Is it safe

I wrote this awhile back, and as I am rearranging my blog I decided to use it as a post rather than delete it....

Is it Safe????  YES! (Until its not)

I used to be quite the pill popper....I mean, how easy is it? There is a buffet of pills you can take for any condition!  

BUT THERE ARE SIDE EFFECTS!!!

But you can always take a pill for those as well...

Have you seen this ad for a lawsuit on TV?

“There are boys who grew breasts as large as ‘D’ cups. There’s a major design defect here, which the judge was going to allow us to pursue, not just the fact that labeling understated risks.” Full article HERE

What does this have to do with babies and pregnancy?? EVERYTHING!   You cant always trust the pill manufacturer to disclose (or even know) all the side effects...

Is that the info the Doctor uses to tell you its safe for you to use?

"the antipsychotic was not approved for use in children
in the US at the time. "

But Doctors prescribed it to them!
And told the trusting Mother that it was safe!

Sometimes the benefits of a drug outweigh the risks, but you should be able to make that decision with
full disclosure of the risks.

AND NOW THIS...

Study Finds Adverse Effects of Pitocin in Newborns....

At the Annual Clinical Meeting of The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Researchers say this is the first study of its kind to present data on the adverse effects of Pitocin use on newborns. .Though this was a relatively small, retrospective study, the results did reveal that women who were given Pitocin to induce or augment their labors did have an increased risk of having a baby with lower Apgar scores or who required admission to the NICU. Read more

May I ask, WHY is this the "first study of its kind" on how pitocin affects OUR BABIES??!!

Pitocin is so commonly used in hospitals...I just... I cant....this just truly infuriates me.

Acetaminophen in pregnancy linked to
'ADHD-like behaviors'

Wait, isnt that whats deemed safe in pregnancy? 

Read the article HERE

That article is very confusing...

My point is always be conscientious about what you put in your body especially when you have a little human being in there relying on you.  An even if its "safe" right now doesnt mean it will be in the future....I mean, hell, in the 1950's Doctors advised pregnant women to smoke cigarettes for relaxation!  

Guest Post Lindsay: Circumcision-- What you MUST know

When I was in medical school on my pediatric rotation, I was horrified by the way circumcisions were done.  Frankly, it was barbaric.  There are some things every mother of a boy needs to know:

Oftentimes, babies are taken out of the room to go to the procedure, but unbeknownst to the parents, that baby may lay naked, strapped to a board, for 30-45 minutes before the doctor comes to the room.  These little ones are left crying and unattended.  And they are cold!!  You also need to know that a circumcision is not just a quick snip and you are done, but rather about a 20 minute procedure.   And most horrifying to me, some doctors choose not to numb the skin before starting.  A shot of lidocaine numbs the skin in about 5 minutes so that the procedure can be done comfortably.  But to my utter shock, believe it or not, there are doctors out there who are in such a hurry (never mind the baby waited on them for half an hour) that they don’t want to take the extra time.  And I can tell you that 2 hours after the circumcision, those little babies have elevated heart rates and blood pressure from pain. 

I almost flunked my rotation because I was so upset after seeing that done (imagine getting stitched up for 20 minutes, or having a mole cut off, several layers deep without any anesthetic)  that I questioned my attending physician about it.  He told me that it wasn’t necessary to give babies numbing medicine because they can’t remember the pain, to which I replied, “Oh I see, then why give our Alzheimer’s patients pain meds or anesthetics, I mean, after all, they certainly won’t remember.”  Yeah, that did not go over well.  But what a freaking contradiction!!  And how sick that we are rationalizing abating pain because a newborn won’t remember??!!  Really??!!

So moms and dads, PLEASE make sure you attend the circumcision with your baby. Don’t just let a nurse take your baby from you.  You need to be privy to what goes on behind the scenes.  Second, always make sure they give the lidocaine shot.  Additionally, if you breastfeed your baby while they give the lidocaine shot, your baby most likely will not even cry.  “Breastfeeding is a powerful pain reliever, because it combines cuddling, skin-to-skin contact, sucking, and a sweet taste – a soothing antidote to the shock and pain of the needle.  “ (Laurel Schultz, pediatrician)  In fact, I breastfed all of my children anytime they had something done, i.e., the heel sticks to test for PKU, basically anytime they were being “messed with.”  NOTE:  If your pediatrician is not OK with you breastfeeding during a shot, that’s a red flag and you need to find another doc!!

