A new study is indicating that more than half of mothers are declining their doctors’ offers and the government’s guidelines to vaccinate their young daughters, those under 13 years, with Gardasil. The vaccine known as Gardasil offers protection for women against the human papillomavirus (HPV.) The FDA approved the Gardasil vaccine in 2006 for girls and women between the ages of 9 and 26. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease. It is the primary cause of cervical cancer. The U.S. Center for Disease... more

Living here in rural America I was a bit surprised to learn that currently, about 18,000 U.S. schools have health centers inside their walls. These health centers provide confidential physical and mental health services to students who want them in junior high and high schools. Most of these clinics are operated by either a local hospital, health department, or other community health center. A study was recently conducted on the centers that currently... more

Are you considering adopting a premature infant? Women having a normal pregnancy can delivery prematurely; but some types of drug abuse commonly cause premature birth. A new study indicates that the side effects of premature birth last long after a baby leaves the neonatal intensive care unit. Other studies have focused on the immediate risks of premature birth where this study focused on adult life of premature children. Premature birth is defined as delivery that occurs before 38 weeks of gestation. In... more

I love the smell of a freshly washed infant covered in baby lotion. You know, the kind in the pink bottle that has the smell that we all associate with babies. Every foster, adopted, and birth child that has lived with us under the age of five received a liberal dosing from head to toe everyday. Now I have guilt associated with those pleasant memories of sweet smelling infants. A recent study of phthalate exposure indicated that more than 80 percent of infants tested have been exposed. These substances are... more

The gynecologist suggested that LuLu may have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). She was making this observation due to her elevated testosterone and other clues in her hormone test results from this summer. She ordered more tests to either confirm or deny this hypothesis.

Meanwhile, she sent me home to research PCOS. Didn’t she know I would have anyway? And then, of course, I’d share it with you. PCOS is a hormone imbalance. The main symptoms are irregular periods (too few or too many), weight gain, facial hair, and acne. One of the main hormone “clues” is high testosterone.

In our case, LuLu doesn’t have many of the symptoms of PCOS –only very frequent periods. ... more

I just calculated that it is mathematically probably that someone is PMSing every single week in this household, especially since LuLu’s body is holding up its end of the deal by having a cycle every 14-18 days. So if Kay and I are not in sync, we literally have this happening all the time at our house. Thankfully, Kay and I have a bit fewer symptoms during our pre-menstrual time. But as I said at first, No Wonder My Husband Travels!

I’ve watched since Sunday as the storm has been brewing. Last week LuLu was remarkably calm, but she’s been ramping up each... more

There just isn’t that much information out there on this topic, but it is one that strikes terror in many parent’s heart. LuLu started her period last December. The first one was a momentous occasion that she handled better than I expected, given her trauma background.

After that, her hormonally challenged body decided to have cycles that occurred every 14-16 days. This was just TOO MUCH for poor LuLu, both physically and emotionally. So for the last 6+ months we have struggled... more

Mayer-Von Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser Syndrome (MRKHS) or congenital vaginal aplasia affects maybe one in 5,000 female infants. These girls are born without a vagina, but have normal uteri, ovaries, and external secondary sex organs such as breasts. Because they do not have a vagina, they do not have a menses; they cannot give birth when they mature, nor can they have sexual intercourse without intervention. Diagnosis doesn’t usually occur until they try to have sexual intercourse for the first time.

Most girls without vaginas who seek treatment will use dilators to create a... more