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Hello yaw,
Ok, I know, it’s been quite a while since my last post. It’s been a very busy summer, and I have NO excuses. Anyway, I don’t always cover subjects like this, but this is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. 50/50, you’re on one side of the fence or the other. I doubt there’s much of a split decision here. So, take this into account. I love you all. Whether I know you or not. Doesn’t matter. We may disagree, but I love you none the less. God bless you always.
Meredith – RNC
Ok, here we go,
I will most likely lean to the conservative side of this argument. Sorry, but I am VERY opinionated, regarding this topic.
I know this is going to be a very controversial topic. Most people are on one side of the fence or the other. Generally, you’re not in the middle. I can almost, not always, but almost be certain, if you’ve had a child, you’re against abortion. And if you haven’t, you MAY be for it. Not always, but usually. Obviously there’s a reason for this. Trust me, once you’ve had a child, you can’t imagine life without them. Granted, this is through my eyes. I was married when I concieved my first, and if you’ve read most of my post’s, you know, probably my ONLY child.
So despite the controversy here, let’s think rationally. I know most people have opinions that vary both ways. If you asked my aunt, who had an abortion when she was 22, she would tell you it was the worst experience of her life. Not just because she now cannot have children, but also because she feels she took a life that she helped create. There are obviously political and religious opinions on both sides of the fence. Also, some people are quite aloof to the word “abortion”, as for some reason it doesn’t register with them that the life that was taken was a child. A future president, teacher, astronaut, race car driver, engineer, fast food worker, what ever !!! It doesn’t matter. This is my opinion. You’re taking a life.
There are some people, such as my aunt, that this word haunts. For the life that was taken, and for what can never more be. Many of these women can no longer have children because of the procedures that were done. That may no longer be the case today but that doen’t mean you won’t feel guilt for the life you have taken.
Abortion is defined as: A pregnancy loss for any reason, either spontaneous, commonly called miscarriage, or induced and planned or performed by a medical professional of some sort.
Abortion can happen at any time after conception from the first days up until the end of the pregnancy. While induced abortion generally is not done beyond 22-24 weeks of gestation, as the fetus is bordering on “viability” at this time, and CAN survive outside of the womb, albeit with some help from the NICU.
There has always been controversy regarding the beginning of life. There are some that say the fetus is not “alive” until later in the pregnancy, some say not until the heart is beating and we can detect that with ultra sound at SIX WEEKS gestation. But, I BELIEVE LIFE BEGINS AT THE MOMENT OF CONCEPTON. It does, there is no argument here as far as I am concerned. I don’t care what you think. I love you none the less, but I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU THINK !!! THIS IS A MEDICAL FACT !!!!
First things first, regarding “pro-choice”, your choice came when you decided to lay down with who ever it was that inpregnated you, at that point you made a decision, now as an adult and a human being, you have to live with your decision. Be a man, be a woman. BE RESPONSIBLE. YOU created LIFE, now accept that responsiblility and raise that child or give him or her up for adoption to someone who will gladly accept and love that child as one of their own.
It was your choice. YOU created life. Now accept it.
How can something, “not alive” grow and form? Sorry, not possible scientifically. I am an RNC – I don’t care what YOU THINK or what training you’ve had. You’re wrong. PERIOD.
The fetus doesn’t have thoughts and opinions yet, but is still alive and a human being. Most people can’t remember much before their fifth or sixth year of life, other than an instance here and there, can you? Does that mean that you were not alive? So then what do YOU consider Viable?
For those of you who are for abortion, “murder of an innocent human being”, and feel the mother’s rights override the child’s, that’s only your opinion, but you are entitled to that opinion in this country. Unfortunately, it’s still legal to take the life of a beautiful child, but in most places, not a convicted murderer. That’s right, you can murder someone who’s been around for twenty, thirty or fourty years, whatever, and be sentenced to life in prison, but murder a child, hey, that’s ok.
Believe it or not, believe in God or not, one day, YOU WILL BE JUDGED. Taking the life of another human being IS murder !! This is NOT debatable. You made your choice, now be responsible and live with it. I don’t care where you’re from, you made your choice, you had the chance to prevent the pregnacy, if you were irresponsible, be a man/woman and deal with it. Don’t be an animal. Give that child up for adoption, or take it as your own and accept the gift you were given by God, and God will forgive you.
Sincerely,
Meredith – RNC
Hello everyone,
It’s been a few days since my last “real” entry, I had to take a couple of days off and take my son to the beach. You’ve got to enjoy them while they are young ! Anyway, today’s entry will cover some myths about breast cancer and my personal experience with it. As always, I would like to encourage your participation, whether it be from personal experience, professional experience or if you have any questions and concerns. Thanks for reading, I hope you find this useful.
