How To Choose Baby Clothes For A Newborn?

When preparing for your baby, one of the most joyful experiences that you will have is purchasing all of those cute, tiny outfits. However, try to resist stuffing your baby’s closet with dozens of outfits. Quite often, the more adorable an outfit is, the more impractical it is. Trying to get a tiny, fragile, squirming baby into a frilly, lacy frock is borderline impossible. Also, keep in mind that your baby will grow quickly. If you buy too many newborn clothes, chances are, your baby won’t even get the chance to wear many of them before they are outgrown.

Below are several tips for sensibly choosing your newborn’s wardrobe.

• Buy three undershirts. Get the kind that have snaps on the side and open on the front. These are great for the first couple of weeks. They are easy to put on your newborn and they won’t rub against his umbilical stump.
• Buy about 10 onesies. These are appropriate once the umbilical stump falls off. These won’t ride up or wrinkle under your baby and are typically more comfortable for her than the undershirts. These are also good for colder weather because they won’t ride up and expose your baby’s tummy.
• Get about five sleepers with feet. These will keep your baby’s feet warm without trying to wrestle socks onto tiny, kicking feet. Sleepers with zippers are the most convenient for frequent diaper changes.
• Purchase six nightgowns with elastic bottoms. The easy open bottoms make those late night diaper changes a bit easier. Once your baby starts moving around, these become less practical because they tend to ride up.
• Get a couple of blanket sleepers. These will keep your baby warm without using a heavy blanket or comforter. Avoid using blanket sleepers after your baby reaches 5 months of age.
• Buy about three hats for your newborn. Babies lose a lot of body heat from their heads. Newborn babies should wear caps or hats to prevent too much heat loss.
• Get several pairs of socks. You need several pairs because you will lose several. You’ll lose them in the grocery store, the parking lot and your clothes dryer will eat a ton. Baby socks are tiny so once they are lost, they tend to stay lost.

How To Take Care Of Baby Clothes?

Baby clothes are really expensive, and because your child grows so fast in the first couple of years, these clothes are going to have a very short life. To maximize the wear we need to look at how we take care of them, how we can get wear from them, for longer and how we might save money, if we buy the right things initially.
Buying

• The first thing to remember when buying children’s clothing is, they must be comfortable to wear, easy to put on and above all else, washable.
• Buy clothes with elasticated waistbands and trousers or skirts with shoulder straps. This makes letting down or adjusting easier.
• Buy socks without shaped heels they can then grow with your child. Try to stick to one or two colors and brands this way you will always have a replacement if you lose one.
• Put extra buttons on dungaree, skirt or dress straps. This way you can lengthen them as your child grows.
• Always try to buy natural fibres, rather than man made .The man made fibres don’t breathe as well as natural fibres and this can cause your child to get too hot, especially in summer.

Maximizing Wear

• Sleep suit getting too short? For comfort cut off the feet and you will get another month’s wear, at least.
• Add another tier to a tiered skirt, by using identical or contrasting material.
• Trousers or jeans that have become too short, or worn at the knees can be cut down and made into shorts for the summer.
• Make summer pajamas by cutting off the arms and legs of a pair of winter pajamas.
• Don’t throw away an expensive jacket if your child has out grown it remove the sleeves and turn it into a smart waistcoat for your child.
• When you’ve let down a pair of jeans or dungarees, you can normally see a white line where the fabric has been creased. Make it less noticeable by blending it into the fabric by running a dark blue crayon along the line. A fountain pen or indelible marker also works.

Care

• One tip that seems obvious but is often ignored: the manufacturers washinginstructions that you will find in the garment labels. Manufacturers of fabric spend vast amounts of money to find out what are the best washingconditions for their goods. So always try and wash as instructed, it does help clothes last longer.
• Use a fabric protector to spray collars, cuffs and knees of garments, any spills will form into beads and can be easily wiped clean.
• Get grimy soiled socks clean by soaking them in a water and washing soda solution before washing.
• White cotton socks can be revitalized by boiling them in water with a slice of lemon.
• Instead of bleach add vinegar to the water as an alternative.
• Sneakers can be kept looking new by spraying them with starch before wearing them for the first time , this will stop dirt from getting embedded.
• A soap filled scouring pad is great for sneakers or any fabric shoes.
• Rub white shoes with a raw potato cut in half, or alcohol, before cleaning. Keep them white by spraying with hairspray. This prevents the polish from coming off and keeps them looking new.

Halloween Costumes for Babies

What is the point of having children if you don’t dress them up in silly costumes and clothing?
Halloween provides parents with the perfect opportunity to get back at the baby that spent the first six months of his life crying all night or the toddler who terrorizes the walls with colored crayons. This is about revenge, people.

So, jump on this opportunity while they are still young and shove little Jimmy or Jane in a costume that will spook them for years to come. We’ve got plenty of ideas that should do the trick.

Oh, and don’t forget to take lots of pictures — they might come in handy during those teenage years.
Farm Animals – There a lot of cutesy farm animal costumes out there for babies. You can choose from a cow, a pig, a goat and a lamb. These adorable outfits are sure to get all your relatives pinching cheeks and giving kisses in no time.

Food Products – Even if your kid can only eat mushed-up peas or smashed carrots, you don’t want to miss this opportunity to introduce them to the wide world of culinary delights. There are the healthy items such as a pea pod or a chili pepper, or you can corrupt them right away by dressing your baby up like a slice of pizza or some M&Ms.

Star Wars – There’s nothing like establishing your kid as a geeked-out Star Wars fan at an early age. Dress your boy up like Chewbacca, Yoda or Darth Vader and let your little girl be Princess Leia. Actually, if you really want to do some damage, dress your boy up like Princess Leia and call it a day. He won’t be able to live it down.

Superheroes – The kid might not share your love for comic books just yet, but forcing him into a superhero costume might do the trick (or scar him for life). The options are endless– Superman, Batman, The Hulk, The Flash, Spiderman and more.

Sea Creatures – Go to new depths by dressing your child up like an ocean-dwelling creature. Introduce your kid to Jaws early with a shark suit, trap them in tentacles with this octopus costume or make them the laughing stock of the sea with a clown fish costume.

Healthy Snacks for Kids

Snacks are one important part of our eating habits and it has been proven that our majority intake of calories comes from the snacks that we have between the meals. If an adult can’t say that, what can you say about kids ?! They always want something between the meals and statistics points out that fourth of the calories that a kid eats per day comes from the snacks. So for parents it is hard to control what snacks eat their kids and especially how healthy are they.
Almost everything that is at hand and most of the snacks contain a high level of calories and a great amount of fat ; this leads to gaining weight and if children start losing control on their weight then they will start having health problems. Because they are so full of energy all day long, you can come up with some simple healthy snacks for kids.
Nowadays junk food plays a big role in everyone’s life that includes also our kids. It is important to create a balanced diet for them. No one says that they should not eat sweets or to grab a snack or to eat something like fast food but what parents can do is to make themselves those kind of snacks for kids. In this way, they will know exactly what the snacks contain and they will be able to make them out of healthy products. For instance, when they want something sweet try to make home made ice creams out of fruits and yoghurt ; it will be a sweet and healthy snack but also they will eat ice cream, which we all love, especially kids.
When we are talking about cookies, it is better to make some home-made biscuits than buying. There are so many recipes for cookies and you can add chocolate, fruits, vanilla in them so that your kid will enjoy eating so many flavors.
Of course, your kids will also want something like a hamburger or pizza to eat. You should allow them but make the hamburgers and pizza at home. You can buy beef meat or chicken and make it on grill and add some vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumber, salad into a pita and there you have a much more healthier hamburger. Or for pizza you can also create a wide range of types by adding different kind of vegetables, cheese and pick between chicken or beef. It is all about putting healthier products and not buying those high calories dishes that are all over the market.
Remember always that we are what we eat and our kids need healthy food for developing nicely and for being healthy without problems. For growing, it is necessary to have a balanced diet based on healthy food and also on sport exercises. So be creative and offer your kids some healthy snacks.

