Alternative for Pain Relief During Labor

So I read this interesting article today about using laughing gas instead of other traditional means to help with labor pain.  I found it fascinating.  It is not supposed to take away the pain but the patient is so out of it she does not care she is in pain.


Laughing gas (or nitrous oxide and oxygen) is often used in dental procedures to help patients have less anxiety and discomfort without being completely sedated.


Yeah... I'm not sure if I'd choose this option even if it was presented to me during labor.  It may be nice to have this option though if for whatever reason an epidural is not available or unable to be done in time.


The article also notes that some folks who want to go all natural can choose this option for a short period to ease discomfort during a rough patch.  And as a side note...  kudos to all you out there who have gone all natural or plan to for labor.  I like my epidural. 


You can click on this link if you are interested in the actual article.

Lenovo M90z Winner

Congratulations to Janet Miller who won the M90z contest here on PhysicianMom.com.

Third Trimester... Endpoint in Sight!

To continue my previous thread on pregnancy, here are some thoughts about the last trimester...




Reflux with a vengeance!
With increase in abdominal girth and pressure pushing up against the stomach, there is just less space to digest huge volumes of food.  Therefore, where in the first trimester eating is difficulty due to nausea I find this trimester, eating is difficult due to limited space.  


Things I find helpful to combat this includes:
-  small frequent meals
-  avoiding foods high in fats and grease (like fried foods)
-  avoiding your usual foods that exacerbate reflux like mint, caffeine, chocolate, tomato based foods etc.


Lower back pain
I especially experience this when I'm climb out of bed in the middle of the night to head to the bathroom.  Often I find myself bracing myself with my arms and needing to take small baby steps until I work out the kinks.  Sometimes the pain shoots down my legs.  I probably could avoid or alleviate a lot of this discomfort if I would exercise more and use heat to relax the muscles.


Oh.. then there is the joys of leg cramps...
This usually occurs in the middle of the night when I'm stretching my legs.  Ouch!  It can be quite painful.  When this happens I know I'm not drinking enough fluids.  Eating more bananas and foods high in potassium would probably help as well.


Braxton Hicks or false contractions
These actually can be pretty painful.  It basically feels like tightness across the belly and can usually be relieved with hydration.  Warm baths, changing positions, deep breathing are all measures to help relieve the discomfort.  However, one needs to be careful because sometimes these are hard to differentiate from real contractions which may be early signs of preterm labor.  When in doubt and you are getting these more frequently or intensely, you should call your physician.


Finally... interrupted night time sleep...
Whether it is from constantly needing to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom or simply the difficulty of finding a comfortable position to lie in... sleep is interrupted.  It is too bad because both my other girls are actually sleeping through the night these days.  Few more weeks and I'll soon have a newborn to wake up to every 1-2 hrs.  Now based on the amount of kicking I feel in the middle of the night these days, this kid is probably not going to sleep very much during the hours of the night.


So these are some of the discomforts of pregnancy that I experience and that some other pregnant moms have come to me for.  Again some folks have a fabulous 9 months of pregnancy all glowing and symptom free.  I think it helps to know what may be experienced so things can be done to either alleviate or prevent the symptoms.


I really should have stayed more physically fit through the second and third trimester of my pregnancy this round.  I truly believe it would have made a big difference.  Guess it is not too late to start... 

Lenovo M90z Contest

The winner for the Lenovo ThinkCentre M90z contest has been selected and contacted.  Upon confirmation, I will announce the winner by Friday, April 29.

Thanks for all who have entered.  There are still drawings going on.  Click here to check out the other sites.  Goodluck!

Will let you all know if I have future random drawings for free stuff!

New link between mother's pregnancy diet and offspring's chances of obesity

You may not have expected this, but there is new research to suggest that what a mom eats during pregnancy can impact the baby's chances of becoming obese.

