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It has been all over the news this week, on Monday January, 26th a California woman gave birth to octuplets via cesarean section. The babies are only the second live-born octuplets in the United States.
The six boys and two girls are doing remarkably well for high-order multiples. The babies were born 9 weeks premature with weights ranging from 1 pound 8 ounces to 3 pounds 4 ounces. As with any multiple birth these premature babies face many obstacles as they begin life outside the womb. They will spend several weeks in the hospital and face challenges including developmental difficulties, breathing problems, eating difficulties and much more. Although doctors have stated they are doing very well and all the babies were breathing on their own they are by no means out of the woods yet.
The arrival of this latest set of high-order multiples has renewed the debate regarding what responsibility fertility specialists have in trying to prevent the incidents of these risky, high-order multiples. Being pregnant with high-order multiples puts the mother at significantly increased risk of developing dangerous complications during her pregnancy. Not to mention the risk to the babies both during gestation and for many years after birth.
With the increased utilization of fertility treatments in this country the incidents of multiples is also increasing. While most remain twins it is becoming more and more common to hear about higher-order multiples. There are strict guidelines published by the American Academy of Obstetrics and Gynecology regarding how many embryos should be implanted during invetro fertilization and most fertility clinics follow these guidelines. However, when ovulation stimulation is used as a fertility treatment it is increasing difficult to limit the number of embryos that implant. It is up to the doctor to educate their patients about the risks involved with high-order multiple pregnancies and what steps can be taken to help reduce the risk of the pregnancy resulting in 3 or more babies.
My thoughts are with all 8 of those tiny babies and I hope each of them does wonderfully and is home with mommy and daddy soon.
Sleep is very important for the growing minds and bodies of both babies and toddlers. Children who do not get enough sleep can experience delays in reaching developmental milestones, may become sick more often than those children who do get enough sleep, and may develop difficult to deal with attitudes. We all need our sleep, however, babies and toddlers need a whole lot more of it.
So how much sleep does your child really need? That, of course, depends on your child’s age. A very young infant needs more sleep than a toddler. Remember that each child is different. Some children need more sleep than average and some need less. You will learn to read your child’s sleepiness signals and discover their individual sleep needs. Talk to your child’s pediatrician if you have questions about your child’s specific sleep needs, or if you are concerned about your child’s sleep habits.
1 Month: Total sleep needed is 15.5 hours on average. They require 8.5 hours of night time sleep and 7 hours of nap time sleep (split among 3 naps).
3 Months: Total sleep needed is 15 hours on average. They require 10 hours of night time sleep and 5 hours of nap time sleep (split among 3 naps).
6 Months: Total sleep needed is 14.25 hours on average. They require 11 hours of night time sleep and 3.25 hours of nap time sleep (split among 2 naps).
9 Months: Total sleep needed is 14 hours on average. They require 11 hours of night time sleep and 3 hours of nap time sleep (split among 2 naps).
12 Months: Total sleep needed is 13.75 hours on average. They require 11.25 hours of night time sleep and 2.5 hours of nap time sleep (split among 2 naps).
18 Months: Total sleep needed is 13.5 hours on average. They require 11.25 hours of night time sleep and 2.25 hours of nap time sleep during 1 nap.
2 Years: Total sleep needed is 13 hours on average. They require 11 hours of night time sleep and 2 hours of nap time sleep during 1 nap.
3 Years: Total sleep needed is 12 hours on average. They require 10.5 hours of night time sleep and 1.5 hours of nap time sleep during 1 nap.
As I stated earlier, your child’s sleep needs may vary from what is listed above. The important thing is to make sure your child is getting enough sleep to meet their individual needs. By reading their sleep signals, getting to know their normal personality and setting up a good sleep schedule a good sleep pattern that meets their sleep needs will develop.
Here is an example of my own daughter’s sleep needs. My daughter is 14 months old and she requires about 14 to 14.5 hours of sleep a day. She sleeps about 12 hours at night and takes one 2 to 2.5 hour nap each day. She transitioned herself from 2 naps to 1 nap at about 10 months, earlier than normal.
If you have questions about your child’s sleep habits, sleep schedule or sleep needs be sure to consult your child’s pediatrician.
Often new parents prepare for the arrival of their new baby by putting a lot of time and energy into getting the room ready, preparing as best you can for labor, and reading as much as you can about how to car for newborns. However, people often don’t give breastfeeding as much thought as they should. Many parents will read about it and maybe even take a breastfeeding class at their local hospital, but beyond that they tend to not give it much thought, thinking it is natural and won’t be that hard. The challenges of breastfeeding during the first few weeks are many and often result in a mother giving up altogether. The more you know about the challenges you may face and the better equipped you are to handle those challenges the more like it is that you will successfully continue breastfeeding your baby beyond the first few weeks.
The Challenges You May Face:
- The baby has trouble latching on. This is very common and easily over come with a little practice, patience, and some time with a good lactation consultant. Most hospitals provide lactation consultant services while you are in the hospital and after you go home. If your baby isn’t latching on properly take advantage of their services, you’ll be happy you did.
- The baby wants to eat all the time. In the first few days your milk supply is not in yet and the baby is only getting colostrum. Often your baby will want to eat very frequently. By allowing your baby to feed frequently you will help ensure you have a strong milk supply when it comes in. Also, their little tummies don’t hold much so they do need to eat often. Don’t worry it gets better.
