Swine Flu and Fear: the Doctor’s Verdict

Yesterday, I had swine flu on my mind — I’ve been running a low-grade temperature since Wednesday, and was worried that it was an indicator of something serious. I decided yesterday that if I still had a fever today (Saturday), I’d go to the local walk-in clinic. I woke up this morning still feeling that old familiar body ache and headache. A check of the digital thermometer showed that sure enough, I was still running a fever. Off to the clinic I went! There was a big sign on the door saying that if a patient was experiencing a cough … Continue reading

Induction: What to Expect

During my pregnancy, I had no reason to expect that I would have to be induced other than the fact that my mom did. But since the doctor assured me that wasn’t necessarily an indicator that I would need an induction as well, I assumed I would go into labor naturally. If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I did, in fact, end up needing an induction. It was intimidating because I did not know what to expect and I was terrified of the IV. Those pesky little IV’s are pretty much mandatory … Continue reading

Is Your Child Ready to Answer the Phone?

It’s a question I asked myself a few weeks ago when my 4-year-old begged to pick up the phone while I was in the shower. Here’s the answer I came up with: If your child still holds the phone upside down and can’t figure out why grandma sounds so far away OR He or she tries to shove a freshly colored picture of Elmo into the receiver so grandma can see how well he or she stayed within the lines, then your child’s phone skills need some work and you might want to hold off on using him or her … Continue reading

Ask a Baby Blogger: What Solids Should I Avoid?

Question: My baby seems to have a sensitive stomach. He seems to react to foods that even I eat. He is 4 months old and I want to start him on solids soon but I’m not sure which solid foods will make him constipated or irritate his stomach. Any advice? I think that as parents we spend most of our time with our babies feeding them. I can think of nothing else that takes up as much time as does feeding. Consequently we also spend the most time worrying and wondering about the how, what, when, etc. of starting solid … Continue reading