I gave birth to two of my children at a birthing center in The Woodlands, TX, called Nativiti (my third was born at home in Oklahoma).   The midwives there recommend you wait to circumcise your boy until he is 8 days old.  Interestingly, it’s biblical, and you can find the reference in Genesis 17:12:" For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised…” But why 8 days??  Because that’s when the clotting factors within the body are fully developed.  So the risk of excess bleeding and complication is much less. 

So, Moms, the take home message from me is this:  wait until your baby is 8 days old and go to your pediatrician’s office to have the circumcision done if you choose to circumcise at all.  Don’t  do it in the hospital!!  ****I am going to digress a bit, so stay with me……Listen, I can tell you it was because of the things I saw done in a hospital that was ranked 5^th in the nation as one of the top teaching hospitals in the U.S. that I chose NOT to have my babies in a hospital.  Our healthcare system is in crises right now.  Nurses are so inundated with paperwork to meet new federal standards that “nursing” and caring for the patient has all but gone out the window!!  Please don't take this that I am dogging on nurses, my mom is a wonderful nurse of 30 years.  But hospitals are a business and are concerned with being profitable, not doing what is necessarily the best for the patient.  I saw many times that the nurse to patient ratio was way too high because the hospital was cutting costs, and patients did not get the attention they needed.  Nurses are overworked and make mistakes, some of them medication mistakes that can be costly.  I saw a nurse drop an intubation tube on the floor, pick it up and intubate a baby in ICU!  (Yes, I turned her in!).  If you have a surgery, the knee or hip or screw or pacemaker is not necessarily the best on the market or best for you, it’s the cheapest one negotiated on a contract between that particular company and the hospital.  Did you know that most of the time, it isn't even the doctor that determines what will be used in the surgery?  It's the CEO with the business degree, not the 8 years  or more of med school, making the decisions.  They will use products that have the higher reimbursement from an insurance company!  And don't think that big hospital systems aren't in cahoots with insurance companies!  Question EVERYTHING!  Don’t just take what your doctor says as god speak.  Medical students take one semester of pharmacology their first year in med school and never take it again!!  And it’s typically a course taught by a PhD during research for the university that’s taught the same outdated information the last decade.  So physicians rely on pharm reps to keep them “in the know,” but do ya’ll realize how strong the pharmaceutical and vaccine industry is in the U.S.?!  Money is the motivator, not good health!!  Question everything!  Think for yourself.  Doctors don’t know it all, trust me!! There are many extraneous factors playing against you when it comes to Western medicine!!****

      OK, back to the topic at hand……do the circumcision with your pediatrician at their office.  Ask if you can breastfeed during the lidocaine shot.  And sit with your baby the whole time it is being done.  Part of loving your baby is being an advocate for him.  Motherhood begins in the wombJ 


disclaimer:  These opinions expressed are just that….MY OPINIONS based on my personal experience, and are not intended as medical advice or to replace your healthcare professional.  You should consult with your healthcare professional to determine the best course of treatment for you.  

Vernix

My Husband and I took a Birth Bootcamp Re-Boot Class the other evening.  It was a great refresher class on the different stages of labor, the Hubs' role as my coach and how he can help me relax.  We talked about lessons our previous birth experience taught us and what each of our expectations are this time around.  It was a great way to get the conversation going between us, and get our heads in the game....like, this is really about to go down!!  I really appreciated having the instructor there to bring up points and considerations that we hadn't though of. Even though birth can go 100 different ways, it does feel comforting to be as prepared as you are able to be in situations like this.

We also watched some home birth videos, which really reminds you of the work that you put into having a baby!  It was funny, one of the babies in the video was covered in the white creamy vernix...which of course grossed out my husband....but there are so many benefits of the Vernix...