Healthy Eating for Your Baby

Children have to be compelled to have a diet based mostly on healthy aliments so as to be able to develop fantastically, to grow sturdy and while not health problems. The diet of kids is one among the foremost vital problems and it’s vital to assure them a healthy eating for kids. this implies that you just have to be compelled to listen to what they eat, to not permit them to eat all the junk food that’s out there on the market and also you’ll realize and cook several recipes to stay them healthy. Healthy eating for kids is simply obtained through healthy recipes.
1. The first recipe is the almond crusted chicken fingers
For it you need the following ingredients: canola oil cooking spray, ½ cup sliced almonds, ¼ cup whole wheat flour, 1 and ½ teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon dry mustard, little salt, some freshly ground pepper, 1 and ½ teaspoon olive oil, 4 large egg whites, ½ kg chicken.
First preheat the oven, take a pan and coot it with baking sheet and also cooking spray on top of it. Then in a food processor add almonds, flour, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper and let the food to be chopped until all the almonds are very thin chopped.
Till the end add some oil and then transfer the mixture in a bowl. In another bowl mix the egg whites and then take the chicken tenders and coat them in the egg mixture. Then coat them in the almond mixture and then place all the tenders on the pan that you have prepared and put it in the oven. Bake the chicken fingers until they are golden and crispy for circa 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Other recipe that children will love is the Sloppy Joes.
For it you need the following ingredients: ½ kg lean ground beef, 1 large onion diced, 2 cups finely chopped mushrooms, 5 tomatoes diced, preferably plum tomatoes, ½ cup water, 2 spoons all purpose flour, ¼ cup cider vinegar, ¼ cup chili sauce, ¼ cup ketchup, and 8 whole wheat hamburger buns.
In a large pan crumble the beef and cook it until it starts to sizzle for about 1 minute. Then add the onion and mushrooms and cook them and meanwhile break the meat with a spoon and cook everything until the vegetables are tender and all the moisture is reduced for about 10 minutes.

Baby Feeding

Before, you make your baby usual with the various foods, you should introduce them the food character first. It is true that every baby is unique, but generally they are:
Their development is not as fast as their first year. So, they don’t need much food like you think. So, don’t force them to keep eating. They know when they are hungry. Remember, that the size of their stomach is only like their fist!
It is not easy to introduce new foods to them. The key is, put new food beside their favorite menu. Give them in small portion so they will be usual with that food.
They are easily bored and only like certain foods. Don’t be curious, if you gave them chopped meat yesterday and today they refuse to eat it.
Their attention is easily neglected when they eat. The TV programs, new toys, the new neighbor who visits your house are several causes that can attract their attention.
The Food Rules
After introducing the food character to child, it does not mean that you can give them all kind of foods. There are still some rules that you must obey. These are some rules in giving foods for baby:
Arrange their schedule for eating and pay attention at the nutrition that they consume. Actually, this schedule should be applied minimum since they are 7 months because that period is the crisis period for them. If in this period, they are not familiar with healthy foods, they will be difficult consuming healthy food in next period. For example is if parents don’t usually give them solid food and only follow babies’ want to drink milk, it can be until 1 year, they are difficult to consume solid food.
Don’t give them food that contains monosodium glutamat (MSG), too much salt and sugar. Shortly, give them healthy and fresh food. If you want to give them noodle, make sure to give them white noodle that is free from the dye food.
If they are difficult to eat, don’t force them. The thing that you should do is being patient and preserving. For example is, if they only want to eat 5 tablespoons, tomorrow try to give them 6 tablespoons. But again, don’t force them. If they are forced to finish their meal, they can consider the meal time is a bad experience. If that happens, you are getting more difficult to give her foods.
Let them choose which food that they want to eat first. If they choose cake that should be dessert to be eaten first, it does not matter. The key is making their meal time something fun.
In order to make them discipline, make sure that they sit when they eat. The better condition if all family members can eat together. But if it is difficult, make sure that somebody accompanies them when they are eating or drinking. This is important because it can avoid them from the dangerous of being choked.
Never give them foods that have hard texture or have risk to make them choked. So cut the food that will be given to them in small size. If you want to give them fish, separate it from the bone. Avoid giving her peanuts or candies because it can make her choked. Then if you want to give them biscuit, give her baby biscuit that directly melted if it is eaten by her (saliva will make the biscuit easily eaten). Don’t give her adult biscuit because the texture is hard. Though only you give her small pieces of adult biscuit, it can make them choked.
Don’t be too stiff. If someday you eat in fast food restaurant and your kids are tempted to eat it, give them in small portion. Let them explore any kind of foods but of course not in a big portion.
Don’t forget to clean their teeth, gums, and their tongue everytime they have finished their meal. Keeping the mouth healthy must be started since childhood.
The last but not the least, give her example the right and healthy food diet. Remember your children learn and imitate your habit. Don’t expect her to be vegetable lover if you never want to eat vegetable.

Tips For Deal With Teething Baby

Look from the very first group of tooth is really a unique event for that baby as well as wondrous for the parents because they view their infant stepping gradually in to the growing stages, however teething from the infants offers their own reveal associated with issues too.
Normally teething of a baby starts between 4-7 months old which continues until their 2nd birthday celebration. The majority of the babies face teething problems associated with varying levels, which can be managed effortlessly at home. Severe symptoms associated with teething may need the actual intervention associated with doctor.
Parents need to be careful concerning the teething symptoms from the baby, that are characterized by extreme drooling, too much crying due to pain, inclination of biting any thing within their reach, crankiness, unwillingness in getting normal food. The actual gums become tender and reddish, and the baby might weep through pain even while sleeping at night. A white appearance within the nicotine gums also signifies the actual eruption of teeth within the infants.
Sometimes small blood definitely like out of the nicotine gums during this period, especially if the baby receives a gentle shock. It is intolerable for that mother and father to see their own baby struggling with pain, but instead of having a panic attack they ought to attempt to lessen the problems maintaining relaxed as well as following simple remedies as advised through the doctor. One should not administer any kind of over the counter painkiller or gel, with no approval of the doctor. That could bring in a brand new set of issues.
Provide your own baby plastic teethers full of water with regard to eating. It is better to provide chilled teethers that will help in lowering the pain. You can also provide him a cold moist cloth to chew. You are able to administer homeopathic medicines to lessen the actual discomforts of teething consulting a homeopath.
Throughout teething, infants have an increased tendency associated with chewing things that help the teeth to be released quicker in the chewing gum cells. You can provide teething cookies and biscuits to your baby for eating. You are able to utilize watered down clove essential oil about the painful gums to relieve the pain. Excessive application of the clove oil may cause belly annoyed.
Give a real licorice bark for your baby for chewing. Watch that he does not swallow the actual bark. You may also therapeutic massage few drops associated with vanilla flavor on the sensitive nicotine gums. Rubbing the actual gums reduces the pain and also the alcohol present in the extract will give you a calming impact on the actual gums.
Moreover, vanilla flavor promotes sound sleep that’s advantageous throughout teething issue. If teething symptoms aggravate at night, you are able to give pain killers and numbing gels with due discussion from the doctor.

