Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Springing Ahead...

Hello to All,

I have a new page up on Facebook for the Family Advisory Council of The Star Legacy Foundation (SLF), same title as this, Families Need to Know! One of the greatest things about being pregnant these days is the information available for all the parents to be. Back in the day when I was pregnant, who knew about keeping track of your baby's movements ~ who knew about kick counting??? Today, it is a whole new day and age. The information is available for you, and there are lots of people there to help you if you don't quite understand what is presented to you.

At the SLF, we believe when you have your 20 week ultrasound, it is a good thing to have the doctor and ultrasound tech visualize the baby's placenta and umbilical cord for normalcy along with the baby's anatomy. This is the scan you will be able to see if you are having a little girl or little boy! After this scan it is time to begin to keep track of what your baby is doing. Keep a log and write down when baby is awake and moving around and when baby is sleeping. It is easy to do and fun at the same time.

My daughter in law was telling me her little son was always up from 10 pm - 11 pm. Then one night he was quiet at 10 pm - not up to his usual tricks! So, she monitored for 30 minutes (per Dr. Collin's protocol of The Pregnancy Institute) -- and after another 30 minutes - there he was - moving around. What had happened? Danielle forgot to take into account daylight savings time. It was spring so we "spring ahead." So, baby was on his own 24 hour clock and no one told him he had to "spring ahead" as well!!!

For further information and to be added to the SLF newsletter, please go visit, www.starlegacyfoundation.org.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Proactive Measures to Insure a Happy Healthy Delivery

Welcome to "Families Need to Know!" This is an exciting step for The Star Legacy Foundation which is dedicated to stillbirth education and research in forming a Family Advisory Council. We hope to educate families, parents and friends on simple proactive measures available to you to insure the happy safe delivery of your baby. Placental complications and umbilical cord accidents (UCA) are all too prevalent in the USA. UCA account for 30% of the 26,000 stillbirths a year in our country. I hope to provide information and education while guiding you how to be your baby's "en utero" advocate!

This foundation has formed an alliance with Dr. Jason Collins of The Pregnancy Institute in New Roads, LA. We support the Institutes's research and endeavors and hope you will too. We are strong advocates of visualizing the placenta and umbilical cord at your 20 week ultrasound for any abnormality. We also advocate a 28 week ultrasound be mandatory in the doctor's office for visualization of the umbilical cord.

We are also huge proponents of kick counting. We want moms to know their baby's movements well before the 28th week. Moms should know when baby's movements change it is time inform their doctor. When your baby's movements speed up or slow down ~ become involved and let your doctor know!

I look forward to hearing from you, getting to know you and having fun!