"The power of vernix is truly astounding.  Its main benefits are its various antimicrobial properties, which help protect a newborn against a wide variety of infections.  A secondary benefit is that vernix is highly moisturizing.  To such a degree that many cosmetic companies have researched it."   via birthbliss.wordpress.com

 You can read more and see all the sciency stuff about vernix at the link above....its recommended to delay your baby's bath just after birth and rubbing in the vernix...like lotion so your baby benefits from all the good stuff.

I wonder if I can steal some vernix to put on all these stretch marks, lol....

Hugs & Dates

Wow, time has really flown by so fast....yet, sometimes not fast enough, lol  

The end of a pregnancy can be so grueling, uncomfortable, and just plain exhausting!  I only sleep 2 hours at a time right now because my body is equipped with a timer that goes off when my bladder accumulates approx 2 tablespoons. So then I hoist this tank-like body out of my bed to sleepwalk to the bathroom, step on a kid toy or a husbands shoe, curse a little...eliminate the 2 tablespoons and roll my eyes and go back to bed....oh wait, my body has realized I am trying to go back to sleep...cue the acid reflux...

In 2 hours I will do it all over again....I wish I could talk myself into just wearing an adult diaper, lol...but I just cant bring myself to do it.

2 times in the past week I've revisited the morning sickness stage (if you know what I mean) and I've also had a pulled muscle in my neck for the past 5 days....its been rough, I need a hug.

All of this has put me in a negative and depressive mental state and I want to turn that around asap... so for starters I will be reducing my hours at work to part time for the next 2 weeks and on maternity leave after that to get ready for the baby. Part time starts today and that has already lifted my mood tremendously....I can nap! Its time to take care of ME!

Oh yeah,  to get ready for birth i've been eating 6 dates every day...whaaa? I know it sounds weird but read this....

" a study published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology which concludes that eating 6 dates daily during the last four weeks of pregnancy “significantly reduced the need for induction and augmentation of labor, and produced a more favorable, but non-significant, delivery outcome”.  Some significant findings:

• Cervical dilation was significantly greater in the date-eating mamas upon arrival at the hospital

• 83% of mothers who consumed dates had their membranes intact upon admission at the hospital 

• 96% of the women who ate dates went into labor on their own

• Use of Pitocin (synthetic Oxytocin) was significantly lower in women who consumed dates (28%), compared with the non-date fruit mothers (47%)

• The latent phase of the first stage of labor was almost 7 hours shorter in the date-eating mothers compared with the non-date fruit eaters (510 min vs 906 min). Not bad for eating a few dates!
•  the study demonstrates a significant reduction in the amount of postpartum bleeding experienced by women who consumed date fruit compared to women who received synthetic oxytocin (Pitocin). 

So I thought...why not? 

Here's a better post than I can give you

Most days I am really proud of my blog and really feel like Im finding such good and useful info to put out there into the world.....info that may or may not sway your decision on how you birth, but it will make you think.  

I and then I find someone who does it better.....way better.....

I quit

she wins the internet...

I really hate that saying...

but really, do yourself a favor and read all of it...it really is so good.

Here is the best post ever on your 

choices during birth....

She says eloquent stuff like....

"It is interesting to note that experienced moms were almost twice as likely as first time moms to plan a natural birth. Many women leave their first births dissatisfied or disappointed with their experience and hope for something different the second time around. My dream is for women to know all their options before ever giving birth, so they don’t have to struggle with the emotional and physical recovery of a negative experience."

But she doesnt talk about lightning bolts coming out of your whoo-ha, like I do....so there's that.

Guest Post: Nicole- What can happen

From Kellie: I have never met Nicole personally, but I was reading another blog about birth where she had made a comment about her first birth experience and it really broke my heart. I wanted others to learn from her experience, so I reached out to her and she happily obliged me with a Guest Post. Stories like this are the reason why I started this blog in the first place, it kills me that this can even happen, but it does. One lesson to be learned here should be that you cannot put blind faith in anyone just because they are a Doctor or Midwife, YOU need to educate yourself....this is YOUR body and YOUR baby!

