The Mom Crowd

My husband and I are both big-time worriers. When we bought our television, you wouldn’t believe the contraption my husband built behind my armoire to secure it so that the children couldn’t pull the television on them. My son is still in a crib at night and not climbing out, so even though I’m big on baby-proofing, I still had a list of to-do’s in his bedroom. I haven’t been urgent about these to-dos because he is rarely in his bedroom out of his crib for more than a few seconds. Well, a few seconds is too long!

A few weeks ago, my son was playing in his room while I was in my bedroom and I heard a very loud crash. I ran into his room to find his dresser on top of him. Thankfully, he was fine and was not seriously hurt. Do you know what was in his top drawer? Furniture straps that I had already purchased to secure his dresser. Securing his dresser has been on my “list” for quite some time now and it took a very potentially dangerous incident to get us to make his room safe for him. This was one of those cases where I should have nagged my husband to get it done!

I am mortified that this happened and very embarrassed. BUT, hopefully you can learn from my mistake. Please take a look at your furniture and televisions and make sure that your little one cannot pull anything on top of them. 5,000 children go to the ER every year because of furniture or televisions falling on them. I decided not to look up the number of deaths because it’s just so sad to me. Please don’t wait like I did for an accident to happen. Your accident may not have the same outcome as ours!

It’s so simple to prevent furniture from tipping and very inexpensive. Some furniture comes with anti-tip straps. My curious toddler loves to open the drawers of his dresser. With the drawers open, he has the perfect climbing opportunity. This is how I think he pulled his dresser down.

To secure your furniture, televisions, and bookshelves, check out these items:

Safety 1st Furniture Wall Strap $4.29 (this is what we bought for our heavy furniture)

Anti Tip Furniture Strap by KidCo $3.49

Anti-slip Appliance Safety Straps $16.99 (for televisions, computers, microwaves, etc…)

What danger have you ignored with your children?

How well do you like your Pediatrician? Occasionally I get asked by my friends who my Pediatrician is and how well I like her. When I needed to choose one I read a ton of  articles online about what to look for and asked my friends for referrals. We also interviewed our doctor to make sure that we had the same theories on health care and our personalities fit.

Here are a few practical tips about choosing a Pediatrician:

Consider the location of the office. How far do you want to drive for well baby check ups? Do you want to drive farther if you really love one doctor?

Interview prospective Pediatricians and have your questions ready. They usually have designated office hours to be interviewed. It can really save you a lot of heartache to meet them in person before they show up in your hospital room. Also, you will be able to check out the office before you bring your baby. Is it clean? Are the well children separated from the sick children?

Make sure that they service the hospital you are birthing at. Not all pediatricians have access to every hospital in town.

Do they really match your health care philosophy? For example, how well do they encourage breastfeeding if you want to breastfeed? They may say that they encourage breastfeeding, but what is their philosophy on supplementing? Especially during the time while you are waiting for your milk to come in. Most doctors won’t say that they prescribe a lot of medicine. I think you have to tell their philosophy about meds by the way they speak about prescriptions.

Find out how long the nurse has assisted the doctor. I think you can tell a lot about a doctor by how well they get along with their co-workers. My doctor’s nurse has been with her for over 18 years. That seemed like a good sign to me.  Also, there may be no way of knowing, but having a competent nurse comes in very handy. Many times she has solved my problem over the phone without coming in for a visit.

Ask for referrals from your friends. This is by far the best source of information in finding a Pediatrician. I asked everyone I knew and interviewed one based on the information I received. Moms can tell you first hand if they are pleased with their doctor’s office.

Does the Pediatrician’s office have weekend hours? I have went in on a Saturday once and I was very thankful that I didn’t have to wait three more days with my super sick baby to find out what is wrong.

Find another doctor if you don’t feel comfortable with your own. At your first visit you don’t sign a contract agreeing to only use them as your doctor for the next five years. If you don’t like the care you are getting or the way they communicate information to you, then you have freedom to find another one you like.

Pray and trust your Mom Instincts. Sometimes you have several choices and they all seem like good options. I would go with your instinct and go with the doctor you have peace about. That is how I ultimately chose mine and I have been happy with my decision.

Do you have any tips for new moms looking for a Pediatrician? Do you like your doctor? Why do you like them? Have you had any problems with your Pediatrician?

More Information:

Shopping for a Pediatrician on WebMD

Choosing a Doctor for Your Baby on Baby Center

Choosing a Pediatrician on Expectatant Mother’s Guide

10 Questions to Ask When Choosing a Pediatrician on iVillage

Choosing a Pediatrician on Ask Dr. Sears

The physical reaction to the MMR vaccination may be old news to parents who have children over the age of 1 but I hope that my daughter’s experience will help all those who are coming up on their little one’s 1-year check up. I don’t intend to give any medical advice here; I am only sharing what happened to my daughter, Annabelle.

