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Supporting
Last year, in the midst of the sadness of Maddie Spohr’s passing something magical happened. All over the country people asked what they could do to help. What they could do to support the Spohrs and to support the families of other preemies and the joined March of Dimes walks in their local community to walk in the name of this little girl who had in some way touched their hearts.
I was one of those people. Although I had already been planning on trying to walk last year before Maddie passed, I hadn’t really done much to figure out how I was going to go about doing so. After learning of Maddie’s passing I knew without a doubt that I had to walk. It was something I could do to show my support to Heather and Mike from here. It was something I could do to honor Maddie. So I joined the St. Louis March for Maddie team and walked along side other people who had been touched by Maddie and thousands of others who had in some way been touched prematurity. The experience was very profound and I knew as I left the walk that day that I would be back every year, to walk for Maddie and to walk for all those people in my life who have been touched by prematurity.
So, about a month ago I set up March for Maddie St. Louis. I will be walking again this year in love and remembrance of the amazing Miss Maddie. I will be walking in support of Heather and Mike Spohr. I will be walking for all those in my life who have been touched by prematurity. I will be walking in hopes that one day no one has to know the grief of losing a child because they were born to soon. I will be walking to give every baby the fighting chance they deserve.
If you are in the St. Louis area and would like to join our team please go here and sign up, we would love to have as many people walking for Maddie as we can get. We would also appreciate your support. Please consider making a donation, all money raised goes to the March of Dimes and helps in their efforts on behalf of pregnant moms and babies everywhere. To donate to our team please click on the banner above.
One of my very favorite things to do is to curl up somewhere comfy and spend hours lost in the pages of a good book. For as long as I can remember I have loved reading. As a little girl my mom used to read to me all the time. We had shelves and shelves of books to choose from. When I was able to read on my own I would spend great amounts of time with my nose stuck in a book. I joined every reading club in school. I used to love those summer reading lists that the teachers would hand out to get us ready for the next school year. The library was one of my favorite places to go with my mom.
This love of reading that I developed at a young age resulted from my mother’s own love of reading and her desire to foster a love of reading in her own children. She encouraged us to read, she challenged us to be better readers by engaging us in discussions about the books we were reading and she made sure we always had access to lots and lots of reading material. One thing that used to bug me at the time but that I understand now that I am older, was that if she felt like I didn’t know enough about the book and couldn’t tell her enough about it if she asked questions she would make me go back and read it again. Which was fine if I enjoyed the book, but man did I hate that if I didn’t like the first time around. I get now that she was just trying make me a better reader and helping me to have better reading comprehension, but boy did it bug me.
As a mom I am embarking on my own quest to foster a love of reading in Maya. Already I can see the fruits of my labors.
She loves books. She loves reading by herself, loves sitting with me reading books. She will choose to read a book over playing with toys almost every time. At the Science Center here in St. Louis they have a little reading corner. That is the first place she ran to when we got to the Science Center the other day and she spent half an hour there contently reading their books on dinosaurs and weather, it was adorable.
Everyday, at least once, I’ll realize that she is being very quiet and I look in her room to see her sitting quietly in front of her book shelf reading away. She used to just flip through the books and look at the pictures, but now that she has started retaining and memorizing some of what I have read to her I will actually catch her “reading” the books too. As a mom who is also an avid reader this just warms my heart. To see my daughter already loving books and reading and learning is just so awesome to me.
She even reads to the cats 
Reading to your child from the very beginning is so important to their cognitive development. They learn about language by listening to the stories you read to them. They will learn things like the alphabet, new words, the meaning and concepts behind the words they hear and, of course, will eventually learn to read as well. So grab a book and read to your child, it will be the best thing you do all day, I guarantee it.
For many people, women and men alike, caffeine is absolutely essential to their day. Going without their usual cups of coffee or tea or soda throughout the day is out of the question. However, for pregnant women, or women trying to conceive, caffeine may not be safe. You should talk to your doctor about your caffeine consumption early in your pregnancy and determine if you need to make changes.
Caffeine is a stimulant and a diuretic. As a stimulant it elevates your heart rate and your blood pressure, both of which can have a negative effect on your pregnancy. Also, as a diuretic caffeine causes your to urinate more frequently, affects your bodies ability to absorb calcium and iron and decreases your bodies fluid levels which can lead to dehydration. Several studies suggest a link between caffeine consumption and an increase risk of miscarriage and preterm births. Although there is no hard and fast rule when it comes to caffeine consumption during pregnancy most doctors recommend that you stay away from caffeine if you can, and if you must consume some caffeine you should limit your intake to less than 200mg (or about 2 regular cups of coffee) per day.
