Now that I have brought 5 kids into this world, I know that if I were to ever do it again there are a few things I would do differently and some that I wouldn’t change at all.
Being a mom of 5, there are plenty of things that have changed over the years, I’ve learned new things and if I could turn back time and put that knowledge to use, I would. Since I have yet to invent a time machine and I’m done having babies, I figured I’d share a few things to think about as you are planning for the arrival of your child.
Home Birth
During all of my pregnancies, I never once considered a home birth but after learning more about it and hearing of other friends experiences, it is definitely something I would actually consider doing if we were to ever have another child.
Midwife or Doula
Towards the end of my 5th pregnancy, I was seen by a midwife at my Ob-Gyn’s office and my experience with her was great. It really made me wish that I would have gone the route of a midwife or at least hired a doula for not only the delivery portion of my pregnancy but for my post-pregnancy care as well.
Cloth Diapering
Another thing I wish I would have learned more about while pregnant is cloth diapering and invested money into what we would need to use cloth instead of disposable diapers. Although I know if can be more time consuming, I keep thinking of the money we could have saved with cloth diapering.
If you are considering cloth diapering, I suggest searching for a cloth diapering group in your area on Facebook as they are filled with moms that are willing to share their knowledge and help new moms get started.
Breastfeeding
Now, my 3 youngest children were all fully breastfed babies until at least 1 year and I am so happy that I made that decision and wish I could go back in time with my first two kids and stick to breastfeeding. When I had Zack and Libby, I was young and didn’t know where to look or how to find the support I needed when it came to breastfeeding so I gave in early and switched to formula.
If you are considering breastfeeding, be aware that there are all kinds of programs and moms out there that are willing to share advice and be there for support should you need it. Honestly, if you want some support, feel free to email me and I am more than happy to help you!
Transportation
Believe it or not, something a lot of expectant parents don’t think about in the beginning is transportation. With a new baby, you want to make sure you have safe, reliable transportation that can accommodate your new family. There are plenty of dealerships, like Speedway Autogroup, that offer a large selection of both new and used family friendly vehicles.
Becoming a mom is a truly beautiful and amazing milestone. However, motherhood can take a toll on a woman’s body. Pregnancy, breastfeeding, and lack of sleep during those early months can cause major changes that you sometimes can’t reverse on your own. Fortunately, there are a few effective surgical and non-surgical treatments that can help restore your body and your confidence. You deserve to look and feel your best!
Tummy Tuck
The physical changes in the abdominal area due to pregnancy can rarely be corrected without surgery. A tummy tuck is a procedure that surgically removes excess fat and skin from the abdomen and tightens the abdominal muscles for a smoother, firmer midsection. Even women who lead healthy lifestyles after having children and are in good overall shape can benefit from a tummy tuck. That’s because exercise and healthy diet cannot correct loose stomach skin.
Lifestyle can only do so much when it comes to separated muscles as well. This condition is referred to as a diastasis recti. Diastasis recti often affects women who have had repeated pregnancies, multiple births, or a baby with a high birth weight. According to board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. David Janssen, a tummy tuck at his Appleton, WI, practice can correct this issue, which approximately 2/3 of all women experience during pregnancy.
Breast Augmentation
Breast augmentation can improve the appearance of breasts that have lost volume post-pregnancy or after breastfeeding. The production of breast milk and increased breast size can cause the breast skin to stretch. It’s not uncommon that after you are finished breastfeeding, your breasts become less dense and may sag or look deflated. This understandably causes some women to feel insecure about their physical appearance, so it is not uncommon for women to undergo surgery to restore their breasts in this situation.
Additionally, many women combine their breast augmentation with a lift. This combination can be custom-tailored to help:
Increase breast volume and cup size
Remove of excess skin
Reposition breasts higher on the chest wall
Enhance overall contour
Correct asymmetry
Improve size/shape of the areola
ThermiSmooth® Body
For women who are not ready for surgery, ThermiSmooth is a completely noninvasive option that tightens and smooths the skin. Treatment areas include the arms, abdomen, hips, back, buttocks, knees, calves, and ankles.
The treatment begins when the area of concern is prepped with a cooling gel. Then the ThermiSmooth handpiece is moved back and forth over the skin, and radiofrequency energy is emitted at a specific temperature. Most patients describe the treatments as comfortable. Each area is treated for about 15 minutes, and patients typically schedule a series of 4 to 6 treatments. There is no downtime associated with ThermiSmooth, so it is great for busy moms who don’t have time for long appointments or recoveries.
