Suri Out For A Stroll

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Miss Suri Cruise was seen out for a stroll with her Mom Katie yesterday in Germany. This little monkey has been all over the world lately, flying from Germany last week to NYC and then back so that she can be with her dad, Tom Cruise, who is currently filming a movie.

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UPDATE: No Baby Yet For Duggar Family

I have been receiving many e-mails from readers asking whether or not the Duggar Family from Arkansas has had they baby. I spoke with Michelle Duggar this morning and she has not had the baby yet. There were a few contractions last week, but nothing that showed the baby was ready to arrive.

Jennifer will be delivered at the hospital au natural and like the other children, Michelle is planning to breastfeed.

The Duggars are very excited about their new arrival and hope she will make an appearance in the next few days!

I will keep you updated on any changes.

Related Articles:

The Duggar Family Welcomes Baby Number 17
The Duggar Family Will Soon Have 19 Members
At Home With The Duggar Family

Heaven Rain Is A Ray Of Sunshine

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Actress Brooke Burke and daughter Heaven Rain Charvet arrive at the Summer On The Pier Benefiting “The Rock” Foundation Event over the weekend in Malibu.

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States Crack Down on Parents and Caregivers Who Leave Children Alone in Cars

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Well it’s about time that someone actually stepped up and did something about this HUGE problem. There are about 4 or 5 kids a week that are being reported left in hot vehicles for longer than 20 minutes. Some are saved, but a good majority die from extreme temperatures and dehydration.

A Florida mom who faces misdemeanor charges for leaving her 2-month-old son in an idling Pontiac is just the latest example of the nationwide crackdown on parents who leave their kids alone in cars and then face fines — or worse, jail time.

Twelve states have laws specifically prohibiting leaving young children alone in cars, some making it a traffic violation with a penalty of a ticket and a fine, and others — including Florida — making it a misdemeanor, with the possible punishment being a prison sentence as well as a hefty fine.

In the case of the Orlando mother, Whitlene Loussaint, police got involved because the car with the baby boy inside was stolen in the few minutes it took Loussaint to run back into her church to grab an umbrella. The car turned up blocks from the church parking lot where it was taken, with the doors wide open and the baby unhurt.

The Florida children-in-cars law has just been amended to make it a second-degree misdemeanor to leave a youngster under 6 alone in a car for more than 15 minutes or for any amount of time if the car is running. The new regulations went into effect July 1, and if Loussaint is prosecuted, she could face 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Ironically, many of the moms and dads who leave their young kids alone in cars aren’t neglectful or abusive parents, according to Kids and Cars founder and president Janette Fennell.

“In most cases, it’s very good parents,” she said. “It tends to be for that person’s convenience — they’re not thinking of the safety of the children. For some reason they think, I’ll just be a minute — and it’s never just a minute.”

In addition to Florida, the other states that have specific children-in-cars laws include Connecticut, California, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.

Fennell said Kids and Cars is also working on getting a federal bill passed that regulates safety devices on automobiles. The law would mandate that all vehicles have the following three features:

• a standard and wide range of rearview vision when the car is in reverse to prevent children from being backed over;
• a feature on power windows that cause them to automatically reverse if they hit an obstruction, making strangulation of children peering out impossible;
• a brake shift interlock that stops a car from being thrown into “drive” unless someone has a foot on the brake.

Fennell said she thinks each case should be analyzed individually in terms of what sort of punishment is appropriate.

But taking a case-by-case approach can be a problem.

Currently, mothers who leave children alone in the car are treated much more harshly than fathers — with moms being 26 percent more likely to do time than dads and their average sentence being two years longer, according to a study done by The Associated Press.

Related Articles:

Another Mom Leaves baby In Sweltering Car
Mom Blames Great Store Sale for Leaving Child in Hot Car
Mother Gets 30 Days For Leaving Baby Alone

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Chandra Wilson and Kids Do Folgers Commercials

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Chandra Wilson and 2 of her 3 kids Joy, 8 and Michael, 1 filmed a commercial for Folgers coffee. The ads show Chandra going through he morning routine getting the kids ready for the day. I like the natural way that the spots are filmed.

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Race Plays A Role In Neonatal Survival Rate

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Researchers have uncovered ethnic differences in the risk of neonatal mortality and morbidity (disease) in the neonatal intensive care units (NICU). Of grave concern is the noted elevation in mortality rate in the NICU among infants of South Asian (East Indian) origin, which is over three times that of Caucasian infants. It was also found that Aboriginal males and East Asian females had significantly greater odds of survival.

Interestingly, ‘small for gestational age’ was noted as a significant factor only among Caucasian infants, while only ‘gestational age less than 29 weeks’ was found to be a significant risk across all ethnic groups.

“Understanding these differences is important so we can determine what specific areas to target in order to improve health-care delivery and reduce these disparities,” said Dr. Shoo Lee, Scientific Director of iCARE at the University of Alberta.

As the number of premature births in North America has increased over the last 20 years, questions have emerged about how best to care for newborns and their mothers, particularly in immigrant populations where inequalities in health outcomes may already exist.

In the United States, prematurity has been reported as the leading cause of neonatal death among African-American newborns, but the research team has found that neonatal sepsis (infection) was the strongest predictor of mortality among African-American infants, even greater than being born at 28 weeks of age or younger.