The MMR vaccine stands for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella. Children receive 2 doses of the vaccine. The first does is given at 12-15 months of age and the second at 4-6 years of age when they are about to enter school and are at a higher risk of contracting one of the diseases.

Annabelle received the MMR vaccine, Chickenpox vaccine, and Pneumoccal Conjugate vaccines at her 1-year well visit check up. My pediatrician warned me that in 10-14 days she might get a fever and a rash, because of the MMR shot. Exactly 10 days later she got a high fever. She was sick for three days with a fever of almost a 103 degrees and she had funky, runny poop. Then as the fever was finally settling down she broke out in a rash and her face swelled up. My instructions said that the rash shouldn’t last more than three days and to call if they turned purple. Thankfully the rash only lasted three days, but she was ill for a total of a week.

In the bigger picture I would rather my daughter get a fever and rash that goes away, than the more serious risks of measles, mumps, or rubella. The CDC states that 1 in 5 persons will get a fever and that 1 in 20 persons will get a rash from the vaccine. Annabelle was one of the lucky recipients of the 1 in 20 chance.

Some parents choose to separate the vaccine into three different shots to decrease the chance of a reaction. The CDC claims that there isn’t any reason to separate the shots and “studies have shown” that parents may forget to schedule the extra visits to receive all the rest of the vaccinations and thereby put their children at a higher risk of not getting vaccinated. I don’t know what exactly Dr. Sears suggests on the MMR vaccine, but a recent blog post on his site says that there may be a shortage of the plain Mumps vaccine and gives a few suggestions about how to handle the shortage. The decision to separate the combination shot or not to separate the shot is up to you.

Additional Resources:

The CDC Information Statement about MMR

Detailed Background and History about Measles and Mumps vaccines from The National Academies Press

Related Post:

Aluminum in Vaccines

Did your child have any reaction to the MMR shot? Did you separate the shot into three?

Sometimes babies need a little extra medical attention when they are born and need to stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. There are many reasons why a newborn would need to visit the NICU. The NICU can be an uncomfortable, scary, intimidating environment. I have spent 15 days in the NICU and many days in various hospital rooms. Some simple things like making sure every nurse in the hospital had our cell phone numbers, posting pictures of our family on my daughter’s bassinet, bringing in the mobile from her empty crib at home, and calling dibs on the next open comfy recliner made our stay more comfortable. There are many other things you can do to make your NICU stay less intimidating and more comfortable.

Create your own privacy

• NICU’s are typically the least private areas of the hospital. While being in a “fishbowl,” it’s important to create some privacy for you and your baby while you’re visiting. Most hospitals will provide screens that you can arrange around your child’s bassinet during breastfeeding or bonding time. Take advantage of those screens!

Kangaroo Care

• Kangaroo Care is a special type of bonding with your newborn. It’s basically just skin to skin holding by undressing your newborn and unbuttoning the front of your shirt. This is great for any newborn, but it’s especially important for babies who aren’t able to go home right after their births. Moms AND Dads can do Kangaroo Care. The benefits of Kangaroo Care can be found here.

This is YOUR baby, not the hospital’s

• When Darah was in the NICU, I felt like the hospital owned her. I wasn’t very proactive in her care because I felt like I would mess everything up. I wish I would have been stronger about voicing my concerns or insisting that I do her basic care when I was present. If you want to give your baby his or her bath or next feeding, then tell your nurse. Do not be late for these appointments because your nurse has other patients they need to attend to and most NICU’s operate in a very structured manner.

Learn the “rules”

• There is usually a limit on number of visitors, age of visitors, and who is allowed to hold the baby. Visitors (and parents) who are sick are to stay away and everyone must go through a hand-washing ritual with surgical scrub brushes.
• If you have a friend whose child is in the NICU, make sure you are following the rules. It made me frustrated when I had to remind people to wash their hands. If you’re a smoker, make sure you put a clean shirt on that you haven’t smoked in before visiting. Second hand smoke is the last thing any newborn needs, especially one with medical issues.

Go Home!

• Spending every minute of your day by your baby’s bassinet will deplete you of the energy you need when your baby comes home from the hospital. If you live far from your child’s hospital, look for the closest Ronald McDonald House and bunk there at night. I stayed at the RMH of Dallas for 6 weeks during one of Darah’s hospital stays, and was able to rest, eat (food they provided!), and meet other families so I was not so lonely.