ThermiVa™ Vaginal Rejuvenation
Vaginal rejuvenation is becoming more popular among women in the Green Bay area, especially moms. ThermiVa offers you a non-surgical alternative to a labiaplasty. This treatment can tighten the vaginal canal, improve the appearance of the labia, restore sensitivity, and reduce mild to moderate incontinence.
It is a safe and effective procedure that requires no downtime. ThermiVa works by gently heating the vaginal tissue using radiofrequency energy. This stimulates the production of collagen, leading to dramatic rejuvenation. Most women opt for a series of 3 treatments spaced 1 month apart. You’ll begin to notice gradual improvements after about 2 weeks.
Dermal Fillers
As a mom, a full night’s sleep is sometimes out of the question. When you aren’t getting enough sleep, the delicate skin under your eyes can sometimes appear dark, sunken, and hollow. Dermal filler injections can add volume and hydration to this area. This treatment can smooth out indentations and bags and the shadows they create.
Fillers can also be used to restore volume and reduce wrinkles. Filler treatments are completely customizable and can be combined with BOTOX® Cosmetic and other non-invasive procedures for comprehensive rejuvenation.
Treatments are quick and typically only have minor side effects, such as slight redness, soreness, or bruising. The longevity of the results depends on the type of filler you choose.
If you have any questions about these treatments, contact your local board-certified plastic surgeon for more information.
This post is in partnership with Nalturnal and The Megalomaniac Mommy blog.
Being a parent is the most difficult and the most rewarding job you will ever have. A very significant part of your job is to do everything you can to keep your children healthy and happy.
Although there is nothing you can do to prevent them from ever getting sick, you can take steps to minimize the number of times and the severity of any illnesses. Remember, when visiting any health care professional, be sure you maintain copies of any medical records for your own reference. You can request a copy of the doctors notes during the visit or record them on your mobile device.
Make Sure They Get Enough Sleep
As an adult, you know how important it is to get enough sleep. Not getting enough sleep can cause children to gain weight
The growth hormone is primarily secreted when your children sleep
Cytokines (proteins) that the body uses to fight stress, infection, and illness are produced during sleep
Increases attention span
Children need sleep as much as you do for the following reasons: They will have brain fog, become agitated easily, and have trouble making decisions if they don’t have enough.
Protect Their Skin
Playing outside or in the water during the warm summer months is fun for your children. Long-term skin damage, early aging of the skin, and cancer are the results of too much exposure to the sun.
Keep in mind that your children aren’t only exposed to the harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays when they are on vacation or at a beach or a pool. Whenever they are outdoors and the sun is out, they can get a sun-burn. Protect their skin whenever and wherever they are exposed to the sun.
Healthy Teeth Make Healthy Children
Taking care of your children’s teeth will keep them healthier. Many medical problems are caused by poor oral hygiene. It’s better to take your child to the dentist early, usually when they get their first tooth, to keep their mouths healthier throughout their lives.
Even though baby teeth fall out and are replaced by permanent teeth, they are important. Not only do they help your child chew and speak, baby teeth hold space in the jaw for the adult teeth.
If you child’s baby tooth gets a cavity, be sure to see a dentist for a filling. “Filling baby teeth will prevent the cavity from growing larger and leading to more severe problems and infections“.
Minimize the Amount of Sugar They Consume
It isn’t easy, but you should do your best to limit how much sugar your children eat. Too much sugar can cause health problems, weaken immune systems, and alter the balance between bad and good bacteria in the body.
You can help your children develop healthy eating habits. It isn’t reasonable or even smart to try to eliminate all sweets from your child’s diet. If you have ever tried to lose weight, you will understand why forbidding yourself from ever eating something that tastes really good, makes you want it even more.
Everything in moderation is a good rule to follow especially when dealing with high-sugar foods and treats. Below are some reasons that may help you decide to limit your children’s consumption of sugar:
Causes energy dips and mood swings
Doesn’t provide the nourishment the body need
Makes you fat
Spikes blood sugar levels and causes cravings
Ruins your teeth by causing cavities
High-glycemic starches and processed sugars cause inflammation
You are eating sugar even though you might not realize There are many names on food labels that are sugar such as corn sweetener, corn syrup, and fructose
Encourage Exercise
Exercise and physical activity are important for both children and adults. Some of the reasons for getting enough exercise are:
Alleviates stress
Creates positive emotions
Essential for muscle and bone health
Prevents diseases later in life
Your children should get a minimum of one hour of exercise every day.
Regular Annual Physicals
Take your children to the doctor once a year for a basic check-up. Find a pediatrician that you trust and with whom you have a good rapport.
During these visits, the doctor will track your child’s height and weight and give them vaccinations for protection against serious illnesses like polio and pertussis.
Use this opportunity to ask your doctor any questions you have about your child’s emotional, physical, or mental development.