There are some myths regarding breast cancer that people believe, that may affect their choice to do exams or get medical care. These myths are dangerous and they are untrue !
The first is that you can only get breast cancer if it’s in your family history, that it’s hereditary. Yes, there are specific cancers that are caused by a gene mutation and can be passed down in family lines, but the majority are non-genetic, caused by any number of reasons, environmental, exposure to carcinogens or other harmful substances. Some have no specific reason at all.
Another myth is that breast cancer only happens to “older” women. Usually considered post-menopausal in nature. Not true. I was diagnosed at age 35, and I know many women, ranging from age 26-40 at diagnosis who will agree that this rotten disease is not just for “mature” women.
Yet another myth is that breast cancer doesn’t hurt. This is also untrue, as certain breast cancers, specifically ones that are hormone receptor positive can make tumors swell with the hormone fluctuations of a womans mentrual cycles.
Personally, my diagnosis of breast cancer at age 35 was with no direct family history, having discovered my tumor as a sore spot that throbbed with my periods. This trashes those myths, and there are many younger women with similar stories.
So the bottom line is, DO YOUR SELF EXAMS MONTHLY, get your yearly exam with a physician to check your breasts, no matter how young you are, and if you feel ANYTHING that even RESEMBLES a lump, be agressive with your doctors until they listen to you and get a mammogram ordered immediately.
Thank goodness I didn’t have to argue with my doctors, but some believe these myths and say “lets just watch it” or ” it’s nothing”, remember it’s your health and your life, take charge of it.
In a future post I will discuss my personal “ordeal” and experiences with this rat bastard disease. : )
Heres more great information for you if you’d like check them out, there are a bunch of great stories and examples for you to research.
As always, I hope this helps. God bless,
Meredith – RNC
Hello,
This post is going to be about Jaundice and what you should know about it regarding your newborn. As always, I want to thank all of you for taking the time to read this post and as always appreciate your input and experiences.
Jaundice and your newborn:
Jaundice is a yellowish or light orange appearance of the skin and whites of the eyes. It is a common condition in newborns and is usually not dangerous.
Jaundice usually appears on the 2nd or 3rd day of life in full term healthy infants, often disappearing in 1 week. About 50% of full term infants get jaundice, but it is more likely in premature babies, more like 80%, and can last longer also.
Infants with bruising from birth, a sibling with jaundice or those who were delivered with help of a vacuum are at higher risk.
In most cases, jaundice is mild and is not problematic, but if it is more severe, present at birth or appears prior to 24 hours of life, treatment may be necessary.
The causes of juandice : Babys liver and other organs aren’t fully mature. One function of the liver is to rid the blood of excess Bilirubin, which is formed from the normal breakdown of old red blood cells. This occurs all through life, but is more pronounced in the newborn period. Until the babys liver begins to function fully, bilirubin tends to build up in the babys bloodstream, causing the skin and the whites of the eyes to become yellow in appearance.
The color change progresses from head to toe, so an infant with mild jaundice may only be yellow in the face, while one with severe jaundice will be yellow over more of his or her body, possibly all of it.
After being changed by the liver, most bilirubin is removed from the body through the babys bowel movements. Increasing the feedings will increase bowel movements and help get rid of more bilirubin.
Occasionally jaundice can be caused by other problems. If a baby and mother have different blood types, the mother may produce antibodies that destroy the newborns red blood cells. This is called ABO incompatibility ( from the blood groups ), and can cause a sudden serious increase in bilirubin.
Another type of jaundice is called breast feeding jaundice, often because in the first few days baby doesn’t get enough breastmilk, his bowels are not moving frequently and the bilirubin cannot be removed as easily. The best way to treat this is by nursing more frequently. Giving water feedings WILL NOT help.
The level at which jaundice may be dangerous depends on a few factors:
The babys age, whether the baby was full term or premature, or if the baby has any other medical conditions. If your pediatrician is concerned they will do a skin or blood test as I discussed in my previous post. When treatment is needed phototherapy is used. Ultraviolet lights to help the body remove the bilirubin. This is done in the nursery, baby is undressed except for his or her diaper and eye covers are used to protect his or her eyes. The pediatrician will order checks to be sure the level is decreasing as it should. The nurses will also check babys temps frequently, as the baby will be undressed and we don’t want cold-stress to occur.
