Life Smells Good

By Julie Davidson

I knew that it would happen eventually. My oldest son was taking social cues from a girl. “And she said if you don’t wear deodorant, then you stink! Please, Mom. I really, really need deodorant.” Thank you, young lady, for crushing my kid’s spirit and sending me on an hour-long hunt for the perfect deodorant.

My son insisted that we by something by the brand Axe. Um…I recall the commercial. The guy who wore that brand was nearly pawed by several women on an elevator. Nope. I can’t be having my kid go from being called “stinky” to being a stud all in the third grade. Leave something for high school.

After sniffing about 15 deodorants, Miles and I finally found a deodorant that was a good fit. Luckily, I was able to steer him away from the Old Spice. He picked one out that had the “sport” scent. Because, as he said, he’s a sporty kid.

As soon as we got home, Miles raced to the bathroom to put on his armpit armor. Not sure why I never get so excited to do that. For him, it was almost a rite of passage. He was a man. He could sweat and not worry. He could go out in the world and feel confident. He could go back to school and look his classmate in the face and tell her that he does in fact wear deodorant.

Yet not everyone is feeling (or smelling) the love. It turns out our youngest son, Max, was very disappointed that he did not get any deodorant. It didn’t seem fair. He sweats. And he didn’t want to be told he stinks. So my husband took him to the store to pick a scent of his own, He choose “Arctic Edge.” Perhaps this will give him the in with Santa he’s been searching for.

Score. The boys have added to their daily grooming routine, and they spent the better part of the day sharing the benefits of their chosen deodorant. One was invisible and won’t leave streaks. The other stays on for 24 hours. They carried their deodorants around with them. They begged us to let them put on multiple applications.

This morning, I woke up to my seven-year-old whispering in my ear, “Mom, smell my armpits.” I cannot imagine any other time that hearing that request would put a smile on my face.

Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Miscarriage Risk

Taking Anti-Inflammatory Drugs in Early Pregnancy Doubles the Risk of Miscarriage
By Rallie McAllister, MD, MPH

Pregnancy has its fair share of aches and pains, but taking anti-inflammatory drugs while you’re expecting isn’t the best way to deal with your discomfort. According to a new study* published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, anti-inflammatory drugs taken in early pregnancy more than doubles the risk of miscarriage. The researchers found that the risk of miscarriage was 2.4 times greater for women who took any type and dosage of non-aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in early pregnancy.

Non-aspirin NSAIDs comprise a class of drugs that includes naproxen, ibuprofen, diclofenac, and celecoxib, and these are some of the most common medications used during pregnancy. In recent years, physicians have expressed concerns about the use of these drugs by pregnant women, although the results of previous studies examining the risks have been inconsistent.

Canadian and French researchers designed a new study to determine the risk of miscarriage associated with the types and dosages of non-aspirin NSAIDs, examining a total of 4,705 cases of miscarriage up to the 20th week of gestation. Of these miscarriages, 352 (7.5 percent) occurred in women who took non-aspirin NSAIDs. Of the 47,050 women in the control group who did not suffer a miscarriage, 1,213 (2.6 percent) were exposed to non-aspirin NSAIDs. Exposure to non-aspirin NSAIDs was defined as having filled at least one prescription for any type of the drug during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy or in the two weeks prior to the beginning of the pregnancy.

The researchers concluded that the use of non-aspirin NSAIDs during early pregnancy is associated with significant risk (2.4-fold increase) of having a spontaneous abortion. Dosage of non-aspirin NSAIDs did not appear to affect the risk. Earlier studies indicate that the use of non-aspirin NSAIDs during early pregnancy also increases the risk of major congenital malformations in infants. With this in mind, non-aspirin NSAIDs should be used with caution during pregnancy.

If you’re pregnant and you’re suffering from minor aches and pains, talk to your doctor about other ways to deal with your discomfort.

*Hamid Reza Nakhai-Pour, Perrine Broy, Odile Sheehy, and Anick Bérard. Use of nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs during pregnancy and the risk of spontaneous abortion. CMAJ, September 6, 2011 DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.110454

Mom: The Traffic Controller

By Julie Davidson

Many mothers choose to stay home with their children for a few years and then return to working outside the home. The problem is that after staying home for a while, there’s a gap in the resume.