Tips to Get Baby to Sleep

Have you been fed up with those sleepless nights where all you appear to do is change baby diapers as well as feed your baby? Numerous new mother and father go through this issue and many don’t even remember the final period they’d a great night sleep because the delivery of the baby.
Most people assume which sleepless nights are just a normal a part of parenting a newborn. However the great news is that you can take certain steps to ensure that your baby and you have a nice uninterrupted sleep the whole night.
The first step is to realise why your own baby remains conscious all night. Well, the easy reason behind this really is that a newborn just doesn’t view the difference between day and night. So perhaps it is only foolish on our components to expect the actual baby to normally fall asleep at night such as all of us do.
To make sure that your own baby understands the difference in between night as well as day time make sure that throughout day he is placed in the vibrant atmosphere filled with noises. This keeps the actual baby alert and awake. Do not color the room or even put the baby inside a space devoid of sound during the day.
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Subdue this particular sound and light from night and make certain your baby is actually relaxed. You may also have your personal bed time routine wherein a person incorporate a final nursing program or even sing a lullaby for your baby. Anything, make certain you abide by it consistently.
Train the actual baby to soothe by itself to sleep. This is often a little challenging as a parent tend to pick up their own howling child as soon as they begin crying and rock and roll ankle rehab ebook in order to sleep or even place them in order to sleep whilst feeding.
However this can result in a large amount of problem because the child will quickly awaken to find themself without the warmth and luxury associated with secure arms close to him or her. So every time your baby is going to take a nap, put him or her in a baby’s crib while he is still trying to doze away as well as rock and roll him or her gently to sleep.
When the child includes a preferred blanket or perhaps a cuddly soft plaything he enjoys after that put it next to him or her. This will function as comforter for the baby whenever he wakes up shocked in the middle of the actual night. Moreover do not get the actual baby as soon as he or she starts crying. Rather talk softly, rub their back and put him to sleep progressively.
Keep in mind that this isn’t a sudden procedure and your baby often requires many weeks prior to he can adapt to this particular routine. If however mother and father religiously stick to this particular program after that soon they will find their newborn sleeping just like a record through the actual night.

Too Cold Or Too Warm, What Should A Mother Do

At the early stages of a baby’s life it is difficult to ascertain whether it is too hot or too cold[cold symptoms] because they cannot talk.
A baby will show his or her discomfort by crying, but for new mothers this may only be something that can upset you because you are inexperienced in finding out what is wrong with the baby.
Relax, after checking whether the baby is hungry, or needs changing, or just needs soothing, see if he or she may be too hot or too cold.
Babies cannot maintain their temperature when they are newborn and it can be a little difficult for them to stay warm or cool.
As a new mom you may find that there is advice given to you from all sides. As you face challenges and try every piece of advice, you will find what works for you and what doesn’t.
Your baby will dictate what he or she wants and it is simple to follow. If they do not cry, they are most likely very comfortable and you do not need to worry about their temperature.
The problem arises when the baby cries and you cannot seem to pacify them. When they are cold, dressing them in too many, heavy, and pieces of clothing can cause rashes because it does not allow their skin to breathe and can roughly rub on their sensitive skin.
Too much clothing can also cause heat rash because the sweat will clog the pores, especially in the skin folds, and produce little red bumps.
On the other hand, too little clothing and the baby can catch a cold, even in the summertime. You will find your baby shivering when he or she is too cold as well.
I have watched my sister-in-law struggle to keep her baby at the right temperature in the early days after his birth. The house temperature never seemed to be right.
Since she had him in the summertime, the air conditioner was on constantly, which was comfortable for the adults, but the baby seemed too cold.
Then when she stepped out for a walk, the humid, hot air caused the baby to fuss because it was now too hot. In the first few months, she came close to panicking because she just couldn’t seem to appease him temperature wise.
My sister-in-law eventually learned to spot signs for when the baby was too warm or cold. The baby would get red blotchy spots on his face and he would move about as if trying to rid himself of his clothes. She knew then that this was his way of telling her that he was too hot. His skin also felt warm and sweaty.
When he was too cold, his neck and legs were cool to the touch. She would place a little hat on his head so the heat would not escape and add a second blanket[baby blanket]. At night, when it was cooler, my sister-in-law would use hot water bottles, so that she could warm his crib area before he went to bed.
Do not worry about what other people tell you about too much clothing or too little swaddling. Listen to your baby and use layers of clothing and blankets rather than just using one thick outfit or padding.
Using layers is a helpful tip because you can add or remove layers according to your baby’s responses. Do not panic. You can do this. If you stay strong and focused and listen to your baby’s responses you’ll see that he or she can communicate their needs to you.
When you learn to read your baby you will find that mothering is not only easy but very rewarding. Cherish every moment you have together, in hot times and in cold ones.

To Be A Mother Should Know Kids Manage Money With An Allowance

Did you know that by giving your kids an allowance on a fixed basis you are actually nudging them to cultivate good money management habits? Well, you are. For those of you who require more testimonial, information, recommendation, expert views (whatever your mind deems as the most critical deal breaker) before joining the rest of us on the ‘Allowance Bandwagon’, I’ll put forth my best effort in convincing you there are merits to it.
The only way kids learn to manage their money is through trial and error. What better way than to start them off on something small and manageable. Today, kids have more money to spend (compared to us when we were their age, that’s for sure) and as such, they are developing their own financial styles or habits knowing or unknowingly. Kids who develop good or bad financial habits will foreseeably take those skills into adulthood. If the latter is their money blueprint, then there could potentially be painful and expensive money lessons on his/her horizon. The education system is definitely not helping raise awareness and/or instill structured money management skills for our next generation. Heck, we ourselves were never taught the same during our time. And for those of your luckier ones, your parents were a great role model for you financially. If you were one of them, be thankful. It’s time to pay it forward and teach your kids the same or better.
To be fair, you should only start imparting the basics of money management when your child is able to understand the basic concept of money. Interest is key here as would be case for all other things in their life – music, swimming, ballet etc. For me, the two compelling reasons why an allowance is a must for my kids is to force them to think of how much something costs and to weigh their spending choices as they only have a fixed amount of money. Let them make mistakes with their spending choices – no one gets it right the first time especially when you are only 4 or 5 (maybe even younger). It’s better to learn from those mistakes when the ‘tuition fee’ is only $5 or $10.
As a parent, you must sit them down and tell them exactly (clarity, clarity, clarity) what the allowance is for. Not the specific things that they can or cannot buy, but the 3 main areas the allowance is meant to provide for; namely saving, spending & sharing. Make a list of things the allowance covers so that he/she knows that they cannot come back to you whining and begging for more money as they NEED to spend on something they forgot to allocate for that week.
When I was about 8 or 9 years old, my father insisted each of his children keep a log book to pen down all the details of our spending. He would then go through it on a weekly basis, asking us questions and imparting some advise before he gave us the next allowance. If we wanted a raise in our allowance, we would have to tell him / write in our log book the items in which we wanted to purchase/spend on but could not due to the limitation in the dollar amount we received. In retrospect, I realise that this interaction created an opportunity to discuss and realign my money management education as a child.
The savings from each weekly allowance payout will then be banked into a kids saving account monthly. He would take us all to the bank and we made the deposit jointly. Afterwhich, he would explain to us the details in our passbook – how much we had accumulated and the interest given by the bank. Experts today recommend that 10% of your kid’s allowance should be allocated towards savings to build this good habit. Make sure that the allowance is given on a fixed interval, ideally weekly, as you are leading by example. Also, stick to your word as kids wise up pretty quickly when they spot that you do not act according to the financial discipline you preach.
One final question to answer – can I tie in the allowance amount to household chores completed? I will recommend no as it is the responsibility of each family member to contribute towards the household chores. These responsibilities should be separate and apart from the allowance given as the latter is aimed at teaching them the value of money. Be focused and remember that the allowance money lesson is aimed at building a longer term foundation to carry them in the right directions as an adult.

What Is To Be A Mother

Mothers are destined, by God, to bring up children for heaven. This is their grand mission. What a happiness, what an honor for a mother to give angels to heaven!