Here's the press release:

New link between mother's pregnancy diet and offspring's chances of obesity found
Scientists have discovered that a mother's nutrition during pregnancy can strongly influence her child's risk of obesity many years later, by altering their DNA

Scientists have discovered that a mother's nutrition during pregnancy can strongly influence her child's risk of obesity many years later.

An international study, led by University of Southampton researchers and including teams from New Zealand and Singapore, has shown for the first time that during pregnancy, a mother's diet can alter the function of her child's DNA. The process, called epigenetic change, can lead to her child tending to lay down more fat. Importantly, the study shows that this effect acts independently of how fat or thin the mother is and of child's weight at birth.

Enter the Lenovo M90z Contest here on PhysicianMom.com

Here's your chance to win a free Lenovo M90z all-in-one PC that includes a 23" touch-screen! I'm running this contest from April 16 to April 20 here on PhysicianMom.com and we're giving away a brand new M90z that will be shipped to you at no charge.

Here are the rules for entry:

1. Register on Facebook and "Like" the Physician Mom.com page. You can increase your chances of winning by "liking" these other Facebook pages (each additional "like" will qualify as an additional entry into the contest):
1. Medicine and Technology
2. Mobile Health Computing
3. Medical Smartphones
4. NonClinicalJobs
2. Submit a single comment at the bottom of this blog post with the following information: 
1. Your full name (which ought to be the same as your Facebook name).
2. Why you hope to win the M90z touch-screen PC.

Remember that you can qualify for up to 5 entries to win by "liking" all 5 of the Facebook pages listed above. This contest is open only to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry.

A single winner will be selected at random and announced on Monday April 25, 2011 and I plan to contact the winner through Facebook. An announcement about the winner will be posted by Friday April 29. There are 26 other blogs that are giving away an M90z, so increase your chance to win an M90z by entering in all the contests. You can find a list of those 26 websites here.

Win a Free Computer!

Here's your chance to win a free computer this month! Lenovo is giving away 26 of their M90z all-in-one PCs over the next 2 months and you can win one here on PhysicianMom.com!  Click here to read my previous thoughts on this machine.

On April 16, the contest will open up on this site and it will run until April 20. The prize will be a free Lenovo M90z which is a touch-screen 23"all-in-one business PC that runs Windows 7.


On April 16, I will publish a blog post that outlines the specific details of the contest.


To maximize your chances of winning, you can enter to win an M90z on each of the sites listed below:


Lenovo M90z Contest:

Site		Start	End Date
Free Tech 4 Teachers		Apr 14	Apr 18
Ilja Coolen \ ICSS		Apr 15	Apr 19
Physician Mom		Apr 16	Apr 20
Scrubd In		Apr 17	Apr 21
KathySchrock's Kaffeeklatsch		Apr 18	Apr 22
Steve Hargadon.com		Apr 19	Apr 23
Box of Tricks		Apr 21	Apr 25
Clinton Fitch.com		Apr 22	Apr 26
Around the Corner		Apr 23	Apr 27
Tech Savvy Ed		Apr 25	Apr 29
Small Biz Technology		Apr 26	Apr 30
Ablet Factory		Apr 27	May 1
Click Newz		Apr 28	May 2
Geekazine		Apr 29	May 3
21st Century Education Technology		Apr 30	May 4
A GeekyMomma's Blog		May 1	May 5
Marsha Collier's Musings		May 2	May 6
VA Insiders Club		May 3	May 7
Your Virtual Assistant		May 4	May 8
Jake Ludington's Media Blab		May 5	May 9
Mobile PC World		May 6	May 10
Dangerously Irrelevant		May 7	May 11
Bud the Teacher		May 8	May 12
Kikolani		May 9	May 13
Geeks To Go		May 10	May 14
Chad Lehman.com		May 11	May 15

Praying for Japan

I was going to post this a few weeks back but due to illness I had to delay.  


