TheMommyBlog

Friday, August 08, 2008 Children's Health, Women's Health, Fellow Parenting Authors

Remember when a bunch of mom bloggers went to Cincinnati to visit with Pampers? Remember? No? The runs through O’Hare, the broken eyeglasses, the falls out of the limo? Still nothing?

Well, you’ll remember this, by golly. I designed a new widget for donations to the “Support UNICEF’s Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus” effort, to be displayed on our sites.

Not one of us walked away from our visit with UNICEF USA’s CEO Caryl Stern unaffected by her descriptions of the thousands of preventable neonatal and maternal deaths from Tetanus, a totally preventable disease. The cost of a single vaccine? Five cents. There was no question we weren’t going to do something about it.

Lifesaving Immunization for Children

Every since its first tuberculosis campaign in 1947, UNICEF has been a leader in global immunization. Today we provide vaccine to 40 percent of the world’s children and help save two million lives a year. But thousands of children still die needlessly every day from diseases like measles, polio, or tuberculosis. UNICEF is committed to vaccinating every single child against preventable childhood diseases.

When war or natural disaster strikes, we do whatever it takes to get children immunized. We help broker ceasefires so that we can enter a war-torn region and vaccinate its children. After a disaster, we go door-to-door in the remotest areas to distribute lifesaving vaccines.

Here is the widget, which also has a home in the sidebar. Our hosts have really gone the extra mile and created a page just for us where you can make a donation and receive a tax reciept on the spot. Pampers will track the donations that come through this widget, so we can see how well we’re doing to support the cause.

To get an idea of how important that is to us, have a look at the video of Mr. McCleary’s (of Pampers) visit to Angola to see UNICEF’s progress with tetanus vaccines.

Dig around and see how many nickels you have laying around, and then think about each one of those saving a mom’s or baby’s life. And pass our links around so we can get this thing to go viral. If we can’t pull it off, who can? Who care more about moms and babies than other moms and babies? You can make a difference, and save twenty lives for each dollar. I just donated fifty dollars, and you know what a commitment that is for me right now.

Let’s take Tetanus out of the equation - having children is hard enough without knowing just how slim the chances or survival are without proper care and vaccination.

Thursday, July 03, 2008 Children's Health, Women's Health, Moms Like Us, PPD Resources

My best friend is pregnant with her second, and as always is Janie on the Spot with helpful backup. She sent me a couple of emails that are sent to her weekly from WhatToExpect.com. I don’t have the direct link to the articles so I’ll quote them here:

WEEK 11: DEPRESSION DURING PREGNANCY
“Could I have postpartum depression before the baby’s even born?
It’s not easy being blue — especially when everyone around you is expecting you to be rosy pink and giddy with excitement. The truth is, depression during pregnancy is as common — even more common, according to some studies — as postpartum depression is (though the postpartum variety gets all the press). And it’s no wonder. After all, pregnancy is a life-altering (not to mention body-altering) experience that can throw even the most eager parent-to-be emotionally off-kilter. The physical changes alone can take a tremendous toll (it’s hard to be giddy with excitement when you’re feeling crappy with morning sickness, fatigue, heartburn, fatigue, constipation, fatigue, bloating.…). Coupled with the emotional stress that pregnancy (and the upcoming transition to parenthood) can bring, it’s a recipe for depression — a recipe that’s shared by more than ten percent of expectant women.

No one knows for certain what causes pregnancy depression, but it’s almost a sure bet that those raging hormones play a significant role (just as hormone fluctuations can wreak premenstrual emotional havoc). Relationship problems, complications in the pregnancy (or a high-risk pregnancy), a history of fertility difficulties or pregnancy loss, or stressful life events (such as trouble at work or death of a close family member) can add to the strain. Depression is also more likely if you have a history (or a family history) of depression, or if you suffer from pronounced PMS.

Often, it’s difficult to diagnose depression during pregnancy because its symptoms mirror so many “normal” pregnancy symptoms: sleep and appetite changes (and every pregnant woman has those!), loss of interest in sex (ditto), anxiety, inability to concentrate, and general emotional instability. What’s not normal is to feel consistently sad, hopeless, or generally uninterested in life — especially if such feelings are keeping you from eating properly, sleeping regularly, or otherwise taking good care of yourself. To help you sort out whether your feelings are a result of normal pregnancy-related emotional changes, or whether they’ve progressed to depression, speak to your practitioner.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008 Children's Health, Women's Health, PPD Resources

A reader asked me this question, and I couldn’t respond fast enough, because I could almost feel the uncertainty and fear in her words. I’ve been there. And so have a million others, though few have the courage or courtesy to say it to your face. Then you end up feeling like a freak. It is my personal mission to prevent unnecessary freak-feeling wherever I can.

Q:Is it normal to have postpartum before giving birth?

A: I would say so! Depression is depression; it doesn’t wear a watch or check the calendar. There is so much going on in a pregnant woman’s body that it’s a testament to our species that we survive the process at all.

Post Partum Depression is what they call it when it persists for more than a few weeks or months after birth. It’s a narrow definition. For instance, I had it after I lost a twenty-week pregnancy and my milk came in even without the baby, then had it with my first, was just getting over it when the second came along, and then it rode straight on into the next pregnancy nine months later and still hasn’t gone away. We can’t call it PPD anymore, technically, but that’s when it started and now it’s plain ole depression.

It’s normal to feel this way while pregnant, and it can be hard when you don’t see anyone else going through it. Hormones and chemical turmoil do plenty to throw us off and not see clearly, and the prospect of having a baby to take care of can be as terrifying as it is thrilling.

Here’s a mantra: motherhood starts before the birth, and the pregnancy doesn’t end with the birth. You’re as good as pregnant for at least three months after birth as your body readjusts and continues to work overtime nourishing the baby. It’s just that the baby is on the outside now. The important thing is that you realize it, and try to find a safe place to vent without being judged, and if you want to write to me, you’re absolutely welcome.

They say that a pregnant woman is as different, physiologically, from a non-pregnant woman as a woman is from a man. It’s like a third gender. And it feels like it, doesn’t it?

I’m really glad you wrote and asked that question, because I thought about that exact thing so many times and didn’t know how to ask anyone. I would like to post this for others who might have the same questions, keeping you anonymous of course, anything you say to me is confidential. But I think this is important.

If you’re up to reading, these books will definitely give you perspective. They literally saved my life.

• The Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy
• The Parent Trip
• The Girlfriend’s Guide to Surviving the First Year
• The Nursing Mother’s Companion
• The Expectant Parents’ Companion
• The Nursing Mother’s Guide to Weaning
• The Pregnancy Book: Month-by-Month
• The Birth Book: Everything You Need to Know to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth
• The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two
• The Attachment Parenting Book

Good luck, and let me know how you’re doing…

Mindy