Would to God she only knew the real dignity and importance of her mission, and comprehended the qualifications in the moral and religious order that best prepare her for the duties of her sublime calling! What mission can be more sublime, more sacred, what mission can be more meritorious before God than that of giving to the young child the primary lessons of religion? There is indeed nothing more honorable, nothing more meritorious, nothing which conducts to higher perfection, than to instruct children in their religious duties. This instruction of children is a royal, apostolic, angelic, and divine function. Royal, because the office of a king is to protect his people from danger. Apostolic, because our Lord commissioned apostles to instruct the nations, and, as St. Jerome says, thus made them the saviours of men. Angelic, because the angelical spirits in heaven enlighten, purify, and perfect each other according to their spheres, and their earthly mission is to labor without ceasing for the salvation of man. St. Peter Chrysologus calls those who instruct others in the way of salvation, "the substitutes of angels." Indeed this mission of mothers is divine; they are called to carry on the very work of God Himself. Everything that Almighty God has done from the creation of the world, and which He will continue to do to the end, has been, and will be, for the salvation of mankind. For this He sent His Son from heaven, who enlightened the world by His doctrine, and who still continues to instruct His people by His chosen disciples. Those mothers, then, who direct their children in the paths to heaven, who allure them from vice, who form them to virtue, may fitly be termed apostles, angels, and saviours.

Oh! what glory awaits those mothers who perform the office of angels, and even of God Himself, in laboring for the salvation of the souls of their children. If this employment is honorable for mothers, it is also not less meritorious for them. What is the religious instruction of children, but conferring on a class of our race, the weakest and most helpless, with inconceivable labor and fatigue, the greatest of all blessings? For while the physical development of the child advances with age, it is not so with the mental; for religious instruction only can develop the noble faculties of the soul. The soul of a child, so to speak, would continue to live enshrouded in Pagan darkness, if the mother did not impart and infuse the light of truth. All the gold in the world is but dross in comparison with true religious knowledge.
Our Saviour says: "Whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones, even a cup of cold water, shall not lose his reward."--(Matt. x. 42.) May we not infer that those mothers who bestow upon children the treasures of divine knowledge will receive an exceedingly great reward? If God denounces so severely those who scandalize little children: "But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he there drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matt, xviii. 6), what recompense will mothers not receive who instruct and sanctify them?
Mothers who give their efforts and means to this object, choose the surest way to appease the anger of God, and to insure their own salvation. They choose the best means of attaining a high degree of perfection. Almighty God gives to each one the graces proper to his vocation. Mothers, therefore, who are devoted to the religious instruction of their children, must rest assured that God will give them extraordinary graces to arrive at perfection. "Whoever," says our Lord, "shall receive one such little child in My name, receiveth Me."--(Matt, xviii. 5.) Whosoever, then, believes that our Saviour will not allow Himself to be surpassed in liberality, must also believe that He will bestow His choicest blessings on those mothers who instruct their children in the knowledge of God and the love of virtue.
What obligations have not the "angels" of children "who always see the face of the Father Who is in heaven" (Matt, xviii. 10), to pray for these mothers--their dear colleagues and charitable substitutes, who perform their office and hold their place on earth. The children will pray for their mothers, and God can refuse nothing to the prayers of children, and their supplications will ascend with the prayers of the angels.
Do you desire, O Christian mother, to be saved? Do you wish to acquire great treasures in heaven, and to attain great perfection in this life?--Employ yourself diligently in the religious instruction of your children. Do you wish to gain the love of our Lord, and to deserve His protection?--Teach your children to fear and love God; you cannot do anything more pleasing to His Divine Heart.
It is related in the Gospel that mothers brought to Him little children, that He might touch them. And the disciples rebuked them that brought them. And when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said to them: "Suffer little children to come to me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God: and embracing them, and laying His hands on them, He blessed them." If Jesus was displeased with those who prevented little children from coming to Him, what love and tenderness will He not have for those mothers by whose means they come to Him?
Oh! how consoled will they not be in their last hour, when they shall see the souls of those whom they prepared for heaven, accompanied by their good angels, surrounding their bed of death, forming, as it were, a guard to protect them from the snares and assaults of the enemy!
This is a happiness which those mothers may confidently expect who labor assiduously to give their children a good religious education. Ah! would to God, I say once more, that mothers would understand their sublime mission on earth.

Remember Mother‘s Day

mother’s day can be traced back for centuries with various connotations.the Greeks, for instance would celebrate a mother’s day, but not quite in the same way we would associate motherhood today. mother of the Gods is wroshipped by them yearly.
　　AS to the modern of celebrating love and thanks to our matriarchs is similar as many traditions in our country, a biblical and religious celebration in which Mary, the mother of Jesus was worshipped. Eventually, as times changed, this ‘Mother’s Day’ became a day in which all mothers were worshipped, no matter who they were. However, for the most part, the church was still a huge focus for this tradition.

　　It wasn’t until the last century that presents started being given to commemorate the day. The reasons for this are unclear. Perhaps as church fell out of favour with some families, they needed another way to mark the occasion or perhaps, like with so many things, it was a case of marketing and commercialisation on the part of major companies that was the cause.
　　Whatever, the reason, the idea of giving presents should not be frowned upon. However, when you do give presents ensure thought has gone into it, so as not to cheapen the occasion. Flowers are one of the most popular gifts, and Mother’s Day flowers can be some of the most special flowers a woman ever receives. The rise in sales of bouquets at this time of year is testament to just how popular a gift they are and just how much the right bunch can say.
　　Therefore, for those who want show how much their mother counts , a bunch of Mother’s Day Flowers could be just what you need. But this is not confined to time.

11 Year-old Mother

　　Imagine that you are an 11-year-old girl who is six months pregnant. You have no idea how babies are made, let alone what contraception is and how to use it. You are not ready to be a mother, nor are you ready to leave your childhood behind so early. You will have to raise your child when you are still a child yourself…
　　Wait, what?
　　This is exactly what happened to 11-year-old Kordeza Zhelyazkova.
　　When Kordeza’s grandmother noticed that her granddaughter was putting on some weight, she also found out that her granddaughter was seeing a boy. She immediately went out and purchased a pregnancy test. The result left the two stunned. “I just thought I’d been eating too many burgers,” said Kordeza, when she found out that she was about six months pregnant.
　　Kordeza met Jeliazko while being bullied by boys from her school – he fought off her tormentors. Jeliazko, 19-years-old at the time, fell in love with Kordeza. She asked him out on a date and they arranged to meet. At the time, he thought that Kordeza was 15-years-old. She never revealed her age; she didn’t want him to think she was too young for him. Two weeks after Kordeza’s 11th birthday, she became pregnant, but wasn’t aware of her pregnancy until she was three short months away from giving birth.
　　On October 22nd, 2009, Kordeza married Jeliazko and coincidentally gave birth while still dressed in her wedding gown. 20 minutes upon arriving at the local hospital, Kordeza gave birth to a healthy 5 ½ pound baby girl. The couple named her Violeta, after Jeliazko’s mother.
　　Kordeza currently lives in a one bedroom apartment with her baby and will receive £70 each month (about 123 Canadian dollars). She has decided to quit school to take care of her daughter. During an interview, she noted “I used to play with my toys but now [Violeta] is my new toy. I am a mother now, and Violeta is the child. I must grow up.” Jeliazko was faced with charges of having sex with a minor. If convicted, he will face up to 6 years in prison.
　　It might be hard for some to comprehend how on earth an 11-year-old became pregnant. In countries such as Canada or the United States, sexual education is taught in most schools. However, it’s important to remember that sexual education isn’t part of the curriculum everywhere in the world. In many third world countries, children do not attend school, therefore are unable to learn about the consequences of having unprotected sex. Contrastingly, developed countries are seeing a rise in teenage pregnancy, too. Kordeza lives in Sliven, Bulgaria, a nation where teenage pregnancy is a common occurrence. Kordeza’s grandmother noted, “It’s normal for our girls to have babies young. It’s our tradition.” In other cultures, sex education may not be discussed as openly. If teenage pregnancies are normal in Bulgaria, shouldn’t these teenagers at least be educated, so they know what their choices are?
　　Teenage pregnancy can cause many problems for not only the teen, but also the people around them. For the mother, they could face several different issues. During the first few months of the pregnancy, most teenage mothers do not consult a doctor or go to a clinic. Without regular checkups, the mother would be unaware of any problems with fetal development. For the father, they could fall into a similar scenario like Jeliazko, where they could be sent to prison, if convicted. A problem for both the mother and father is financial instability. Medical bills, on top of the cost for baby supplies, can add up to an overwhelming number. In addition, since teenage pregnancy is usually unintentional it can alter plans for the teenager’s future. Instead of attending school, the teenager could become a stay-at-home mom or dad.
　　How can young parents understand the responsibilities of raising another human being? Are they even able to leave their childhood behind and become parents at such an early age? Don’t these teenagers deserve to know about the risks they face if they’re sexually active? There are teens that are educated, but most aren’t. Reasons could include that sexual education isn’t a part of a school’s curriculum or that schools aren’t even available to begin with. Perhaps some young parents are capable to adapt to their new life, developing and maturing, but some will continue to depend on others. Teenagers deserve to know about the choices they have.

