Sweet dreams: Newborn babies are picture perfect as they are captured sleeping peacefully

By Joanna Corrigan

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Some would argue that sleep is a foreign concept for most newborn babies - but not according to these incredible pictures.

Tiny children, some just days old, have been pictured in various states of blissful repose and the results are adorable.


One 13-day-old girl lies on a flower bed, another rests its chin on its hand as if contemplating the mysteries of life.

Adorable: A four-week old baby takes a nap on a pink blanket 

Pensive: This 13-day-old baby girl looks like she has a lot to think about

Further pictures show a baby resting in a plant pot, eyes tight shut, and one snuggled up in a small white basket - with a little hat to keep it's head warm.


They have all been taken by photographers Yvonne Watt and Fiona Potter of Fusion Baby Photography in Strathblane, Glasgow.


The pair ask clients to bring in babies between four and ten days-old so that they can produce a picture to capture the very earliest stage of their lives.

Peaceful: A baby Fairy Queen asleep in her crown, aged just under two weeks

Comfortable: A 13-day-old baby girl takes a nap in a little flower nest 

Ms Watt said: 'This special time comes along only once in the lifetime of a child. Before we know it, this stage is finished and we move on. People come to us because they want to capture this moment and savour it forever.'

The photographers manage to get the babies to sleep because they make them as comfortable as possible, using blankets made of natural fibres.

Carried away: A baby girl wearing a cosy hat takes a nap in a little basket

Blossoming: A baby girl even managed to get some shut eye in this large pot 

The women have five children between them so realise the importance of capturing the early moments before it is too late.


Ms Watt said: 'Often there is so much that is new going on people may overlook the importance of sitting down and doing something special to record this time.

'I didn't do this myself but now at least I have the chance to give other new parents this opportunity.' 

Where did I get my hat? Let me think...zzzzzzzz

Peace at last: Suddenly it's all gone quiet

Granddad at 29... but hospital staff demand his ID because they think he's too young to be the FATHER!

By Daily Mail Reporter
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

A 29-year-old man who has become one of Britain's youngest grandparents was left red-faced after nurses asked him to prove he was over 16 as he tried to visit his daughter's baby. 


Unemployed Shem Davies was overjoyed when 14-year-old Tia gave birth to Gracie earlier this month. 


But when he tried to visit the ward, maternity nurses thought the fresh-faced granddad was in fact the teenage father of Gracie and asked him to prove his age. 


Shem and former girlfriend Kelly John, 30, became parents to Tia at the age of 15. Their daughter's boyfriend, Jordan Williams, is 15. 


Shem said: 'It is an absolute joy to see Gracie thriving. I'm incredibly proud of Tia. She'll be a brilliant mum. At first I wasn't overly pleased that she was pregnant but I soon got over than. Now it's all about being positive.

Happy family: Jordan, bottom left, with Tia and Gracie, and proud grandparents Shem and Kelly

'I've got to know Jordan and he's shaping up to be a decent young man,' Shem told The People.

But the arrival of Gracie wasn't easy as Tia was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, seven weeks before her due date.

 

Worried doctors decided their best option would be to deliver the tot by Caesarean section.

The condition, which often leaves expectant mothers with high blood pressure and protein in their urine, could lead to life-threatening symptoms for both mother and baby.
Tia said the contrast between the carefree fun of the school playground and then the fear of death for her and the baby was something she would never forget.


Happily after a 25 minute operation Gracie was born but only weighed 2lb and was rushed to the special care unit at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, which is close to the family home.


Little Gracie is still being kept in an incubator but has managed to put on enough weight which means she will be allowed home in a few weeks. 

A week after Gracie was born Tia celebrated her 15th birthday in the ward surrounded by friends and family.

Fighter: Tiny Gracie is thriving but will be in an incubator for a few weeks

Proud parents: Jordan and Tia with their newborn daughter Gracie who was born prematurely

The teenager, who has been dating Jordan for 18 months and wants to be a hairdresser, said she didn't plan on celebrating her birthday in hospital but added that her baby daughter was the best present she could ask for.

Once mother and daughter have been released from hospital they will be staying with grandmother Kelly so that Tia can finish school.

Grandad Shem, who has a young son of his own, said he is keen to get stuck in and help Tia and Jordan settle into life.


Jordan, who sat his final GCSE just weeks before Gracie arrived, said he understands responsibility. 'I'm captain of the school rugby team and that's like having 14 kids.'

Father and daughter: Shem with his daughter Tia and granddaughter Gracie

Despite her young age, mother Tia says that she would not be happy if newborn Gracie became pregnant at 14 but that she would do as her mum did, which is respect her choice to have a child.

She also paid tribute to her mother, who was 15 when she was born, saying that she could not have wished for a better parent and role model adding that they have a very close relationship.

