A Follow-Up to the Depends Post

For every woman who's been told that Kegel exercises are the answer to preventing/reducing incontinence, this is going to BLOW. YOUR. MIND.

• http://mamasweat.blogspot.com/2010/05/pelvic-floor-party-kegels-are-not.html

It's not Kegels (apparently counterproductive!). It's squats. The tighter the glutes, the less you leak!

A post about preserving your postpartum sanity and dignity

Note: this post is for the ladies. Gentlemen, no need to delve any further, unless you don't mind TMI.

So a week and a half ago, I gave birth to my second little angel. A beautiful girl with large eyes and a disarming lack of crying. She sleeps pretty much on command and seems pretty content with her place in the world. Sleepless nights? What sleepless nights? Last night, she woke up once for her feeding and otherwise slumbered peacefully in the crook of my arm. If only all parents could be so lucky.

The flip side, of course, is all those postpartum annoyances they DON'T tell you about. All that postpartum goop (sorry, Gwyneth) and...drumroll...full-blown incontinence. WTF? No one told me about incontinence! I never had it with C, so what gives? (After much thought, I've decided that the main culprit was the lack of exercise while pregnant with #2, among other things.) So, ladies who've just had babies, I have two words for you: ADULT DIAPERS. I don't know why I never thought of it with C -- dealing with those horrible disposable undies and bulky pads was just the bane of my existence (the constant worrying about leaking, etc.) -- but better late than never! As a new connoisseur of the adult diaper products, my recommendation would be Depends (Depends: because your dignity depends on Depends -- haha). But really, any adult diaper product would be better than what the hospital provides for you.

So there you have it. When life throws you a curve ball, get a longer bat.

Sneaky Spinach

So the summer is drawing to a close -- as is the deceptive illusion of perma-vacation. Ergo, back to a more consistent blogging rhythm...until Baby #2 arrives, that is (which, fingers crossed, should be around the end of this month). Although, come to think of it, I'm sure I'll have a whole host of new tidbits to blog about!

Wanted to post something about nutrition this time around...or the lack, thereof. There was a time, during C's earliest months (before the introduction to solids), when I had the most glorious fantasies about the immaculate diet she would be fed. Dairy-, sugar-, and meat-free and nothing but whole grains and organic veggies/fruits and plant-based proteins for this child! But C had other plans: namely, she turned out to be the worst eater on the planet. It got so bad that, at a certain point, I was just happy if she shoved a donut down her throat.

She has, since then, slowly morphed into a satisfactory, if not solid, eater (and, if at day care, a champion eater, apparently!), and I know that I have a repertoire of staples in my pantry/fridge arsenal that she'll happily eat whenever offered. Vegetables, unfortunately and not unsurprisingly, are still (for the most part) non grata. I figure I'm not the only parent with this dilemma, and I've shared the following trick with enough parents who hadn't thought of it themselves that I thought I'd blog about it. And all you need is a reliable pair of kitchen scissors!

I've discovered, basically, that I can sneak raw baby spinach (and ground flax seeds, come to think of it) into just about anything I serve C. As long as it's cut up small enough (ergo, the kitchen scissors), I can sneak it into her yogurt, her pasta, her eggs, her rice, her cream cheese (accompanied by cinnamon raisin bagel, of course), her pizza, etc. The sky's the limit! Somehow, the texture and taste of raw baby spinach are both innocuous enough that C doesn't seem to notice and/or mind the tiny green strips stuck in her food. Hallelujah! This trick has been the saving grace of many of C's otherwise "empty calorie" meals. I wish I could say the same for broccoli. Sigh.

Anywhooo, I figure that one of these days, when she's old enough, I'll have to force the confrontation with the dreaded vegetable -- undisguised and in its full-form glory. But until that day arrives, why make life difficult for all involved?

P.S. Feel free to share your own feeding tips/suggestions!

Brain Rules for Baby, by John Medina

I know that most new parents barely have the time to take a quick shower, much less read an entire book, but I would strongly, strongly encourage expecting parents and new parents to read this book. A lot of the information overlaps with another book I recommended, NurtureShock, but there's enough new information in here that can really change the way you parent your child. Medina's a scientist, first and foremost, but he makes the science incredibly accessible, and he's funny to boot. But instead of writing a tome here, I'll just let you read the product description on Amazon. Hope it proves titillating enough that you purchase (and read) the book ASAP!

• http://www.amazon.com/Brain-Rules-Baby-Raise-Smart/dp/0979777755

Hold the Lipstick

If I were ever to categorize my blog entries (which I really should, I know), this one would be filed under a "WTF?" tab.

So I think I'm a conscientious mama who tries my best to navigate a middle ground between neurotic obsession and complete laissez-faire, especially when it comes to steering C clear of toxins. For example, while I read all food packages religiously to avoid products with ingredients whose names I don't recognize, I cede control when it comes to C's diet at day care (thankfully, C's day care providers are usually very good about feeding the kids wholesome meals).

Another example: I spent a while researching all-natural nail polishes (yay, Piggy Paint!) to paint on C's precious little piggies, but when C decided a couple of days ago that she just had to try on some L'Oreal Infallible Plumping Lip Gloss, I thought, "Eh, what the heck?" And so I gave her the bright red lips she wanted. She was tickled silly and looked adorable with the lipstick smeared beyond the contours of her little lips, and I thought we had had a wonderful bonding moment...until a couple of hours later, when we removed the lipstick. "Owwie," she said, and I was stunned to see what looked like a burn along the right side of her mouth. The damn lipstick had given my baby a chemical burn! WTF? Since then, the burn has scabbed over, and it doesn't seem to bother her, but the whole incident has just freaked the bejesus out of me. How toxic is this makeup that we mommies have been applying on ourselves? I've since looked up the list of ingredients for this lipstick and other fine makeup products in my kit, and, suffice to say, I'm ready to chuck most of my conventional makeup and replace with organic makeup products. Better for mommy and a better example for C (eventually).

In the meantime, for playing grown-up with C, Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer will do just fine, thank you very much.

Sweet, Sweet Honey

I was reminded of this potential issue when another mommy in C's daycare told me that she had fed her 6-month old baby some honey. Normally, I'm one to flout restrictions on babies' diets (C was eating eggs and peanuts and shrimp early on in life), but, for some reason, not feeding C honey until she turned 1 was the one dietary rule I followed (perhaps so as to tempt fate or something?). So, if you're the parent of a baby and you didn't know about this rule and the reason for it, here it is:

• http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/infantbotulismhoney.htm

You can now make an informed decision on whether or not this issue is overblown! Bon appetit, babies!

The TRAVESTY that we call the FDA

If there were any doubt that the FDA's interests were aligned with Big Corp -- at the expense of the public it's supposed to protect -- well, here's your proof:

• http://gaia-health.com/articles201/000230-fda-says-walnuts-are-drugs-and-doritos-are-heart-healthy.shtml

Makes me sick to my stomach. Why don't we all just start shoving Doritos down our kids' throats?