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If you want to use something other than conventional pharmaceutical treatments for your depression while you’re trying to get pregnant, you have more options besides Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture.

In spite of studies being limited by challenges to control (such as with exercise and acupuncture) and by difficulties funding large-scale placebo-controlled trials, reproductive psychiatrist Dr. Kelly Brogan says there are several Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) interventions with a significant evidence base. { read more }

About Tracy Morris

I wear a lot of hats while spinning plates and true stories. In between taking care of myself and my family, I write about fertility and other health care topics. Most of my online time lately is spent at two very different places: FertilityTies.com and TrailerParkKarma.com. Perspective is everything -- my pre-teen reminds me daily.

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Depression is so prevalent in the United States, if you don’t have a diagnosis, chances are good you know someone who does. But it’s still tough to talk about out in the open. That stigma is particularly unfortunate for women who are on their fertility journey.

Nearly all of us approach the notion of parenthood with comforting images in our minds. We envision the best possible circumstances for our growing family. A depressed parent doesn’t exactly fit the picture. But the National Institutes of Mental Health says about 6.5 percent of U.S. adults have depression and that women are 70 percent more likely than men to experience depression in their lifetime.

Toward the effort of bringing maternal depression into the light, Ellen Cooper-Davis agreed to talk about her personal story. { read more }

About Tracy Morris

I wear a lot of hats while spinning plates and true stories. In between taking care of myself and my family, I write about fertility and other health care topics. Most of my online time lately is spent at two very different places: FertilityTies.com and TrailerParkKarma.com. Perspective is everything -- my pre-teen reminds me daily.

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If you want to get pregnant and you’re one of the millions who are experiencing depression, you might feel like you’re in a double-bind — especially if getting pregnant isn’t happening like you dreamed it would. It seems like a baby could resolve your depression. The reality is that clinical depression is a complex, physiological occurrence, not just a momentary mood dip. The fertility journey and even pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood will most definitely impact your mood, but people with clinical depression can’t count on that impact being uplifting.

Treating your depression is paramount to protecting yourself, your loved ones, and possibly even your fertility. If you’re worried about taking conventional antidepressant medication but you don’t want your depression to go untreated, there are treatment alternatives. Traditional Chinese Medicine is one option. { read more }

About Tracy Morris

I wear a lot of hats while spinning plates and true stories. In between taking care of myself and my family, I write about fertility and other health care topics. Most of my online time lately is spent at two very different places: FertilityTies.com and TrailerParkKarma.com. Perspective is everything -- my pre-teen reminds me daily.

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Enjoying a healthy after-school snack doesn’t have to involve a lot of preparation or be time consuming. Think in terms of nutritional value and ease. Kids are usually very hungry when they walk in the door and will grab what is easiest and most appealing. Here are ten tasty snacks that will keep your children nourished and meet your need for ease.

Fresh fruit and nuts

Keep a bowl of fresh fruit on your kitchen counter or table and a container of nuts beside it. Apples are filling foods and nuts have the healthy fats and proteins to help keep your little ones going until dinner. { read more }

About Lisa Gale

"She was an artist and her life was her canvas." (Kobi Yamada) When I grow up, I want to be her! For now, it's fun to pretend.

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Perhaps one of the greatest gifts our children bring to us is the opportunity to reconnect with our own inner child. Did you know that play is actually a basic human need? It’s a need we share with our children. And if we let them take the lead when it comes to play, we can enter a magical world of rejuvenation and even transformation.

The benefits of child-directed play

When children are allowed to take the lead in play, the benefits are profound. Scientific studies have shown compelling reasons for us to play every day.  Play boosts our creativity, expands our attention span and strengthens the problem-solving mechanism in the brain.   { read more }

About Lisa Gale

"She was an artist and her life was her canvas." (Kobi Yamada) When I grow up, I want to be her! For now, it's fun to pretend.

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As a first-time mom, I wanted to do everything right.  In fact, I was so afraid of failure I voraciously read everything I could get my hands on during pregnancy, especially about breast feeding.

