The decision to circumcise is up to parents. Credit: Nicole Hill, Getty Images
The debate over circumcision heated up when the Centers for Disease Control announced it may recommend circumcising all baby boys, but experts say the decision still rests with parents.
First of all, just what is circumcision? Dr. Rodolfo Sarmiento, a pediatrician on staff at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, Ill., told ParentDish it's an elective procedure done to boys after birth, usually 24 hours after they are delivered. The prepuce, or overlying skin at the tip of the penis, is removed.
The procedure does cause the child pain, so doctors will administer a pain reliever such as Tylenol. Some physicians, Sarmiento says, prefer to give a newborn sugar or a local, topical anesthetic to help with pain control.
Not all parents choose to have their children circumcised, which is why the CDC's announcement caused such a stir. Officials are considering promoting the procedure in the U.S., according to The New York Times, because it may help reduce the spread of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS.
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Each episode focuses on one girl, who is in her sixth- to eighth-month of pregnancy and ending when the baby is a few months old. The first season featured six girls. Farrah was a cheerleader from Iowa. Ebony, from Colorado, dreams of going to the US Air Force Academy. Catelynn might have had the greatest impact on the audience because of her decision to give up her baby for adoption. All six girls returned for a reunion show with Dr. Drew Pinsky, who answered questions from the studio audience and e-mails.
Mattlogelin.com, like many personal blogs, is an open diary of everyday stories and domestic snapshots meant for a closed circle of family and friends. But here it departs from the ordinary and takes a different and difficult storyline.
On March 24, 2008, Matt Logelin posted on the joyous arrival of his and wife Liz's new baby. Madeline was born small -- 3 lbs. 14 oz. -- but healthy. The blog took a horrific turn when Liz died one day later after a lethal blood clot lodged in her lung. "It's an understatement to say my life has changed," he told ParentDish.com. "I had a birth and a death in 27 hours."
Matt and Madeline (and Liz) life and death. all in a 27-hour period. what you read here is what follows. So begins the blog of Matt Logelin, a single father grieving over his beloved wife's death and treasuring the joys of bringing up baby.
Courtesy of Matt Logelin
Mom Meets Madeline
"[Liz] was a little frightened, but she was also just worried about Madeline. That's the only time she saw Madeline. She never got to touch her. That was it; that was all she got. And I think that's one of the most difficult things for me because the doctors immediately took her back to the NICU." Madeline was born at 3-pounds, 13.5-ounces.
The longest We Were Apart Was 3 Months
We got engaged in Kathmandu in Nepal. We've been all over the world. I would like to take [Liz's] ashes to different places with Madeline that I visited with Liz and say, 'Look, your mom was mad at me because it was 105 degrees in Kathmandu and I was making her sit at the foot of a temple when we'd gotten off a plane the night before, and then I got out a diamond ring.' And I could say, 'This is where we made our commitment to each other.'"
In a way, though, his blog (and the community, mostly women, that's grown around it) saved his life. That public between the parentheses, as many as 40,000 a day strong, has offered this 31-year-old widower and single dad support, solace, advice and, most importantly, an opportunity to give back to other struggling single parents.
The Liz Logelin Foundation is an organization dedicated to financially "assist families who find themselves in the heartbreaking, catastrophic situation of having lost a spouse, life-partner, and parent." Donations are accepted online, and this past September there was a fund-raising walk-run that raised over $4,000 that went to three local Los Angeles families.
"Originally, the money was to go to us," he said. "When she died I lost roughly 60 percent of our income. And it's expensive raising a baby, especially if you can't breastfeed. But when we started to raise money, I thought, 'There are people worse off than us. In a bad economy, what do you do?'"
It's a question Logelin asks himself every day. And we put it out to you.
What would you do in his circumstance? Do you blog, or know of one, with such a unique story? Has has it affected for changed your life? View our slideshow, check out Matt's blog and let us know.
We like to think that all the nice things we read about celebrities are true. We also, whether we admit it or not, like to read about the not-so-nice parts of their lives--such gossip, whether factual or not, makes us feel a little bit better about our own lives: money can't buy love, etc. Anyone entering the lustrous world of Hollywood knows their personal life will remain so for little longer, and everything they do will become fodder for the masses.
But that's not so for Angelina Jolie. Although she and her publicist would say otherwise, it seems pretty obvious that the star of The Changeling tries--often successfully--to manipulate the press. It has been said that Jolie and her partner Brad Pitt chose People Magazine to share the first pictures of newborn twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline because the publication agreed not to print anything negative about the family in that issue or in the future. Rumor further has it People also agreed to no longer refer to the Jolie-Pitts as "Brangelina," a moniker the couple understandably hates.