While there is no way to protect your children from ever getting sick, there are steps you can take to keep them as healthy as possible.
Why is sleep important? Your body does amazing things while you hit the sack, all which help you to feel at your best when you wake up. Here are some of them.
If anyone tells you that going to sleep is a waste of time, they are very wrong. Your body treasures it as much as a healthy diet, regular water intake, and exercise – and getting regular sleep has a direct influence on your productivity levels during the day.
Unfortunately, not many people today prioritize getting a good night’s sleep because they just think the body shuts off, but sleep proves to be the time that your body repairs itself, and goes through a complex process that leaves you refreshed come morning. Throughout the five stages of sleep, the body achieves more repairs and corrective processes. Here are some of them.
Helps the body refresh itself
When you are asleep, the brain does not shut off, just like your heart – in fact, the brain is in the business of restoring itself. Throughout the time you are awake, there are neurons in your brain that produce a chemical known as adenosine – this is mostly a by-product of cell activity.
When the chemical builds up in the body, it is the main catalyst for feeling sleepy. When you go to bed, the body and your brain is busy clearing up this chemical, and you feel refreshed in the morning when you wake up, instead of tired.
Repairing of cells and tissues, and helping them to grow
Sleep presents the best opportunity for the body to rejuvenate itself through the repair of muscles, as well as other critical functions like muscle growth.
The brain is a particular beneficiary of this. In fact, a study conducted in 2013 on mice showed that their brains were more active in removing body waste as they were asleep. The researchers concluded that the brain and body actually need some time to clear up any toxic by-products that have accumulated during the period of staying awake.
The brain also creates and reinforces memories as you sleep, leading to creativity boosts in the morning – as long as you get proper sleep. The brain is able to filter out any information that you do not require, and that may be among the reasons you dream about something – the things that are important to you become reinforced, while the brain filters out those that are not as important.
Relaxation of muscles
Not all sleep is equal even when sleeping on a comfortable mattress such as Tuft and Needle. The body goes through multiple stages your body as you sleep – the first stage is very light, and it gets deeper as you progress. However, the deeper the sleep gets, the more your major muscles get in a state of paralysis.
The first stage is REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement). During this phase, the muscles begin to relax – except the eye muscles, which move rapidly. The relaxation reduces tension, while reducing the symptoms of chronic pain you may be experiencing. It might even help you heal from the mental blocks you may be experiencing during the day – your body might just need to chill so that it can have the energy to conquer the next day.
The following stages are even deeper, where the eye muscles begin to relax – these are the non-REM sleep stages 2 and 3, and stage three is the deepest part of sleep and where the most body repair happens. However, this does not last for very long, and towards the morning hours, the body begins to enter back into REM sleep, until you wake up.
It also explains the feeling of ‘you cannot move another muscle’. The physiological processes in the body slow down massively during sleep hours, and result in you feeling more sluggish when you have to wake up in the middle of the night. This includes even other processes like your breathing rate, response rate, and heartbeat.
The body takes advantage of the slowdown to repair any ailing muscles and body tissues. There is also less amounts of adrenaline in your system, since you will not be requiring any flight or fight responses (unless there is a major emergency happening).
The brain learns and remembers the performance of physical tasks
The brain tends to store long-term memories and muscle performances through sleep spindles. These are short, intense bursts of strong frequencies, which tend to occur during the stage of REM sleep.
In the case of motor tasks, these are particularly helpful – including activities such as playing a sport, motor driving, perfecting a new dance move, playing an instrument, and so on. The brain is able to consolidate any muscle memory related to these tasks, and helps you remember how to do them even after you wake up.
The brain will transfer any short-term memories from these activities from the motor cortex region of the brain to the temporal lobe, and they become long-term memories. The truth is practicing during sleep is very important for boosting your later performance.
Improves creative connections and links
The fact that sleep is a simple but powerful creativity booster cannot be underestimated. In your mind, the unconscious resting state is actually more capable of making connections, even among seemingly unrelated things, than it would have made while it was in a waking state.
In fact, this is proven from a study conducted by the University of California at Berkeley from 2007. The research found that proper sleep encourages the brain to make ‘remote associates’, or somewhat unusual connections within it. These usually result in the famous ‘s-ha!’ moments when you wake up, or when doing something unrelated like making breakfast after waking up in the morning. About 33 percent of people are also very likely to make connections they never thought of between two unrelated ideas once they wake up.
Final thoughts
It is interesting to find out what sleep does to your body and brain. If anyone underrates it, it is important to remember that the key to improving the quality of your life aside from your diet choices and exercise, is hitting the sheets and getting good sleep quality and quantity.
