Bathing an Infant

Holding your newborn in your arms for the first time is an exciting, yet extremely terrifying experience. Neonates just seem very fragile, and you feel as if one wrong move or position could hurt them tremendously.

As if carrying them is not enough of a feat, you find out that you have to bathe them too - and this entails taking off their clothes putting soap and water all over their tiny bodies, which makes them really slippery. I cannot stress the word SLIPPERY enough. It's like holding jelly in your hands. Very slippery.

Bath time!

Premature Labor

As I had mentioned before, I had been on strict bed rest for pretty much the whole duration of my pregnancy. But even if did try my hardest to stick to it as faithfully as I could, it still did not stop me from experiencing premature uterine contractions.

When I was about 25-26 weeks pregnant, I experienced contractions accompanied by vaginal spotting. They came pretty frequently, but they were all painless.

I debated whether to consult my doctor for this because I knew they could only be harmless Braxton-Hicks contractions. But the vaginal spotting convinced me to go to the ER.

Good call, I suppose, because they brought me into the Labor and Delivery Department right away. They hooked me up to a monitor and it showed that, indeed, I had moderately strong, regular uterine contractions. They had my husband prepare money for reservation of a thermal blanket, in case my baby really wanted to come out that day.

Milk Blisters

What are Milk Blisters?

Over one year of breastfeeding, and only recently have I experienced this problem. Milk blisters might sound really weird, but they are simply what they sound like - a blister containing milk inside. It happens when skin grows over the opening of the milk duct on your nipple. It appears as a white spot on the surface of the nipple, much like a pimple. If you want to see how it looks like, you can click here.

Fibroadenomas

What are Fibroadenomas?

Fibroadenomas are masses or tumors of the breast tissue. They are moveable, painless, and usually have very well-defined borders. They can be detected by doing breast self-examinations, ultrasounds, or as in my case, incidentally by annual school or work health examinations. Now, all these might sound scary, but fibroadenomas are actually benign or non-cancerous growths.

Can I Breastfeed Even if I Have Fibroadenomas?

Coping with Complete Bed Rest

The Burden of Complete Bed Rest

You probably feel that to stay on complete bed rest is the best instruction any doctor could ever give to his patients. Some people think that it's almost like a mini-vacation - not having to do anything and just lying back and taking a rest. And it is, for the first week or so. Then you realize that you can't stay still any longer and it's becoming more and more of a burden each day.

You miss going out with your friends and socializing. You miss your schoolmates and your workmates, your colleagues, even your boss. But the worst part ever is missing your independence - your ability to get yourself some food when you're hungry, to go to the toilet when you need to, and even doing self-care activities by yourself.

You're constantly depending on someone else to cook your food for you and help you get cleaned up. And you hate it so much because you're supposed to be able to do all these things by yourself. Worse, you know you're being a burden to your significant others, because you know they have better things to do than being at your every beck and call.

But then you have to make a choice between these two things - maintaining your self-reliance, or giving your unborn baby the best chance of survival. In a heartbeat, I would choose the latter, and I'm quite sure you would, too. But it's really difficult to keep your spirits up, especially when you're already on prolonged bed rest and really really sick and tired of it.

Dealing with Bed Rest

It would help if you have some diversional activities that you could do. If you have a hobby that doesn't involve moving around too much, say cross-stitch or crocheting, then you could keep yourself occupied. If not, it would also be a good idea to learn now. Keep novels and magazines by your bedside, aside from the basic food and water. Have the remote controls within reach.

You could also make use of your time by working online. There are many freelancing sites out there, such as oDesk or Freelancer. You can find just about any type of work there - from data entry, to article writing, to programming and web design.

Another thing you could do to while your time away is to go online baby shopping, or to read up on pregnancy and motherhood books. This way, you're actually hitting two birds with one stone. You're getting yourself prepared for the upcoming labor and delivery and for the new baby, and you're also making time go seemingly faster by keeping yourself busy.

Just take it day by day, and eventually, the days will turn into weeks, and weeks into months. Before you know it, you'll be taken off strict bed rest or you've reached full-term with your pregnancy. Just remember, there's always light at the end of the tunnel.

Threatened Miscarriage

If you've read my previous post, you'll know that I had a subchorionic hemorrhage very early on in my pregnancy. I was advised to stay on bed rest, although I didn't very strictly adhere to it because I was still attending school. I realized soon enough that I should have heeded my doctor's instructions.

Warning: The following text may be TMI (too much information). If you're eating while reading this (or if you just have a weak stomach), you can stop reading now. It's okay. I won't be offended, I promise. =p

Why You Should NOT Breastfeed

I hope the title doesn't get you thinking that I am anti-breastfeeding. =) I am a breastfeeding advocate, and I myself have breastfed my daughter for more than a year now. As long as both you and your infant are healthy and well, then by all means, you can breastfeed safely.

But there are some moms out there who have certain medical conditions that make breastfeeding a contraindication. Here are a few of them:

• If the mother is positive for HIV. The human immunodeficiency virus can pass through the breastmilk. If the baby hasn't been infected congenitally during pregnancy, then breastfeeding might cause the transmission of the viruses to the baby.
• If the mother has HTLV-1, or the human T-cell leukemia virus, type 1. Same as HIV, this virus can be passed through the breastmilk.
• If the mother is on antimetabolite drugs or on radiation therapy or chemotherapy for cancer. The radioactivity stays in the body for quite some time, and may be passed on to the baby and wreak havoc on his little body. If you've just finished therapy and would like to breastfeed, you can have a sample of your breastmilk examined, just to be sure all the harmful stuff has already been eliminated.
• If the mother is ingesting drugs of abuse, such as marijuana and cocaine.
• If the mother has untreated tuberculosis. If the mother is already taking TB meds, then it is considered no longer contagious. Only then would she be able to breastfeed.