How To Perpare To Be A Mother

　　In order to help the expecting mother prepare for birth, a Mother Blessing should be held about one month before her due date. Keep in mind that due dates are just estimates and the baby can come any time in the two weeks before the due date, up to two weeks after the due date. Holding a Mother Blessing about a month before the due date will help ensure that the baby doesn’t make an unexpected appearance. It will also give the momma-to-be time to focus on all the positive wishes everyone has made for her and to incorporate her birthing necklace and other ritual items into her birthing preparation.

News About Baby

Two women have been arrested for allegedly buying and selling a seven-week-old infant on an installment payment plan.
　　Abilene police say the mother, 29-year-old Joana Delacruz Huerta, and the woman accused of buying her baby, 27-year-old Marilu Munoz, both from Texas, were charged on Thursday with the sale or purchase of an infant, which is a third-degree felony.
　　The women remained in the Taylor County Jail on Friday. Bail has not yet been set.
　　Police Sgt Lynn Beard says Huerta reportedly sold the baby for $2,000 on an 'installment plan' with scheduled payments.
　　At a press conference today he said that a department unit was tipped off by an anonymous source that a mother had sold her baby.

　　He said: 'This is the first time in my 13 years that I remember [a mother selling her child] happening.'

　　The infant, whose gender wasn't released, was taken into custody by Child Protective Services.

　　If convicted, both women face a maximum sentence of ten years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

　　In July, 36-year-old Heidi Lynn Knowles, from Washington, was arrested for trying to sell her three-day old son at a Taco Bell for $500.

　　Deputies were called to the restaurant by a woman who said Knowles approached her in the restaurant, handed her the baby and offered to sell him.

Mother’s Day Took a Moment to Honor the Mother’s

　　Yesterday was Mother’s Day and hopefully everyone took a moment to honor the mother’s, and mother figures, in their lives. While being a mother in any country brings with it endless struggles and joys, some bring greater struggle than others. Therefore in which country is it best to raise your children? According to the State of the World’s Mothers 2010 report: Women on the Front Lines of Health Care by Save the Children, its Norway.
　　The country rankings are compiled in the reports Mothers’ Index, which assigns rankings based on such factors which impact the health and well-being of women and children. Such factors include access to health care, education and economic opportunities with in the country.
　　Those countries joining Norway, replacing last years top position holder Sweden. Sweden however remains among the top ten with Australia, Iceland, Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.
　　The United States came in a disappointing 28th, falling below Estonia, Latvia, and Croatia. The U.S. ranks lower than many developing nations due to the high maternal mortality rates(1 in 4,800) and infant mortality (8 per 1,000). As well the U.S. is holds a lower pre-school enrollment at 61 percent and in comparison to it’s developed counterparts has considerably weak standing maternity-leave policies.Afghanistan, which has fallen one ranking this year over last year report, now sits at the bottom, behind Niger, who was at the bottom last year. Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Yemen, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Sudan, Eritrea, and Equatorial Guinea all find themselves at the bottom of the list.
　　According to the report the comparison between the top of the list and the bottom are nothing less than dramatic;

Antidepressant drugs found to cause birth complications

A new warning is being issued about pregnant women taking antidepressant drugs. It turns out that taking such drugs during late pregnancy puts the health of their babies at risk and leads to birth complications that may require prolonged hospitalization, breathing support, and tube feeding. This warning applies to all SSRI drugs, or what's called Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, which include drugs like Prozac and other popular antidepressants. The warning comes from Health Canada, and is a latest in a series of warnings being publicized about the dangers of taking prescription drugs.
Of course, informed readers already know that prescription drugs pose significant health hazards to human beings, but when they are taken by pregnant women, they pose an even greater hazard because they effect the health of two human beings. The health of an unborn baby is significantly impaired by the consumption of both prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs, not to mention alcohol, smoking, and the consumption of processed foods containing high-fructose corn syrup, white flour, or refined sugar.
The untold part of all of this is the rather shocking realization that doctors are actually prescribing antidepressant drugs to pregnant women. That's because there is no FDA warning about antidepressants and pregnant women in the United States. It's not surprising, since the FDA is typically very slow to issue warnings about prescription drugs, even as Canada, the UK, and other countries are quick to publicize such warnings in order to protect the health of the public.
Interestingly, one of the common defenses about this link between antidepressant drugs and birth complications is that there is also a risk to the fetus if a pregnant woman remains depressed. Some people are saying that it's worth giving depressed expectant mothers antidepressant drugs because it's a greater health danger for the pregnant mother to remain depressed. This is absurd, since antidepressant drugs don't actually improve the mental health of anyone in the first place. Even the clinical trials involving antidepressants have been distorted and selectively chosen to shed good light on SSRIs, but as we are now learning, these drugs actually promote violent behavior and can cause people to commit suicide.
(One of the little-known facts about antidepressant drugs is that those students who committed the Columbine school massacre several years ago were taking SSRI antidepressant drugs, and it may have been one of the factors that caused them to pick up automatic weapons and murder their classmates.)
Are these the kinds of drugs we want to be giving pregnant women? Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to help educate women about why they might be feeling down in the first place, due to their dietary imbalances and their nutritional deficiencies, and then help them alleviate those at the core? Wouldn't it make more sense to use natural methods that actually support and enhance the health of unborn children as well as the health of their mothers?
Frankly, what pregnant women need in terms of battling depression is the same thing that every adult needs, and that is natural sunshine touching their skin on a regular basis. That's because most adults suffer from chronic vitamin D deficiency, and they either need sunlight or regular cod liver oil supplements in order to get adequate amounts of vitamin D. Pregnant women also need to avoid all environmental toxins in their food, drinks, and lifestyle habits. That means, of course, no alcohol whatsoever, no cigarette smoking, and absolutely no consumption of over-the-counter drugs, which are extremely toxic and by last count, responsible for at least 40,000 deaths each year just from painkillers alone.
Remember, these over-the-counter drugs are not necessarily safe or even mild, even though they can be purchased without a prescription. They are powerful, biochemically active chemical substances that kill human beings, that compromise the function and health of the human liver, and that pass through the bloodstream into the body of an unborn child. So, when a mother is taking over-the-counter painkillers, she's effectively dosing her child with those same toxic drugs.
At the same time, mothers need to avoid all toxic food additives and metabolic disruptors such as MSG, sodium nitrite, and food additives like artificial colors. She also needs to avoid hydrogenated oils and refined carbohydrates such as high-fructose corn syrup, white flour, white sugar, sucrose, and other similar substances.
In other words, a pregnant woman should have the highest level of responsibility to control her intake of dietary and lifestyle substances, and yet, in the United States today, I regularly see pregnant women smoking, drinking, and doing things that should potentially be considered criminal, such as drinking alcohol and taking ibuprofen at the same time -- which of course creates a highly toxic chemical cocktail that damages the liver of both the mother and the unborn child. It's one thing for a woman to compromise her own individual health in any way she chooses, and I'm all for freedom of choice and allowing people to eat what they want, but it's entirely different when a mother is destroying the health of her child. In the case of pregnancy, I think women need to be held to a higher standard, and in this country we need a program of education and support to help pregnant women get better nutrition and a better understanding of what is required to raise a healthy child.
Specifically, I think society should pay for nutritional supplements for pregnant women, meaning that those supplements would be available free of charge to any woman of childbearing age. Yes, it would be expensive, but it would be far cheaper than giving birth to another generation of health-compromised babies who are prone to learning disabilities, diabetes, and birth defects (among other disorders). Prevention is dirt cheap compared to the cost of treating disease, and prevention starts with the mother.

