Strollerderby : morning sickness

Sick in the Morning? Your Kids Will Thank You

JeanneSager — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:32:00 GMT

Who knew one day I'd do a happy dance over seven months of throwing up and two trips to the emergency room? According to a new study in the Journal of Pediatrics, moms should be embracing morning sickness - it means we're bound to pop out smarter babies.

Take that Ms. "Oh, I loved pregnancy, I never threw up, never even had an upset tummy."

The study was commissioned to look at the affects - if any - of anti-nausea drugs in pregnancy, and there's good news there too. Scientists found that mothers who took diclectin during their pregnancy to fight their morning sickness were not endangering their kids' mental acuity. That in and of itself is important news for doctors, who find that mothers who are suffering from morning sickness are loathe to take anything for fear of hurting their fetus.

But as Dr. Gideon Koren, director of the Motherisk Program, at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and one of the study's authors, points out, morning sickness can have debilatating affects on a mother. See above - two trips to the ER and seven months of loafing about miserably sick (see also - why I'm only having one child!).

Whether parents took the drugs or not, the researchers found the kids coming out of cranky sick moms were scoring higher on tests of IQ (yes, I know, a very imperfect system) and mental acuity. This goes along with the good news that women who suffer morning sickness are less likely to miscarry and less likely to have babies with cardiovascular problems.

So moms, carry that barf bag proudly. You're baking a little genius in your oven.

Image: growinstyle

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Morning Sickness Now In Style

Madeline Holler — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:33:00 GMT

The bar for "good" pregnant women has been raised much higher than I can see.

Starting now, nothing says "this pregnant lady's really holding it together," like a disposable, compact, afforadable -- yet stylish! -- barf bag. And 50 of them can be nauseously yours for less than 30 bucks.

Called the "Morning Chicness" bag it comes in six different designs, some quite attractive, you know, considering.

Company founder and Morning Chicness bag designer Tara Ramos came up with the idea for the bags after suffering Hyperemesis Gravidarum, a severe form of morning sickness. She used airline bags her husband and friends purloined from plane trips.

According to the website, however, Ramos "liked the convenience of airline vomit bags, but hated advertising an airline while vomiting."

Totally. I'm like that with Disney stuff.

Thus, pretty barf bags were born.

Discussion: what did you barf in during your pregnancy?

Pun alert: these would make a great gag gift for a baby shower.

[Hat tip: Slate's XX Factor]

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Photo and image: morningchicnessbags.com

What They're Babbling About: Birthdays and Every Day

JeanneSager — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:38:00 GMT

Is there any day as big for parents as their kid's birthday? Forget the wedding anniversary or - dare I say it - your own birthday. There's big doings for little kids, and other day-to-day life in this week's edition of What They're Babbling About.

Big on birthdays? About.com's parenting section is planning a birthday party next month - and you're invited. Write up your party post, and send it over by Feb. 25 (that's Wednesday) to get your piece of cake. - About.com

Everyone could shave a little money off the day-to-day family expenses. But sometimes hitting up the secondhand store means money wasted, says this mom. She says thrifting it is kind of gross - what do you think? - Parent Dish

Think you're the only one staring delivery in the face and still throwing up? Lil Sugar's taken a poll - sixty eight percent of their readers got friendly with their toilet during pregnancy. Somehow, that still doesn't make us feel any better. - Lil Sugar

Hey Mom clique. Hello, you, yeah, you. Mighty Maggie is trying to say hello, can you hear her? Ever been the mom on the outside looking in? - Parenting

Image: SagerScenes

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Chinese Medicine: Would You Use it During Pregnancy?

JeanneSager — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:36:00 GMT

What if the one person who could help you fight the pregnancy-induced nausea, augment labor and turn your breech baby wasn't a medical practitioner? At least not in the traditional sense of the word.

Because thousands of woman are adding another layer to their pre-natal care, adding a practitioner to their team beyond the OB/GYN or midwife. I'm not talking about the doula. I'm talking about their acupuncturist.

Practitioners of Chinese medicine are drawing on thousands of years of the use of acupuncture, herbal therapies and massage to cure some of the most common pregnancy hang-ups. And while some women are still unsure about stepping outside of the realm of American medicine, a California group profiled this weekend in The Mercury News shows the age-old customs are finding more acceptance not only with moms but more traditional medical practitioners.