People says the rumors aren't true and that they were not told they could only get the pics by agreeing to make nice with mama Jolie and her brood. People paid out $14 million for the pics, which supposedly went to charity. It was the highest amount of money paid by a publication for pics of a celebrity baby.
Four years ago, Thanksgiving was the very first holiday after my 54-year-old father passed away from colon cancer in August 2004. It was a difficult day to say the least -- I was eight months pregnant with my first child, and my family was deep in the thicket of mourning.
Weeping over pumpkin pies and a turkey no one had any appetite for, I thought of my unborn daughter and the wonderful grandfather she would grow up without ever knowing.
This year our daughter is 3 years old and we welcomed a new child, our son, in August. As is our tradition, we're in Ohio with my in-laws for the first leg of our Thanksgiving holiday, and later on today we'll travel to Western New York to join my sister's family and my mom.
I grouse a lot about the (ridiculous) travel schedule we take on from November to January. We have family in three states, and we live in a fourth. We make a tremendous effort to see every single grandparent our kids have during this season, not wanting to deprive either the kids or our parents of the chance to spend time together at this family-oriented time of year.
I also just get sad. I miss my dad every day, but never more so than on Thanksgiving Day. He always sat at the head of our table, raising a glass in thanks for his blessings.
This year, I look into the eyes of my daughter and I know that while this trip will be hard on all of us, she and her little brother will bask in the attention of her grandparents: my father-in-law and his wife, my mother-in-law and her husband, my mother, and her two great-grandparents on my husband's side.
While my father is missing from that list, I am eternally thankful for the wonderful grandparents who are here to lavish love on my son and daughter, especially because I was not similarly blessed.
Happy Thanksgiving to all the grandparents, great-grandparents and grandchildren out there.
The Australian government may allow new mothers 18 weeks paid maternity leave so they can spend more time with their newborns. Under the same plan, dads would be allowed two weeks of paid leave, as well.
The scheme (and I love how they call it a scheme) would let parents and babies be together during those critical first months without worrying about their jobs or their financial situation. The plan would help every parent, but is specifically designed to ease pressures on mothers who work in low-income jobs that don't offer maternity leave.
Aussie moms who stay at home already receive some benefits from the government, and would not be adversely affected by the $450 million plan.
Can you imagine? Eighteen whole weeks of paid maternity leave? Granted, the government only intends to pay out the equivalent of minimum wage, but most U.S. corporations only offer four to six weeks of fully paid maternity leave, and after that you're on your own.
I had a c-section with my first baby, and because of that I had an extra two weeks off, for a grand total of eight weeks. That sounds like a lot of time, but in reality it is the blink of an eye. I personally couldn't bear to leave my daughter, and so I decided to quit my job. Making such a serious financial decision wasn't easy, but it was easier than trying to let go of those fleeting newborn weeks.
I'm not sure 18 weeks of paid maternity leave would have led me to a different path, but I never had the chance to find out because we Americans haven't yet realized how important it is to allow moms the time to be with their babies. On the other hand, I know plenty of women who couldn't wait to get back to work.
How about you? Would you want 18 weeks off after the baby, or were you itching to get back to work?
Asking a woman if she would rather give birth vaginally or by c-section is a little like asking her if she would prefer having her fingernails pulled out or a fork stuck in her eye.
Louise Silverton, deputy general-secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, said that the number of women opting for c-sections is "unacceptably high and needlessly high," and that surgery puts both mother and child at risk. The National Health Service allows any woman to request the procedure, but guidelines require a good clinical or psychological reason.
The statistics would seem to bear her out -- one out of every four women in England delivers via c-section -- but I have a hard time believing that the majority of these surgeries are optional. My own two children were both delivered by c-section, and I certainly didn't request it.
My daughter was breech -- blocked by a fibroid tumor, she was unable to turn. The doctor gave me the option of attempting to turn her, but there was an infinitesimal chance of fetal death. After agonizing over the decision, I opted to have the surgery instead. After all, that put the majority of the risk on me instead of her.
It was my first decision as her parent, and it was the right one. My son was also born surgically, since those pesky fibroid just won't got away.
Let me tell you, morphine drip or no, major abdominal surgery ain't exactly a walk in the park. In this case, the old saying "pay me now or pay me later" holds true. There just isn't a painless way to give birth, and you carry your battle scars no matter what the method.
So tell me, what would you do? Are you afraid of vaginal birth? Would that motivate you to go under the knife instead?
Ever binged after you had a baby? You know you've been there.You played by all the health and safety rules during pregnancy. Maybe you even got healthy and in shape before the pregnancy in anticipation, which included not drinking. After the birth, you might have been breastfeeding, which makes drinking tricky and a pain in the butt (the timing, the pumping and dumping...), or you may just been too darned tired to care.