Britain's high teenage pregnancy rate means that many more young people in this generation are set to become grandparents in their late twenties and early thirties.

The latest figures show in 2009 38,259 girls under 18 became pregnant, but nearly 50 per cent had a termination.

The UK still leads the way when it comes to young mothers, and our rate is five-times higher than in the Netherlands and twice that of France and Spain.

FOR OVER ONE HUNDRED YEARS AMERICANS KNEW PIT BULLS FOR WHAT THEY DID BEST. BABYSITTING.

by YWGROSSMAN
from http://www.ywgrossman.com/

Astoundingly, for most of our history America’s nickname for Pit Bulls was “The Nanny Dog”. For generations if you had children and wanted to keep them safe you wanted a pit bull, the dog that was the most reliable of any breed with children or adults.

The Nanny Dog is now vilified by a media that always wants a demon dog breed to frighten people and LHASA-APSO BITES MAN just doesn’t sell papers. Before pit bulls it was Rottweilers, before Rottweilers it was Dobermans, and before them German Shepherds. Each breed in it’s order were deemed too vicious and unpredictable to be around people. Each time people wanted laws to ban them. It is breathtakingly ironic that the spotlight has turned on the breed once the symbol of our country and our national babysitter.

In temperance tests (the equivalent of how many times your kid can poke your dog in the eye before it bites him) of all breeds the most tolerant was the Golden Retriever. The second most tolerant was the pit bull.

Pit Bull’s jaws do not lock, they do not have the most powerful bite among dogs (Rottweilers have that honor) they are not naturally human aggressive (in fact pit bull puppies prefer human company to their mother’s two weeks before all other dogs), and they feel as much pain as any other breed (accidentally step on one’s toe and you’ll see).

The most tolerant, patient, gentle breed of dogs is now embarrassingly portrayed as the most dangerous. It would be funny if the new reputation did not mean 6,000 are put to death every day, by far the highest number of any other breed euthanized.

That’s a lot of babysitters.

(Pictured: As you’ll see, from the richest to the poorest and everything in between, in America the pit bull was the dog for kids. Don’t miss the little boy in the goat cart at the end. He’s priceless.)

Quadruplet Babies Laughing

100-Year-Old Doctor Still Making Rounds

Georgia Gynecologist Delivered Generations of Babies

By Steve Hartman
From: http://www.cbsnews.com/

Play CBS Video Video 100-Year-Old Baby Doc
Augusta, Ga. resident Dr. Walter Watson is the oldest practicing physician in the country, and he has no plans of slowing down anytime soon. Steve Hartman continues the series, "Assignment America."

Dr. Walter Watson has delivered 10 percent of the babies in Augusta, Georgia. (CBS)

(CBS) Did you hear the one about the 100-year-old gynecologist? Dr. Walter Watson of Augusta, Georgia still sees a few patients every day. Then, he drives himself down the block to University Hospital where he still serves as chairman of his department.

In recent years, Dr. Watson has delegated most of his duties to other doctors, which is good, because I followed him around the hospital for an hour and never saw him directing much of anything.

The staff clearly loves him, and he loves them. But it's the patients who seem to most appreciate Dr. Watson and his tireless, unending devotion to medicine. Between 1944, when Dr. Watson delivered his first baby, and 1995 when he stopped doing obstetrics, Dr. Watson ushered in a small army of satisfied customers.

Today, they're known simply as the "Watson babies." They range in age from 15 to 66 and their ranks are innumerable.

So how many babies has Dr. Watson delivered?

"Somewhere between 15,000 and 18,000," Dr. Watson said.

• 

  Dr. Walter Watson, 100-years old, has delivered 18,000 babies in Augusta, Georgia. (CBS)

That's nearly 10 percent of the entire Augusta population. Many families have 3 generations of Watson babies.

"We went to a basketball game one night and he looked at the program and said, 'I delivered every one of these kids,'" said his wife Audrey.

Audrey says her husband delivered so many babies he rarely saw his own family of five. But Audrey says Walter told her when they got married she'd always be third in his life - behind God and his patients.

Dr. Watson plans on being around for a little while longer. He's even started taking new patients - three in the past couple of months.

©MMX, CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.

The incredible pictures of snoozing newborns, taken when the babies were less than 10 days old | Mail Online

If the cap fits... I'll be sure of a good night's rest

Click hear to see these amazing snoozing newborns

First-time mom plans to give birth live on the internet

http://www.boston.com/

Lylah M. Alphonse

Posted by Lylah M. Alphonse

Lynsee, a 23-year-old teacher in Minneapolis, is expecting her first child any day now. And she's decided to share the whole experience, from the first labor pain to that final awesome push, with the internet.

