How do I explain to my 5 year old son how a man can be pregnant?  Thankfully my brain quickly came up with a simple answer he understood.  People on t.v were referring to Thomas Beatie (the pregnant man from Bend, Oregon) who is pregnant again.  I know these children are born into a family full of love which is what any kid needs.  However, how do you explain to those kids that the person they think is daddy was the one to birth them?  I wonder about peer teasing and how they will be accepted.  I personally feel sorry for Thomas because he seems to be confused.  He wants to be a man yet at the same time he wants to do the one thing that truly sets woman and men apart.  I see the ability to have babies a woman’s sacred ability.  I can understand transgender thinking, however, I just cannot wrap my mind around this.  He wants the be man and woman.  What do you think?

New motherhood can be a rough adjustment whether this is your first, or your fifth.  Baby massage can step in and give you a little break.  First, you get to spend relaxing time one on one with your infant.  This is also a great way to get daddy involved.  Usually dad’s just aren’t sure how to handle the baby until they can actually play and be active.  When your baby is fussy, you can have some tools to calm the baby down and have a more pleasant mothering experience, especially if your baby has colic (i know your pain!).  Lastly, babies hate ‘tummy time’, however, it’s crucial to their development.  What a great way to make tummy time a fun experience!

Below, Janice Battiste from Growing Baby Prenatal Classes shows us series of simple massage techniques you can use on your baby at home.

When we are pregnant, we think about the birth, breastfeeding, and sleepless nights.  We don’t really think about infant CPR or choking.  i know, i know, it’s another thing to be worried about especially with an infant and all the checking we do when they are sleeping to make sure they are breathing.  If your older child gave the baby a small toy and it landed in the baby’s mouth, would you know what to do (i mean after you start to panic)?

For me, choking is personal.  When my oldest was a little guy, my brother was feeding him some food and he began to choke.  Talk about a scary situation!  my sister-in-law had to leave the kitchen because she was freaking out.  Thankfully i had training and was able to take charge.  i grabbed Chandlur out of my brother’s arms, put him over my arm and started hitting his back with the heel of my hand.  At first, there was nothing, that is when panic began to set in.  i hear my sister-in-law asking if we need to call 911.  i just kept on whacking him focused fully on his little body, praying God would intervene.  Finally the food shot out of his mouth and into the sink.  It was one of those sobering moments when you realize in an instant you could loose your child.  If i did not know what to do, i would have freaked out from the start, and the situation would have been much worse.

These are some great videos from The Pregnancy Show on infant CPR and choking.