Take care of YOU!

• You just had a baby and you need to recover (physically and emotionally)! Do not overdo it. If you’re having a hard time emotionally, ask your doctor for a support group of other moms in the NICU or suggestions on coping emotionally. Be watchful for signs of postpartum depression. Make sure you eat and are getting breaks from the hospital.

Most important: Ask questions!!!

• If you don’t understand something, keep asking for answers! If you are not comfortable with something, insist that you receive a better explanation. While these nurses and doctors probably do know more about your child’s health, this is YOUR child and you are an important player in their medical team. Keep a journal of your child’s medical information. Include feeding schedules, weight, medications, procedures, and any new diagnosis in this journal. Darah almost received a very wrong dosage of heart medication, but because my husband and I were aware of her medications, we interrupted what could have been catastrophic! After you leave the NICU, you will have a new title: Momologist, which is just as more important than any other “ologist” (pumonologist, cardiologist, hematologist, oncologist, neurologist, etc..) who takes care of you child!

Check out these informative sites:
Neonatal Nursery

When Your Child’s in the NICU

What has been your experience in the NICU? What helped make your stay more pleasant?

My daughter, Darah was tube fed for the first two years of her life. Most people had absolutely no idea what her feeding tube was and I got a lot of stares or quick “look aways” and a lot of questions about what those tubes were for. Darah was born with a very serious heart defect. This heart defect made her incredibly tired. In addition to her heart defect, she also has low muscle tone, because she had Down syndrome. The combination of low muscle tone and her exhaustion from her heart defect made her suck/swallow/breathe coordination impossible. From day one, we had to sustain her life by using a feeding tube.

The first feeding tube we used was an Oral Gastric (OG) tube and after about a month, Darah graduated to a Naso Gastric (NG) tube. The OG tube is a feeding tube that is inserted in the mouth, down the esophagus, into the stomach. The NG tube is inserted through the nostril, down the esophagus, and into the stomach. With a syringe (or pump), we were able to pour my breastmilk or formula into Darah’s stomach. Darah’s open heart surgery was not until she was three months old, so she received all of her nourishment through her feeding tube. The NG Tube made her very sensitive to anything coming near her face or mouth. This oral aversion led to a surgically placed feeding tube when she was five months old. This G-tube allowed us to give Darah her necessary calories and fluids and attempt to work on feeding. She started off with a Peg Tube, which is a feeding tube in the tummy that has a permanent extension tube attached to it. After that healed, 6 weeks later, we switched that out for a Mic-key button. The best way to describe this is it’s just like a beach ball plug. It snaps shut when you’re not using it, and when you’re ready to access it you can unplug it and attach a tube extension to it.

Fast forward to Darah at 16 months old. She had made very minimal progress with oral feedings and we decided to attend a six-week inpatient, intensive feeding program in Dallas, Texas. This program (Our Children’s House at Baylor) was the best thing we ever did. When we completed our 6 week stay, Darah was taking all of her caloric needs orally. She still struggled with drinking, however she was taking all of her fluids orally by her second birthday. Her feeding tube was removed a few days before her second birthday! She now loves to eat and drink! (I never thought I’d be able to say that!)

If you are dealing with a feeding tube, or severe feeding issues, I strongly encourage you to do a few things:

• Find support from other moms who have been there/done that! I found this great yahoo group that was always there for my questions and concerns.
• Don’t go it alone! Ask close friends or family to learn how to feed your child. By training a few people, you can get those much needed breaks from the whole feeding process. Most people will be happy to learn and to help.
• Ask questions! If you aren’t comfortable with your doctor’s advice, get a second opinion. G-tube surgeries are done a lot, however it is still major surgery. So, ask questions! Remember that this is YOUR baby! It’s so easy to forget that when you have a child with multiple health issues.
• Get lots of “extras!” Every time you’re in the hospital or doctor’s office, make sure you pick up a spare g-tube, extensions, and syringes!
• Find an EXCELLENT Speech Pathologist and Occupational Therapist. Don’t be afraid to “shop around.” Find a therapist who is a researcher and not afraid to think outside the box.
• Don’t be easily offended. A lot of people stared at Darah’s tube because they just didn’t know what it was. If anyone asked me about it, I happily educated them on it. People don’t mean to offend when they stare (or quickly look away), they just don’t know what it is and don’t know how to respond.

I love answering questions about feeding tubes and would love for anyone to take the opportunity to share their tube-feeding story, experience, or question!

Here’s some more resources for you:

Tummy Tunnels

New Visions-Children with Feeding Tubes

Kids with Tubes

Little Bites Support Group