July 22, 2014

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It’s so exciting when you hear your baby cry for the first time. It’s a sign your newborn has entered the world with a strong, healthy set of lungs. But as the days, weeks and months roll by, the excitement may quickly give way to concern and frustration.

As new parents, you will soon realize that babies cry a lot. Most babies are fussy for a reason and often times it’s something related to digestion like gas or reflux. Infants will cry because they’re hungry, wet, tired or they want to be held.

Sometimes, the reason behind their mysterious wails is not so obvious, which can be frustrating for their sleep-deprived parents.

A few weeks ago, Dr. David Wesson, head of Texas Children’s Level 1 pediatric trauma center, shared a blog about “The Period of Purple Crying” initiative that raises awareness about the effects of Shaken Baby Syndrome and educates parents that crying is a normal and temporary phase in a newborn’s early development. The key word is temporary, because it does get better over time.

We asked some of our Bump Watch moms – Amber Tabora, Veronika Javor, Eden McCleskey and Shelly Lopez-Gray – to share their tips with new and expectant moms on how to calm a fussy baby. We hope you’ll find these tips helpful as you embark on this immensely rewarding journey called motherhood.

Tips to soothe a crying baby

  • Feed your baby – Most babies cry when they’re hungry. Make sure your baby is getting enough milk. Infants go through growth spurts and during this time they want to nurse frequently. Nursing should be an intimate bonding experience between you and your newborn.
  • Swaddle them – Swaddling calms and relaxes newborns and usually helps them sleep better. “Don’t let their wiggly arms stop you from getting them into a tight swaddle,” said Amber Tabora. “It’s a position that mimics the womb and all babies like that.”
  • Allow your baby to suck on a pacifier – Sometimes babies just want to suck on something and it doesn’t need to be you all the time. Pacifiers, or even your finger, can soothe a crying infant and help them go to sleep.
  • Use white noise – Shushing sounds mimic what your baby heard while in your womb. “I use a free Baby Shusher app from my smartphone that repeatedly makes the “shh” sound, and it totally calms my crying baby down,” said Shelly Lopez-Gray.
  • Entertain your baby – Do whatever you can to amuse your baby to help get their minds off of what’s bothering them. “I would set my son in a bouncy seat and play music on my iPhone from Pandora, dance right in front of him and sing along to the music,” said Eden McCleskey. “He seemed very entertained by that and it was a good workout.”
  • Gently sway baby back and forth – Sometimes the motion of the swing can be soothing for babies. Any sort of rhythmic swaying – up and down, side to side, back and forth, or a combination of the two – mimics the experience of being in the womb. Many of the swings come with soothing music that adds to the calming effect for your newborn.
  • Sing songs to your baby – Soft, gentle songs, such as lullabies, sung by a familiar voice can calm a baby’s cries. “I used to walk with her and sing to her as I gently patted her back, in case she had to burp or had some tummy discomfort,” said Veronika Javor. “It helped stop her crying.”

“I recommend this book for all new moms called, “Happiest Baby on the Block,” said McCleskey. “It teaches you the five “S” methods to switch on a really fussy baby’s soothing reflex. For my kids, swaddling them, holding them across my belly and lightly bouncing or swinging them in my arms was usually enough to get them to calm down and fall asleep. I only needed all five elements if the baby was truly having a nuclear meltdown.”

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On July 16, patients on 11 West Tower were greeted by three-time Olympian Erin Hamlin. Most recently, she made history and took home the bronze medal in the singles luge event at the Winter Games in Sochi. The 27-year-old brought smiles to patients, showed off her medal and even came with a luge in tow for them to ride. View photos below

July 15, 2014

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By Eden McCleskey

Greetings all! Since I haven’t posted in a while, I’ll share a quick update. My first child, Jess, is 18 months old and doing great. His little sister, Austen Elizabeth, is 4 months old. Yep, I had another one already! Getting pregnant the second time happened FAST, but it all worked out. She arrived one day past her due date – healthy and beautiful at 8 lbs. 10 ounces and 22.25 inches long. Since we’ve been blessed with a boy and a girl, we feel like our family is complete, and now I can focus on raising these babies and getting back to normal.

For me and millions of other moms out there, that means heading back to work. It’s an intensely personal and variable experience for everyone – and it’s impossible to predict how you will feel about it until it happens. Here’s a few tips to help ease the transition back to work, which helped me a lot.

1) Focus on the benefits of going back to work
Most people work because they need and/or want money. Earning a paycheck is the trade-off for not being able to do whatever we want 100% of the time. So, don’t be shy; show yourself the money. Log in to your bank account, 403(b), cash balance pension and social security. Google a retirement savings calculator and imagine how much money you will have when you retire at 65. Total up your current financial commitments and think about how you’d pay them without your paycheck. Don’t forget about other benefits like health, dental, etc. Imagine what your life would be like 20 years from now if you never went back to work. What kind of savings would you have? What kind of house, car, vacation or college would you be able to afford?

