I'm a full-time mummy

I came across this article which I must definitely share with you guys. Do note that sharing this does not mean I agree or disagree with it. For your convenience, I have copied the excerpts from the article here:

A man who paid a surrogate to have his baby became overwhelmed when he learned she was having triplets — and demanded the woman abort one of the fetuses while threatening her with financial ruin, she claims. “They are human beings. I bonded with these kids. This is just not right,” mom-to-be Melissa Cook told The Post on Tuesday.

Cook’s heart-wrenching dilemma comes as Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers are weighing whether New York should lift its ban on commercial surrogacy, which was enacted in 1993. The babies’ dad, a Georgia man, hired Cook for $33,000 to have a child by in-vitro fertilization using his sperm and the eggs of a 20-year-old donor. The California woman was implanted with three embryos, which defied the odds to all go on to develop normally.

 Cook, 47, said she and the man learned she was having triplets when the embryos were around 8 or 9 weeks.

He almost immediately began to raise concerns, and they have grown increasingly threatening, she said. Cook, a mother of four — including her own set of triplets — is now 17 weeks pregnant. She also had a fifth child as a surrogate. California law says that aside from life-threatening exceptions, fetuses can’t be aborted once they become “viable,’’ or around 20 weeks. The dad “understands, albeit does not agree, with your decision not to reduce,” his lawyer, Robert Warmsley, wrote in a Friday letter to Cook, who has never met the sperm donor.

“As you know, his remedies where you refuse to abide by the terms of the agreement, are immense [and] include, but are not limited to, loss of all benefits under the agreement, damages in relation to future care of the children [and] medical costs associated with any extraordinary care the children may need,” the lawyer warned. Cook received another letter from Warmsley on Tuesday urging her to schedule a “selection reduction” — abortion of one of the fetuses — by day’s end. A day earlier, Cook argued in an emotional letter to the dad, “The doctor put in three healthy embryos . . . The chances were high they were all going to take. You knew I was 47 years old. If you knew you only wanted two babies, then why put in three embryos?”

According to her contract, Cook is entitled to her $33,000 pregnancy fee for one baby, plus an additional $6,000 for each additional child. Given the pressure she’s under, Cook said Tuesday that she was wavering on her decision to keep all three babies. “I have to reduce. I’m scared. I don’t want to suffer,” said Cook, who is split from her husband and lives in Woodland Hills, Calif.

Jennifer Lahl, head of the Center for Bioethics and Culture, a group that opposes surrogacy, said the Cook case is the first she’s aware of in which a surrogate mom has gone public to expose the pressure she’s under to undergo an abortion. “Why on earth would Cuomo want to set up a system like this in New York? It’s parent breeding,” said Lahl, who is seeking to help Cook. At least 22 states allow surrogacy fee arrangements. Warmsley, the dad’s lawyer, declined comment.

What do you think?

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I came across this article which I must definitely share with you guys as I'm very interested to know your thoughts on this. For your convenience, I have copied the excerpts from the article here:

"Labor and delivery is often a grueling ordeal for many women, and current guidelines rule out eating. But new Canadian research suggests that a light meal during labor could be a good idea for most healthy women.

Traditionally, women have been told to avoid eating or drinking during labor due to concerns they might inhale food or liquid into their lungs — a condition known as aspiration. Aspiration, in turn, can sometimes lead to pneumonia, the researchers said.

But they noted that medical advances have now made this problem highly unlikely in modern settings. According to the researchers, aspiration during labor is extremely rare: In the United States, there was only one case of aspiration during labor and delivery between 2005 and 2013.

The low risk of aspiration is likely due to advances in anesthesia care, such as increased use of epidurals and spinal blocks instead of delivering anesthesia through a mask over the nose and mouth, the researchers said.

In the new study, Harty’s team revisited the issue. They reviewed 385 studies published since 1990 and concluded that avoiding food and liquids during labor may be unnecessary for many women.

In fact, having a light meal may be beneficial because the energy and caloric demands of labor are so high for women — similar to running a marathon, according to the researchers. Instead of setting a “no eating” rule, “anesthesiologists and obstetricians should work together to assess each patient individually,” Harty said. “Those they determine are at low risk for aspiration can likely eat a light meal during labor. This gives expectant mothers more choices in their birthing experience and prevents them from being calorie-deficient, helping to provide energy during labor.”

Two experts agreed with the notion, but added that identifying patients at “low risk” for aspiration is key. “A light meal during labor may be beneficial for most low-risk pregnant women, especially those who wish to have early, continuous regional [pain control],” said Dr. Anthony Vintzileos, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y. But he pointed out that aspiration can be an issue if an emergency Cesarean section is required due to fetal distress. In those cases, general anesthesia may be used, and “a recent maternal meal may place the woman at risk for aspiration,” Vintzileos explained.

Therefore, “the anesthesiologist and obstetricians should exercise good judgment to assess each patient individually for having a light or liquid meal during labor,” he said."

I definitely cannot comment on labors via C-section since I've never had any before so I am just sharing based on my 3 natural births experiences.

With my first delivery, I started having contractions without realizing they were contractions at about 9pm the night before. We were advised to go for induce as my latest checkup revealed low amniotic count. Hubby and I planned to go to hospital at night so that I could sort of rest while getting the jab to start the induce process. Before we leave for hospital, I had my favorite McDonalds' meals... TWICE! Yup..  TWO McChicken meal set + choc sundaes. I had this thinking that it might be my last time to have something I enjoyed eating before the baby comes. I'm glad I had the meal and had no problems giving birth few hours after reaching hospital.

With my 2nd delivery, I started getting contractions at 11pm+ and by the time we reached hospital it was about 5am. Still too early for breakfast so I didn't have any food. I gave birth 7 hours later at 12pm+ and by the time everything was ready and the nurse wheeled me back to my private suite, it was already 2pm+, way past my lunch! And I was really really really hungry and shaking! I was really happy to see my lunch tray on my hospital bed even though it was cold. I whacked my black pepper chicken immediately.

With my 3rd delivery, we had McDonalds takeaway for lunch while on the way to the hospital. I gave birth 5 hours+ later. I'm really glad and thankful I get to eat before my labor process and that there were no complications from doing so.

What do you think?

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost everyday) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.

I came across this article and saw the accompanying image yesterday and decided to share it with you guys of course. For your convenience, I have copied the excerpts from the article here:

" If there was ever a photo that perfectly depicted the pain and joy of IVF, this may well be it. The photo, shared on the Sher Institutes Facebook page, "shows the true definition of love that went into making this gorgeous new baby girl." In it, the baby is surrounded by hundreds of syringes and vials that the mom used during the blood draws and injections she went through in order to conceive.

Dr. Molina Dayal said that those weren't even all the supplies the mother used to conceive. The mother, Dayal said, had been through multiple IVF cycles over the course of a year and a half.

The baby's mother, Angela, who asked that we use only her first name said she would tell others on a similar path to "hang in there." "The needles were the easy part. It was the emotional struggle, the ups and downs, that really took a toll," she said to ABC News. "I'm single and waited a long time for a husband to come. And then by that time it was difficult to get pregnant." "

(* Image source: Sher Institutes)

 Such a sacrifice for a parent to endure just to have a child of their own!

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost everyday) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.