But then came that time when you really, really, REALLY needed a drink. Or seven. Perhaps the little one had colic and you endured hours of endless crying (the baby's, soon to be followed by yours). Or maybe you were sick and tired of being cooped up in the house without any real adult interaction. Regardless, there came a time when you had the opportunity to go out and, well, knock a few back. And you did. And it was more than a few.
Do we even need to discuss the next day? Would you rather not talk about it, or have you blocked it from your memory? Probably a little of both. But, despite the aching head, the worship of the porcelain goddess and having to go through all of it while now managing your children--which, let's be honest, is a nightmare when you're hung over and all you want to do is stay in bed--you're not alone. It seems more and more moms I talk to have done just the same thing. And, more often than not, they regret it. Being hung over reminds them just how much a responsibility having a child really is. It also reminds them how much they care about it--everyone I spoke to felt guilty about not being able to be fully present for her kid. They also took the opportunity to share their hangover miracle cures! You know, in case one of us found ourselves in that situation again. Because you know it's going to happen.
Have you binged after baby? And lived to tell about it? Any miracle hangover cures you'd like to share to help moms get through the worst of it (and think again before knocking back more than a few)?
Saturday Night Live star Amy Poehler and husband funny man Will Arnett welcomed a baby boy into the world Saturday night. As a result, the hysterically funny Poehler missed duties at SNL for the birth by just a few hours.
Little Archie Arnett weighed in a 8 pounds, 1 ounce. Mom and son are said to be in good health and resting up. Like many moms (including me), Poehler worked up to the day she gave birth, prepping for her roles at Senator Hillary Clinton and on Weekend Update.
Whether or not she'll return to SNL, as a regular or in cameo form, remains to be seen. Poehler apparently has a deal to star in her own show on NBC post maternity leave. Either way, best of luck and everything to the couple, and congratulations on the birth of that beautiful baby boy!
The fact that a 56-year-old woman in Wooster, Ohio has given birth might be a story in and of itself. After all, at 56 she is rather mature to be having babies. Add to that the fact that she gave birth to triplets and the story is even more interesting. But what takes the story right over into incredible territory is the fact that the babies she brought into the world on October 11 are her own grandchildren.
Jaci Dalenberg became a surrogate for her daughter Kim and son-in-law Joe Coseno after the couple were unable to conceive on their own. The Coseno's were already parents to two teen children, but longed to add to their family. They had begun the adoption process, but after several heartbreaking disappointments, Dalenberg offered them her womb. If that isn't love, I don't know what is.
The couple used in vitro fertilization and the embryos were implanted in Dalenberg's uterus. The babies were born at Cleveland Clinic's Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights two months premature, each weighing less than three pounds. According to hospital officials, babies Elizabeth, Gabriella, and Carmina and grandma are all doing well.
At the beginning of this process, Kim Coseno began a blog about the experience. After the children were born and the news "exploded", she says she had second thoughts about sharing her life with the world. Not every stranger who has read her blog has been supportive, but she's decided to keep the blog public. She writes: "I remember at the beginning of our long journey I read other peoples stories and it helped us. It gave us ideas, it inspired me, it made me cry, love and sometimes get a touch of reality. I am going to continue to write and keep it public."
Many women get depressed over the fact that they are no longer pregnant. They miss having a baby tucked warmly, safely away inside of them. Some believe that post-partum depression in part derives from this feeling. But, I can personally attest, there is a bright side to no longer being pregnant. For one thing, the you shed an average of seven pounds of baby and a few pounds of water, placenta, and...well...goo, when you give birth. Throw in breastfeeding and fewer weird cravings and your diet should get (relatively) back on track. Also, that feeling you had toward the end of your pregnancy where you wanted something but didn't know what it was, and nothing you came across really appealed or satisfied? Well, that goes away too. How about that terrible, unbelievable heartburn? Well, I experienced it as I was laboring, and, wouldn't you know it, the moment that baby came out of me the heartburn left as well.
Other things to look forward to once you're no longer preggers include being able to sleep on your stomach (bad for the back, I know), sleeping on your back and taking a bath in a lot of really hot, steaming water. Or hitting the jacuzzi. With doctor's clearance, of course. Most OBs prefer new moms take six weeks before they do a bath or hot tub. Same goes for exercising, driving and heavy lifting. Trust me, you'll actually want to do these things as soon as you're told you can't do them for six weeks. Also, for those of us who avoided soft cheeses and deli meats? Check with the OB, but you can probably begin eating those again too.
Know the best upshot of no longer being pregnant (besides getting to have sex at some point without that tummy getting in the way)? Getting to hold your beautiful baby, see what she looks like, hear her sweet tiny voice, and finally meeting this magical, mysterious creature who will forever change your life in the best way possible. And that's a heck of an upshot. Plus eventually you get to drink again. There's a bottle of eighteen-year-old single-malt Scotch next to a highball glass with my name on it around here somewhere, and with doctor's instruction (current wisdom holds you should breastfeed baby and have just one drink immediately after so it has time to work through the system before feeding baby again) I'm going to find it. Enjoy!
