I am one of those with high risk pregnancies. I don’t completely relax until that baby is born and I know he/she is healthy. Many women think that once the baby is born and pronounced healthy, life will be perfect. What we don’t anticipate is a well baby check-up that yields concern on the doctor’s face. Autism is one of those life complications we keep hearing about, however we never believe it could be us getting that diagnosis. Autism has been a mystery thus far. Many people attribute it to vaccinations although unsupported in studies conducted.

The National Birth Defect Registry has recently released a study. It is a small sampling so of course not entirely conclusive as far as evidence based care goes. However, I think this is an amazing step in that direction. The direction of figuring out what causes this disease and if we can prevent it in some form or fashion. I also found this doctor’s very interesting take on it all.

Hopefully in the next few years we will know the causes of this disorder/disease. If it is indeed changes we can make prenatally, we will be able to arm women with that very powerful information and nearly eradicate it once again. If perhaps it is genetics, then our very intelligent doctors will be able to find a cure.

To all of you who this is a very real issue each and every day, may you find encouragement that we are one step closer. Our world is a much better place because of your dedication!

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.