Does your hair grow thicker while you are pregnant

Some people do notice that their hair can be thicker and fuller when pregnant, and this is a hormonal fluctuation.What happens? Your hair has three cycles of growth: it has a growing phase, a resting phase, and a falling out phase. Sometimes with the hormones and the changes in pregnancy, your hair stays in that growing phase longer.
 Because you have more hair in that growing phase, your hair looks thicker and fuller and grows longer. Often it's more shiny as well.Three to four months after pregnancy, when those cycles shift back, your hair starts to shed as you revert back to your normal hair cycles.If all your hair grew in the growing phase at the same time and then shifted to the resting phase, every two to 10 years or so you would go bald completely. But fortunately that pattern is not synchronized. So about 90% of your hair is growing and 10% is resting or falling out. When that patterns shifts, you might notice that your hair looks fuller for a while, but there is a price to pay on the other side. It will balance back out.

Pregnancy Brain: Myth or Reality

　

　　At an airport while pregnant, she frantically paced a parking lot, searching for her Jeep. After an hour, she called her husband to tell him that their car had been stolen. But then she realized that she had just gone to the wrong parking lot.
　　Recommended Related to PregnancyTop Pregnancy Stories of 2008: Readers' Choice
　　It seems readers are in a hurry for baby, seeking tips to get pregnant faster and boost their fertility. Choosing a baby name also made the list during a big year for celebrity babies. Those topics are among the most viewed pregnancy stories on WebMD for 2008. Easy Ways to Encourage Fertility Separating Pregnancy Myths and Facts Can Diet and Timing Decide Baby's Sex? 7 Tips for Getting Pregnant Faster Stretch Marks Getti...
　　Read the Top Pregnancy Stories of 2008: Readers' Choice article > >
　　That wasn't her only memory glitch. "I also went to the wrong airport twice on the same trip, and another time, I was sitting at the wrong gate and completely missed my flight," Blakeslee says.
　　Many pregnant women and mothers can relate. Those bouts of forgetfulness go by many names, including:
　　pregnancy brain
　　mommy brain
　　pregnancy amnesia
　　momnesia
　　But a recent study questions whether pregnancy brain exists. Who is right -- the moms or the researchers? And how can you handle fuzzy memory during pregnancy? Here are answers.
　　Pregnancy Brain Is Real
　　"If you read pregnancy manuals and listen to pregnant mothers – yes, there is such a thing as pregnancy brain or momnesia, and there is also evidence from research showing deficits in memory," says Helen Christensen, PhD, of The Australian National University.
　　But "the evidence from our study shows that the capacity of the brain is unaltered in pregnancy," Christensen tells WebMD in an email.
　　That is, a pregnant woman's brain is unchanged, though she may not be as razor sharp as she once was.
　　Reasons for Pregnancy Brain
　　Blakeslee's forgetfulness is understandable. Like many moms, her life swirls like a tornado. She constantly handles the needs and wants of her two young kids, a torrent of other household tasks and chores -- and she rarely, if ever, gets a good night's sleep.
　　Under these circumstances, it is 100% normal to have memory lapses or be forgetful, Christenson says.
　　Jane Martin, assistant professor of psychiatry and director of the Neuropsychological Testing and Evaluation Center at New York's Mount Sinai Medical Center, agrees.
　　"When you are not getting enough sleep and are multitasking, nobody's memory is good," Martin says. "You are not cognitively sharp when you haven't slept well."

Is obesity during pregnancy child abuse

　　

　　The research is pouring in: obesity during pregnancy poses a tremendous risk to the health of the unborn child. Children of obese mothers are born as pre-diabetics or with serious birth defects that can lead to kidney disease or heart disease, among other problems.
　　The fact that obesity in expectant mothers leads to health problems in their unborn children is not in dispute. What is in question, though, is how this should be handled. Given that obesity is a condition caused by lifestyle choices made by the mother, doesn't the mother have a responsibility to protect the health of her unborn child by altering her lifestyle?
　　To answer this question, take a closer look at the impact of alcohol and cigarette smoking on unborn children. Both habits cause horrifying birth defects and impair the unborn child's long-term health. It has long been argued that expectant mothers who engage in drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes are, in effect, abusing their unborn children by exposing them to these toxic chemicals at precisely the time when such chemicals can have devastating effects.
　　I agree with this assessment: pregnant women who drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes are, in my view, not just acting irresponsibly, they are guilty of crimes by consciously and willingly endangering the health of their children. In doing so, they forfeit their right to have children in the first place. Because, after all, if a woman can't stop smoking and drinking during pregnancy, she has no right to bring another human being into this world -- a human being that will be crippled from the start.
　　Does the same argument apply to obesity? Is an obese expectant mother also committing a crime against her unborn child? I don't think society is ready for that sort of designation, but it's time to get serious about the nutritional responsibility women have to their unborn children. There's also a responsiblity in society, I believe, to help assist pregnant women in achieving optimum nutritional goals. Nutritional supplements, for example, should be made available to all pregnant women at no cost (funded by taxpayers).
　　I believe that pregnant women who are obese should, at the very least, be required to undergo counseling that helps them understand why their current lifestyle habits and choices are so dangerous to the health of their unborn child. But whether society can be called upon to actually enforce health requirements on would-be mothers is another matter altogether. In a police state society, perhaps, women would not be allowed to reproduce until they demonstrated an acceptable degree of self health. But that's not the society we live in, nor one that I desire.
　　What do you think should be done here? Should expectant mothers be responsible for the health of their unborn children? Should they be somehow penalized for remaining obese during pregnancy? Is obesity during pregnancy the same as child abuse?

Diabetes in Pregnancy Raises Risk of Future Diabetes

Diabetes in Pregnancy Raises Risk of Future Diabetes

According to the American Diabetes Association, gestational diabetes affects 18% of pregnancies. Some women with gestational diabetes go on to develop type 2 diabetes years later.African-American women are less likely than other women to develop gestational diabetes in the first place. When they do, they are 52% more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes in the future than white women who have gestational diabetes.The new study is published in Diabetologia."Women who have gestational diabetes should be advised about diet and exercise and to watch out for other diabetes risk factors.
And this is particularly important for African-American women," says study researcher Anny H. Xiang, MD. She is a senior research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Department of Research and Evaluation in Pasadena, Calif.The reasons that African-American women face a higher risk for developing diabetes in the future are not known. But the prevention message is clear. "These women need screening to see if their blood sugar or glucose is elevated, and they should engage in more exercise and watch their weight," Xiang says.Exercise and weight loss can lower diabetes risk.For the study, researchers reviewed information on 77,666 women who gave birth from 1995 to 2009.
An African-American woman's risk of developing diabetes was almost 10 times greater if she had developed gestational diabetes during a past pregnancy than if she did not.By contrast, non-Hispanic white women were 6.5 times more likely to develop diabetes if they had gestational diabetes. Hispanic women were 7.7 times more likely to develop diabetes if they had diabetes during pregnancy. Asian/Pacific Islander women were 6.3 times more likely to develop diabetes if they had a history of gestational diabetes.The new findings suggest that a woman's race and ethnicity should be a factor during counseling about diabetes risk after pregnancy, Xiang says.