Report any yellow-orange discoloration to your pediatrician promptly, because if the level becomes extremely high, nervous system damage may occur, though this is very rare.
In my next post I will discuss Circumcisions. Guys might not want to read that ! : )
As always, thanks for reading and contributing your experiences.
God bless you and yours,
Meredith – RNC
Hello everyone,
I haven’t had a chance to add an entry in the last few days, July is a very, very busy month in my family. My husbands birthday was on the 9th, my sons birthday is today and we have a few others. Not to mention the holiday weekend and work, so I slowed down a little bit, but despite today being my sons 6th bday, Im going to add a quick entry here. As always, I hope you all find it useful and informative and if you have anything to add, please feel free.
INFANT PROCEDURES FROM BIRTH TO DISCHARGE :
When babies are born, they have many things done to them. Once born and dried off, they usually get weighed and measured – length, head and chest circumfrence and indentification bands are placed on mom, dad and baby that all match with moms personal information.
In lots of hospitals, footprinting is also done. In my hospital the prints go on a “keepsake” certificate, which also contains the date/time, and name typed in, but is not any type of legal document.
The pediatrician will usually do an initial physical exam sometime in the first few hours with the nurse assessing vital signs hourly for the first 4 hours.
Sometimes in the first few hours of life, the infant gets a sponge bath and shampoo under a radiant warmer to prevent heat loss. This is usually done in the mothers room so the family can observe. The only exception is when mom has a c – section, which means the baby has its bath and shampoo in the nursery.
After the bath, the infant may receive 2 injections. Vitamin K is first, it helps boost the babys clotting factors, as babies are born with a deficiency. Important for boys and girls, but even more so for boys as they may get circumcised and we don’t want much bleeding to occur. The second is hepatitis B – our hospital offers to give the first of the 3 at birth which is one less shot in the next months of Dr. visits. Hepatitis B injections ( set of 3 ) are now required for children attending public schools, so it just helps get them done faster.
Some other procedures that may differ at other hospitals are as follows. We offer a free hearing screening test to all infants. The test is very simple. While the infant is sleeping, small sticky electrodes are placed on the forehead and the nape of the neck, ear cups are placed on the ears and are connected to a computer. The computer gives small sounds, and the electrodes pick up when the brain responds. This type of test is called AABR, or Automated Auditory Brainstem Response.
We also have a screening program for Jaundice, or yellow discoloration of the skin. At 24 hours, all babies get tested using a non-invasive light sensor test on the skin of the breastbone to detect levels of Jaundice. If below a certain level, baby is deemed ok, and no further treatment is needed. If babies are above that certain level, a blood test is drawn ( from a heel stick ) to correlate the blood level with the skin level. If elevated the pediatrician may order phototherapy, or treatment of Jaundice with low dose ultraviolet lights. I’ll cover more on Jaundice in another post.
Babies at our hospital usually get a 24 hour health screening blood test, once again from a heel stick. This is a screening test which tests for rare but serious disorders, such as Phenylketonuria, Maple Syrup Urine disease, Sickle Cell Anemia and Hypothyroidism. If these disorders are detected they can be treated with a special diet or medication.
Thats it for todays post, I hope this offered you some information you may have been looking for and would like to encourage your participation. Have a great day !
God bless always,
Meredith – RNC
Hello again,
It’s been a few days since my last post, I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend. In this post I’m going to cover new babies and what you should expect. As always, I hope that you find this post useful and feel free to comment and share your experiences any time possible.
New babies:
Neonates/infants/newborns, take your pick, they all have interesting characteristics. Some of these are present regardless of birth method, others are specific to the way they were delivered.
ALL babies are born and come out with a bluish-purple discoloration, this is NORMAL until they get breathing properly. ALL babies also have vernix caseosa, or a white cream-cheese like substance on their bodies when they are born. Babies born at or before 37 weeks have more, babies at 40 weeks or more generally have less.
All babies also have acrocyanosis or a bluish discoloration of their hands and feet after their trunk turns pink. This discoloration may last for a few hrs. after birth, then normalizes.
For babies born vaginally, it is common to see molding – commonly called “conehead” , especially with first babies. It is caused by the overriding of the non-fixed skeletal bones to fit into the pelvic opening during birth. Usually it goes away within a few days.
Vaginally birthed babies also can have a swollen face and swollen eyes due to the pressure of being pushed through the birth canal, this also subsides in a day or two.
Babies born via planned C – Section usually don’t have molding, not being pushed through the pelvis and usually don’t have swollen faces either.
Some of the other “normal – abnormals” are swollen genitalia on boys and girls, swollen scrotum and swollen labia.
