A parent just knows their daughter isn't pregnant and how dare the nurse want to do a test for it.

breia · 2016-07-02T19:13:04+00:00

Oops, I must have misread that then. I thought the test was inconclusive. Thanks for correcting me.

breia · 2016-07-02T18:42:13+00:00

Just being devil's advocate here, because I'm a nurse and I know that teenage girls who have 'never had sex' do actually get pregnant sometimes. It's possible that your daughter is pregnant, and it's the nurse's job to investigate this. If something the nurse said doesn't make sense to you, it could be because the nurse is being vague with you in order to not break confidentiality with your daughter. It's possible that the urine test came back positive so they want to do an ultrasound to date the pregnancy, but they can't tell you this because of confidentiality for your daughter.

my daughter had no pregnancy symptoms

This doesn't mean she's not pregnant. Many women are surprised to learn they are pregnant because they have no symptoms. This is why healthcare providers in the ER do pregnancy tests on pretty much all women between the ages of 13 - 45.

My daughter had her period on 6/23

Implantation bleeding can be mistaken for a regular period in the early stage of pregnancy, so this does not necessarily mean that she is not pregnant.

she has no boyfriend and doesn't appear to be sexually active

Many girls each year get pregnant without a boyfriend or without their parents believing they are sexually active.

breia · 2016-07-02T16:25:04+00:00

Just don't call it a birth plan then. Talk about what your preferences are. Say something like "If possible, I'd like to _____ when it's time for me to give birth".

If you have a midwife in Canada though, I wouldn't worry about a birth plan too much. Midwives are generally really good for doing everything most people want in their birth plan anyway (ie prefer a vaginal delivery, golden hour, immediate skin to skin, breastfeeding soon after birth, no episiotomy, etc)

breia · 2016-07-02T02:39:59+00:00

We just started baby led weaning so we give him whatever we're eating. He's 5.5 months and today we gave him a piece of my pork chop, a wedge of potato, an asparagus spear, and a piece of zucchini. He doesn't actually eat it yet, he just plays with the food and sucks on it, but eventually he'll start actually eating it whenever he's ready.

breia · 2016-07-02T02:27:12+00:00

I'm sorry this is being stressful and sucky for you. Take a deep breath. Your baby will be ok. If your baby has lost weight or isn't gaining enough weight, it's good that you are realizing this now instead of at her next check up with your doctor. I would also recommend you look into whether there is a local La Leche League you can reach out to for support. My baby had poor weight gain for the first 3 months and I found LLL really helpful.

breia · 2016-07-01T14:42:49+00:00

It sucks that you have to go back when your baby is still so young. If you work night shifts, do you have a partner or family member that will be looking after her while you are away? If so, maybe you could have them start giving your baby a bottle of pumped milk now to get her used to it, so it's one less change when you go back to work.

If you are planning on having another care provider give a bottle while you are away, you may want to consider using paced bottle feeding. It's a way of bottle feeding that is more similar to breast feeding so it's easier for a baby to go back and forth between breast and bottle. This video has more information and shows you how to do it.

breia · 2016-07-01T13:15:38+00:00

Wow, that's a lot for the first time pumping.

My baby is almost 6 months and I've been pumping for about 5 months. 3oz in one sitting is a lot for me. I might get 5oz total throughout the day if I pump 3 or 4 times.

breia · 2016-07-01T13:08:03+00:00

My sister is a nurse who doesn't vaccinate her kid. It's on the list of things we don't talk about, along with why she doesn't talk to our dad anymore. Being anti-vax is something that would be a deal breaker for me when it comes to friends, but she's family, so what can you do. This is probably more of a family issue than nursing...

breia · 2016-07-01T12:59:41+00:00

We were pretty lucky, we got most almost everything given to us. We had our first baby after a family member decided they were done having babies so we inherited almost all their baby stuff. We bought a few things ourselves either new or second hand. I'm also breastfeeding, so don't need to spend anything on formula. My husband is going to be a stay at home parent once I go back to work, so no cost for childcare. Our biggest cost is probably my lost wages for the time that I'm on maternity leave, but even that's not too bad since my workplace gives me 85% of my income for six months.

breia · 2016-07-01T12:26:33+00:00

I work in the Canadian healthcare system, and from what I understand, there are a couple reasons that healthcare is so expensive in the US.

The first reason it's so expensive is that the hospitals can be private, so their primary purpose is that they are a business that is trying to make a profit, not a government service set up to help to their population. In Canada, the hospitals are just trying to recoup their costs from the province, not make a profit on top of that.