I was an uninformed 19 year old. I had never heard of birth choices except who your OB/GYN was, so I picked the closest one in proximity to our rental home and I wanted a woman; Dr. L delivering out of Arlington Medical Center. Starting at 16 weeks she did vaginal exams, they were uncomfortable but I didn't mind because it kept her in the room a split second more than her usual 2 seconds. She never explained why she started doing them and I never asked. Several years later I requested my records which indicated that she did so because I had had a LEEP procedure 6 months prior to becoming pregnant. (The LEEP procedure can diagnose and treat abnormal cervical cells). I've researched and understand that there is a raised risk for preterm labor but it continues to baffle me that I wasn't made aware of the risk and I'd love to hear from a provider as to why an exam would lower the risk and not raise it.

She terrified me into an induction at 39&1/2 weeks  because of suspected large baby. I didn't know that much about natural labor except that my mom had 2 of them so I could too. They briefly touched on natural labor in the hospital Childbirth Class but mostly the ins-and-outs of pain medication.

The morning of the scheduled induction I was blasted with so much pitocin that I was crying through my first induced contraction; I begged for the epidural . Five long hours later it was time to push. The epidural had been unsuccessful in numbing the uterine pain but pretty successful in eliminating any sensation to push. 

Despite everything I was feeling good and eager to accomplish pushing my baby out.  Two pushes in she asked if I was tired, I replied "No, I feel great"! The next push she said I wasn't pushing hard enough and she was only going to let me push one more time. Before I could even ask her what the HELL she meant, she pulled out the vacuum that was already prepared and yanked out my baby so fast that I received 4th degree tears. 

I'm still unsure of the urgency to deliver, there is no indication in my record of fetal distress. My healthy 9 pound baby stayed with me for an hour, made eye contact, latched like we were both pros, THEN my LAST uneducated mistake was letting them take her to get a bath. We will never unravel the mystery that followed but she stayed in the NICU for 7 days, for unknown reasons why.  I fought tooth and nail for every breast feeding. I'm so thankful that we bonded so early on because it could have been much more devastating.  Despite all that, and not knowing any breast feeding moms, we successfully breast fed for 13 months.

As a footnote, I would like to say that, now as a Doula, I have met and seen doctors that work beautiful in emergency and heightened risk areas. Though I have yet to write my following 5 birth stories, I will tell you that I continued with one more slightly less traumatic induced labor, followed by a very peaceful high risk birth that led me to the path of peaceful births and natural living. I stalked a local midwife, got pregnant and with the support of my husband, she helped me birth 3 of my babies at home free of intervention and no tearing.
If you would like to know more about how this journey has lead me to become an Herbalist and Doula please follow me at  http://instictiveroots.blogspot.com/p/services.html

Consumer Report

Consumer Reports recently wrote about alarming C-section rates in hospitals....and I almost didnt read it because I have read 100 articles like this and felt like I knew already what it was going to say....well I am glad I did because it is far more detailed and up to date than anything else I've read...So yes, that means I want YOU to read it...

Even if you are done with having babies ...why? So you can help prevent your daughters or daughter-in-laws from being a victim of an unnecessary c-section.

 "low-risk women undergoing their first C-section were three times more likely to suffer serious complications—such as severe bleeding, blood clots, heart attack, kidney failure, and major infections—according to a 14-year analysis of more than 2 million women in Canada published in 2007 and cited by the new ACOG/SMFM guidelines.

And the risk of complications increases with each subsequent cesarean delivery. “Once you’ve had a C-section, there’s a big chance that all future births will also be by cesarean," Main said. "And that’s when the risks really start to rise.”

This article covers:

• What you can do to avoid C-sections
• Why C-section rates are so high
• The health risks of unnecessary C-sections
• Find your hospital's C-section rate
• What to do if you need a C-section

CLICK HERE< READ IT

Share it on FB and email it to 5 people or a unicorn will poop in your coffee tomorrow morning

How to try for a specific gender

Disclaimer: I have no scientific evidence for this post....