EdenskiddosThink about your current job, coworkers and whether you like them. If you quit your job now, even if it’s just for one year while the baby is young, it’s unlikely that you will get it back. You will eventually find a job somewhere, but there is no guarantee it will pay as well or provide the type of environment that you want. The longer you’re out of the job market, the harder it will be to get a commensurate position.

2) Weigh the pros and cons of being a stay-at-home parent
As a child/teenager, I assumed that I’d eventually become a stay-at-home mom and I’d make spectacular dinners and crafts, and Martha Stewart herself would envy my home. What was I thinking?!?! I don’t like house cleaning. I have the urge to cook a fancy dinner about once a year. Even though I love my children with every ounce of my being, I don’t want to be with them all day, every day. By the end of a weekend (especially a long weekend), I’m exhausted and depleted. It’s haaaaard. Yes, I know I had mine very close together and they’re still very young. It probably will get easier as they get older. But, then again, it might get easier in some ways and harder in others. If I stayed home with them all day, there would be more fights, more power struggles and more TV, no doubt. No one can be a “Fully Engaged Parent” ALL. THE. TIME. The dynamics of my marriage would change. I would be needier of my husband’s time, help and conversation. Also, I would probably have tunnel vision on my kids and struggle with my identity outside of them.

Besides, I really like daycare and so do my kids! At 3 months old, I could tell my babies were bored hanging around the house all day. They like being around people. While I could get a nanny for the same price I’m paying to put two kids in daycare, we still prefer daycare. Jess is more social, empathetic and patient than some kids his age who aren’t in daycare. I realize there are amazing benefits to being a stay-at-home mom too, and I’m not putting that down by any means. But it makes me feel better about being a working mom to realize that staying at home isn’t necessarily the one-and-only “gold standard.” Both arrangements have pros and cons; it’s just a matter of what works best for your family.

eden23) Be happy with your child care arrangements
It is impossible to go back to work if you don’t feel comfortable about where you are leaving your child. Research child care options. Use trusted, first person recommendations, yelp reviews and this site. Think about the vibe you get from the teachers, the facility and the administration. If you’re choosing a nanny, have detailed conversations with their references (meet the families in person, if possible), or go through a service (like The Motherhood Center) that does background checks and extensive vetting.

Do not “make do” with something that feels “OK.” If you found a place that is awesome, convenient and right in your price range, but you are on the wait list, don’t despair. You will eventually get in, but in the meantime, you need to find somewhere that feels just as good. It might be a little further or pricier or it might not have the playground or facilities you want. As long as their care is top-notch, sign up and move to your ideal place when the spot opens up.

4) Establish a routine
Life works better with a system. In my family, my husband usually drops off the kids in the morning and I pick them up in the afternoon. We follow the same bedtime routine every night, which starts at 6:30 p.m. and ends at 7 p.m., with both kids asleep.

I used to be fairly lax about chores, but with two kids, that just does not fly. Every night, the kitchen, family and play rooms are cleaned and everything the kids will need for the next day is washed and ready to go. Even if (like me) you’re not a naturally ordered and routined person, you’ll need to become one eventually to keep yourself and your family sane. Do yourself a favor and establish a routine early. It can always be tweaked as necessary.

5) Communicate (A LOT)
When you reflect on the enormous parental responsibilities of raising a tiny infant from “scratch” all the way to adulthood, it can be overwhelming. Even if you are an amazing parent or part of an amazing parent team, you’ll somehow feel guilty and alone much of the time and second guess your choices. Don’t bottle it up! Communicate with your partner – all the time – about everything. Clear up any budding mutual resentments. Talk about how amazing your kid is. Talk about the Baby Center article you just read. Talk about other parents you know and what you think they’re doing wrong and doing right. It’s not just an interesting, “adult” form of gossip (that can help long car rides fly by in a jiff), it also helps you form an identity as a parenting unit and make decisions about how you want to handle certain things before you actually get there.

Talk to your friends, family and coworkers, too. Most parents love talking about being parents, whether their kids are itty bitty or long grown. In the old days, it took a village to raise a child. Today’s “village” is more virtual (friends, family, books, internet) than “hands on,” but talking with them and using their advice is helpful and makes you feel much less alone and afraid of messing up.

 

July 8, 2014

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By Dr. David Wesson

As the head of Texas Children’s Level 1 pediatric trauma center, I have treated many children with severe head injuries sustained from vehicle crashes, sudden falls and recreation-related mishaps. One injury that is particularly heart wrenching to witness is abusive head trauma in infants. One of the most important missions of our trauma center is to prevent these injuries from happening in the first place.

Whether accidental or not, Shaken Baby Syndrome, the most common form of abusive head trauma, happens more frequently than you think. Just looking at the statistics from our pediatric trauma center, it is the number one cause of injury-related deaths in children during the first four years of life. As you can see from this pie chart, the largest child abuse age group comprises infants less than six months old.

childabusestatsShaking a baby can lead to severe injury or even death. Just a few forceful shaking motions in a period of just a few seconds can cause tremendous brain damage where the child may never be normal again.

