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Hi Everyone, I wanted to let you all know about some great blog carnivals that I participated in this week.
Be sure to stop by and check out the carnivals when you have moment. There are some great articles to read, very interesting and informative.
Working Mother magazine recently released their list of the top 100 companies to work for as a working mother, the companies considered to be the most family-friendly.
It is hard enough when you are a working mother to balance family life and work life let alone if you work for a company that doesn’t recognize that challenge. Working for a family-friendly company is one way to make that balancing act a little easier. So, Working Mother magazine set out on a search of the companies that offer the best for working moms. Their criteria for including a company on their list were:
- Workforce profile
- Compensation
- Child care availability
- Flexibility of work schedule and work environment
- Time off and leaves
- Family-friendly programs
- Company Culture
What they found in their search were companies that offered benefits that have historically only been part of a dream world for working moms. Companies that offer 16 month maternity leaves, free back-up child care in the event that your normal set up falls through, phase-back programs allowing women to return to work more slowly after the arrival of their new baby, and companies that offer $10,000 adoption cost reimbursement. For the full list of the 100 best companies, and for their profiles, visit Working Mother magazine’s website.
Unfortunately not all of us can work for these great, progressive thinking companies. But hopefully as other companies see the benefits of offering such family-friendly programs they will jump on board. The more companies that offer these benefits the more it will become the norm and eventually everyone will be offering them. We can only hope that happens sooner rather than later.
One of the most challenging parts of parenthood is the development of a discipline system that works. We all have different personalities, and thus different approaches to how we view parenting and discipline. It is very important for couples to discuss their approach to both parenthood and more importantly discipline before they are faced with the first discipline challenge. By discussing your views ahead of time you can more easily work out an approach that is right for your family, and will incorporate aspects of each of you.
With the popularity of such shows as Super Nanny or Nanny 911 it is easy to see that discipline is a challenge for many families. Approaching discipline is a very personal matter and your approach will be different from the next person’s approach. However, there is one commonality between effective discipline approaches, and that is consistency. Consistency between parents and consistency in the approach itself.
When it comes to discipline consistency is key, but so is adaptability. What works for one child is not necessarily going to work for another. A stern talking to may be all it takes to get your little boy to correct his actions, however, a lengthy time out in a quiet area may be necessary to correct your daughter’s actions. We as parents have to determine what works for our child and use that approach consistently.
Good discipline is about teaching your child more than punishing your child. By teaching your child about what behavior is acceptable and what behavior is not you are helping them grow. Teaching them that there are consequences to all of their actions you will not only be helping to correct bad behavior now, but you will be preparing them to be a good member of the grown up world later.
Discussing and deciding on the discipline approach you will take with your children with your partner will not be an easy task. The important thing is to discuss it, you may not agree on everything, but you should agree on the basic philosophy. Remember consistency is key.
Here are a few books regarding discipline that may help you and your partner in your discussion and your development of a plan that works for your family.
- Positive Discipline for Preschoolers
by Jane Nelson, Cheryl Erwin, & Roslyn Duffy - Don’t Be Afraid to Discipline by Ruth Peters
- Parenting on the Go by L. Tobin
- 10 Basic Principles of Good Parenting by Laurence Steinberg
Discipline is that part of parenting that we all wish we could avoid. No one wants to discipline their child, but it is a fact of parenting. By planning ahead and discussing what approach you will take with your partner you will be better prepared when faced with that first discipline challenge.
What approach do you take to discipline and what things have you found work best with your children?
Pregnancy is usually a very joyous time as a woman witnesses the creation of life, and watches the changes her body is going through, and witnesses on the ultrasound monitor all the changes the baby is going through as well. Unfortunately, for some women the joy can be tainted by fear and worry as they struggle with a pregnancy complication like pregnancy-induced high blood pressure and preeclampsia.
Normally a pregnant woman’s blood pressure will drop during the second trimester and then return to normal levels again during the third trimester. However, some women experience something much different. In about 10% of pregnancies the woman’s blood pressure begins to go up during the second trimester, instead of lowering, and will continue to go up throughout the remainder of the pregnancy. This is known as pregnancy-induced high blood pressure.
