Hi everyone, hope you are all well
and looking beautiful in your pregnancy. I am sure by now that some of
you have become happy mothers.
Don't forget to visit our website www.mind-thebump.com
for those baby clothes and your Just delivered T-shirt/tank from Due
and Sprout or The bump is done from Bumpbabies. Our newest T-shirt for
all you new moms is The bun is done from the Samson Martin
collection, not yet on our site but if you would like to
order please call 407-464-9423. Leave your name and phone number and we
will get back to you.
Every baby is born to learn. In
fact, infants are like tiny sponges; they’re designed to
absorb everything. Incredibly, nearly half of an infant’s
brain growth occurs in the first six months of life and up to 85% in
the first year. But, you needn’t wait until B-day to begin
molding your baby into a genius by expounding on E=MC2 or the theory of
a space-time continuum. For your little Einstein, the development of
intelligence actually begins in the womb.
There are other advantages of
breastfeeding that benefit both mother and child. Aside from the
obvious bonding that takes place, children who are breast-fed can
generally expect to experience less incidence of allergies, skin
disorders, upper respiratory infections, and many other illnesses. Mom
can be happy about the fact that breastfeeding promotes weight loss and
the shrinking of the uterus. Besides, breast milk comes cheap and
already-made-in-the-container.
What’s
Black and White and Red All Over?
While you might appreciate room
furnishings and clothing in traditional pastel colors of
“pretty in pink” and “baby boy
blue,” your baby can’t see in full color until
she’s about four months old. However, there’s an
emergence of black, white, and red toys on the market these days that
are designed to mentally stimulate and challenge infants less than four
months of age. These products – ranging from rattles to
mobiles to blankets – display images against a high-contrast
background that a very young baby can pick out and track.
Think peek-a-boo is just for kids?
Well, you’re right. While you might delight in making baby
squeal and giggle, this classic game is actually a teaching tool for
young babies. It helps infants eventually learn that just because an
object has gone out of sight, it hasn’t disappeared
altogether.
It’s a long and
miraculous journey from a single cell to a walking, talking Nobel Prize
winner. But, before you know it, your baby will learn to play all sorts
of games with you in reverse by hiding your car keys or making you
repeatedly fetch something thrown from a high chair. Pretty smart, huh?
Smart
Eating for Two
Not only do you need adequate nutrition to keep up with the demands of
pregnancy; so does your unborn child to develop and grow in the womb.
Choline is one nutrient that’s receiving considerable
attention from the medical community these days since evidence is
mounting from animal-based trials that suggests a direct link between
choline and the memory center of the brain and learning. Nerve cells
convert choline into acetylcholine, a chemical messenger involved in
memory and critical for the manufacture of cell membranes and cell
division. In order to fulfill these functions, the fetus borrows large
amounts of choline from its mother’s placenta. If
there’s not enough choline available there, the fetus then
resorts to the reserves stored in the mother’s liver. In
fact, during pregnancy, the fetus takes so much choline away from the
mother that it’s essentially concentrating choline in its
body at a 14-fold-higher rate than the mother. This may explain why
expecting moms sometimes endure bouts of forgetfulness, especially in
weeks 20-25 when the developing baby experiences the most pre-natal
brain growth.
Normally, one usually gets enough
choline from a reasonable diet. However, with so much emphasis on
consuming a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet these days, choline
deficiency – especially in pregnant women – may be
more prevalent than is currently realized. To make sure
you’re getting enough, consider these excellent sources rich
in choline: beef, fish, soy, and dairy, particularly eggs.
According to a recent follow-up
study published in Pediatrics, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), an omega-3
fatty acid found in fish, also plays an important role in fetal brain
development, visual function, and contributes to the rate at which the
brain processes information. In the initial study, pregnant women were
randomly chosen to receive 2 teaspoons per day of either cod-liver oil
or corn oil, beginning in week 18 of pregnancy and continuing until
three months after delivery. When the children reached four years of
age, they were given a standardized intelligence test. The children
whose mothers had taken cod-liver oil scored significantly higher than
those whose mothers had taken corn oil.
While DHA can be manufactured in
the body by utilizing a precursor molecule, alpha-linolenic acid, which
is found in some vegetable oils and nuts, it’s not clear
whether a developing fetus can do the same. So, it might be a good idea
to discuss DHA supplementation with your doctor. While taking two
teaspoons of cod-liver oil per day may be all that’s needed
to ensure getting enough of this nutrient, keep in mind that cod-liver
oil is also very high in vitamin A and amounts in excess of two
teaspoons may lead to an increased risk of birth defects. Likewise,
going right to the source, i.e. fish, can be risky too since certain
kinds of fish can be high in mercury content.
Well hope you guys enjoy this
months news read. Please pass on to your friends and relatives who
might be pregnant or have a new baby.
Thank you