Supposedly you are more likely to have a boy if you have sex only once during your fertile period and a girl if you have sex more often.

Girls:

female sperm live longer and swim slower than male sperm. If you have sex a few days before you ovulate the longer living and slower female sperm will be waiting for the egg. 


Boys:

Boy sperm swim faster to your egg and then die off quickly....always a competition with men, and then they just give up....am I right ladies??? LOL

So if you want to have a boy you need to fertilize the egg DURING ovulation....and its best if you have the hubs build up if you know what I mean....

______

Ovulation- is usually only about 12 to 24 hours- during which the egg is viable, or open for the business of fertilization. Most often occurs halfway through your menstrual cycle — the average cycle lasts 28 days, counting from the first day of one period (day one) to the first day of the next period. But as with everything pregnancy-related, there's a wide range of normal here (anywhere from 23 to 35 days), and your own cycle may vary slightly from month to month. 

BTW- They have ovulation predictor kits

Good Baby Positioning

So yesterday I bought a $10 inner tube so I can lay on my stomach more....I've got 2 months to go (give or take) before I will be birthin' this baby so I really want to make sure I'm doing what I can to ensure he's in a good position for birth.  

Good positioning = less time/ easier labor 

With my first born I was put on "home rest" because of blood pressure and swelling and was resting on my back a lot and in a recliner with my feet up...that, apparently, is THE WORST thing you can do as far as trying to keep your baby in the best position...maybe thats why it took me FOREVER to get that little booger out!

According to what I learned in child birth class (birth bootcamp) & www.spinningbabies.com, the best thing you can do is to spend as much time as you can on hands and knees (watch out for your husband ;)....your belly kinda creates this hammock for the baby and promotes correct positioning.

River rat for life ya'll!

I took that one step further and bought the inner tube!!!  I will have to take a picture of me laying on it in the middle of my living room watching TV with my son crawling all over me....I think you'd like that.  I'll wear something pretty for you, maybe flash a little leg, or cankle at least.


I bought the River Rat.... its just oozes class.  Although I feel sorry for it because I dont ever think it will see a river.



Right now my lil nugget is in the right position, so I want to keep him that way! 


This is what we got going on (right now)...

Left Occiput Anterior

The left occiput anterior position is often the easiest fetal position for the start of labor.

Babies settle in the LOA position naturally when the womb is pretty well balanced. This position helps the baby be in the smallest diameter to fit the pelvis.

The LOA baby has his or her back on the mother's left side. 

The baby faces between the right hip and the spine of his or her mother.

The crown of the head is most often entering the pelvis first. This helps the baby fit the pelvis in a way that the baby's head can mold (shape) to fit the pelvis most effectively, as needed (if needed).

The baby's back can curve most effectively in this position. The baby slides down the softening abdomen in the last weeks of pregnancy to enter the brim. The head enters the pelvic brim at about 38 weeks in a first time mom, perhaps later in an experienced birthing woman.

LOA position makes engagement likely.

When the head settles deep enough into the pelvis so that it doesn't bobble back and forth, it is called engagement.

Engagement is easier for a baby who has the crown of the head coming first, as opposed to the very top of the head. This will mean that the baby's chin is tucked, in what is called flexion.

          

Pain in the thumb

Wanna know THE most pain I experienced in regard to having a baby???? It was AFTER I got home with the baby....

Yes, its a thing and its legit...too legit to quit.

oh it sounds innocent enough....

But every time I picked up my sweet new bundle of joy it felt like my thumb would dislocate, my tendons would sever and light themselves on fire and hot lava was working its way down from my wrist to my elbow... my hand and arm would be rendered useless until I could rock my wrist back and forth to pop everything back in place.

Thankfully it was only my left arm/hand/wrist/thumb and it only happened when I picked up my baby or used my hand in ANY WAY!!!

There were so many times I thought I was gonna actually drop my sweet baby boy.

So of course I looked it up on the internet....and found something that said there's nothing really you can do for it, ice it, take an anti-inflammatory, get a brace.... and that 90% of the time it goes away in a year....A  Y E A R....freakin' A.