A study last year showed that acupuncture might actually improve the viability of a pregnancy if administered shortly after a doctor transfer embryos via IVF. But Birthpoint, a group of Santa Cruz practitioners of Chinese medicine, expand their reach far beyond women who have undergone fertility treatments. They treat everyone - and they maintain a steady working relationship with OB/GYNs and midwives. In fact, some of the Birthpoint practitioners ARE certified midwives.

I have never used acupuncture, although I wish I'd had it available to me during my pregnancy considerig its approval by the National Institutes of Health for nausea during chemotherapy. Instead I used the nausea drugs given to chemotherapy patients to fight my hyperemisis gravidarum (extreme morning sickness). If it had been an option, I know I would have sought counsel from my OB/GYN first; I'd imagine most women would. Which makes this pairing so crucial. Most women take the word of their doctor or nurse during this time of their lives more seriously than any other time.

Did you try Chinese medicine during your pregnancy? Did you consult your doctor/midwife first? Would you have cared if he/she was not in support of it?

Image: The Mercury News

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What's Worse, Getting Fat or Getting Pregnant?

JeanneSager — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:08:00 GMT

Been on a diet lately? If pregnancy's in your future, you might find the scale climbing a lot higher than you thought. A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association this month shows women with a history of dieting are more likely to gain weight.

Following 1,200 expectant moms, researchers from the University of North Carolina determined it doesn't matter what you weigh when the sperm meets the egg. It's your history that counts. Ironically, in the same month, the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care claims women are more afraid of gaining weight than they are of getting pregnant. That's what's driving their birth control decisions. It was what they call a "snapshot" study with just 55 women, but together the two offer a look at the delicate balance too many of us are trying to strike in our lives.

Excuse the woman who was once pregnant and is still showing a bit of that state around her mid-section for thinking, but when you get pregnant, AHEM, you gain weight. Well, unless you're pregorexic, but that's another post. Going into pregnancy, I think every woman knows in her head that she's supposed to grow, that watching the numbers on the scale rise is normal. But women who struggle with their weight often have a disconnect between what the brain knows and what the brain sees on the scale or in the mirror. It's the difference between plain old smarts and emotional intelligence.

And so I've wondered if we don't over-compensate when we get pregnant. Knowing our tendency to eat poorly, to make an issue of our weight, we fight the urge to diet to the point where we overeat. I've always been pretty open about my bulimic past. When I was diagnosed with the severe morning sickness they call hyperemesis gravidarum during pregnancy, a small part of me was grateful. I had to smack myself back into reality when I realized that despite the misery, I was happy knowing I wasn't gaining weight. Then I started to feel like this was punishment for years of making myself throw up. Now I literally couldn't help myself.

When the medicines prescribed to chemotherapy patients to help them battle nausea finally took hold, and I began to eat again, I did so with a vengeance. When I swallowed pints of Ben & Jerry's to soothe the heartburn in my throat, I told myself I was doing my baby a favor. I wasn't taking more medicine, and I wasn't denying our two bodies what I would have denied my one. It's no wonder I found myself, B&J in hand, devouring Greek Tragedy blogger Stephanie Klein's new book, Moose, through tears. The book follows her from the day the doctor orders her to pack on 50 pounds to feed the twins growing inside her straight back to fat camp. How could it not? After years of being told NOT to eat, Klein wasn't just being told to eat, she was ordered. And when the order comes from a doctor, when you know you have life inside of you, you do it. And, yes, sometimes you do it to excess.

Because fat or thin at the beginning of pregnancy, the acceptance of "fat" on a pregnant woman brings out what we once were in ways nothing ever will. We will always be the fat girl. As Klein says in one of her blog posts about the book, "While you might be tempted to say when I realize I've outgrown that puffy girl, then I'll be real, you're wrong. Realizing that Moose is who I was, and who I will always fear being again, is who I really am."

So women fear being fat more than they fear getting pregnant. Women who fear getting fat get fatter when they're pregnant. Yes, it all makes sense when you're the fat girl.

