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"Chile Please"

Trying to make a decision about an

intervention during labour? Ask yourself,

and your caregivers, these questions:

Benefits

How could the recommended course of action help me or my baby?

Risk

How would the recommended course of action harm me or my baby?

Alternatives

Are there any other courses of action I could consider?

Intuition

What are my gut feelings about this?

Nothing

What happens if I do nothing?

Evaluate

Can you give me some time to consider my choices? Then . . .

Decide

Now that I have the information I need, I'm ready to make a decision.

Source: Lucina Birth Services

My Event Planning Company

Hurricane, tornado, earthquake, fire, flood - disaster can hit without warning, and your family could be ordered to evacuate. With a baby to care for, you need to be prepared. Some items you'll want to have in a prepacked duffel bag or backpack:

For the Family Dried foods, energy bars, at least four 1-liter bottles of water, high-calorie canned foods, can opener and eating utensils. More options: flashlights, cash, plastic bags, matches, hats, gloves, rain gear.

For Baby Carrier or sling, meds (e.g., infants' Tyenol0, diapers, baby wipes, a few bodysuits, sweater and blanket. If you're not breastfeeding, pack formula, bottle, baby foods and cereals. -Rachel Ng

{After Labor}

Skin-to-skin contact for mother and baby immediately after birth: Have your baby placed on your stomach for skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth. He will naturally began to try to nurse within the first hour. Baby doesn't need a bath right away, doesn't need to be weighed right away and doesn't need to be swaddled until after they have had that first successful nursing session. Skin-to-skin will facilitate the first nursing session and will regulate the baby's temperature.

Rooming in: Kept baby in YOUR room at all times. You need your baby with you to nurse as often as you can.

Frequent nursing: Nurse constantly in those first hours and days after your baby is born. Every time your newborn makes a peep, feed him. This helps the milk to come in quickly and it establishes a good supply right from the start.

Seek guidance and help immediately: Utilized the lactation consultants at the hospital, getting them to show you how to get a good latch within 12 hours of birth. If your breasts and nipples are sore, uncomfortable or they hurt, ask for help right away, do not wait even a day. Ask lots of questions. It's easier to fix little issues before they turn into bigger problems. Source {Adapted to fit context of my blog}

Avoid Nipple Confusion

Nipple confusion occurs when a baby is bottle-fed too soon, and then forgets how to nurse on mom's nipple. It's not very common, but you can easily avoid it. If you're planning on introducing bottles or a pacifier, wait until baby is between 2 to 4 weeks old. But don't wait too long after that to introduce a bottle or you may have trouble getting baby to accept one.

Should You Wake Baby to Nurse?

Yes, in the first weeks. Newborns need to nurse about eight times a day, with no more than four hours between feedings. To help baby wake, try removing blankets, changing baby's diaper, massaging baby softly, or placing your little one against your skin.

Should You Use Both Breasts?

After breastfeeding for a few weeks, start letting baby drain one breast before switching to the other. The reason? There are two types of milk during each feeding: the thinner, thirst-quenching fore milk, followed by the creamier, fat-rich hind milk. Your baby needs both. If baby finishes only the first breast during a feeding, offer the other breast at the next feeding.

Is Baby Drinking Enough?

So long as your baby is gaining about a pound a month, nursing every two to three hours, and has about six to eight wet diapers a day, you can feel sure your little one's eating all she needs. Good news: By the second month, some babies no longer need night feedings, and may even sleep through the night.

Does Your Diet Affect Baby?

What you eat affects your breast milk, but usually not as much as most new moms think. Generally you can eat and drink what you enjoy, so long as you strive for a healthy, balanced diet. But steer clear of very spicy or gas-producing foods, and watch for allergy symptoms in baby -- which should appear in the first four to six weeks.

Bonding Without Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is just one way to bond with your baby. The connection between parent and child grows every time you hold and cuddle your infant, each time you talk and sing to him, and with every bath and playtime. If mom plans on pumping for use in bottles after two to four weeks, others can do baby feedings, too. ~Source: Web MD

Trying to breastfeed anywhere outside

of my home is often a challenge. Here

is a list of the unconventional places I've

had to breastfed Lil' D.

-On a marble bench in the main lobby of City Hall in Newark
-In the backseat of my car in a Walmart parking lot
-In a bathroom stall, sitting on a toilet in a Christmas Tree Shop
-This one is pumping on an Amtrak train on the way to Baltimore
-Walking down 6th Avenue in Manhattan with Lil' D in my arms-- walking and nursing

{1} Bottle-fed babies - no matter what they're drinking - don't self-regulate their intake the way breastfed babes do, and this can lead to obesity. Bottle-fed babies are overfed by an average of 25%, research shows.

{2} DVDs for tots are hot-selling items, but don't expect your toddler to learn from them. In fact, those who had watched such DVDs from an early age scored lower on vocabulary tests. It could be that too much screen time interferes with the activity that really does promote language acquisition in babies: having real people talk to them. - S.R. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine

{3} A breastfed baby will begin to have six to eight bowel movements daily, a few days after birth. If your baby is formula-fed, he will likely have one to two stools per day.

{4} Permanent growth in a woman's foot . . . can occur from the release of the same hormone, relaxin, that allows the pelvis to open to deliver the baby. It makes the ligaments in your feet more flexible, causing feet to spread wider and longer - Marybeth Crane, DPM, FACFAS, a Dallas-area foot and ankle surgeon.

{5} Any other position, like squatting or standing up, is the best way to go rather than lying on one's back. This gives the mother a better allowance for movement and it results to a less painful, easier delivery.