During either your pre-pregnancy check up (if you have one), or during your first prenatal check up your doctor or midwife will take your blood pressure. They will determine first if there are any pre-existing high blood pressure issues that need to be addressed, and secondly to develop a baseline reading to which they can compare all follow up readings. At each prenatal check up your doctor or midwife will take your blood pressure, which will allow them to determine if there have been any changes since the last check up and if your blood pressure appears to be on the rise. A couple of other routine tests that are done during your prenatal check ups to monitor for high blood pressure and preeclampsia are urine tests to monitor for protein in the urine (a sign of preeclampsia), and weight measurements since rapid weight gain can also be a sign of preeclampsia.
Both preeclampsia and high blood pressure can occur gradually or suddenly and can range in severity from mild to severe, so it is important to keep up with your prenatal check ups and tell your doctor or midwife if you notice any changes or have any concerns.
The treatment for high blood pressure will depend on the severity and how far along you are in your pregnancy. Mild high blood pressure will be monitored closely by your doctor or midwife, no medication is usually required for mild high blood pressure but your doctor may recommend a change in diet and mild aerobic exercise to help control your blood pressure. If there are any sudden changes to your blood pressure or you have a more severe case your doctor may recommend the use of high blood pressure medication in addition to the closer monitoring of your pregnancy. Each case will be different depending on the severity of your high blood pressure, how far along you are in your pregnancy, and any other complications that may impact your particular care. Be sure to discuss everything in detail with your doctor or midwife to ensure you have a proper understanding of how you will be treated, and what is expected of you. Careful monitoring is essential since high blood pressure can be a sign of a more severe complication, preeclampsia.
Preeclampsia is the new onset of high blood pressure along with higher than normal levels of protein in your urine. In its most severe form preeclampsia can be life threatening so your doctor will monitor you very closely and may recommend either full bedrest at home or hospitalization. Preeclampsia occurs in about 5% of pregnancies, and appears to happen most often with first pregnancies.
Little is known about what causes high blood pressure and preeclampsia in pregnancy. There are a few factors that can put you at an increased risk of developing high blood pressure and preeclampsia.
- Existing high blood pressure problem. Your chances are 1 in 4 chance that you will developing preeclampsia during pregnancy.
- Chronic kidney disease
- Vascular disease
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure in a prior pregnancy, especially if it occurred prior to 34 weeks.
- Preeclampsia in a prior pregnancy
- A family history of preeclampsia, especially if either parent was born from a pregnancy affected by preeclampsia.
- Obesity
- Multiple pregnancy
- Either first pregnancy ever, or first pregnancy with this partner.
- If you are younger than 21 or older than 35
- Fetal hydrops, which is caused by Rh sensitization or an infection in the uterus.
Everyone hopes that their pregnancy will go by without a hitch and they will be lucky enough not to suffer from any of the pregnancy complications they read about in all those pregnancy books. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. It is very important to have quality prenatal care during your pregnancy, and to bring up any changes you have noticed or concerns you have with your doctor or midwife.
(Source: WebMD, Healthwise)
I came across this interesting article the other day about how our bodies maybe giving us subtle hints that we are ovulating and at our most fertile.
Ovulation has always been a bit of a mystery. Our body doesn’t give us any glaring signals that ovulation is occurring, but according to a new study released in the journal, Hormones and Behavior our bodies may just be sending us, and the world, subtle hints instead. According to the study women tend to wear prettier, more revealing clothing, and embellish their outfits with more jewelry when they are at their most fertile point in their cycle.
The researchers had college women come to the lab for testing. The women were not told what the testing was for, and were asked questions about other things like food to throw them off. Each time they arrived at the lab their urine was tested to determine fertility and they were photographed when they were at their most fertile and their least fertile. The photographs were then shown to a random group of people, both men and women, who were asked “In what photograph are they trying to look most attractive.”. 60 percent of the time the people chose the photographs that was taken when the woman was at her most fertile.
The results of this study indicate that although our bodies do not give us very obvious hints that we are fertile, like the changes in scent and skin color that some other animals experience, we are getting signals none the less. Of course, we may not notice we are changing our appearance in any way so it probably isn’t the best measure of fertility if you are trying to conceive (don’t throw away your fertility testing kits just yet), but I thought it was a pretty interesting study with pretty interesting results.