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39 Weeks, And Claire’s Third Word

This morning I went in for what may be my last regular OB visit before BebeDeux arrives. Once again the exam went perfectly fine and the doctor tells me that there is no need for any worries. I declined an internal exam because heck, I was only 1cm dilated 12 hours before I went into full-on labor with Claire, and while the doctor offered to strip my membranes if I were wildly uncomfortable, I refused because when I had my membranes stripped with Claire I went into labor within 48 hours...

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An Ear Infection, and 38 Weeks

Our Claire Bear has an ear infection. :-( She woke up several times last night, which we had attributed to teething, and this morning flat-out refused to eat. Then, she woke up from her morning nap with a fever and proceeded to just cry and cry. Coincidentally, Claire's 1-year pediatrician visit was scheduled for later today. I called the doctor's office and they told us to bring her in right away. Our pediatrician prescribed us some amoxicillin, advised us to administer ibuprofen if the fevers persist, and told us not to worry too much.  (image source)   Thanks to the ibuprofen, Claire's fever is now down and she is starting to smile again. But she still refuses to eat, and although we've put her down for...

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So This is What They Look Like on the Inside…

Yesterday, we discovered 2 new teeth in Claire's mouth — one on either side of her top front teeth — making for a grand total of 6 teeth at the age of 12 months. (So far, all of her teeth have come in pairs. Is this normal?) The best part? She did not exhibit any signs of teething prior to our discovering these new pearly whites. If you can recall, the first four were hellish: waking up 5-6x per night, constant whining and crying, extreme clinginess, and so forth. We're keeping our fingers crossed that this will be the norm for the rest of her teeth! And, to celebrate, I will share with you a picture of a child's skull before losing their baby...

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Defying the Halloween Birthday

How much does psychology come into play when it comes to the day a woman gives birth? As it turns out, more than what you might expect. Using 11-years' worth of U.S. birth certificate data provided by the National Center for Health Statistics, Yale researchers have found that there are higher instances of birth on Valentine's Day, a holiday traditionally linked with positive symbolism, while Halloween — a holiday which traditionally conveys negative symbolism — has lowered birth rates. Take a look at the following graphs, provided by Try Nerdy:       While the overall increased likelihood of giving birth on Valentine's Day jumps by 5%, a whopping 11.3% decrease in births was seen on Halloween across these years! Although I know quite a few women who say that...

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Pognae Baby Carrier Review

Baby carriers are big in Asia. This is especially the case in urban areas where there is limited space and the majority of the population choose to take public transportation rather than drive. And where there is demand, there is supply. A great variety of quality supply, I might add. The Pognae is one such baby carrier. Made in, and popularized in Korea, the Pognae is currently one of the most popular soft structured baby carriers in Asia and Europe. I had read about the Pognae in various mommy boards even before Claire was born. Many mothers touted the Pognae as a cheaper alternative to the popular Ergo, without sacrificing the quality. Not only that, the Pognae offers an additional feature: a mesh...

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