Tag Archives: pregnant

Pregnant: Am I Doing It Right?

During my pregnancy I’ve felt a couple times like I wasn’t “doing it right.”  Not that I wasn’t taking care of my body or baby properly, but that I didn’t care enough, and that meant I wasn’t going to be very good at this whole mothering thing.  I didn’t feel that way in response to serious events, or in the face of friends with children, or anything like that. It started when I was asked “what’s your countdown?”  I had no idea what the person was talking about.  Apparently it meant how many days left until my due date.  I … Continue reading →

Late Trimester Test: The Cervical Exam

  As your due date approaches, you’ll start getting more and more checks by your doctor.  Your appointment schedule will increase to every two weeks from around week 30, and then every week from around week 37.  In addition to the fetal heartbeat check, you’ll probably have your belly measured as well, and your provider will feel around your stomach to determine the baby’s position.  Some doctors might even do a vaginal exam for this, if they’re having trouble determining where the baby is. You’ll get your group B strep test, and this might also be around the time you’ll … Continue reading →

The Truth About Your Diet During Pregnancy

One of the assumptions I made about pregnancy prior to becoming pregnant is I’d have a diet-related Get out of Jail Free card.  I knew that there are certain foods it’s best to avoid, but I thought at least I’d have a free pass to eat, well, not quite as much as I wanted, but to feel a bit more guilt-free about evening ice cream binges. That turned out not to be the case at all.  First off, the whole “eating for two” thing isn’t true.  At most, you should eat for one and a quarter.  In addition to that, … Continue reading →

Tips for Avoiding the Flu While Pregnant

When you are pregnant, you may try even harder than usual to avoid getting sick. The symptoms of pregnancy can be unpleasant at times, and you may shudder at the thought of adding the symptoms of a cold, the flu, or that stomach bug that is going around town to what you are already feeling. Since many cold medicines and other remedies are not recommended for use during pregnancy, it is a good idea to do everything that you can to prevent illness. That said, you may not want to run to the nearest pharmacy with your sleeve rolled up to … Continue reading →

Happy News for the Royal Family Despite Illness

 What wonderful news out of England, that Duchess Kate is now pregnant. She is early in her pregnancy, and is unfortunately experiencing a very severe case of a common early pregnancy symptom. Most of us are familiar with morning sickness, and many of us have experienced it at some point during our pregnancies. However, only about one percent of women will experience morning sickness as severely as Duchess Kate is now experiencing it. The scientific name for excessive morning sickness is hyperemesis gravidarum, or excessive vomiting during pregnancy. In case you are wondering what qualifies as excessive vomiting (after all, vomiting … Continue reading →

Guilty Pleasures

In the beginning, I was lost when Hailey was with her father. I missed her from the second he picked her up until the second he brought her home. I would call several times, I could tell it was making her a little crazy, but I had never been without her and wasn’t sure what to do with myself. I used to wander around the apartment, cleaning things that were clean, organizing things that didn’t need organizing, running to the store to buy Hailey a treat for when she got home. Even though my daughter wasn’t physically there, taking care … Continue reading →

Steve Started Pre-School

The boys were starting daycare and we were both starting back to work. I worked close enough that I could go to the day care if there was a problem. Our daycare lady that we chose was amazing with the boys and we were so lucky to have found her. The boys both seemed to adjust to going to daycare and living with us great. We have all adjusted to being a real family and the boys are calling us Mommy & Daddy. George was still too little to get those words out so it was more like Ma and … Continue reading →

Speech Development

Our second foster placement was a toddler. She didn’t talk much when she arrived at 21-months old. I was very concerned for her because I was used to toddlers who were vociferous. After four months living with us and working with ECI, she was much more verbal and had added a lot of words. I was concerned about Jessie’s language development early, but ECI wouldn’t work with her until she was two. She didn’t seem to make a lot of progress between ages two, when the speech therapist started working with her, and age three when she aged out of … Continue reading →

Delaying Pre-School

When I was in second and third grades I was in a program called Mentally Gifted Minors or MGM. It was a great program. The program met on a different campus on certain days. Those students in the program rode the bus to the other school on those days. MGM was self-led study. It was very enjoyable and I learned a lot. My sister’s children all went to a Montessori school for pre-school and some for kindergarten as well. They all had very good experiences and did well in school. I was interested in Montessori for Jessie. Jessie is going … Continue reading →

Top 20 Narration Ideas

Those who homeschool using Classical or Charlotte Mason methods are familiar with daily narrations. A narration is a short summary of an assigned reading given orally by the student. Narrations serve two purposes. One, it helps the teacher determine the level of reading comprehension of the student. Two, it helps reading comprehension on the part of the student. The length of a narration is usually two to three thoughtful sentences. Narrations do not always have to be given in the same manner everyday. Adding some creativity to this daily exercise will enhance the student’s comprehension and keep him more engaged … Continue reading →