Mighty Girl’s blog is one of those great blogs that I adore. Not only because of the writing, but also the writer. She seems like a great person, especially after listening to her radio interview that she posted sometimes back.

Her dear friends took pictures of her. And, yup, she looks great.

She’s pregnant with Mighty Baby now. And she looks healthy.

Good for you, Maggie, for having such great friends with great talents on photography.

It’s important to stay healthy during pregnancy since your health means your baby’s health.

Check out the article below to help you maintain your health.

How To Keep Healthy During Pregnancy
By Michael Russell

It has been said that a woman’s disposition during pregnancy will pass on to the baby in her womb. A happy and secure mother cultivates an optimistic attitude that is beneficial to the unborn child. Staying physically healthy with positive attitude will provide for a favorable and normal delivery.

A pregnant woman, in general, can usually carry on with her normal way of life. Although it is advised that everything she does should be in moderation. From her daily routine to the amount of rest she takes, everything should not be done in excess. She should avoid strenuous physical activities like playing basketball, tennis or horse back riding. Lifting heavy objects or even stooping should be avoided.
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Just a friendly reminder.

I’ve just done it yesterday. A routine, at least twice a year.

Many people don’t care about going to the dentist. Yet, it’s terribly needed.

Well, you might say you brush your teeth everyday, twice or even three times. Yet, you’ll never know if you get this tiny little caries on one of your teeth until you check it out with the dentist. It gets bigger and bigger, and when you finally decide to visit your dentist, it’s too late, it hurts, and it has become extremely large.

Oops, I’m not trying to scare you here. I’m just trying to draw you a picture of what might happen.

This man, Michael, has also just visited his dentist. Such a smart move, Michael, especially with the Cavinator.

This lovely mom is trying her best to save her children’s teeth. Well, I wish all mothers were like her, keep fighting for her children’s teeth’s health instead of just letting it be like that if their children say no to toothbrushing. Way to go, Mom!

…you might scream out loud for you feel so much pain on your breast, and you might scare the baby. That’s what could happen if you get your breast bitten while breastfeeding.

The first time my son bit me–when he was 9 months old–, I tried not to scream although I really wanted to. I just held my breath and hoped it ended soon. It did, thank God!

The next time he was about to bite me, I put my little finger into the corner of his mouth and between his gums. That way, he bit my finger instead of my breast.

But, there were times, he was faster than me and managed to bite my breast, and what I did to ease the pain are:

• Letting my nipples open for sometime after feeding so that they can dry in air.
• People said that breast milk had wonderful natural healing properties of breast milk, so I massaged a few drops onto my nipples several times a day, or…
• Applying a pure lanolin–an emollient with moisturizing properties and an emulsifier with high water absorbing capabilities–ointment on my nipples frequently.

Or, you can try what SJ did when her baby was biting her during breastfeeding.

Yesterday I got a message from my friend, Amanda, asking me, “Riana, how do you stop hiccups?!!! Please…urgent!”

Amanda is a mother of a one year old baby boy. She asked me lots of questions but the one she asked me yesterday kind of made me surprised. She didn’t know how to stop hiccups?

Then I decided to call her to find out what really happened, who got the hiccups…

It was her baby boy. She got panic since he didn’t stop hiccupping for more than 3 minutes. Normally, she could call her Mom who lived next door. But, at that time her Mom seemed to be away.

I asked her if she:

1. had told her son to hold his breath (instead of answering my question she asked me back, “How can I tell a one year old to hold breath?!!!”). Oops…
2. gave him water to drink (she did, about two glasses!)
3. tried to frighten him (she said, “What!!!” and I said, “It’s one of the remedies I know that might work.” she said again, “Well, isn’t it making it worse if he gets frightened and cries and I have to deal with his hiccups and cry?!!!” then I sighed)
4. told her son to pull his tongue (her reaction was almost similar to #1)
5. gave smelling salt for him to inhale (she said she didn’t have any smelling salt, me? I sighed again)
6. put corn syrup (for adult, it’s dry sugar) on the back of his tongue (she seemed to be excited with this one and I had no more idea what to do if this one failed, too)

Then, the next 10 minutes, she sent me another message…saying, “Hi, thanks so much. The corn syrup worked well!”

Thank God!

‘Cause if it didn’t work and the baby kept hiccupping for the next 3 hours, I should have brought the panic mother and the hiccupping baby to the hospital!