Are you embarrassed about the smell that you emit while farting? This process may be normal, but making it a habit may cause discomfort especially in front of others. Everybody releases gases at some point. Even if some people fart more than others, what should alarm you is when your farts come with a smell that is irritating.
While an odorless fart shows that you are healthy, smells symbolize an unsettled digestive system. We often release gases such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and methane. Emission of sulfur is what makes farts smell. Allow us to share some critical insights on how to stop farting.
Watch how you eat
How you take in food determines how much air you swallow. If you are a fast eater, you are likely to swallow more air than a person who takes their time with food. Trying to multitasking during meals such as walking as well as driving can make you ingest more air which translates to more farts. Reduce the pace that you use while eating and avoid feeding as you move. It does not take hours to feed right? Take your time and stop rushing.
Avoid chewing gum balls
People tend to reduce their nervousness by chewing gum. Even though this is effective in calming you down, it makes you swallow more air than you should. Most ball gums have lots of sugar which make one keep on farting. For people who like fresh breaths, consider using mints that contain fewer sugars to prevent you from farting. You can also substitute your gum with mouthwash that keeps bad breath at bay.
Observe the types of food that you eat
Lots of gas comes from the food that you consume. Taking less foods that produce more gas is how to stop farting. Let us look at each category of foods so that you can have a better understanding.
Complex sugars
Though vegetables like broccoli may have numerous benefits to your body, they contain excess sulfur which makes your fart smell. Beans tend to make most people feel bloated since they increase gas in your stomach. Take cabbage and cauliflower in moderation to prevent the emission of hydrogen sulfide.
Fructose
Most fruits help us fight diseases but increase gas in the stomach. They also increase sugar levels in your body which causes a strain in bacteria to break down the sugar. Using fewer onions as well as artichokes can help reduce the frequency of farts. Stop taking fruits after meals since they can make you bloat.
Soft drinks such as carbonated sodas add gas directly to your intestines as you swallow more air from them. People who take lots of beer tend to fart a lot because such drinks contain lots of glycemic carbohydrates which are not healthy for one’s digestion.
Lactose
Reducing daily consumption of your favorite ice cream can help you stop emitting excess gas. Cheese, milk, and yogurt also produce gas. Some people are intolerant of lactose which causes fermentation of in their gut. This makes gases build up in the stomach causing smelly farts.
Starch
Cut down on foods that contain wheat since these are not easy for your digestive system to break down. Potatoes and pasta also increase gas in your stomach.
Test which foods affect you more than others
We are all different in how we react to certain foods. For instance, not all people bloat from beans. Knowing what affects you will help you understand what to avoid. Being intolerant of particular foods causes cases of diarrhea, nausea as well as constipation.
Practice an elimination diet to help you cut down on foods that affect your stomach as you add the most comfortable foods in your diet. Record down on the symptoms of feeding on specific foods to assess what your body does not react to. This technique is how to stop farting.
Use enzyme supplements
Different enzyme supplements work better on certain foods than others. If you have a problem with beans, buy beano supplement to help you reduce the carbohydrates in your small intestines. It is locally available from your local chemist. The bacteria that produce gas in your large intestines does not have access to the complex carbohydrates as they are already broken down into your small intestines. Get Lactaid enzyme supplement if you fart regularly from consumption of cheese and milk.
Take care of constipation
If you spend hours in the toilet struggling with poop, this indicates that excess poop is still in your colon. It contains excess bacteria which increases fermentation that leads to the emission of unpleasant gases. Reduce such cases by taking lots of water to allow the poop to flow effortlessly from your digestive system. Fiber from fruits and supplements can also help you deduce constipation and in turn, reduce farting. Supplements such as Colace soften your poop so that you don’t have to strain during the process.
Exercise
Avoid eating and sitting idle for hours in one position. Walk around to help your body digest your meals easily. Regular workouts can help you reduce farting as you increase your metabolism to prevent accumulation of food at the wrong places.
Use probiotics
For people who are having problems reducing this habit, probiotics can help you out. These supplements contain healthy bacteria to work hand in hand with the bacteria in your body to break down food. They also take care of regular stomach upsets that cause pain and discomfort.
Avoid cigarettes
Cigars are not only unhealthy for your respiratory system, but also your digestive track. When you smoke, you inhale more air than a non-smoker. This accumulates in your stomach as well as your esophagus. It makes your intestines bloat and causes excess farting.
Final thoughts
Though farting is healthy, it should not feel uncomfortable. The tips we have discussed are how to stop farting so that you don’t have to keep on excusing yourself to release some unpleasant gases. Combine natural solutions and healthy supplements to make your farts odorless and prevent severe stomach complications.
