Blog de Mamá de Viajes #Viajar #Mama

As a mother and a wife there are numerous things you tend to feel guilty about but taking time for yourself should not be one of them. Every day many mothers grapple with making time for themselves and fulfilling their needs for their family. Even when you get a moment to yourself you tend to feel guilty because your habitual thought process is saying what else do I have to do? You find it difficult to sit down and relax because you know you have forgotten to do something. There seems to never be enough time to do it all, especially if you're a working mom.

As I was strolling through my feed on Instagram I noticed an interesting headline.  Hmmm... I thought no way this has to be fake news, let me do further research. As I began to investigate some more I found tons of online news articles stating the same exact information. There is now a potential cure for HPV!

Does climate change affect maternal mothers? I have to be honest with you climate change has never really been a thought for me, but as I am sitting here writing this we are currently in the midst of something called a Polar Vortex, (large area of low pressure and cold air surrounding both of the Earth's poles) often associated with large outbreaks of Arctic air in the United States.

Why are so many parents skeptical about vaccinations? Let's face it over the last 20 years many parents are hesitant towards vaccinating their children and to be quite frank, I can't blame them. No one wants to even take the flu shot. I remember taking the flu shot years ago and immediately I became ill. As a result of my bad experience, I was deterred from ever getting the flu shot ever again, nor did I want my children to take it. Even though the flu can be deadly, I don't trust it and wasn't sure that it would prevent the flu. I chose to be exposed rather than vaccinated.

Must we attend every school performance? Is it ok for a parent to say I don't feel like going? I love my children but when these events come up I dread them and here's why. It may be the Fall Talent show or the Winter Festival it doesn't matter what they call it, you are required to attend. Your children repeatedly remind you of the date and the time of the show. It is harassment on every level. Its as if you are forced to attend and be thrilled about going. I know some of you are reading this saying oh my goodness she is so mean but hear me out before becoming judgemental. There are many of you reading this right now who can relate to what I am saying. I’m going to state what every parent wants to say but doesn’t, I despise school performances. I loathe them, especially in this era. It is very difficult to just sit back and enjoy the show.

Is it just me or are dads stepping up in a big way? Many fathers nowadays play an active role in their children's lives. More fathers are taking on more responsibility when it comes to their children. We see you in Starbucks feeding your babies, strolling down the streets with your baby carriers and doing your part as a dad. I am not stating that we should begin to roll out the red carpet for them just yet. Men do one thing right, which is what they are supposed to be doing and we are quick to applaud them or pat them on the back. Dads are standing up and declaring a comfortable space to change their children's dirty diapers.

The rates of maternal death in the United States are increasing, doctors are looking for ways to save mothers’ lives and reduce complications during childbirth. One way is to reduce the rates of Cesarean births. Many women are choosing c-sections over vaginal delivery for various reasons. In this new era, we want everything quick. Women have changed and their schedules are much busier than their ancestors. We are no longer just working mothers and wives we are entrepreneurs, CEOs, trailblazers and so much more. This has a huge impact on why c-sections have increased. Why can't we control when we want to have our babies and how? 

Congratulations! You just found out you're going to be a mother. You are ecstatic, excited and scared all at the same time. It is a wonderful experience to become a new mother but unfortunately behind that joy can sometimes be pain. We are all familiar with the term depression but not so much perinatal depression. Perinatal depression is a combination of prenatal depression before the baby’s born, and postpartum depression after the baby’s born.

Every day on my way to drop my daughter off to school I notice parents hustling and bustling trying to make it on time and get to work. It is a never-ending cycle, same routine day in and day out. Everyone rushing, no one speaking to each other unless they have their own click, or you're a lot like me and you don't feel like being bothered because you can't take on another friend or you don't have time. I know, making new friends at this point in your life takes work and effort. The majority of people I see the most are women.

 Have you been told by your doctor while pregnant that you are obese but, in your eyes, you look and feel good? First of all, I hate the word obese. It just makes me cringe as if your some kind of spectacle and doctors tend to use this word often to tell you in a nice way your fat. You call yourself curvy, thick or big boned especially if you're a woman of color. Yet as a pregnant woman, we have to take into consideration that what we eat may affect our pregnancy.  See most overweight women have no problem delivering healthy babies, however, obesity or being overweight by the doctor's standards during pregnancy puts women at risk for serious health problems such as preeclampsia, blood clots, gestational diabetes, blood pressure disorders, and heart attacks.

 As everyone begins to celebrate the holidays and the new year is fastly approaching, here we go with all the new year resolutions. What am I going to change this year? How is this year going to be different than last year? Why do we wait until the new year to work on ourselves? Every day we wake up is another day to work on ourselves and reflect on our lives. Who told us to wait for the new year to make these changes? Some of us might not have the luxury of making it to the new year. It's time for us to have the attitude of gratitude and began working on ourselves now. 

Do you ever wonder what it feels like to not be able to have a child? We assume that this is a natural process of the womans body but many women find it difficult to conceive naturally every day. Some women have the ability to conceive but are unable to carry a baby to full term. Sadly, miscarriages are a very common occurrence. According to miscarriage statistics, sources vary but many estimate that approximately 1 in 4 pregnancies ends in miscarriage, and some estimates are as high as 1 in 3. When you think of what the role of a woman is you tend to correlate it with homemaker, mother, wife, caregiver and child bearer.  Mind you these are all worthy titles to live up to but sometimes unattainable. In many cultures, if a woman cannot conceive she is looked down upon, shamed in her community and made to feel inferior, as if having a child is her only identity.

If you have ever had a mammogram, it could be one of the most difficult examinations a woman will have to experience in her life. In this day and era, it is crucial that women are tested for breast cancer. I know someone who has either had breast cancer or died from breast cancer. Regrettably, I didn't believe breast cancer would affect my life until my aunt passed away a few years ago. She was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer and had undergone chemotherapy to combat the illness. I was under the impression if you contracted breast cancer early you had a better chance at survival, but my aunt was defeated by this horrible disease and our family was devastated. We were taken by surprise how quickly cancer had spread to other parts of her body. It was one of the worse days of my life. I was forced to look at breast cancer in an entirely different way.

A picture can be worth a thousand words. Hmmm... this is a tough subject for me to discuss, yet alone write about it, but it is something that we as Mothers deal with on a regular basis, especially me. I came across a story featured by Good Morning America, about Anupa King, a beautiful proud mother who posted a picture with her and her two lovely young boys. The photo embodied a mothers love and joy. Anupa appeared carefree and totally her authentic self. In her post she mentions how much love was shining through the photo and how beautiful her boys were. What struck me about this post was how happy they all looked and the fact that she pointed out that the old version of herself would have criticized how big her mouth looked and not have posted the picture at all.

I am sure many of you have heard about the pregnancy condition preeclampsia but did any of you know about postpartum preeclampsia. I never knew about it until it happened to me. When I was pregnant with my first child my Aunt said to me “When a woman is pregnant she has one foot in heaven and one foot on earth.” Postpartum preeclampsia was one of the scariest moments of my life. I developed postpartum preeclampsia two weeks after delivering my daughter via vaginal birth.  

Traveling moms with and without their nursing infants face certain challenges, especially when navigating through airports. Luckily these moms get a great assist from the (FAM ACT) Friendly Airports for Mothers Act introduced by Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Representative Stephen Knight (R-CA). The Friendly Airports for Mothers (FAM) ACT aims to alleviate some of these challenges by promoting breastfeeding and providing adequate facilities for mothers and families in airports across the United States. Let's delve into what this act entails, its impact on traveling moms, and how airports are becoming more accommodating for families.