Image: Stephanie Klein

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5 Lollipops Your Kids Won't Eat

Madeline Holler — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:28:00 GMT

Are adult-flavored lollipops another sign of this generation's refusal to grow up?

Who knows. But here are five lollipops developed with the grown-up palate in mind. You might like them, but your kids most likely wouldn't -- or in a couple of cases, shouldn't (absinthe for toddlers? Probably not a good idea).

Maple Bacon. With real chunks of bacon. I said, real bacon ... in your lollipop. Does the stick double as a toothpick?

Absinthe. Your kids might eat these, but you'd get arrested if they did. Made with real absinthe.

Ditto on possible Child Protective Services risk with the tequila lollipop. Yes, comes with the worm.

Sigmund Freud watermelon lollipops (too much meaning in the tasty licking, right? They don't call them "suckers" for nothing.)

Preggie pops. Mysteriously, the website selling these nausea-reducing, ginger lollipops won't tell you what's in them. But they're ginger flavored and work to combat all that early pregnancy, all day morning sickness. Do they double as pillows for frequent naps?

You need to write in and share with the class what you think of these treats/expressions of id/treatments. Because we're all curious. Especially about the bacon one.

In other news of the evolving lollipop, check out the one that cures cavities!

Photo: Lolliphile.com

Morning Sickness Pregnancy Tips

Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) — Mon, 07 May 2007 11:32:00 GMT

If you are newly pregnant and feeling yucky, you have my sympathies. Perhaps you can take small comfort in the fact that most women feel awful at some point in their pregnancy. Some feel terrible all the way through. Let's hope that's not you.

When I was pregnant, I scoured the internet for tips to help me feel more comfortable. Tips like:

To ease morning sickness and also prevent heartburn, eat small, frequent meals.
Beat fatigue with plenty of rest each night and naps during the day when possible.
Stretch your calf muscles to prevent leg cramps.
Eat plenty of fiber-rich foods and drink lots of water to prevent constipation.

These were all well and good, and I did them. But I felt blerfy anyway, was still tired, still got the leg cramps.

Back to the eating thing. (Trust me, I know.) I found that eating a combination of protein and carbs every time I put something in my mouth helped tremendously (peanut butter toast, salami and cheese on crackers, hummus on pita). So did eating a banana before I got out of bed in the morning. But honestly, the thing that helped the most (both times) was reaching week 13.

If you are pregnant and still gagging on toothpaste, hang in there. And, feel better soon.

Are Virgos more likely to have Morning Sickness?

Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 14:43:00 GMT

Researchers at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto did a survey that has linked people's astrological signs to specific medical disorders. According to their work if you were born in Libra you are more likely to fracture your pelvis. They say Virgos are more likely to vomit during pregnancy. Does anyone else find it ironic that the sign associated with The Virgin is the one most adversely affected by pregnancy?

I couldn't find the entire study, but if I was going to make an assessment based solely on my twins (who were born in May) I would guess that people born in Taurus poop more often than other signs and Saggitarians (my sign) tend to be really tired. I suppose that could just be the twins making me feel that way.

Anyway, I'm going to go call my mother and make sure there wasn't an error on my birth certificate. I puked so much during my first trimester that I lost ten pounds, and I was having two babies. I think I may be a Virgo.

Can Morning Sickness Predict Miscarriage?

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 18:36:00 GMT

There are plenty of old wives tales about pregnancy. Want to know whether you're having a boy or a girl? If you're carrying low, you're having a boy. Want to increase the likelihood that you're having a girl? Load up your Palm with the Chinese birth chart calendar from HeyBaby, which will pinpoint the sex of your baby based on when you conceived.

But what about a healthy fetus? While you are heaving your guts out with morning sickness and a nice little old lady tells you not to worry because this is really a blessing in disguise, you might want to punch her out, but she's actually onto something.

Some recent studies have found that women suffering from morning sickness within the first four months of pregnancy are 30% less likely to miscarry. Nevertheless, the evidence remains mixed on the subject. Unfortunately, plenty of women have morning sickness and then miscarry, and many with none at all, carry to term. In this day and age of attempted control of the body and pregnancy and fertility, miscarriage remains a tragedy that is sometimes impossible to predict.