Like many mommy bloggers have before, she’s been documenting every detail of her first pregnancy; unlike any of them, she’s been sharing the highs and lows with more than 900 Watch Lynsee Grow! readers at the Twin Cities’ Moms Like Me website, which will broadcast the birth from the hospital as it happens. Only Moms Like Me members will be able to leave comments during the event, though anyone with an internet connection will be able to watch the live feed.

“We wanted to document the pregnancy and create a one-of-a-kind memento for our baby to have forever,” Lynsee told the website's partner KARE-TV 11, which is also following her pregnancy (she requested that I not publish her last name, for privacy reasons). "You'll be at some of the doctor's appointments... You'll be there in the delivery room, tastefully, but you will be there.’’

Fresh off of the Balloon Boy saga, one may wonder whether Lynsee or her 24-year-old husband, Anders, is in it for fame or fortune -- or reality TV. But they're not. Though there are a few corporate sponsors on board and KARE-TV helped throw her a baby shower at the famed Mall of America, all gifts were donated to charity and Lynsee is not being compensated for her participation in the project, according to Twin Cities Moms Like Me site manager Cindy Chapman.

Moms Like Me representatives say that the goal of the project was to get more members to share and interact on the site. Many members are fans of A Baby Story on TLC, Chapman says, and she was hoping to take the concept a step further. "We have the perfect vehicle on the internet with taking the birth live -- something A Baby Story doesn’t do." She sent a private message out to the members of the Twin Cities' site, asking if there were any pregnant women who were interested in participating. Lynsee was one of about 12 who responded. “I emailed her right away and she filled me in on the project,” Lynsee told me. “I talked with my husband and we were excited about it!”

Of course, you can't log off when you're the one in labor. And you certainly can't script a birth. Viewers won’t see any graphic details -- an experienced camera crew will be at the helm, Chapman says, and a team of people will be monitoring the shoot as well as the online chat. Chapman, who will be at the hospital with Lynsee, says that there is a "massive crisis plan" in place.

In October, MomsLikeMe.com asked their members for their thoughts on the couple's decision to share their child's birth with the world. About 60 percent of moms said that they do not want anyone besides their significant other in the delivery room but, in another poll, the same percentage responded that they would be interested in watching a broadcast of a live birth. "You never know when you start projects like this, how they’re going to go,” Chapman says. "The response has been overwhelming, very supportive, very positive for Lynsee."

I’m sure that every parent reading this right now is having a mini-flashback to their first birth experience -- I know I am -- and wondering how they'd cope with having a camera crew in the room. But that’s not how Lynsee, a family and consumer science teacher, sees the project. “It’s so miraculous and special because each birth is different. If I were in a classroom, I would be teaching about childhood development, so I feel that I’m using myself as a textbook to teach others about pregnancy and delivery."

"I will also have all the support from the mom’s on the site while I’m having the baby. Just knowing they are there during labor means a lot to me," she adds. (You can read my entire interview with Lynsee here.)

As the big day approaches -- she’s due Nov. 19 -- Lynsee says she’s not having any second thoughts about broadcasting the labor and delivery live. “No – it’s the final part of the journey,” she says. “It’s the one big moment and the special part and it’s what I’m looking forward to sharing with everyone the most.”

Who was in the room when your child was born? And would you have let the internet watch?

Lylah M. Alphonse is a Globe staff member and mom and stepmom to five kids. She writes about juggling career and parenthood at The 36-Hour Day and blogs at Write. Edit. Repeat. E-mail her at lalphonse@globe.com.

Woman gives birth to 19.2 lb (8.7kg) super baby

The baby is 62 centimetres long and weighs 8.7 kilograms. (AFP)

An Indonesian woman has given birth to an 8.7 kilogram (19.2 pound) baby boy - the heaviest newborn ever recorded in the country.

The baby, who is still unnamed and is 62 centimetres long, was born by caesarean section Monday (local time) at a public hospital in North Sumatra province, a gynaecologist who took part in the operation said on Wednesday.

"This heavy baby made the surgery really tough, especially the process of taking him out of his mum's womb," Binsar Sitanggang said.

"His legs were so big."

The boy is in a healthy condition despite having to initially be given oxygen to overcome breathing problems, the gynaecologist said.

"He's got strong appetite, every minute, it's almost non-stop feeding," he said.

"This baby boy is extraordinary, the way he's crying is not like a usual baby. It's really loud."

The boy's massive size was likely the result of his mother, Ani, 41, having diabetes, Mr Sitanggang said.

She had to be rushed to hospital due to complications with the pregnancy, which had reached nine months.

The baby, her fourth, was the only child not delivered by a traditional midwife.

Indonesia's previous heaviest baby, weighing in at 6.9 kilos, was born in 2007 on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta, according to the Indonesian Museum of Records website.

- AFP