“Erythema toxicum” or normal newborn rash, looks like little red areas about 1cm or less with white centers. There can be quite a few or very little. They are more common on the trunk and back, but anywhere is ok. Baby isn’t allergic to anything, though it looks like a breakout.
Also babies – boys and girls – can have swollen breast tissue, from hormonal involvement, and that goes away in a few days also.
Peeling skin is common with babies that are overdue, just keep them moisturized and it will eventually correct itself.
Lanugo – or fuzzy body hair, is common but usually sheds itself naturally with bathing. This is common on the back, shoulders and sideburn areas on both boys and girls, even occasionally on foreheads.
Milia or skin pores on the face with vernix in them are normal. They look like little whiteheads. They need no medicine or removal as they will absorb on their own without anything being done.
Cross-eyed appearance is present sometimes due to immature ocular muscles. As babies grow, the muscles strengthen, which usually corrects this problem.
In my next entry, I will cover some infant procedures from birth to discharge. I hope this entry has helped you in some way and as always appreciate your comments and feedback.
God bless,
Meredith – RNC
Ok, I’m back, the storms have passed for the moment and I’m picking up where I would have left off. So, here we go.
Recovery for a C – Section typically goes like this. After the completion of your surgery in the OR, you’ll be moved to the recovery room. You shouldn’t be able to move the lower half of your body yet, so we will move you ourselves.
In recovery the nurse closely monitors vital signs, oxygen saturation of the blood and EKG status. Usually recovery is 1-2 hrs. depending on your hospital. The nurse also checks your uterus, your bandage and your vaginal bleeding frequently. After the recovery room we move you to your postpartum room. You can probably move your legs good enough to help us get you to your bed, as your spinal has wore off. You will be on bedrest for about 6-12 hrs. after surgery, then the nurse gently helps you to sit at your bedside, then stand and take a few steps to the bathroom. You’ll be started on pain Meds as soon as you start to feel discomfort.
You’ll keep your catheter in your bladder until you can walk to the bathroom without problems. You’ll keep your IV longer, in most hospitals it’s kept in until 24 hrs. after surgery, but if you have no nausea and are up walking and drinking fluids, the nurses may saline lock your IV, or cap it off for ease of movement.
You’ll be on liquids only, jello popsicles juice and water and broth until your intestines fully wake up, and we know that is happening when you are able to pass gas. After that, you may have solid foods.
For a vaginal birth, most insurances cover up to 2 days after before discharge. For a C – Section usually it’s 3 days after, some cover 4 days, check with your insurance carrier to be sure when you need to be discharged.
Thats about it, in my next entry I’m going to cover new baby information that I’m sure all you new mothers and fathers, will find valuable. As always, I hope you found this information handy and feel free to input any response you feel adequate.
God bless always,
Meredith – RNC
Hello,
In my last entry I covered a typical C – Section and what you should expect. This time around I am going to cover how a typical recovery for a vaginal delivery goes. As always, if you have any questions, I will do my best to answer them and if you would like to add anything to it, feel free, as always, we all appreciate your input.
After the baby and placenta have been delivered and any repairs of episiotomy or lacerations have been completed by the doctor, then recovery starts. For the first hour or so your nurse will be checking your vital signs, your bleeding, your perineum and checking your uterus every 15 minutes. She does the uterine check by rubbing your lower abdomen to massage the uterus. This keeps your uterus contracted, which decreases your bleeding.
You’ll keep your IV until you get up to walk to the bathroom for the first time. If you had an epidural we have to wait for the numbness to wear off before walking. Also, the nurse will be sure you can urinate without a problem before removing your IV. Your nurse will also show you how to cleanse your perineum properly to avoid infection, and a topical spray Med is usually available for perineal discomfort.
You’ll be able to eat solid foods again after recovery, if no nausea. For the first day vaginal bleeding is usually a little heavy, but begins to decrease 8-12 hours after delivery.
We are experiencing some serious storms right now, so I’m going to close off this post and finish with recovery for a C – Section in just a bit. As always, I hope this helps.
God bless,
Meredith – RNC
Hello again,
Today I wanted to continue on with C – Sections and the standard routine for them.
The following may occur if you have a planned C – Section. The doctors usually schedule you at 38-39 weeks, before you’d go into labor. On the day of your surgery, you’d have had nothing to eat since midnight the night before. You would arrive about 2 hours prior to surgery time. As you arrive to the hospital, the nurse will start fetal monitoring. The next thing they do is make sure surgical and anesthetic consents are signed. Sometimes people sign them at the doctors office prior to surgery.