To fill that gap, I suggest moms just need to take a hard look at all they do. The list is endless: launderer, referee, chef, chauffeur, counselor, triage nurse. Where am I going with this? Not sure you even want to know, but since I’m this far into it, I’m adding Traffic Controller to my list of duties and responsibilities. And most often this traffic directing takes place in the bathroom.

Still with me? Great. So six years ago my husband and I bought our current house. We convinced ourselves it was an upgrade from our previous home. First, we no longer have to take a ladder to the outside of the house in spring and fall to change the storm windows. That required more dexterity and physical strength than we signed up for. And there was generally a bit of cussing involved. The second thing we now have is central air. Ahhhhh, cold air right here in our house. We don’t have to sit through awful movies or wander around in circles in department stores to soak up their AC. We’ve got our own.

But what we didn’t think through was the fact that our house is a “one holer.” Yes. A one holer. A house with one bathroom. We probably didn’t give this much thought when we bought the house because our boys weren’t completely potty trained when we moved in. But still, what were we thinking: that they’d stay in diapers into adulthood? I believe it was more. I think we believed on some level that Oh we could totally put a toilet in the basement. No problem.

Here’s the rub. There are 24 hours in a day. We have four toilet-using people in the house. This gives each of each 6 hours of time to use the bathroom. Yet every morning without fail, everyone needs to use the toilet—at the same time!

Here’s how this works.

“I gotta go—bad!”
 
“Sorry, you should have woke up earlier.”
 
“You’ve been in there 20 minutes!”
 
“Have not.”
 
“Have too.”
 
Enter Mom the Traffic Controller.
 
“Okay. Get up. Let your brother go.”
 
“I’m pooping!”
 
“Have you actually pooped yet?”
 
“No, but I’m trying,”
 
“And you. Do you need to go number one or number two?”
 
“Number one.”
 
Okay. Get up for 10 seconds and let your brother pee!”
 
“Not fair!”
 
“No it’s not. But get up because there’s a line.”
 
“That’s okay Mom. Can I just go in the sink?”
 
“WHAT? For the love of, just go while your brother takes a quick break!”
 
“Thanks. You can sit back down.”
 
And just when all should be well…
 
“He peed on the seat!”

They still sell ice cream in those gallon buckets, right? Hmmm. I think I could use one or two of those. Perfect. I can add Problem Solver to my resume too.

Moms Gotta Have Some Fun Too

By Julie Davidson

There are people you connect with. And for different reasons. Usually you have something in common. Maybe you met in college. Or you see each other at the dog park. Or it’s the one person at work that doesn’t make you wish you’d quit your job. When you send the kids off to school, you add to that social network.

And it’s interesting to see those relationships evolve. I look back as a mom of a k5er (no, it’s not a word, but it works) and see how things were. We had difficulty remembering each other’s names. We often just referred to people as, “that one kid’s Mom.” We were nervous parents, worried about if our kids would learn their ABCs and share their toys. Most of our conversations were in passing in the hallways or parking lot. Fast forward five years. Same parents. Same kids. Different dynamics. We used to set up play dates with the kids. We’ve learned it’s just as important to set up dates without the kids.

A couple weeks ago, I went to a birthday party for one of the other moms. Yeah. Just a little different. Instead of rushing to our cars like we do for the morning drop-off, we rushed to give each other those big oh-my-goodness-I can-hardly-breath kinda hugs. We tell our kids to not run around at restaurants. That night we had our own dance floor going! Our kids have been told that alcohol isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. After having my fill of adult beverages, I heard someone say it was time to do shots. Nope, not the kind for the flu.

When we first met our conversations were limited to where to the niceties like how our kids liked school and would we be going to the fall dance. Now we share deeper stuff. Like divorce. Job loss. Frustration with trying to be the best parent possible. It’s grown-up stuff.

It’s ironic that we want our kids to make friends. But along the way, we do too. But remember to be open to invitations and keep your adult “sippy cup” handy. “That one kid’s Mom” could be your lifeline, dance partner, and friend all in one.