PS: This hiccupping thing reminds me of an episode of Alf, a TV show back in the 80’s. Alf, the furry little alien, got bad bad bad hiccups. And, according to an encyclopedia of his planet, the remedies are either drinking cat juice or eat spinach. But hey, those are only for aliens!

When my son was two years old, I had to take him travel by air to visit my Mom for Christmas. At that time, we didn’t live in the same town.

Everything was all settled and I was so well prepared that I thought there would be no single problem with him.

But I was apparently totally wrong. He was screaming out loud when the plane was taking off. At first, I was kind of embarrassed. But a little bit later, I was terribly worried ’cause he kept crying and saying that his ears were in pain.

Thankfully the stewardess was so nice to us. She gave water to help my son swallow more which might help him get his ears popped to relieve the pain.

From that time, I got more prepared with things to help him stay away from ear pain during takeoffs instead of worrying about what to bring for the holiday.
My son had no ear infection. Yet it was painful enough. My friend’s son had it and the pain seemed to be a lot worse during the flight. That’s why, most of the time, doctors recommend delaying flying, if possible, until the infection is gone.

Yet, there are ways you can do to prevent your kids’ ears from getting hurt during the flight:

• Drink water a lot to encourage them to keep swallowing
• Chew gum or suck on hard candy (only if your child is older than 3 years)
• Stay awake for takeoff and landing so they can keep swallowing. When you sleep you don’t swallow that much.
• Breastfeed them if you still do.
• Take acetaminophen or ibuprofen about a half hour before takeoffs or landings

It actually started last night. My son got into my room telling me that he wasn’t feeling well. He said he felt dizzy.

So, I got something for him to make him feel better. It seemed like he did. When I checked him in his room at 4 am, he was sleeping peacefully.

But this morning he said he got dizzy again. He also looked a bit pale.

Then I asked him not to go to school. But, he insisted to go. And, I couldn’t do anything but telling my self that he’s a big boy now and he can make his own decision.

Yet, a mother always knows best. Just now he rang me telling me that he was at home already. He almost fainted. Of course, I didn’t tell him, “I told you so.” That would be very mean.

He asked me to go home earlier.

Yes, baby, of course. I’ll be there soon y your side, baby.

Hope he’s just being tired. Hope there’s nothing to worry about.

First, of course, don’t panic. Then…

• Make sure the victim doesn’t have an allergic reaction.
• Determine if the stinger is still present or not by checking out if there’s a small black dot at the sting site or not. Then, remove it immediately if is visible in the wound by wiping over the area with a hard object like a credit card or blunt knife or by scraping a fingernail over the area.
• Don’t squeeze the stinger or use tweezers.
• Apply ice or cold packs to the area to reduce the body’s inflammatory response or swelling.
• Wash the site with soap and water, then apply hydrocortisone cream to the site to decrease the severity of the reaction. Or you can try alternative treatments using a paste made of unseasoned meat tenderizer and water (the enzyme in meat tenderizer can break down bee venom) or a paste of baking soda and water.
• Do not scratch the sting. This will cause the site to swell and itch more, and increase the chance of infection.
• Take an antihistamine such as Benadryl and/or nonprescription pain relievers such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen to relieve the symptoms.

Susan’s son, Henry, has just got stung by a bee. Susan did the right thing by giving him Benadryl and avoid the wine.

Hope you feel better by now, Henry.

Dani’s son, Simon, has been vomiting several times. She has checked with the pediatrician and it seemed that he was ok. Yet, Dani is still worried.

So, if you have any experience, kindly share with this lovely mother.

Here are several reasons–as mentioned at WebMD–why your kids are vomiting:

• it can be caused by a viral stomach flu if followed by diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps, with home treatment, vomiting can stop within 12 hours
• it also can be caused by an infection in another part of the body
• although rarely happens, it might be caused by blockage of the digestive tract, too
• they might have just swallowed medicines, household liquids, or other poisons, check out for empty containers and spills
• they might also fall down and forcefully hit their head or abdomen, check out bruises and injuries

But, as long as your kids don’t experience any of the things mentioned below, no need to worry:

• Severe dehydration
• Shock
• Severe difficulty breathing
• Extreme sleepiness or is very difficult to arouse

So, Dani, since your son is energetic, playful, and in good humor, no need to worry. Maybe, it’s just a phase. Take care, Simon!