Tag Archives: water

Are You at Risk for a Stroke?

If you are pregnant, you might want to think twice before reaching for a diet soda to quench your thirst. According to a new study, there’s been a huge jump in the number of women suffering strokes during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth.  Researchers claim there’s been a 54% increase in the number of pregnancy-related stroke hospitalizations documented in the United States in the last decade. Health experts say they can’t pinpoint the exact reason behind the alarming rise in pregnant stroke victims, but they have a few ideas, including the fact that more women these days are overweight … Continue reading →

Water Birth

When I was pregnant with my first son, part of my prenatal care included attending childbirth classes at the birthing center where Dylan was going to be born. During one of the classes, we toured the birthing center and one of the midwives showed us all of the things that were available for us to use during labor and delivery. While bouncing around on a birthing ball sounded interesting and the birthing stool looked like it could certainly be effective, the thing that I remember most about my birthing center tour was the birthing tub. As soon as I saw … Continue reading →

What’s in Your Water?

Being born and raised in Memphis, I took our water supply for granted.  Over the years, I heard we had wonderful water because it came from artesian wells, whatever that was. Then, I moved to California.  I noticed that when I’d wash dishes, a film would remain on them.  I wondered what was being left inside when I drank the water.  Moving to Arkansas didn’t prove much better.  We still had film on dishes.  Then, we moved to Jacksonville, North Carolina.  Camp Lejeune, found in Jacksonville, had water contamination problems from 1953 through 1987.  Sigh. Now, I am finally back … Continue reading →

Gaining Weight Due to Water Retention

So today I am writing about water retention. It has become a recent issue for me since I decided to start drinking more water. On average, I probably drink about 8 oz. of water a day. I might have sips here and there throughout the day but I’m not a big drinker of any liquid. I don’t drink soda but on most days I do have one glass of iced tea. In other words, I’m probably dehydrated to some extent and don’t even realize it. So one day I started drinking eight, 8 oz. glasses of water. It was much … Continue reading →

Magic Paint Sparks Imagination

Want a fun activity that is easy to do, sparks imagination, and will get your preschooler interested in playing outside? Give them some “Magic Paint”! This has been a big hit with the preschoolers I have worked with in my years as a day care teacher. Feel free to rename this activity if you don’t approve of the word “magic”. You will need the following items: small plastic containers that will hold water old paint brushes of any size, shape, and quality water a safe outdoor space to play in Gather all of these things, and your preschooler, and head … Continue reading →

World Water Day

Today is World Water Day. World Water Day began in 1992 as an initiative at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. It was at this conference that March 22 was named World Water Day to help raise awareness of safe, reliable water for everyone in the world. It may seem unbelievable to those of us in the United States, but approximately one billion people around the world don’t have healthy water available for use. Since the first World Water Day in 1993, 200 million people have gained access to clean water, but there … Continue reading →

Easy Ways to Burn Calories

I’ve slacked off on the gym, so now I am looking for ways to burn calories. I can across this list of easy ways to burn 100 calories from Our Lady of Weigh Loss, Janice Taylor. These are things I could (and probably should be doing): Vacuuming This I can do! If you vacuum for just 25 minutes, you can burn 100 calories. Janice, however, lives in a New York City apartment that only takes 10 minutes to vacuum, so she volunteers to do her neighbor’s vacuuming as well. Who is going to turn that kind of offer down? Drink … Continue reading →

Dealing With Constipation During Pregnancy

It’s one of the most common complaints in pregnancy. The most regular of women can suddenly find themselves all stopped up. It’s extremely uncomfortable, even downright painful sometimes. Constipation during pregnancy is caused by the hormone progesterone which slows digestion, and is often made worse by all the iron in your prenatal vitamins. Fortunately there are some things you can do to help with constipation that are completely safe for you and your baby. * First of all, talk to your doctor about your prenatal vitamin. It may have more iron than you need. There are many different supplements out … Continue reading →

Green Lawn Care

It’s summer and if you have a home, chances are you have to cut the lawn. Personally, I like to cut the lawn for the exercise, but I never thought of the damage something as simple as mowing could be doing to the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency says that, in one hour’s use, a gas powered mower emits as much pollution as 11 cars and that a riding mower emits as much as 34 cars. Americans use approximately 580 million gallons of gas for mowers each year. It is estimated that 30% of the water used on the East … Continue reading →

How to Do a Partial Water Change

Aquarium cleaning can be a messy chore — despite all the water involved! A partial water change is a good way to clear the water in your tank without destroying all the good bacteria that keep your fish healthy and happy. When doing a partial water change, you only want to remove twenty-five to thirty percent of the water. This leaves enough good bacteria behind to help repopulate the tank and keep harmful chemicals out of the water. Take too much water away and you run the risk of having to start the nitrogen cycle all over again. There’s no … Continue reading →