Many people forget all the things that caffeine can be found in and think mostly about coffee when thinking about caffeine. However, caffeine is found in all sorts of products including coffee, tea, hot chocolate, lots of sodas, chocolate, ice cream and some pain relievers like Excedrin. So when you are trying to avoid caffeine be sure to remember it is in a lot more than you think.
If you are a big coffee drinker be sure to talk to your doctor about his or her recommendations regarding caffeine consumption during pregnancy. When we are caring for this tiny life growing inside of us we want to do everything we can to give it the best start to life. Sometimes we have to give up the things we love during pregnancy, but it is all worth it.
For many pregnant moms who have decided to breastfeed their babies there is often one lingering fear, breastfeeding in public, and a worry that this fear will lead to them being stuck at home all the time. I had those same fears when I was pregnant with my daughter. However, there really isn’t anything to be afraid off. Breastfeeding in public, once you become comfortable and experienced with breastfeeding is really quite simple. You can often do it and no one will even notice.
The key to successfully breastfeeding in public is to be prepared both by having a bit of experience with breastfeeding and making sure you have the right gear. Once you are comfortable with the breastfeeding process (usually after the first few weeks) breastfeeding in public will be that much easier. You’ll discover, as you nurse your baby at home, how he or she nurses, what type of environment works best for them and what gear works best for you. Once you have the experience and the right gear you’ll be able to head out whenever and know that you’ll be able to successfully breastfeed your baby in public.
Here are a few tips and tricks for making your experience breastfeeding in public a successful one:
- Wear the right clothing. Shirts made specifically for nursing moms are great when you know you’ll be nursing in public. You can wear a nursing tank under a nice button up shirt or cardigan to make things easier on yourself while still looking cute.
- Be sure to purchase a good nursing bra, one that opens and closes with one hand and make sure you know how it works and that you like the way it works before you attempt to use it while nursing out in public.
- Invest in a good breastfeeding cover or sling. By nursing your baby either in a sling or using a breastfeeding cover you’ll not only be hiding the “goods” you’ll also be giving your child a quiet, distraction free environment to nurse in.
- Practice nursing your baby in public by nursing him or her in front of family and friends when they come over to visit. You’ll become more comfortable using all the gear like your nursing shirts, nursing bra and the sling or breastfeeding cover by trying them out a few times before hand.
- If you are still not totally comfortable breastfeeding in public be sure you find a discreet spot to sit. It’ll help you feel more comfortable and also give your baby a little added peace and quiet for nursing.
- Know your baby’s schedule and hunger cues so you can be ready to nurse at the first signs of hunger, before they get all worked up.
The more you do it the more comfortable you’ll become. Look around while you are out and you’ll notices other moms discreetly breastfeeding their babies too. Often times you don’t even notice it unless you are looking for it. Don’t worry if you decide you just can’t do it, many moms will choose to forgo breastfeeding in public all together and will instead choose to bottle feed expressed breast milk while they are away from home, that’s a perfectly fine alternative.
For most of her short little 2 year life Maya has had a love affair with clothes. She wasn’t one of those babies who loved to be naked, and as a toddler still prefers being full dressed to being naked. If given the option to run around naked or put on some clothes she will always choose the latter. The other day I had decided to let her run around for a bit with her diaper and pants off because she had a bit of a diaper rash. She got quite perturbed at this idea and kept asking to me to put her pants back on. I ended up giving in and putting her diaper and pants back on because after she used the potty she cheered and said “yeah, pants back on.” After that display I couldn’t resist giving in to her. She also doesn’t like it when other people don’t have clothes on either. As soon as Lorne gets out of bed in the morning she tells him to put a shirt on. There is no walking around naked at our house with the clothes police living here
Over time this love affair with clothing has grown into a love affair with playing with clothes and playing dress up. Whenever there is a pile of clothes laying around, either to be donated, washed, put away, whatever, Maya will find it and play in it. There have been many gigantic huge clothing everywhere messes made in our house.
Nowadays she usually prefers playing dress up with the clothing she finds versus throwing them all over the place (which is good for me!). Any clothes she finds become dress up clothes.
I am seriously going to have to think about starting a dress up bin for her. Just imagine the fun she would have with a bin full of princess outfits and mommy’s old clothes and shoes