Abusive head trauma is a community-wide problem that permeates all socioeconomic backgrounds. I believe the most effective way to address this epidemic is through public awareness, universal parental education and community involvement.

I encourage everyone concerned with child health to support The Period of PURPLE Crying, a broad-based initiative to increase awareness about the effects of Shaken Baby Syndrome. I first learned about the full extent of this program and its scientific rationale in April when the program’s founder, Dr. Ronald Barr, a pediatrician and world expert on infant crying, came to Houston to deliver the seminar.

The PURPLE acronym stands for the six characteristics of a newborns’ behavioral activities in the first few weeks and months of life. While incessant cries from a newborn can be frustrating and anger provoking, it’s important for parents and other caretakers to remember that this is a normal and temporary phase in their child’s development.

I am grateful to our physicians and nurses at the Pavilion for Women for implementing The Period of Purple Crying program to educate new parents before they leave the hospital about the dangers of shaking a baby as well as providing them with helpful information on child development, crying and managing parental stress.

In partnership with Dr. Charles Cox, medical director of the pediatric trauma program at Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital, our goal is to ensure all birthing hospitals in the Houston area adopt this program and to increase public awareness of the problem of abusive head trauma with the help of our local public health departments, child abuse prevention experts, city leadership and other community stakeholders.

But, our mission doesn’t stop there. We need everyone’s participation. Spread the message of The Period of PURPLE Crying initiative to your colleagues, family members, new parents, grandparents, caregivers, neighbors and anyone else you come across.

“Our newborns’ lives are at stake. Will you join me on this mission?,” says Dr. David Wesson.

July 1, 2014

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Originally published in the Houston Business Journal on June 20, 2014.

There is a quote from Peter Drucker that has always resonated with me: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

Taking that to heart, I believe that as a leader you can’t successfully plan for the future in a quarterly or even monthly meeting. Rather, it is a task you must think about every day.

A lot of CEOs in health care worry constantly about changing reimbursement models or the impact of new health care laws on the future. While there’s no disputing that these have a great potential to influence the way we provide care to patients, it’s not what occupies my thoughts.

I wouldn’t say that I lose sleep over anything in particular, mostly because I don’t sleep much to begin with. I’m usually up by 4 a.m. and, in the peaceful serenity in this time of day, I do find myself thinking a lot about my hospital: where we’ve been, where we’re going and how we can get there.

More than anything, I think about the employees. Am I helping nurture our employees’ growth by providing them the tools and opportunities they need to carry out their ideas and visions to the greatest extent of their capabilities and talents?

As a leader, if you foster a culture centered on your employees, you will be amazed at the extraordinary effort they put forth.

Great organizations invest in their people by developing and maintaining a robust infrastructure of programs and benefits that meet the personal and professional needs of employees, enabling them to thrive. I believe there are three key elements of that infrastructure:

  • Financial wellbeing – such as pension plans, competitive wages, benefits and incentives and transportation subsidies.
  • Physical wellbeing – comprehensive employee health and wellness programs, employee assistance programs, financial assistance programs, onsite medical clinic and other support programs
  • Career wellbeing – learning and development opportunities and reward and recognition programs

In my experience, I’ve found that placing a great emphasis on selecting the right talent and investing in employees, helping them develop and hone their skills and ensuring they are happy and engaged leads to amazing results.

Loyalty to the mission of the organization is the ultimate goal. When you have something special that your employees can rally behind, you need to care for and cultivate it.

There will always be predictions about the future of our industry, with forecasters predicting the imminent doom and gloom, but I’ve never been caught up in this. As leaders, we should be optimistic about the future instead of losing time fretting about what could be.

If organizations attract talent, build leaders, invest in employees, demonstrate the dignity and respect they deserve, regardless of external changes and regardless of predictions, the organization not only survives, but thrives.

What actually does keep CEOs up at night?

According to a study of 1,344 qualitative interviews of CEOs in 68 countries:

63 percent of CEOs are concerned about the availability of key skills in the workforce.

58 percent are concerned about the rising cost of labor in emerging countries.

64 percent say creating a skilled workforce is a priority in the next three years.

93 percent CEOs recognize their company needs to change its strategy for attracting and retaining talent.

61 percent of CEOs say they haven’t yet acted on the plans to attract and retain talent because about two-thirds believe their company’s HR department isn’t well-prepared for the changes needed to respond to change.

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This summer, the city of Houston is honored to host the 2014 Transplant Games of America. Running from Friday, July 11, to Tuesday, July 15, this biannual, Olympic-style event celebrates patient and family athletes who have been touched by the life-saving gift of organ transplantation. Participants from all over the country will journey to Houston to compete in a variety of sporting events from track and field to swimming, among many other events.

As a major sponsor of this event, Texas Children’s Hospital would like to extend the opportunity to its employees to volunteer. Anyone interested should register through the Transplant Games of America website. All times are tentative and are subject to change.

Visit http://www.teamtexastransplant.com/ for more information about the Transplant Games of America.