Remember the Sarah Palin baby name generator? I suspect Governor Palin has been using it as well. Recently, the potential second-in-command of these United States told People Magazine her plans for her next baby's name, should she have one. Given her background, her pride at being a "hockey mom," and the unusualness of her other kids' names, it may not be that big a surprise, however.
"I always wanted a son named Zamboni," said the vice-presidential hopeful. She also told the magazine that she considers herself an intellectual.
Now, I'm as big a fan of unusual names as anyone, but naming a kid after a large machine -- what does that say? I can see it down the road when he's in a pub looking to meet the girl of his dreams: "Hi! I'm Zamboni." "Oh, you drive a Zamboni?" "No, my name is Zamboni." "Goodbye." Palin also says she's not planning on having any more kids. Plus, if she's elected, I doubt she'll have time for another kid; perhaps this is a good reason to vote for her? What do you all think?
In 2003, the U.S. Department of Education estimated that more than 1 million children in the United States were home-schooled. Today, the National Home Education Research Institute estimates that number to have doubled, with about 2 million children receiving their education at home. Parents who choose to home-school their children do so for many reasons, but I would imagine most do so because they feel that their children will get a better education at home as opposed to a traditional school setting.
But a growing number of parents are choosing to teach their kids at home not just because they feel they can provide them a better education, but as a way to avoid being forced to immunize their kids against disease.
While many states allow children who attend public or private schools to obtain medical or religious exemptions from the immunizations, most states don't require home-schooled children to be vaccinated at all. But with recent outbreaks of measles being tied predominantly to unvaccinated, home-schooled children, health officials say it is time to change the rules.
Dr. Lance Rodewald, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Immunization Services Division, believes that exemptions from immunizations should be harder to get and that home-schooled children should be required to get them as well. "Somebody who has taken an exemption from school laws, like a philosophical or religious exemption, is 35 times more likely to get measles ... and 22 times more likely to get whooping cough," he says.
Arthur Caplan, chair of the Department of Medical Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania, says that parents who argue that they are not putting anyone else at risk by not immunizing their children are wrong. "Unvaccinated children pose not only a risk to themselves but to their families, other children they come in contact with, and especially older people they might visit or encounter in a movie theater or mall," he said.
I am certainly no expert on the subject of vaccinations and the possible link to autism. My child has received her shots with no ill effects and for that I am thankful. But it is clear to me that if we are to avoid a resurgence of some scary childhood diseases, we need to figure this out fast.
When you have a brand new baby, everyone tells you to sleep when the baby sleeps. It's important advice, and if you aren't following it, I have just one question: Why not?
But once you go back to work, or become a parent of two or more, napping during the day isn't usually an option. Nobody ever informs the baby (or toddler or preschooler), however, and so they go right on waking you up at regular intervals. And you become a zombie version of your former self, stumbling and grunting through your day.
What's a parent to do?
We seem to be just wrapping up six weeks of pretty severe separation anxiety with my three-year-old. She couldn't sleep unless I was right next to her, holding her hand. But she's so restless at night, there was no way I could sleep while sharing a bed with her. It was just like having a newborn again, only without the previously mentioned naps.
We like to think that all the nice things we read about celebrities are true. We also, whether we admit it or not, like to read about the not-so-nice parts of their lives--such gossip, whether factual or not, makes us feel a little bit better about our own lives: money can't buy love, etc. Anyone entering the lustrous world of Hollywood knows their personal life will remain so for little longer, and everything they do will become fodder for the masses.
The holidays aren't my favorite time of year.
The Australian government 
Asking a woman if she would rather give birth vaginally or by c-section is a little like asking her if she would prefer having her fingernails pulled out or a fork stuck in her eye.
Saturday Night Live star Amy Poehler and husband funny man Will Arnett 
The fact that a 56-year-old woman in Wooster, Ohio has given birth might be a story in and of itself. After all, at 56 she is rather mature to be having babies. Add to that the fact that she gave birth to triplets and the story is even more interesting. But what takes the story right over into incredible territory is the fact that the babies she brought into the world on October 11 are 
Remember the 
In 2003, the U.S. Department of Education estimated that more than 1 million children in the United States were home-schooled. Today, the National Home Education Research Institute estimates that number to have doubled, with about 2 million children receiving their education at home. Parents who choose to home-school their children do so for many reasons, but I would imagine most do so because they feel that their children will get a better education at home as opposed to a traditional school setting.
When you have a brand new baby, everyone tells you to sleep when the baby sleeps. It's important advice, and if you aren't following it, I have just one question: Why not? 
