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A little over nine months ago Denver and the surrounding area were hit by a huge blizzard. Several feet of snow were dumped on the area resulting in the city essentially shutting down for a few days. The roads were closed, businesses were closed, and residents were encourage to stay home. Apparently, people listened, they stayed home and did what they could to stay warm and occuppied!!
Nine months after the blizzard Denver is experiencing a little mini baby boom. Hospitals are seeing an increase in the number of babies being born, some are reporting a 20% increase over the average for this time of year. Some of the Denver area hospitals are having trouble accommodating the increased number of delivering mothers and new babies.
There is no way to know for sure that the increase is related to the blizzard and it may take years for researchers to confirm or disprove the relationship. However, the Denver area is having a good time with their self-proclaimed mini baby boom. Babies born at area hospitals are getting little t-shirts commemorating their arrival as a “blizzard baby” and local residents are having fun talking about it.
Here are a few interesting articles about the baby boom.
Maybe this little baby boom has nothing to do with the big blizzard of 2006, but it sure is fun to think that maybe there is a relationship.
From the very beginning playtime is an important tool for bonding, development and parent/child interaction. It is an opportunity for you to spend time with your baby, introduce your baby to their new world, and encourage infant development. Playing with your newborn is not like playing with a six month old or a toddler but it is still a lot of fun.
Here are a few suggestions for things to do during playtime with your newborn.
- Introduce toys designed for newborns like soft rattles and colorful toys that draw the baby’s attention (especially those with mirrors). Your local baby store, other parents, and your pediatrician can help with suggestions if you don’t know what toys to purchase.
- Playmats are fun too. It can be used for tummy time or you can lay your child on his back and he will be drawn by the dangling toys.
- Spend time reading to your child. Your baby enjoys the sound of your voice and eventually will be drawn by the colorful pictures in the book too. This is great for bonding.
- Dance and sing with your baby, or just play some nice music that the baby seems to enjoy and dance around while holding her. (this is great exercise for you too!!)
There are so many creative ways you can play with your newborn. Remember that newborns can easily get over stimulated and that usually means they will become fussy. Be careful to watch out for signs that your baby is becoming over stimulated and try to end playtime before it gets that far. Newborns love to observe their world, spend time with their mom and dad, and soak in the new world around them. Playtime is a great way to encourage development and have fun too.
What things did you do during playtime with your newborn? Were there any toys or things in particular that you really found helpful and fun?
Last week the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition released new recommendations for fish consumption by women who are trying to get pregnant, are pregnant, or are breastfeeding. The new recommendations state that pregnant and breastfeeding moms should eat 12 ounces of fish (including salmon, tuna, and mackeral) a week, that is equal to two servings.
According to the new research, HMHB found that because of the confusing nature of the previous FDA recommendations regarding fish consumption during pregnancy, women were consuming less than recommended because they didn’t understand the recommendations. Fish is the main source of an essential nutrient in cognitive development, omega-3 fatty acids. Not consuming enough omega-3 can result in nutritional deficiancies in mother and baby. The goal of these new recommendations is to increase a pregnant woman’s fish consumption to a level that will aid in the cognitive development of the fetus.
As with any new studies and recommendations it is best to discuss the results with your treating doctor and find out how they impact your specific pregnancy. Fish can be high in mercury so it is important not to consume too much, and there are some fish, like shark and swordfish, that continue to be off limits for pregnant women.
I’m in the home stretch, just 6 more weeks till my due date. It’s hard to believe that it is almost here. It still feels like just yesterday I was jumping for joy at the sight of the little pink line on the home pregnancy test and now I’m approaching the end of my pregnancy. Time flies!
My husband and I are both very excited, a little nervous too I must admit. Becoming parents for the first time is a be step and we really have no clue what to expect. We met our pediatrician this week. She came very highly recommended by a friend of mine and she turned out to be everything I expected. She is great with kids and babies, has a little one at home so she knows what is like to be us right now, and she is very well connected in the pediatric community. It was weird going in to meet her, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. But I do highly recommend meeting the pediatrician before the baby arrives, that way when they show up in your hospital room to talk to you about the baby’s first examine you won’t feel like they are a total stranger.
We also had (well attempted to have) our nursery furniture delivered. We did get nursery furniture delivered last week but it wasn’t the stuff we had ordered, not quite sure how they managed that. They came to pick up the wrong stuff a couple of days ago and we called to make sure the correct stuff was on the way only to be told they were out of stock (gee I wonder if that is how we ended up with the wrong stuff to begin with, like we wouldn’t notice it was a different model and color and style from what we ordered 
). Luckily we found it at another store and were able to order it from there so we should have it sometime next week. It will be nice to finally have the nursery all set up so I can feel like we are ready for our little girl’s arrival.
As for how I’m feeling, well pretty good still. I’m not sick of being pregnant yet and I don’t have too many of the late pregnancy symptoms yet. I do find it harder to get comfortable, especially at night or when I have to sit for long periods of time. If I try to sleep in on the weekends I end up with a back ache and have to get up anyway. I guess it is my body’s way of preparing me for the fact I won’t get to sleep in again for a long time. This past week I came down with a cold, which turned into an ear infection resulting in a round of antibiotics. There should be a rule in the universe that pregnant women don’t get sick. Having a cold is bad enough when you can take stuff to help you get over it, but when you can’t take anything a cold really blows!!.
I’m looking forward to enjoying the last weeks of my pregnancy. I have really enjoyed being pregnant so far. We can’t wait to meet our little girl and see what she looks like.
Just in case you needed another reason to breastfeed, besides the great health benefits for your baby and the positive impact on your recovery after childbirth, a new study released by the University of Southern California has found another reason for you (especially if you are over 25).
Several recent studies have determined, and the study released by USC confirmed, that women who have their first child prior to age 25 decrease their risk of developing breast cancer later in life. The studies have also determined that women who have their first child after the age of 25 increase their risk of developing breast cancer. This recent study done by researchers at USC reviewed the medical files of 2500 women and determined that those women who had their first baby after age 25 but choose to breastfeed were able to reduce their risk of developing breast cancer as much as those women who had their first child before age 25. This is huge given that in recent years the average age of a first time mother has risen to 25.
The bottom line of the study was that breastfeeding your child produces a very positive impact on a women’s risk of developing breast cancer later in life if she has her first child after age 25. The researchers recommended breastfeeding for at least six months if you can for the best results.
So just in case you needed another reason to breastfeed, this study seems to provide a pretty good one. Talk to your doctor or your child’s pediatrician for more information or if you have specific questions about your situation.