Although I felt incredibly informed, I also felt thoroughly confused with all the conflicting information. I decided that demand feeding sounded the most reasonable method.  With the militant La Leche ladies marching through my hospital room every few hours to press on my breasts and help my new little bundle learn to “latch on”, I was feeling well-supported in my feeding efforts as a new mother.  But that honeymoon ended quickly.

{ read more }

About Lisa Gale

"She was an artist and her life was her canvas." (Kobi Yamada) When I grow up, I want to be her! For now, it's fun to pretend.

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With many new year’s resolutions hanging in the balance, this is a good time to take a look at some requirements for making lasting change. Most resolutions revolve around a central theme: improving the quality of our lives. Whether it’s improving our physical well-being, our relational well-being, our financial well-being or our spiritual/psychological well-being, there are ways to set ourselves up for success. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

The physical environment

Setting up your physical environment for success is crucial. Whatever your resolution or goal, look around you and see if your home and/or work environment are conducive to success.  Identify the potential pitfalls and eliminate them to whatever extent you are able. { read more }

About Lisa Gale

"She was an artist and her life was her canvas." (Kobi Yamada) When I grow up, I want to be her! For now, it's fun to pretend.

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Life gives us many opportunities to feel grief, so knowing how to deal with this strong emotion can help us be healthy children and adults.  Whether it’s the loss of a loved one, a favorite toy or even a hope or dream, children need parents who are aware and equipped to help them cope with loss. Here are some tips to help you understand your child’s feelings and support their healthy processing of them.

Talk about it

A natural tendency when grieving can be to shut down and become a bit sullen and melancholic. Allow your child the time and space to be with their feelings while also encouraging them to speak about them. Help them with feelings vocabulary, such as sad, hurt, scared, angry, confused, etc. Tell them how healthy it is to speak about their feelings and even to demonstrate them.  If your child throws a temper tantrum, you might say something like, “I can see that you’re angry. I feel relieved when I see you feeling your feelings.  Tell me about them and I will listen.” If they’re very young, you might help them identify their feelings and build a vocabulary around them that can help support a healthy emotional development. { read more }

About Lisa Gale

"She was an artist and her life was her canvas." (Kobi Yamada) When I grow up, I want to be her! For now, it's fun to pretend.

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While many people celebrate Christmas, there are other holiday traditions that families observe as well. These other traditions allow us to tap into our familial history and maintain ties to generations of the past. Celebrating a holiday tradition from another country or from your own family’s past can also solidify an ethnic heritage for your children and grandchildren. Here are a few popular holiday traditions from around the world.

Italy: La Befana

About Liz Alfano

I write "Dirty Words," the blog about things you should know, but might not. I'm the mother of two elementary school-aged boys and wife of one adult aged man. When not writing, I can be found reading or staring into space wishing I was either reading or writing. Sometimes I'm seen vacuuming...but not often. www.mydirtywords.com

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Photo: Anecdotes and Apple Cores

The holidays are here, and we’re all trying to find ways to give gifts to loved ones without spending more than our budget allows. During these colder days, a plateful of cookies and a cup of warm tea can be a much needed pleasure. But for many people, a vegan diet means that many holiday treats are no longer friendly.

Thankfully, there are quite a few delicious recipes that vegans can make and share. Peanut butter cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies and sugar cut-out cookies can all be vegan-friendly. Vegan Christmas cookies are a joy to give and to receive. They are easy to make and even easier to enjoy. Bake a few dozen of these Christmas cookies and find some old cookie tins to fill with tissue paper and your edible treasures. { read more }

About Monet Moutrie

Monet Moutrie is a writer and baker, who lives in Austin, Texas with her three cats and husband. Between government work, graduate school and her own blog, Anecdotes and Apple Cores, nothing sounds better to Monet than an evening of yoga, a cup of Earl Grey tea and a novel. Knock on her front door and you'll find her pulling out a loaf of bread from the oven while brainstorming ideas for her own work of fiction.

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