“Our results suggest that reducing neonatal infection among African-Americans newborns may help to lower these differences in mortality,” said Lee.

When we found out that our baby was coming early the nurse told us that we wanted our baby to be a girl. They apparently have better survival statistics and fight harder to stay alive….

We ended up making out okay, but you can imagine our fears when we found out that I had just delivered a boy – at 24 weeks.

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Jenna Elfman and Her Husband Bodhi Welcome a Baby Boy

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Congratulations to Jenna Elfman and Her Husband Bodhi on the safe arrival of their first baby.

Story Elias, was born on July 23 in Los Angeles weighing in at 7 lbs. 2 oz.

Jenna’s publicist says that:

“He is already a fan of “classical music, a clean diaper, mom’s boobs and long naps.” adding that “Story wants to give big props to his mom for all the hard work.”

Despite her pregnancy, Elfman made time recently to star in a short video on the humor Web site funnyordie.com – in which the pregnant actress schooled several players in a pickup basketball game.

This is the first child for the actress, 35, who played Dharma Finklestein Montgomery on the 1997-2002 ABC comedy and went on to star in the CBS sitcom Courting Alex, and Bodhi, 38, also an actor. The pair have been married since 1995.

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Wyatt Not Enjoying The Concert

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Wyatt Crow does not look happy at the Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago, Saturday. He is being held in a Baby Bjorn Sport Carrier wearing a set of headphones to protect his delicate ear drums.

While the music may be good, he seems to not be fond of the gear attached to his head and that soother his nanny is stuffing in his mouth is NOT helping.

PHOTOCREDIT:YAHOO/AP

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1/4 Adults in NYC Found With Elevated Blood Mercury Levels

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The issue with mercury in fish is bigger than people realize, especially if you are pregnant or breast feeding.

According to survey results released by the Heath Department 1/4 of adult New Yorkers have elevated blood mercury levels and the elevations are closely tied to fish consumption.

Asian and higher-income New Yorkers eat more fish, and have higher average mercury levels, than others both locally and nationally. These mercury levels pose little if any health risk for most adults, but may increase the risk of cognitive delays for children whose mothers had very high mercury levels during pregnancy.

These findings are the latest presented from New York City’s Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NYC-HANES), the first such survey ever conducted by a U.S. city. It’s possible that other cities have similarly high levels, or higher ones, but haven’t yet documented them. Because mercury is a concern for the health of newborns, recommendations on mercury exposure are most important for pregnant and breastfeeding women.

* Among women 20-49 years old in New York City, the average blood mercury level is 2.64 µg/L (micrograms per liter), three times that of similarly-aged women nationally (0.83 µg/L).

* Approximately one quarter of New York City women in this age group have a blood mercury level at or above 5 µg/L, the New York State reportable level.

* People who eat fish three or fewer times each week have, on average, levels of mercury below the reportable level, while average readings exceed the reportable level among those who eat fish four or more times.

* Higher-income New Yorkers have higher mercury levels; New Yorkers in the highest income bracket average 3.6 µg/L, compared to 2.4 µg/L among the lowest income group.

* Average blood mercury levels are considerably higher among New York City Asian women (4.1 µg/L); nearly half (45%) have blood mercury levels at or above the State reportable level.

* Among Asians, foreign-born Chinese women have particularly high levels compared to the rest of New York City. Two thirds (66%) have mercury at or above the reportable level.

* Foreign-born Chinese New Yorkers eat an average of three fish meals per week, compared to about one among New Yorkers overall. About one quarter of Chinese New Yorkers eat fish five or more times each week, compared to fewer than one in 15 overall.

Health officials emphasized that fish is an important part of a healthy diet, and that moderate fish consumption has many health benefits. “For most people, frequent fish consumption is not a concern,” said Daniel Kass, the Health Department’s Assistant Commissioner for Environmental Surveillance and Policy. “Fish is a good source of protein and heart-healthy fats, and it’s low in calories and unhealthy fats.”

During pregnancy, however, mercury can pass from a mother’s bloodstream to a developing fetus. Small amounts can also pass into breast milk. And exposure to significant amounts of mercury early in life may cause learning problems because the brain is still developing. “No one needs to stop eating fish, but some people may need to change the type and amount they eat,” Kass said. “Young children, breastfeeding mothers, and women who are pregnant or planning pregnancy should eat fish that are lower in mercury and limit fish that are higher in mercury.”

In case you do not know which fish are low in mercury I have attached a poster that was produced by Health Bureau in Maine.

All fish have some levels of mercury in them. Some fish have more mercury than others. Fish that eat other fish, or fish that are long-lived tend to have more mercury than smaller less predatory fish.

Related Articles:

Take Your Omega 3’s While Pregnant And Raise Your Childs IQ
10 Tips For A Healthy Pregnancy

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Mark Consuelos and His Kids Hit The Carnival

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Mark Consuelos hit the children’s carnival at the InStyle Super Saturday charity event with daughter Lola and son Joaquin for rides, games and yummy cupcakes.

Mark gets the job of watching the kids while wife Kelly shopped all the designer booths.

She must have done a great job because the event raised over $2 million for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.

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