- Your breasts become engorged. As your milk supply comes in you may experience some engorgement. Allowing your baby to nurse often will help alleviate this, along with hot showers, a little pumping and warm compresses. Usually this passes in a day or two as your body adjusts. If you are concerned contact a lactation consultant.
- Your nipples are sore, chapped, or irritated. It is common to experience some discomfort during breastfeeding early on. However, if it remains painful after the first few minutes it may be a sign that your baby is not latching on properly. For chapped or sore nipples use lanolin and allow your breasts time to breath outside of a bra for a while.
- You can’t tell if your baby is getting enough to eat. This can be especially difficult since most babies will have some weight loss after they are born and you can’t see how much they are taking in. Feed your baby frequently and as long as they are gaining weight and your doctor isn’t concerned than you shouldn’t worry. If you baby isn’t gaining weight you may need to meet with a lactation consultant to ensure the baby is latching on properly, and in some cases you may need to supplement with formula until both you and the baby get the hang of things.
- It is too exhausting. Taking care of a newborn is a lot of work, around the clock. Breastfeeding can feel that much more frustrating when you are exhausted. Remember to sleep when the baby sleeps and enlist the help of your partner for some of the baby care tasks.
The most important thing to remember is that you are doing a wonderful thing for your baby by breastfeeding him or her. It does get easier, a lot easier, once you get past the first few weeks. Once you get past these challenges you will feel very proud of yourself for sticking it out. I had my own challenges during the first couple of weeks after my daughter was born, however, I suffered through and now am still breastfeeding her almost 15 months later.
However, if do end up deciding to formula feed instead, don’t feel guilty or let others lay a guilt trip on you. Formula is a perfectly good alternative to breastfeeding. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out, and that’s OK.
Be sure you have all the necessary baby feeding supplies to help you with successful breastfeeding. Including things like a breastfeeding support pillow, comforting nursing bras and clothing, and a breast pump so you can pump and let dad take over one of the night time feeding sessions when you are too tired.
Remember to talk to your doctor, your child’s pediatrician, a lactation consultant or other breastfeeding moms if you have questions about breastfeeding or the challenges you are facing. Successful breastfeeding requires support.
My daughter is 14 months old already, my how time flies. I guess she is considered a toddler now, yikes! She continues to change everyday. She is always learning something new, showing off new skills and reminding us just how big she is getting. This is such a fun age. I love how much fun we can have with her and how much she interacts with us.
A couple of weeks after her first birthday she started walking. At first she would only take a few steps and then look around as if thinking “wait, how did I get here without crawling?”, and then she would plop back down and crawl the rest of the way. After about a week of that she was walking. It was so cute to watch her take those first wobbly steps. Now she is motoring around here like nobody’s business. She even kind of runs if she gets excited and thinks you are going to chase her 
It is amazing how, in the span of a year, our little ones go from being helpless babies who rely on us for everything to being walking, kinda talking independent toddlers!
Her vocabulary is expanding. She still mostly babbles but does say a few words, including; hat, kitty, dog, duck, snack and dinner. She recognizes that “dada” means daddy and will say it whenever she sees her dad. She has stopped saying “mama” for the time being, but hopefully she gets back to that soon.
We have two cats and she absolutely adores them. She gets so excited when she gets up in the morning or after naps and gets to see them again. Her favorite thing to do is to go up to them and give them kisses, she says “maw” and plants a big one on them.
I am still breastfeeding her. Since it is cold and flu season I figured I would continue to help give her immune system that extra boost. Once cold and flu season is over I will probably start to wean her off a few of the middle of the day feedings if she hasn’t done it on her own by then. By two I hope to have her completely wean. I expected the first thing in the morning and the before bed feedings will be the hardest to wean her from.
She is still sleeping like a dream. We have been so lucky with her sleeping from the very beginning. She is down to only one nap a day. At about 10 months old she stopped wanting to nap in the morning. Over the span of about a two weeks she slowly began to get rid of it completely and the time of her afternoon nap moved up. Now she naps for between 2 and 3 hours in the afternoon, usually going down for her nap around 12pm. She still sleeps about 12 hours at night, going down about 7pm and getting up around 7am.
Our ever changing daughter seems to amaze us more and more every day. I can’t wait to see what she does next.
Parents Magazine is out with their list of the 10 best children’s hospitals in the country. If you have or have had a sick child you know the importance of being near a good children’s hospital. Having a hospital that has kids on their mind all the time can make a big difference in the care your child receives. The doctors, nurses, specialists, equipment, decor, etc are all put in place with kids in mind so that our littlest citizens receive the best possible care.
Here is the list of the 10 best hospitals in the country (I have included links to each hospital so you can learn more about them):
- The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Children’s Hospital Boston
- Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
- Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
- St. Louis Children’s Hospital
- Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
- Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston
- Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
- Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, Cleveland
- The Children’s Hospital, Denver
It sure gives me a lot of piece of mind knowing I have one of the best children’s hospitals in the country in my own back yard. In fact a former co-worker of mine had to use their services when her baby was born 3 months early. The staff of St. Louis Children’s Hospital were miracle workers and today that tiny preemie is a very healthy 3 year old!
Thanks to Parents magazine for putting out this list and to all these hospitals for all the work they do on behalf of our children. Keep up the great work, you truly are miracle workers.