The nurse then starts your IV and gets your labs drawn, CBC or Complete Blood Count, and type/cross, which are standard for most hospitals. You then get a clipper shave fo the lower abdomen down to the pubic bone, and the nurse inserts a catheter into your bladder. Sometimes doctors can let you wait until your spinal has been placed before the catheter, to make it a painless procedure. You’ll have to discuss this with your doctor beforehand.
Then you’ll go to the OR, and sit up for your spinal anesthetic. The anesthesiologist injects with a combination of numbing meds with longer acting narcotics. Then the nurse will help you lay down quickly so the spinal works properly. You are then draped with a sterile drape, have a blood pressure cuff and EKG leach attatched and an electrocautery grounding pad attatched.
Then the surgery begins. The doctors usually do a low transverse or ” Bikini Cut ” incision on skin and uterus. Just a few minutes after they the start, the baby is born, followed by manual removal of the placenta. The longest part of the surgery is after the birth, as the surgeon has to repair each layer as they close up your incisions, skin, fat, fascia, muscle ( which is separated not cut ) and the uterus. Usually doctors use dissolveable below the skin sutures to close the skin with steri strips. After surgery you are in recovery for 1-2 hrs., then to your postpartum room.
My next entry will cover the recovery and differences for vaginal versus C – Section delivery. As always, thanks for taking part in this discussion and offering your experiences.
God bless,
Meredith – RNC
Good morning, afternoon, evening and good night,
Depending on where you are of course ! I will be making a couple of entries today, the first one, being this one and dealing with menopause. I’m sure this is a very important subject for many women and although this entry has been written by a frequent visitor to this blog, I will at some point add to it. Since this entry has been written by a reader, it is her experience that she has drawn from this entry, not necessarily medical fact. As always, we all appreciate your input and experiences.
God bless,
Meredith – RNC
I DO NOT claim to be an expert on menopause, but, I am writing about it in hopes that I can help someone out there, that may be going through the same thing, to the degree in which I did/am.
I never had anyone tell me that there would be days, months, YEARS like this! The first thing that my Dr. checked when I was having “emotional moments” was my thyroid (as I had one taken out with a tumor in it) and it caused all kinds of different emotions. When she found out that I was dead center in menopause, she about fell off her chair. Maybe it was the mention of it (hahaha) that started all of the other symptoms to kick in. But, I can tell you from experience that out of the 37 symptoms that I found listed, I had 35 of them!!!
For a very LONG time, there were days that I thought that I was on the edge of loosing my mind! There were days that I felt like I was in a VERY DARK depressing room and had no way out. I would go from crying to laughing to angry all in a moment! I really thought at times that I was going crazy. I could handle the “hot flashes” (Power surges) it’s the emotional part that I hated the most, as I didn’t know when or where I would fall apart. And it could be most anything that would set me off.
I just want you all to know, I KNOW how it feels. You may feel like you are loosing your mind, but you really aren’t. My way of trying to ward it off is taking natural vitamins, including B’s, fish oil, Golden flax seed, Primrose oil and of course don’t forget the calcium. Try to stay away from the caffeine or maybe like I did, cut way back on it. ( I felt a big difference) I didn’t take any perscription medicine for menopause, as I felt that the side effects were actually worse than what I was going through. Believe me there were times when I wanted something, anything to take the feeling of “I was loosing my mind” away.
I found by talking to a couple really close friends and letting them know what I was going through, helped alot also. When I had “one of those days, they would help me through it, just by being there and talking to me, holding me while I cried (actually sobbed) over nothing, trying to lift me back up.
The important part for me also was being able to try and put that energy into something positive. I would pray, and or listen to uplifting music. It always helped, alot. If I am connecting with anyone on this, again I want to tell you that I can so relate. I know what you are going through. Maybe I went/am going through this, to this degree, to help others. I hope I have helped in some way.
God bless,
PJ
Hello again,
This will be a short and quick post today, and I am going to discuss Non-Emergent C – Sections.
Other than planned C – Sections this is our most common category regarding C – Sections. Usually these C – Sections result from a labor that for whatever reason does not progress to a vaginal delivery.
Commonly it is because babys head does not fit properly into moms pelvis, a condition call CPD, or Cephalo-Pelvic Disproportion. This cannot usually be determined prior to labor, so usually labor starts, but at some point mom stops dilating and doesn’t progress further.
Other causes can be babys head turned at an odd angle, again not fitting into the pelvis. I will cover this and more in my next post, sorry so short, time to get ready for work.
God bless all of you always,
Meredith – RNC
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