{6} Nearly 3,700 elective c-sections must be performed on women with an estimated fetal weight of 4500g (9 lbs., 15 oz.) to prevent ONE case of permanent brachial plexus injury to a child. ~Rouse DJ, Owen J, Goldenberg RL, Cliver SP. The effectiveness and costs of elective cesarean delivery for fetal macrosomia diagnosed by ultrasound. JAMA 1996;276:1480-6.

{7}Many mothers do not realize that they have the right to refuse ANY intervention , including tests, induction, heparin locks (IV’s), fetal monitoring, epidurals, pain medication and cesareans. It is your choice to deliver your baby in a hospital. It is your choice to consent to each and every step along the way. ~Avoid an Unnecesarean

{8} Think twice about getting an epidural. Epidurals, known for slowing labor, inhibit and often prohibit your ability to use gravity to your advantage by getting off your back to push. Squatting, standing or sitting in labor helps to open your pelvis. Going with your body’s natural urge to push can prevent coached or “purple” pushing and consequent tearing or generous episiotomies. ~Avoid an Unnecesarean

{9} IV fluids can cause over-hydration and edema in the breasts. It is speculated that this prevents the milk from coming in. Antibiotics can cause thrush in your breasts, which makes nursing very painful. In some cases these are both required or necessary and receiving them does not mean that you won't be able to nurse your baby. Drink lots of water and stay hydrated during labor and if an IV is required by the hospital ask if you can get a heparin lock instead. Source

{10} Regarding blood loss during birth, she mentions that average loss is 300-500 mil and over 500 is considered a hemorrhage. She then notes that during a cesarean the average loss is 1000 mil. Reading that, I thought so essentially with a cesarean you have a 100% chance of a uterine rupture AND a 100% chance of a hemorrhage. Source

What’s best for women is best for babies and what’s best for women and babies is minimally invasive births that are physically, emotionally, and socially supported. This is not the kind of experience that most women have. In the age of evidence based medicine, women need to know that standard American maternity care is not primarily driven by their health and well-being or by the health and well-being of their babies. Care is constrained and determined by liability and financial considerations, by a provider’s licensing regulations and malpractice insurer. The evidence often has nothing to do with it. Source

Sunday

Apr082012

Easter 2012

Sunday, April 8, 2012 at 4:27PM

Did you go to church on Easter Sunday? For the Christians of the world, Easter is the most important day of the church calendar. Since leaving my parents home I have not been a regular church member and I have moved away from many of the tenets of Christian. I consider myself a Spiritual Agnostic. In the words of Karl Marx, I often feel "religion is the opiate of the masses". Many will disagree with me and try in vain to dissuade me from my belief, as most devout Christians do, but I am steadfast in my religious ideologies.

So what will we teach Lil' D, its simple:

What you put out in the universe you will get in return, tenfold.
Treat people as you want to be treated.
Trust your gut and don't rely on anything/anyone to get what you need to do accomplished.

Being an avid reader and an enthusiast of the history of people of African descent, it is hard for me to completely embrace a system that ruled by brutality, fear, and control. I can't do it. Throughout history, Christianity is noted for making missionaries into mercenaries in their attempt to conquer.

This was Lil D a year ago on Easter Sunday. . .

Lil D is 13 Months . . .

Lil D is moving from being an infant to a toddler here are her latest developments.

Drinking about 24 ounces of organic whole milk a day
Can bend over a pick up an object
Walking -- every where
Responds to instructions {i.e. "Give me a kiss.", " Call Papi.", and "Bring me the ball."}
Can combine gestures and screams to make her desires known
Can imitate some gestures of others (i.e. turning her head from side-to-side and clapping hands)
Enjoys looking at herself in the mirror
No words yet
Can wave her hands like "Ms. America"
When encouraged to "talk" she will respond and hold a conversation.
Get excited when me or Papi arrives home. She calls out saying "hi".
Still nursing twice a day-- when she first wakes and before falling a sleep
Can brush her teeth by herself
Loves to interact with other children

O. Cruz |

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Monday

Mar262012

Lil D Walking!

Monday, March 26, 2012 at 8:14PM

Two days after her first birthday, Lil D transitioned from steps to walking!!

O. Cruz |

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Monday

Mar262012

Adrienne Bosh's Baby Shower

Monday, March 26, 2012 at 6:58PM

One of my favorite blogs, the YBF, just shared the baby shower pictures of NBA wife Adrienne Bosh. Check it out!

Adrienne Bosh looking great at 8 months preggo

"Miami Heat star Chris Bosh and wife Adrienne are celebrating the impending arrival of their 'little gentleman.' Adrienne's country-chic baby shower was held yesterday afternoon at the Coral Gables Country Club in Florida, complete with blinged out pacifiers and all. And other NBA wives and her friends and fam came out to support."

For pics from the shower click here.

O. Cruz |

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Sunday

Mar112012

Lil D's First Birthday Party Recap I

Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 1:54PM

A year ago this week I was blessed with the birth of our daughter, Daniella S.J. Cruz. In the 12 short months she been in my life, she has totally changed the way I do, feel, and look at everything. She has been the ultimate gift, nothing anyone can give me will ever compare to the euphoric feeling I get when I see her. Lil D has made me realize that having children is indeed a full-time, 24 hour job, but its the best job I will every have. Being a mother has made me become more introspective and tranquil. Took me 30 years to get it together and feel comfortable enough with life to feel 100% prepared for a baby and I am super glad she arrive in our lives when she did. The time was right {and so were the finances}.

Its been a struggle . . .

12 short weeks of maternity leave

Pumping at work twice daily

Not having a good night's rest since October 2010

Regulating my diet to accomodate Lil D's fragile stomach

20 pound weight gain post pregnancy

Last weekend we celebrated Lil D's first birthday with a party at our house. We laughed, played, drank and unwrapped enough clothes to open a small children's boutique. Thank you to all my family and friends for helping to make the day so very special.