Monday, December 3, 2012
George Macones, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Washington University in St. Louis and a spokesman for the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
News that England's Prince William and his wife, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, are expecting their first child spread like wildfire today. According to the Guardian (UK) newspaper, the news that the duchess is in the "very early stages" of pregnancy with the third-in-line to the throne was officially released after she was taken to the King Edward VII hospital in central London, suffering from hyperemesis gravidarun, very acute morning sickness. Washington University's George Macones told USA Today that less than 1% of all pregnant women are hospitalized for vomiting. Quoting from the USA Today story: In most cases, nausea and vomiting go away by the second trimester, or about 13 or 14 weeks into the pregnancy, Macones says. A few …
Friday, May 20, 2011
What's a parent to do if his child arrives on a day that another family member already claimed?
How would you feel if a close family member or friend had a baby on your birthday? It's a question that has plagued Julie and I ever since Monday. Here's why: Both my brother-in-law and sister-in-law celebrated their birthdays Thursday (yes, curious reader, they're twins), and my dad celebrates his on Saturday (congrats, all!). Additionally, on Monday it became official that our baby can be born at any time now and be considered full term. His due date is June 6, but the doctor indicated he could come sooner. So my wife and I find ourselves in an uncertain place. The baby could come at any time, and we'd be thrilled. Frankly, we're getting all sorts of heartburn and sleeplessness thanks to that very vacuum of clarity. But if the baby comes…
Friday, April 8, 2011
Pen and paper can help fathers-to-be focus on important information while providing a temporary solace from pain that only their wives will truly appreciate, anyway.
On Tuesday, I learned that I am a freak of nature who will be serving as an expert encourager during my wife's forthcoming experience with the debilitating pangs of childbirth. And that was only my first class. Let me explain. This week, Julie and I attended the first of six sessions aimed at preparing us for birth and parenting. We have about 20 classmates, all of whom are friendly and engaged. The same could be said for the instructor, who has years of experience with this type of training. But to my knowledge, I was the only person taking notes. That's where the freak part comes in. You see, all of us received booklets and handouts. We also received access to a special website of parenting information that will be available to us for …
Friday, April 1, 2011
How one St. Louis mother-to-be made a house even more immaculate and stunned her husband.
Nesting is a term I would tend to associate with birds and mice. It's also a term my wife has embraced with each passing week of her pregnancy. She has always been exceptionally neat and clean, but preparing for a baby has taken the tidy factor to new heights. I'm told this is to be expected. The website What to Expect likens moms-to-be to hamsters, cats, dogs and birds. "Though it’s fortunately not manifested in the same behaviors (you’re more likely to recycle that pile of newspapers than shred them or reach for the feather duster rather than the feathers), the nesting instinct in humans can be as powerful as it is for our animal friends," the website states. It advises expectant mothers to restock their fridges and pantries, cook extra …
Friday, March 18, 2011
How one St. Louis family began turning an empty space into a nursery.
Normally, being third in anything is pretty cool. But it's also kind of disappointing. After all, we wanted to be in first. Not so when it comes to pregnancy. Or so I'm told. Of course, I'm referring to trimesters. Julie just entered her third. That means the arrival is nearing for the little guy she's been carrying around for half a year. Last weekend, in honor of this momentous period of life—or, more accurately, because everyone's schedule somehow coordinated for a period of several hours on a weekend—we made the first major installments in the baby's room. My father-in-law, Bruce, and my mother-in-law, Carol, generously contributed the crib and the changing table-dresser. (That last one is sort of like a Transformer, only with fewer …
Friday, March 4, 2011
There's no way that I could carry a baby for nine months. It's just science.
It is at times like this I am thankful that I am not a pregnant woman. Julie had to drink about a gallon (slight exaggeration) of this nasty-looking orangey stuff Thursday morning before our appointment with the doctor. Then, she got to wait an hour while the taste lingered in her mouth. I'm sure it was super-duper delicious, sort of like that saccharine brew Triaminic that we used to take as kids. Then, she got stuck with a needle. Apparently it's part of the normal regimen of Fun Things Expectant Moms Get to Do. In this case, we're talking about the Glucose Challenge Screening Test. It's basically an effort to make sure your body—much like a hungry kid at dinnertime—is ingesting appropriate levels of sugar. Poor processing of sugar …
Friday, January 21, 2011
Expectant parents in Clayton and Richmond Heights can use this handy feature from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to gasp and reel at their upcoming big-ticket purchase: a child.
I knew having a baby would require me to pay a few extra bucks every month. I didn't know I'd need to operate a money tree farm to do it. Julie and I discovered this last weekend. While I dream of having a happy child who sleds merrily down a hill (see as an example this delightful picture of kids playing in this week's snow in Shaw Park, courtesy of the city of Clayton), it seems you can't automatically get to the part where everyone laughs and frolics without costing you a dime. As I learned recently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) may be the best resource we have for coping with that sticker shock. Let me explain We had plans to see her family that Saturday, so our mission was to hunt for baby gear that we liked. We wanted to…
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Kimberly D. Martino-Sexton
6:50 pm on Friday, April 8, 2011
As a childbirth educator myself, I am so happy to see an article about childbirth classes! I am even more thrilled that it was from the dad perspective! Thanks for sharing your experience. I believe the most important part of childbirth classes is the reflection time in between classes. Giving yourselves time to let the information sink in is key. The second most important aspect of childbirth … more ›