Diet Soda Found to Cause Premature Birth

A new research study, which included nearly 60,000 pregnant women in Denmark, found that those who drink artificially sweetened beverages (carbonated or not) were more likely to have a premature birth. The study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.1The researchers found that one serving per day of artificially sweetened, carbonated drinks were 38% more likely to give birth before 37 weeks of gestation (1.38 AOR). Those who consumed four servings of these drinks were 78% more likely to have a premature delivery (1.78 AOR).Dr. Shelly McGuire, a spokesman for the American Society of Nutrition, was quoted as saying "Certainly, until more experimental work is done, this study suggests that pregnant women should steer clear of artificially sweetened drinks."2.Maybe the words "pregnant women" could be replaced with "everyone" in that statement?According to a whole host of experts, it should be so. Soft drinks in general, in fact, should be avoided according to health practitioners and authors Michael Murray, Joseph Pizzorno, James Duke, Marion Nestle; to name a few.3The abstract for this latest study by Dr.

Thornallur Haldorsson, principal author, says that soft drinks in general are suspected of many adverse health effects:"Sugar-sweetened soft drinks have been linked to a number of adverse health outcomes such as high weight gain. Therefore, artificially sweetened soft drinks are often promoted as an alternative. However, the safety of artificial sweeteners has been disputed, and consequences of high intakes of artificial sweeteners for pregnant women have been minimally addressed."Results in the study were cross-referenced with women who consumed sugar-sweetened soft drinks. It was found that the possible causative was clearly the artificial sweeteners, rather than the soda or other ingredients. Both carbonated and non-carbonated drinks were included as well with the same result.The actual physical change that causes the rise in premature birth rates is not known, according to the study's authors.

Artificial sweeteners have been connected to a host of adverse health effects, so it's likely that doctors could just take their pick here.4 The study did point out that most of the premature births were due to medical induction rather than spontaneous delivery and removing data from women diagnosed with preeclampsia also had little effect on the odds for premature delivery and sweetener intake. With all of the other things eliminated as suspects by the authors, it's clear that the artificial sweeteners are changing a fundamental aspect of pregnancy that is usually not measured.This could include hormone production, muscular or cellular function, or another chemical interaction. Aspartame, for instance, breaks down into three major chemicals: aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol. Methanol oxidizes into formaldehyde and then formic acid, both of which are toxic. These can accumulate in the body and have been linked to premature birth in primate studies.So, from kidney function loss to cancer to premature birth, these sweeteners sure do have a lot going for them.
　　

How Can You Gain the Right Amount of Weight During Pregnancy

If your health care provider recommends gaining more weight during pregnancy, here are some suggestions:
Eat five to six small, frequent meals every day.
Keep quick, easy snacks on hand, such as nuts, raisins, cheese and crackers, dried fruit, and ice cream/yogurt.
Spread peanut butter on toast, crackers, apples, bananas, or celery. One tablespoon of creamy peanut butter will provide about 100 calories and seven grams of protein.
Add nonfat powdered milk to foods such as mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs and hot cereal.
Add condiments to your meal, such as butter or margarine, cream cheese, gravy, sour cream, and cheese.

Goals for Eating When Pregnant

Eat a variety of foods to get all the nutrients you need. Recommended daily servings include 6-11 servings of breads and grains, two to four servings of fruit, four or more servings of vegetables, four servings of dairy products, and three servings of protein sources (meat, poultry, fish, eggs or nuts). Use fats and sweets sparingly.Choose foods high in fiber that are enriched such as whole-grain breads, cereals, pasta, rice, fruits, and vegetables.Make sure you are getting enough vitamins and minerals in your daily diet while pregnant. You should take a prenatal vitamin supplement to make sure you are consistently getting enough vitamins and minerals every day.
Your doctor can recommend an over-the-counter brand or prescribe a prenatal vitamin for you.Eat and drink at least four servings of dairy products and calcium-rich foods a day to help ensure that you are getting 1000-1300 mg of calcium in your daily diet during pregnancy.Eat at least three servings of iron-rich foods per day to ensure you are getting 27 mg of iron daily.Choose at least one good source of vitamin C every day, such as oranges, grapefruits, strawberries, honeydew, papaya, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, green peppers, tomatoes, and mustard greens.
Pregnant women need 70 mg of vitamin C a day.Choose at least one good source of folic acid every day, like dark green leafy vegetables, veal, and legumes (lima beans, black beans, black-eyed peas and chickpeas). Every pregnant woman needs at least 0.4 mg of folic acid per day to help prevent neural tube defects such as spina bifida.Choose at least one source of vitamin A every other day. Sources of vitamin A include carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, spinach, water squash, turnip greens, beet greens, apricots, and cantaloupe. Know that excessive vitamin A intake (>10,000 IU/day) may be associated with fetal malformations.

pregnant women should take 4000 IU of vitamin D a day

Mothers who took 4,000 IU of vitamin D daily cut their risk of premature delivery by half, in a study conducted by researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina and presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Vancouver."We never imagined it would have as far-reaching effects as what we have seen," lead author Carol Wagner said. "The message is that all pregnant women should be supplementing with 4,000 IU per day of vitamin D."Researchers assigned 494 women between their 12th and 16th weeks of pregnancy to take either 400 IU, 2,000 IU or 4,000 IU of vitamin D per day. They found that the more vitamin D a pregnant woman took, the higher the levels of the vitamin in her blood and in that of the child at birth.Higher levels of vitamin D were significantly associated with a lower risk of infection, preterm labor and preterm birth.　

Premature birth is the foremost cause of newborn death in Canada.Vitamin D has long been known to play an important role in the development and maintenance of healthy teeth and bones, and newer research has implicated it in maintaining a healthy immune system and preventing infection, cancer, heart disease and autoimmune disorders. Yet for a long time, researchers falsely believed that the vitamin could cause birth defects.Later, researchers discovered that the defects initially attributed to vitamin D were caused by a genetic defect that affected the vitamin's metabolism in the body."For 30-plus years it was dogma that [vitamin D in pregnancy] was dangerous, that you didn't need very much and what you did need you could get from just casual sunlight exposure," Wagner said. "What we know now, from a decade of very intensive research, is that that's not the case."Wagner cautioned that even though the study took place in South Carolina, 85 percent of participants had insufficient vitamin D levels when the study began."This is even more important for Canadians," Wagner said. "You're at a much higher latitude. The best that you can have is probably six months of sunlight exposure, at your lowest latitude, where you can actually make vitamin D."
　　

Is High Blood Pressure Linked to Birth Defects

These findings run counter to a 2006 study that showed women who took ACE inhibitors -- but not other blood-pressure-lowering drugs -- during the first trimester were at greater risk for having babies with heart malformations and other types of birth defects.The new study suggests that it may be the underlying high blood pressure that increases the risk of birth defects, regardless of treatment. Women who had high blood pressure during pregnancy were at greater risk for all types of birth defects, particularly heart malformations and neural tube defects.The findings appear in the journal BMJ.ACE inhibitors taken during the second and third trimester of pregnancy have been previously linked to birth defects. These drugs must carry a “black box” warning from the FDA concerning these risks. A black box warning is the FDA's most serious warning.Researchers analyzed data on 465,754 pairs of moms and babies from 1995 to 2008, including information on which medications they were taking.