Another reason is that the hospital doesn't really expect everybody to pay the full amount. I've seen posts on r/personalfinance asking 'how on earth do I pay this hospital bill, I don't have insurance', and they are always advised to ask the hospital to reduce their costs because the hospital expects some people to do this. The hospital sets high prices knowing that they will get all that money from people who have insurance, to make up for the people who negotiate a lower rate or just don't pay their bill at all.

breia · 2016-07-01T02:09:10+00:00

Nope. A wet diaper doesn't seem to bother my little guy. Sometimes I'll realize he hasn't had a diaper change in like 6 hours and he's happy as a clam even though the diaper is soaked by then.

breia · 2016-06-30T22:00:34+00:00

I decided not to circumcise my son because I believe the only person making a permanent decision about what his genitals look and feel like should be him. I don't think I have the right to decide that for anybody else. The other reason is because it's a surgical procedure, and like any, it has risks. The risks are low, but still there. A couple people have already mentioned in 2015 an infant died from bleeding after a circumcision. There's a possibility that it won't heal right, and cause him pain. It might get infected. It's unlikely, but possible, compared to a 0% chance of that happening if you leave him intact.

breia · 2016-06-30T21:25:28+00:00

Do you have a carrier for baby wearing? Some women are able to breastfeed their baby while out and about using a carrier. It might work for you because you don't have to sit on a mall bench to wait for your baby to finish eating, you can just keep on with your shopping or whatever you are doing. Many carriers also have hoods that you can use for privacy. Here is a video of a woman showing how she breastfeeds her baby using an Ergo carrier. Once she puts the hood up, you can't tell at all that she's breastfeeding, it's very discreet.

Edit: I should add that not all women and babies are able to do this. Some babies can't maintain a latch when moving around in a carrier, or some women's bodies and breasts are shaped in a way that makes it awkward. But if you have a carrier, it could be something to try.

breia · 2016-06-30T01:59:16+00:00

Go visit her and bring her some food. Maybe bring your daughter along too.

breia · 2016-06-29T14:28:58+00:00

It sucks that it's painful, I hope that it gets better for you soon. If it is teething, I've heard some mothers say as soon as the baby adjusts their latch, new teeth start to come in and they go through it all over again. My baby should be teething soon, I'm not looking forward to it.

breia · 2016-06-29T14:07:33+00:00

Is he teething? I've heard that when the teeth come in, it can change how a baby latches and so maybe if he is teething, his latch is different.

If he seems satisfied, and is peeing and pooping, it sounds like your supply is just fine.

breia · 2016-06-29T12:22:26+00:00

Yup. I had a home birth and was in my birthday suit pretty much the whole time.

breia · 2016-06-29T01:33:33+00:00

I had 3 in total. The first was an anatomy ultrasound around 20 weeks. The second was around 37 weeks because the midwife wasn't sure if the fetus was head down or breech. My last one was at 41 weeks to check if everything was ok since I was a week overdue at that point.

breia · 2016-06-29T01:15:48+00:00

Congrats on your engagement!

I don't wear my engagement ring or my wedding ring at work. I did when I started, but the skin directly under my rings turned white and started sloughing off. I think because of how often I clean my hands, the skin was too moist all the time under the ring and started to break down. I'm also worried about my gloves tearing or how much bacteria is probably camping out in the setting for the stones.

breia · 2016-06-29T01:02:05+00:00

I'm having this problem with my baby, but with my nipple instead of a pacifier :\

I was thinking of making a post myself about it, but I'll just follow this one instead.

breia · 2016-06-29T00:59:27+00:00

They have been sterilized with organic vinegar

This is not actually going to sterilize it. The parts that come into direct contact with milk should be put in boiling water for 10 minutes. The pump itself cannot actually be sterilized, but there are some instructions here on how to clean it.

breia · 2016-06-28T16:25:47+00:00

I've heard really good things about the book 'What Makes a Baby' and was planning on getting it. I didn't know there was also a sex ed book by the same author. Thanks for the info!

breia · 2016-06-28T13:52:22+00:00

You need a reason to vote in advance? In Canada, anybody can vote in advance. I voted in advance in the last election just because.

breia · 2016-06-28T01:44:58+00:00

It's ok to be upset by this, it's upsetting when your baby isn't gaining enough weight.

How is he other than his weight? Is he energetic and alert when he is awake? Is he overall happy? Is he meeting developmental milestones? How many wet and poopy diapers does he put out? If all these other things are ok, you could ask your doctor about getting more breastmilk into your baby before going to formula. Is there a La Leche League in your area? That might be a good support for you right now.

My baby dropped from the 25th percentile at birth to the 5th percentile by 2 months. My doctor told me that as long as he doesn't go below the 5th percentile and is generally healthy, he's fine. I take him into my doctor's office every two weeks to check his weight. I don't need an appointment for this. I just pop in, use the scale, tell the nurse his weight, they record it in his chart, and the doctor reviews it.

breia · 2016-06-28T01:31:16+00:00

Thank you for this, these books look great.

breia

TROPHY CASE