Did you have a baby on Christmas??

Did you have a baby this Christmas season? So many babies have been on television this holiday season in the cutest little outfits. All of the babies born in one hospital here were wrapped in Christmas stockings and put in the viewing window like little stocking gifts. They did look cute but I wonder how the babies felt about it? I've seen lots of names for these babies like Carol, Noel, and Holly. I'm sure parents, family and friends get a lot out of this but down the road, the kids may not be so thrilled with their Christmas names.

As always, my message is just this: Sing to your baby, play music for her and have certain songs for certain activities like bathing, nursing, sleeping, and out for a walk. She will learn to recognize the time of day and activity by what music is playing and will contribute to her sense of security in the world. Give it a try!

Are you pregnant this Christmas?

I was pregnant with my first daughter over the Christmas of 1975. It was a beautiful memory that I'll never forget. She was born in April of 1976 and the Christmas before she was just beginning to move around so that I could feel it. We played lots of Christmas music for her and sang lots of carols and other music. I don't know whether there's any correlation but today she is a professional violinist!

If you are pregnant right now, please enjoy all the holiday music and enjoy this wonderful season! It's a joyous time of anticipation for everyone!

How early can baby hear?

Throughout my three pregnancies I wondered, "can my baby hear the music around me; can she hear my conversations with friends and family?" Well, I didn't know the answer then, but I do now! The developing ear is beginning to be functional by the beginning of the second trimester! Research shows that around the beginning of the 4th month, baby can hear Mom's heartbeat, digestive sounds and circulation sounds. Over the next six months hearing grows and by the last trimester baby can pretty much hear what you hear! What does this mean for the health of the baby? If you sing or hum a carefully selected 6 or 8 tunes for baby, these very same songs, sung after baby's birth, will calm and soothe baby immediately! They will be associated with warmth, nurturing and feeling safe. If perchance your little one comes early these songs will help her to gain weight faster, stabilize body rhythms and temperature and go home as much as five days earlier! According to hospital bills, one day in the neonatal intensive care unit is over $15,000 per day!! So start singing!!

If you don't know any lullabies, order my CD "Lullabies for Healthy Bonding." Link to this CD above.

Music and Preemies

Did you know that there has been quite a bit of clinical research on music with preemies? It's true. Several decades ago a man had the idea to make a tape for preemies that would be lullabies and nursery rhymes with a mother's heartbeat in the background. The tape was called "Baby Go to Sleep" and with the help of a grant from J.C. Penney, he gave thousands of them away to hospital NICU's as well as the regular newborn nurseries. The nurses and the mothers said the tape was miraculous in terms of instantaneously stopping crying and quieting fussy babies. Babies in the NICU gained weight faster and left the hospital days earlier as a result. It's so easy that most people overlook it as a therapeutic intervention. Give it a try!

A Musical Pacifier?

Now I've heard everything! Personally, I believe that a mother singing to her baby is the ideal way to soothe and comfort, especially a healthy newborn. But what about the preemies who must spend hours away from Mom, tucked away in a cold, sterile, hospital neo-natal intensive care unit? What about these poor little babes?

Well, it appears that someone has put a lot of thought into that and has come up with the musical pacifier! One of the serious problems of preemies is their inability to suck strongly enough to get the nurtrition they need. Preemies are, by definition, underweight and underdeveloped. They need to gain weight quickly so that their lungs can develop and they can breathe on their on.

Jane Standley, a music therapy professor at FSU has created a pacifier that actually plays music when the baby sucks on it and therefore reinforces the baby's desire to suck. Apparently, baby's have a natural appetite for music!

A brother's song

Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling. They found out that the new baby was going be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sang to his sister in mommy's tummy. He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he even met her. The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen, an active member of the Panther Creek United Methodist Church in Morristown, Tennessee. ! In time, the labor pains came. Soon it was every five minutes, every three, every minute. But serious complications arose during delivery and Karen found herself in hours of labor. Would a C-section be required? Finally, after a long struggle, Michael's little sister was born. But she was in very serious condition. With a siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushed the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital, Knoxville,Tennessee . The days inched by. The little girl got worse. The pediatrician had to tell the parents there is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst. Karen and her husband contacted a local cemetery about a burial plot. They had fixed up a special room in their house for their new baby but now they found themselves having to plan for a funeral. Michael, however, kept begging his parents to let him see his sister. I want to sing to her, he kept saying. Week two in intensive care looked as if a funeral would come before the week was over. Michael kept nagging about singing to his sister, but kids are never allowed in Intensive Care. Karen decided to take Michael whether they liked it or not. If he didn't see his sister right then, he may never see her alive. She dressed him in an oversized scrub suit and marched him into ICU. I looked like a walking laundry basket. The head nurse recognized him as a child and bellowed, "Get that kid out of here now. No children are allowed." The mother rose up strong in Karen, and the usually mild-mannered lady glared steel-eyed right into the head nurse's face, her lips a firm line. "He is not leaving until he sings to his sister" she stated. Then Karen towed Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazed at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. After a moment, he began to sing. In the pure-hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sang: "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray." Instantly the baby girl seemed to respond. The pulse rate began to calm down and become steady. "Keep on singing, Michael," encouraged Karen with tears in her eyes. "You never know, dear, how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away." As Michael sang to his sister, the baby's ragged, strained breathing became as smooth as a kitten's purr. "Keep on singing, sweetheart." "The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms". Michael's little sister began to relax as rest, healing rest, seemed to sweep over her. "Keep on singing, Michael." Tears had now conquered the face of the bossy head nurse. Karen glowed. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Please don't take my sunshine away..." The next day...the very next day...the little girl was well enough to go home. Woman's Day Magazine called it The Miracle of a Brother's Song. The medical staff just called it a miracle.

A picture is worth a thousand words

This picture was taken during a C-section of a tiny preemie. The emeging infant reached out and took the surgeon's finger. Amazing!