Search Results for: blog made to order babies

Save The Babies Foundation Works to Promote Newborn Screening

Newborn screening is a hot topic in this country whether you realize it or not. Most of us deliver our children and are never even aware of the testing that they go through within the first hours after birth. Every child born in the United States is tested for a variety of genetic conditions that need immediate treatment. Without that treatment permanent damage and even death can occur. So why would anyone be against newborn screening? The cost to the government, personal privacy issues, and the fear that the government keeps track of us all by the drop of blood … Continue reading →

The Noon Bell: An Enemy To Napping Babies Everywhere

I grew up in a large metropolitan area. There was no open space between cities. People from all different walks of life lived together in harmony. Most importantly, there was no noon bell. I understand that small towns have certain traditions and quirks that have been going on, well, let’s be honest, since the beginning of time. Some of these traditions are important to the people who live in these towns. They give character and personality, and residents are attached to them. For example, the small town in which I went to college had a giant glockenspiel. The music coming … Continue reading →

Bouncing Babies: We Love Harvey Karp!

Yesterday we visited with a friend who has a newborn. As she bounced her baby from side to side, I remembered the same period in my daughter’s life. My daughter needed to be in constant motion in order to sleep or even to be calm. I blame it on my excessive hiking when I was pregnant: up and down, up and down before she was born. My daughter expected the same thing after she was on the outside, too. Harvey Karp’s book and DVD The Happiest Baby on the Block were so helpful to us in the newborn days. Karp … Continue reading →

Link Between Premature Babies and Mental Illness

Children born pre-term have been found to experience over twice the rate of mental illness as compared to full-term, normal weight-for-age babies. In a recent study at the University of Karolinska in Sweden, researchers noted in a long term study conducted over three decades that 5.5% of premature babies required admission to hospital for psychiatric related disorders compared to 2.9% of full-term babies. The study involved premature babies born in the period 1973 to 1979 and followed their psychiatric health in the intervening decades using medical records. In order to adjust for pre-existing precursors of mental illness, statistical adjustments were … Continue reading →

Has Becoming a Parent Made You a Better Person?

Most parents know all too well that kids learn by example, which is why the majority of us try to model good behavior. Now that you are a parent do you always remember to return your shopping cart to its designated area? Do you always remember to say “please” and “thank you” even after the guy at McDonald’s erased your order… twice, then made you wait 15 minutes for ONE Happy Meal? Do you always practice proper store etiquette and take time to return the box of animal crackers your toddler swiped from the shelf even if it means backtracking … Continue reading →

Babies in the News: To Swap or Not to Swap?

This story is absolutely unbelievable. Two families in the Czech Republic have been forever changed by a hospital mess up when two babies were switched at birth. When you first read the story, it’s easy to see how perhaps the mistake could’ve been made as both mothers share the same first name. A judge has ordered them to swap babies back, but after ten months, they’ve grown rather attached and have refused. How They Found Out One of the dads became suspicious when his little baby was sporting blonde locks while he and his partner both have dark hair. So … Continue reading →

Baby Blog Week in Review July 6 to July 15

Friday, July 6 Ask a Baby Blogger: Early Exposure to Allergens I answer the question whether or not you should avoid highly allergenic foods while pregnant or breastfeeding. Sunday, July 8 No More Pricks for Jaundiced Babies If you have had a baby who had jaundice more than a couple of years ago, it is likely that the poor little dear had to suffer through heel prick after heel prick in order to measure their level of bilirubin. Now, hospitals across the country are starting to get a machine that will make immediate diagnosis much easier. Hooray for the Transcutaneous … Continue reading →

The Baby Blog Week in Review for Jan. 27 to Feb. 2

Good evening! I am writing this week’s baby blog in review. Heather has taken some time off today to spend with her daughter. If you want to see what’s going on new in Heather’s life, you can check out one of her recent blogs. If you missed something in the baby blog this week, check it out here to catch up! Saturday, January 27 In, As a Parent. . .I Have Arrived, I talk about how the newborn stage seems so difficult. But then it passes so quickly. If you need a little perspective, this is a great place to … Continue reading →

Made to Order Babies

Ever since the first “test tube” baby was born, I have long since struggled with the ethics of fertility treatments, and prenatal testing. I certainly don’t judge anyone who has gone through extensive lengths to have a child. But I’ve struggled with the idea of where it all ends. At what point have we breached ethical boundaries and simply crossed the line? Such is the question surrounding the idea that you can pick your child’s gender. Some say that it seems unethical–you should just take what you get and be happy. But other parents feel strongly that they want one … Continue reading →

Babies in the News: A Story of Hope at Christmas

Every day there are stories in the news about the deaths in Iraq, about the suicide bombings, the attacks and more. It’s enough to make your heart heavy even if you have no one serving overseas. I’ve known several who have gone and returned and only one who went and did not come back. But today I want to share a story with you that I read in the newspaper this morning and it’s a story that made me smile for a bittersweet victory and a message of hope in the middle of a situation that cannot be described as … Continue reading →