Overall, women who took any blood pressure medication as well as those with untreated high blood pressure were more likely to have a baby with some type of birth defect.The new study did not look at how high blood pressure during early pregnancy results in birth defects, but Li suggests that it may reduce blood flow to the developing fetusThe findings are somewhat reassuring for women who became pregnant while they are taking ACE inhibitors, says Howard Strassner, MD. He is the chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.About half of all pregnancies are unplanned, so many women may be taking high blood pressure medications when they learn they are pregnant.

 ACE inhibitors are commonly prescribed to lower blood pressure.Women who have any underlying medical conditions, including high blood pressure, should ideally discuss these issues with their doctor before they become pregnant, says Eva K. Pressman, MD. She is professor of obstetrics and gynecology and director of maternal and fetal medicine at the University of Rochester."In the ideal world, they would change medications first, but if they are on an ACE inhibitor and become pregnant, they can switch to another by second trimester," she says.Treating high blood pressure during pregnancy is important, she says. Women who have high blood pressure during pregnancy are at risk for complications including preterm birth and preeclampsia, a potentially fatal pregnancy-related condition, she says."

The data would suggest that there may be a modest increase in the risk of certain birth defects among women with hypertension, whether it is treated or not," says Allen A. Mitchell, MD, in an email. Mitchell, the director of the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University Schools of Public Health & Medicine in Boston, wrote an editorial accompanying the new study."Apart from adopting lifestyle behaviors that might reduce the likelihood of developing hypertension (such as diet and exercise), women who do have hypertension may actually take some reassurance from this and earlier reports because they suggest that the medications used to control hypertension do not seem themselves to pose a substantial risk to the fetus,” he says."At the same time, it is important for the health of both mother and infant to control maternal hypertension, since the complications of this condition can be quite serious to both."

Why pregnant women should take 4000 IU of vitamin D a day

Mothers who took 4,000 IU of vitamin D daily cut their risk of premature delivery by half, in a study conducted by researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina and presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Vancouver."We never imagined it would have as far-reaching effects as what we have seen," lead author Carol Wagner said. "The message is that all pregnant women should be supplementing with 4,000 IU per day of vitamin D."Researchers assigned 494 women between their 12th and 16th weeks of pregnancy to take either 400 IU, 2,000 IU or 4,000 IU of vitamin D per day.
They found that the more vitamin D a pregnant woman took, the higher the levels of the vitamin in her blood and in that of the child at birth.Higher levels of vitamin D were significantly associated with a lower risk of infection, preterm labor and preterm birth.Premature birth is the foremost cause of newborn death in Canada.Vitamin D has long been known to play an important role in the development and maintenance of healthy teeth and bones, and newer research has implicated it in maintaining a healthy immune system and preventing infection, cancer, heart disease and autoimmune disorders. Yet for a long time, researchers falsely believed that the vitamin could cause birth defects.
Later, researchers discovered that the defects initially attributed to vitamin D were caused by a genetic defect that affected the vitamin's metabolism in the body."For 30-plus years it was dogma that [vitamin D in pregnancy] was dangerous, that you didn't need very much and what you did need you could get from just casual sunlight exposure," Wagner said. "What we know now, from a decade of very intensive research, is that that's not the case."Wagner cautioned that even though the study took place in South Carolina, 85 percent of participants had insufficient vitamin D levels when the study began."This is even more important for Canadians," Wagner said. "You're at a much higher latitude. The best that you can have is probably six months of sunlight exposure, at your lowest latitude, where you can actually make vitamin D."
　　

exercises that will help you stay fit during your pregnancy

Remember: Before you start any exercise program, consult with your health care provider. Your health care provider can give you personal exercise guidelines, based on your medical history.Stretching exercise make the muscles limber and warm which can be especially helpful when you're pregnant. Here are some simple stretches you can perform before or after exercise.Neck rotation: Relax your neck and shoulders. Drop your head forward. Slowly rotate your head to your right shoulder, back to the middle, and over the left shoulder. Complete four, slow rotations in each direction.Shoulder rotation: Bring your shoulders forward and then rotate them up toward your ears and then back down. Do four rotations in each direction.Swim: Place your arms at your sides. Bring your right arm up and extend your body forward and twist to the side, as if swimming the crawl stroke. Follow with left arm. Do the sequence ten times.Thigh shift: Stand with one foot about two feet in front of the other, toes pointed in the same direction. Lean forward, supporting your weight on the forward thigh. Change sides and repeat. Do four on each side.Leg shake: Sit with your legs and feet extended.

 Move the legs up and down in a gentle shaking motionAnkle rotation: Sit with your legs extended and keep your toes relaxed. Rotate your feet, making large circles. Use your whole foot and ankle. Rotate four times on the right and four times on the left.Kegel Exercises During Pregnancy.Kegel exercises help strengthen the muscles that support the bladder, uterus, and bowels. By strengthening these muscles during your pregnancy, you can develop the ability to relax and control the muscles in preparation for labor and birth. Kegel exercises are also highly recommended during the postpartum period to promote the healing of perineal tissues, increase the strength of the pelvic floor muscles and help these muscles return to a healthy state, and also increase urinary control.To do Kegels, imagine you are trying to stop the flow of urine or trying not to pass gas. When you do this, you are contracting the muscles of the pelvic floor and are practicing Kegel exercises. While doing Kegel exercises, try not to move your leg, buttock, or abdominal muscles.
 In fact, no one should be able to tell that you are doing Kegel exercises. So you can do them anywhere!We recommend doing five sets of Kegel exercises a day. Each time you contract the muscles of the pelvic floor, hold for a slow count of five and then relax. Repeat this ten times for one set of Kegels.Tailor sit: Sit on the floor with your knees bent and ankles crossed. Lean slightly forward, and keep your back straight but relaxed. Use this position whenever possible throughout the dayTailor press: Sit on the floor with your knees bent and the bottoms of your feet together. Grasp your ankles and pull your feet gently toward your body. Place your hands under your knees. Inhale. While pressing your knees down against your hands, press your hands up against your knees (counter-pressure). Hold for a count of five.

Your First Prenatal Doctor's Visit

As soon as you suspect you're pregnant, schedule an appointment with your pregnancy health care provider, such as an obstetrician/gynecologist. Even if you've confirmed your suspicion with a home pregnancy test, it's still wise to follow-up with an appointment. This will ensure that you and your baby get off to a good start.

Why Is Prenatal Care Important?Regular appointments with your health care provider throughout your pregnancy are important to ensure the health of you and your baby. In addition to medical care, prenatal care includes education on pregnancy and childbirth, plus counseling and support.Frequent visits with your healthcare provider allow you to follow the progress of your baby's development. Visits also give you the opportunity to ask questions. Also, most healthcare providers welcome your partner at each visit, as well as interested family members.

What Happens at My First Medical Visit for Prenatal Care?
The first visit is designed to confirm your pregnancy and to determine your general health. In addition, the visit will give your healthcare provider clues to any risk factors that may affect your pregnancy. It will typically be longer than future visits. The purpose of the prenatal visit is to:Determine your due date.Find out your health history.Explore the medical history of family members.Determine if you have any pregnancy risk factors based on your age, health and/or personal and family history.You will be asked about previous pregnancies and surgeries, medical conditions and exposure to any contagious diseases. Also, notify your healthcare provider about any medications (prescription or over-the-counter) you have taken or are currently takingDo not hesitate to ask your provider any question you may have. Most likely, those are the questions your provider hears most often!

Here are some questions you may want to ask. Print or write them down, add to them, and take them to your appointment.
What is my due date?
Do I need prenatal vitamins?
Are the symptoms I'm experiencing normal?
Is it normal not to experience certain symptoms?
Is there anything I can take for morning sickness?
What are the specific recommendations regarding weight gain, exercise and nutrition?
What activities, foods, substances (for example, medicine, caffeine and alternative sweeteners like Equal) should I avoid?
Can I have sex while I am pregnant?
For what symptoms should I call you?
What is the definition of a high-risk pregnancy? Am I considered to be high risk?