So then I got this awesome thumb splint that looked like a bowling glove....so yes, everyone made fun of me... "Goin bowling today?" "When's the tournament?"....

"They" say its from simply picking up your baby and not being used to doing that....I say that's a crock-o-crap! I think it was from the port they put in my hand at the hospital...because its only my in left hand in the exact spot where they jabbed that thing in my hand. I even have a scar there! and 16 months later it doesn't feel like the nightmare I described above, but it still aches & cracks and pops every day...it aint been right since.

Here are 5 ways to ease the pain, pshahhh......just go get the bowling glove splint

~Kellie

Health Insurance Stuff

I dont know a lot about a lot, but I do know a little about a little....

I though I'd write a little post on what I know about Health Insurance, and maybe it will help someone save some money somehow...someday...somewhere....maybe...but probably not....because health insurance is a honey-badger...It dont give a $%&! (If you haven't seen the honey-badger video on you-tube then you are missing out on some laughs...*foul language warning though*)

While working at a Doctors office I learned about insurance....I hate Health Insurance, it seems like they always have an excuse not to pay or delay paying...It is a necessary evil though and I am lucky to have it.

Its just so confusing!! The terminology "allowables, out of pocket,  deductables" and the always awesome "based on medical necessity"...which gets them out of paying a lot of charges and in turn YOU get to pay them!

Now, each health insurance plan is different and benefits are different...so I'm attempting a sort of "blanket" post. Good luck to me.

Your health insurance company has a panel of Doctors or possibly just one Doctor they pay to review your medical bills to see if the procedure and/or charge you accrued was really necessary for you.....Yes, this person who doesn't know you, who wasn't there... can say if you really needed something or not...just by looking at your paperwork! These Doctors are usually known to be sell-outs in their profession by saying another Doctors decision wasn't really necessary.  And to no surprise they are usually pretty skimpy and try to save the insurance company as much money as possible.

So if you see a lot of "based on medical necessity" wording in your health care benefits description then you could be facing a lot of charges when that hospital bill comes!  "Based on medical necessity" is almost always deemed NOT medically necessary, FYI.  That motrin you took a day after birthing a human...not medically necessary...that will be $30 please... that was what my hospital charged PER pill, how do I know???...because I asked and then politely declined....and a family member smuggled some in our room later. 

I asked one of the nurses to please take off orders of any "extra's" for me, like motrin, nipple cream...and whatever else that was just a fringe benefit....just know that if they offer you something they WILL charge your insurance for it and if you have crappy insurance it will not be covered and you will be responsible for the charges. 

Dont be afraid to ask the nurse about the price of anything...having a baby is expensive! So what if you look like a cheap skate....you don't know these people!

Other terms to know: 

Deductible- the amount you have to pay before **a portion of** your health benefits kick in.
example: after a $2,000 deductible your insurance covers 80%, you are still responsible for the other 20% until your "out of pocket" is met.

Out of pocket- the amount of money you still have to shell out (after you've paid the deductible) before your health insurance covers 100% of the charges.

So, if you have a $2,000 "deductible" and a $2,000 "Out of Pocket", you will pay $4,000 and then the insurance will cover the rest....unless you see the dreaded "not medically necessary" on your bill...most likely you will have to pay for all those charges as well.

You will also receive charges on your baby...the baby usually has their own deductible and out of pocket as well.  For example, if your baby stays in the nursery instead of with you, you can get charged for that. I'm sure each hospital is different though so ask a nurse.  

Also, you can usually take home the nasal aspirator and other goodies that your baby has used, but again...ask a nurse.

Oh and when you go into labor if you go to the hospital too early they will charge you for that as well...one mom said "they'll charge you for that tiny visit of getting checked, haha, I went in for about 45 minutes earlier in day when I went into labor and even with my (great) insurance I had to pay $350!!!!

Hopefully something in this post will help you out! If you have any corrections to this post or some insight for other things to think about to save money please leave a comment! Share your wisdom! ~Kellie