This page is like an FAQ. Anytime someone emails me with a question, I will put it here with the answer.

PREGNANCY:

Q: I have not felt my baby kick all day. S/he is normally very active. Should I call my doctor?

A: You should always follow your instincts. It is better to be safe than sorry. But, before you call your doctor, you can do a little test of your own. Have some orange juice and maybe a cookie. Lie down on your side for 25 minutes. See if baby kicks. If not, call the on-call doctor. Remember, if you had a very active day, s/he might be tired too. Did you take any Tylenol? There are a variety of reasons why baby might be just fine but not as active as usual.

If your doctor does want to check you out, he or she will have you dash in to the office for a quick check for the heartbeat. If it is a weekend, you might be asked to go to the labor and delivery floor of your hospital. They will do a non-stress test which just means they hook up a fetal monitor to your belly and make sure baby's heart is happily beating away.

Q: I have heard that you should stay away from deli meat, but for some reason, that is the one thing that sounds good to me. What do you think?

A: Like you, I had a daily craving for the Original at Schlotsky's and then it was the Italian Sub at Quizno's. I asked my nurse practitioner about this and she said that you didn't need to heat it up but as long as you saw them cut it fresh, you should be OK. Now, this is a bit controversial, so you might feel better heating the meat. But I figured that at Schlotsky's and Quizno's, the sandwich came hot, so... good enough!

PRE-BABY PREPS:

Q: I am working on my registry and notice that you didn't add a diaper disposal system (like a Diaper Genie.) Was that a mistake?

A: I personally didn't want one. One friend had told me that it made her nursery stink and I thought it kind of sounded gross and unnecessary. When your baby is a newborn, the diapers don't smell that bad. And you are changing the diaper so often, that it is easy to take out the trash daily or every other day.

BABY:

Q: My newborn daughter screams and cries when I nurse her. Is she not hungry?

A: There are a variety of reasons why your baby might cry during nursing. She could be milk/soy intolerant. This can be tested by your doctor through a dirty diaper. If she is, then you can either change your diet to continue nursing, or you can purchase special milk and soy free formula. Baby also might cry if your let down is too slow or if she can't latch on due to engorgement or a weak latch. And then, there is always the chance that there is no reason. Newborns are allowed to cry just because.

Q: I know that newborns can't regulate their temperature. How do I know what to dress my baby in?

A: The general rule of thumb is to dress your baby in one layer more than what you are wearing. And this only applies to newborns. So around 6-8 weeks in summer and maybe closer to 12 weeks in winter, you can stop layering and dress baby in the same amount of layers as you are wearing.

Q: My baby has a lumpy head. Is this dangerous or should I worry about it?

A: This is very common now that babies sleep on their backs. They have very soft heads as newborns so the hard mattress causes the lump. It's in no way dangerous to your baby's brain. Ask your pediatrician to look at it BEFORE six months. If it is very noticeable, you can helmet your baby. This is very costly and is only suggested if it is cosmetically noticeable.

Q: My baby has a terrible diaper rash. How do I know what to do about it?

A: There are a lot of different diaper rashes. I suggest you look in What to Expect the First Year because they have a descriptive list of the various diaper rashes. I can tell you that when my son was a newborn he got one that was a red ring around his b-hole and my doctor said this was very common in breast fed babies. He prescribed a compound cream and it worked. My son then got a rash while we had thrush and I had to use foot cream on his butt. I asked my doctor what I should do to prevent the diaper rashes and he had a great tip. He said that the heavy-duty white creams are great, but when you try to get it off, it irritates the skin. So, he suggested that after you use wipes, dry it completely with a tissue and then apply Vaseline. This keeps the moisture out. It worked GREAT!

Q: You talk about the best diapers to buy. What about swim diapers?

A: One of my friends suggested Pamper Splashers, although they all seem to do just fine. She did tell me a little trick. She washes them out after she gets home from the pool and uses them a few more times - until they get scruffy. And, I accidentally bought Dora decorated diapers for my son. So, get gender appropriate, if you care.

Q: Is the whole "nursing calorie burn" true?

A: It definitely is true that you burn about 500 extra calories a day nursing. BUT, you are super hungry because of nursing, so you are taking in more food. And, it depends what food you eat! I gained exactly 30 pounds during my pregnancy. And within about 4 months of having my baby, I had lost all of it. BUT, when he turned 6 months and I was only nursing 4 times per day, I gained about 4 pounds back. And, before I got pregnant, I needed to lose 10-12 pounds. And that was really hard to get off even with the 4X per day nursing. So, my advice - be your ideal weight when you get pregnant. And one more thing - I have heard that your body keeps on an extra 5 or 10 pounds while nursing. I hope that is true!

Q: My baby was born with steel blue eyes. Will they stay that color?

A: From what I have read, babies are born with steel blue or brown eyes. If he is born with brown, they will stay brown. But, if they are steel blue, they can turn green, brown, hazel or they can stay blue. And they will generally stick around 8 months - but of course, it could be earlier or later.