put my hands over my ears and cried to him, “please stop shouting!”

The pain was really bad now and I could hardly speak. I yelled at my husband to answer the questions for me.   How many weeks pregnant are you? How far apart are your contractions? Whatever you do don’t push! Push? What are you crazy? Of course I’m not going to push. I’m not having the baby today. I’m not even having contractions. My back just really hurts. Wait…before we go I really have to run to the bathroom though.

Oh my. This WAS it! I left the bathroom and told the medic about the new sensation I was having . I really wanted  to push. We have to get you to the hospital now. What hospital do you want to go to? I don’t care. The closest one.  I fought them hard as they tried to get me on the gurney. I can’t sit! I can’t sit! They eventually got me to lay down on my side and wheeled me to the truck. Just before they slammed the doors shut my husband yelled, “I’m right behind you.”

“Only eight more minutes,” the driver said over her shoulder. We were getting closer  to the hospital. Bouncing around in an ambulance was awful. I couldn’t wait to get there and find out what exactly was going on. Despite the medics previous warning, I was  pushing. It helped relieve the intense pressure in my back and bottom.  The urge had  become so regular at that point. It would build up and then I’d push. When the medic caught on he shouted, “are you pushing?? Stop pushing!” I ignored him. This was not something I had control over.  I kept thinking, “relax! I’m not going to deliver in your ambulance!”

Sorry guys, but this post is getting way too long. Check back next Friday for the conclusion of, The day Hannah arrived. Have a great weekend everyone and Happy Birthday Mae-mae!

Oh, and if you missed part one of this story click here.

My back was bothering me  again. I sat at the kitchen table trying to  finish  a bowl of cereal, but I was too uncomfortable. I was 36 weeks pregnant and I had a horrible cold. I called in sick to work and shuffled back to bed.  I tried to fall asleep, but the pressure in my lower back wouldn’t give. I flopped from side to side. I paced around my bedroom. I rocked on my hands and knees, but my back continued to throb. I couldn’t sit still for more than a second. I called for my husband who happened to be  home  recuperating  from a substantial orthopedic surgery that he had two weeks earlier. He messaged my back while balancing on his crutches, but it did no good.

 “Don’t leave me”, I said. I was nervous and had to keep moving. He hobbled behind  me from room to room. Maybe I pinched a nerve or pulled a muscle? Let’s just call the midwife and  tell her what’s going on. She said it could just be end-of –pregnancy discomfort. Call her back if anything changes.  I wasn’t having any other symptoms. Until…very suddenly I did.

I ran to the bathroom and  threw up. The pressure in my back ramped up and radiated down into my bottom. I was moaning and walking  around on my tippy toes with my back arched. It was intense. Could this be it?  Was this labor? It came on so suddenly that we weren’t sure. I wasn’t having contractions . Everything we read said that labor progresses slowly and can take hours and hours for first time moms.  Could this be some other medical issue? My husband said, “that’s it we’re going to the hospital.” I was crying.

Somehow he managed to get me into the backset of the car although I was unable to sit. I was on my knees holding onto the head rest. We reached the stop sign at the end of our block and I jumped out of the car. I couldn’t tolerate the car. I just couldn’t do it. My husband was yelling at me, “what are you doing? Get back in the car!!” I somehow managed to crawl back in and he drove like a maniac in reverse back to our house. He whipped  into the driveway and called 911. ..To Be Continued.

Check back next Friday for Part 2 of, The day Hannah arrived. Have a great weekend and Happy Birthday Peter!

We all worry about the things in our houses that can poison kids: bleach, bug sprays, those scary things under the sink or in the garage. We’re right to worry, but we also need to watch out for the things in our medicine cabinet.

Medications are the leading cause of poisoning in children who go to emergency rooms. For kids, 7 out of 10 cases of poisoning in the ER are caused by medication overdoses. This is the finding of a new study recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

And in 8 out of 10 cases, children were under the age of 5 and got a hold of the medication on their own. So take a look around your house. Whether it’s a bottle of aspirin or a prescription med, put it where kids can’t get to it.

To learn more about infant safety issues, check out Safety for Baby.