Around the time of the whole Japan earthquake crisis, I decided that praying for Japan might be a good way for me to introduce the concept of praying for other countries to my three year old.  After all, I would like her to develop a world view perspective.  Up until now, we've been praying pretty consistently at night and she has gotten down the concept of praying for herself and even for the people around her that she knows (mommy, daddy, sister, grandparents, even friends..)  I was not so sure whether she'd get the concept of praying for someone or something she is not daily in contact with and was amazed at the results.


I tried to keep it simple by telling her that we should pray for Japan because there was an earthquake which made a lot of houses fall down so many little boys and girls lost their houses.  Boy did she have a lot of questions.  


"Why did the houses fall down?"
"Well, because there was an earthquake"
"Why was there an earthquake?"
"Sometimes earthquakes happen"
"Why our house didn't fall down?"
"Because there is no earthquake here"
"But why there is no earthquake here"
"Because God didn't let there be an earthquake here"
"Why did God let there be an earthquake in Japan?"


uhh... I had to think about this one... trying to keep things simple for a 3 year old actually was making things harder than I thought...
"Well... sometimes God let bad things happen... but that's why we have to now pray and ask God to help those in need..."


So then she wanted to pray and it went something like this... I wish I tape recorded...
"Dear God,  please help Japan because she doesn't have a house.  Please let there not be anymore earthquake so her house doesn't fall down.  Please help Japan feel better.  in Jesus name, Amen."


Then she asked me if we could invite Japan to our house since "she" doesn't have a house (think she thinks Japan is a person).  I tried to explain the concept that Japan had a lot of people in it because it was a country and that they would not all fit in our house.  She then tells me that maybe some of the people can go to a friend's house.  I was just so tickled and amazed by our whole conversation and I didn't know I was going to get all that from just introducing the concept of praying for Japan.  So for a couple of nights in a row, she would voluntarily offer to pray for Japan.  My mom tells me that when she was babysitting while I was at work, my daughter even told her all about Japan and the earthquake there.


It is just amazing to me how a three year old brain works...


Here are some interesting scientific facts I learned about Japan and the impact the recent earthquake had:

• moved Japan 13 feet closer to the US
• shifted the earth's axis by 6.5 inches
• shortened the day by 1.6 microseconds (we're spinning faster!)
• sank Japan downward by 2 feet

You can click here to read the full article.

Pink Eye

It has been a while since I've blogged and part of the reason is because my family has been fighting one sickness after another and I'm just tired.  It's hard enough to be sick but harder still to be pregnant and sick.


We've had it all the winter... two bouts of GI issues (the whole nausea, vomiting, diarrhea bit...) as well as your typical cough, congestion, upper respiratory infections.  We'll be well for maybe 1 week and then another member will start with runny nose and the cycle starts all over again.


Recently, I've developed conjunctivitis... or the laymen's term, "pink eye".  I haven't had this since I was a child!  So far, no one else in the family has gotten it and I hope it stays that way.


So conjunctivitis is basically inflammation of the membrane lining the eyelids.  The symptoms can consist of:

• increased tearing
• crusting that forms overnight
• itching
• redness
• pain
• blurred vision
• gritty feeling
• sensitivity to lights

There are many causes including:

• viruses (most common cause)
• bacteria
• allergic
• chemical
• extended contact lense wear

Some other rare causes may also include:

• fungal
• parasites

So the treatment for this depends on the cause.  Examination of the eyes and sometimes a swab can be taken for analysis.  

For allergic conjunctivitis, cool compresses can help.  Allergy medication and/or eye drops can be prescribed to help.

Bacterial eye drops help with bacterial causes.  Viral infections should go away on its own but sometimes a mild antibiotic eye drop is prescribed to prevent bacterial infection.  Warm compresses help soothe discomfort.

Finally prevention is key in not spreading to others:

• avoid rubbing eyes with hands
• wash hands frequently
• do not share towels or hankerchiefs
• do not share eye cosmetics
• change eye cosmetics regularly
• clean contact lenses properly
• change pillow cases regularly