Back pain...every pregnant woman has it. It's caused mostly by your growing belly, the extra weight forces you to change your posture causing your center of gravity to shift forward causing major lower back pain, as much as it hurts you can help make it a little bit better. For some women the pain will be only in the last few months of pregnancy, for the unlucky ones they will have it throughout the pregnancy and afterwards as well. Here are some tips to help ease the pain
Warm bath - Taking a long warm bath helps relax your muscles and bones, easing the pain while relaxing your entire body. Be sure that the water is not too hot as that can possibly bring on contractions.
Body pillow - Using a maternity pillow at night is a great way to help ease the pain, keep your legs bent and sleep on your side with a pillow between your legs.
Massage - Getting a massage is very helpful when it comes to back pain, this method relaxes your body and takes away the stress of pregnancy.
No heavy lifting - It is extremely important that you do not lift anything heavy during pregnancy, this can cause major back pain and strains.
Good fitting shoes - Wearing good fitting comfortable shoes is a good way to ease and avoid back pain. Especially if you do a lot of walking.
Swimming - Swimming is a great exercise to help ease and avoid back pain, swimming strengthens your lower back muscles. It also takes the weight of the baby off of you for a short amount of time, easing the stress of all the extra weight on your body.
Rest - Taking a break, laying down a few times a day between each chore or walk is a great way to help your body rest.
Pelvic tilts - Doing pelvic tilts will help ease some back pain, there are different ways to do this exercise. 1. Lay on the floor on your back with your legs bent. Make sure there are no gaps between your back and the floor. Place your hands down on the floor on your sides for extra support. Lift your bottom up slowly as high as you can (not extremely high, between 2-5 inches off the floor) and lower back down. 2. Go on all fours with your hands at shoulder level. Make your back as straight as possible while looking at the floor under you. Allow your baby to drop towards the floor, lift your tailbone upwards and try to look up as high as you can. Now pull your baby up towards you, drop your tailbone towards the floor and try to look at your stomach. Exhale as you look up, and inhale as you look down.
Hot & Cold - Using warmth and cold does help a lot when it comes to body aches and back pain. Try using a hot pack or a cold pack, whichever suits your pain best.
Tylenol - Tylenol is safe during pregnancy and it can reduce your back pain a lot.
If all of these remedies fail be sure to contact your doctor about it, it may be something a lot worse. It is always better to be safe than sorry, it is a good idea to always to go the emergency room instead of waiting for the doctor for more serious problems. They will fax the results and diagnosis to his/her office.
Yes Halloween is around the corner! I bet every single mom out here cannot wait to bring their little princesses, pumpkins, vampires, witches, pirates, clowns, angels, fairies etc. out for candy. There are many things us as moms need to think about before bringing our children out trick or treating.
Weather - Halloween is almost always cold for children, if we're lucky it will be a nice night this year. It's a good idea to think of costumes that can cover layers of clothes, if it does end up being cold that night simply add the layers on. Sweaters, long johns, high socks, ear muffs etc. If you decide to walk with your little ones, try using a wagon and bring along a blanket to cover up between houses. Gloves are great idea also, there are many costumes that will work very well with gloves. For moms who have babies 6 months and under it is a good idea to put them in a Moby wrap/kangaroo wrap to keep them warm. There are many ideas out there for babies face paint for Halloween. This way you can keep them covered up and close to you, but still have them look cute for Halloween.
Costumes - Picking a costume is a tough trip, a few things to think about are is it good material? Will it be loose enough to fit a few layers of clothing underneath? Are the weapons rubber and bendable? Is it too long that my child will trip while walking? Using face paint is better than using a mask, a mask can be very hard to breathe in and very hard to see out of. Be sure to get reflective stickers and place them on your childs back and front, if you cannot find reflective stickers try finding a blinking light source.
Decorations - Decorating your house is fun, especially if you are decorating with your little ones. There are some precautions you should be taking while decorating. Try not to hang any decorations above heaters, decorations are known to fall when nobody is looking and this will cause a fire. If you do hang decorations above a heater make sure they are hung up very well and do a test to see if it is easy for them to fall. Anything small such as tiny spiders for spider webs should be tangled into the web so they do not fall to the floor where a little one can easily pick it up and put it in their mouth. Candles are not the greatest idea, especially in the window sill because they can cause fires. Always keep an eye on the little ones while decorating, all it takes is 1 second for anything to happen.
Carving pumpkins - Little ones should never carve the pumpkin, instead let them draw the face of the pumpkin. It is a good idea to get each child a pumpkin, that way they can draw their own face on their own pumpkin and there will be minimum fighting. Drawing a face on a few pumpkins yourself is a good idea instead of carving because the pumpkins will last longer. However, if you do carve the pumpkins it is a good idea to put them outside at night time or in the freezer this way they will last longer.
Trick or treat! - While trick or treating young ones get distracted by candy, it is a good idea to start reminding them that they need to look both ways before crossing the street. Always accompany your children while trick or treating, you may think your small town is safe but there are a lot of predators out there just waiting for the perfect opportunity to grab a child. It is a horrible thought but it's definitely one you need to think about. For older children who can go out trick or treating alone, remind them about all the dangers that are out there. You should set some rules come Halloween night such as 1. Never go into anybody house unless you know them very well or you are in a big group. 2. Never walk alone at night. 3. Always have your cell phone ready and have your local police department on speed dial. 4. Always tell mom where you are and where you are going. 5. Only go to houses where the lights are on inside and outside. 6. Never cross between parked cars. *If your older child is staying home to pass out candy and watch scary movies also set some rules such as 1. Make sure all windows and doors are always locked. 2. Make sure you have a friend over or a few friends. 3. Look out the windows to see who is knocking before opening the door. 4. Have your local police department on speed dial.
Checking out the candy - Remind your children to bring all of their candy home so you can inspect them. You can give your children a pocket full of candy from home for them to eat while trick of treating. Look for candy that is already opened or half opened and throw them away. Look for puncture holes in the rest of the candy, apples and other fruit and throw them away. Throw away home made treats such as cookies, muffins etc. unless you know the person who baked them.
Halloween is a great time to start family traditions, get all dressed up, go out trick or treating, carve pumpkins and tons more of great fun. I hope everyone has a great and safe night. Happy Halloween!!!
There is nothing worse than your child waking up in the middle of the night with a fever, cough, sore throat etc. It's a good idea to keep yourself prepared. Here is a list of thing you should put into your medical cupboard
Cough syrup
Vicks baby vapor rub
Johnsons vapor bath
Baby Tylenol
Childrens Tylenol
Tempra
A suction bulb
Finger nail clippers
Tweazers
Adult tylenol
Peroxide
Rubbing alcohol
Band aids
Gauze
Medical tape
Cough drops
Tums
Q-tips
Needles
Cotton balls
Nasal drops/spray
Childrens gravol
Pepto-bismol
Scissors
Medical gloves
Ice cold pack
You can have a lot more but this is just the basics.
