By Dr. Maria DiMeglio
In your arms is the most precious, beautiful bundle of joy you could ever have imagined. You know your heart should be filled with loving warmth, jubilee, and sheer wonder at the little miracle in front of you; BUT, instead, you’re a wreck! You haven’t slept in weeks and you’ve lost your brain and a few other things you can’t remember at the moment. The deep, dark bags under your eyes are reminiscent of the Bride of Frankenstein. You’re completely overwhelmed and leaking from every orifice in your body, especially your eyes…uncontrollable tears are streaming down your face.
Postpartum depression is a very real and all too often overlooked condition that can affect up to 25 percent of new moms. It can range in severity from a mild case of the “baby blues” to the rare, and often tragic, psychotic break, and can impact the whole family. Chronic sleep deprivation coupled with huge hormonal shifts take their toll on even the strongest individuals, let alone someone who may already be prone to depression.
Spookie Grilled Cheese: What kid doesn’t love a grilled cheese sandwich. But this one up’s the Halloween anty by cutting out your favorite spooky shape in the middle making the perfect filling meal before the little ones head out for a night full of candy and fun.
You all know the family. The one in which the siblings seem to magically get along, support each other, work well together, and talk through difficult moments with little to no yelling, or homicidal threats. You also know there is a reason you probably only know one family like this. It is a rarity. It doesn’t exist in nature in large numbers. Parents aspire to have that sense of familial calm and sibling cohesion, and may feel that it will always be beyond their reach. Then, a new sibling is brought into the mix, and that aspiration for familial magic seems like an ever-more-distant hope.
The school year is approaching and that means busier, bustling days.
What do these three things have in common? Well, they’re all on our first day of school checklist. And that third word—Confidence—can’t be found in the back-to-school section at Staples.
Back to school time is upon us, which is a great opportunity to make sure your child is ready from a health perspective. There are new requirements this year for adolescents for vaccines. It is also a great time to refresh on illness prevention while being at school.
America is facing a real epidemic. The incidence of childhood obesity and Body Mass Index (BMI) has tripled over the past forty years. Childhood obesity is a primary concern of the nation and the healthcare community. It is estimated that over 30% of our nation’s youngsters are overweight and 15% are obese. 
Self-esteem is a term we hear a lot in child rearing, but what is it and why is it important?