From: tigger@satyr.Sylvan.COM (Grace Sylvan)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: NutraSweet (Was: Re: Caffeine during Pregnancy)
Date: 12 Sep 92 05:19:35 GMT
	<14694@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu> <1992Sep10.210035.2885@afit.af.mil>
	<14737@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu>
Organization: Sylvan Associates

In article <14737@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu> pburch@bcm.tmc.edu (Paula) writes:

   My guess is that the heavy use of artificial sweeteners went along with 
   being careless in other ways, so that while the aspartame probably wasn't 
   what did it, there's always a possibility that the overall carelessness did.

   On the other hand, there are all those babies that end up with heart- 
   breaking defects just due to chance and the vagaries of development. 
   It's not fair to those parents to look for causes. The fact that she 
   laughed at you for being careful yourself makes the temptation strong, 
   of course.

I would like to second that. With Katherine, I ate healthfully, very
carefully, would not touch caffine, artificial sweetners, didn't drink
soda, alcohol, no medication whatsoever, took prenatal vitamins
virtually every day, and she has a birth defect. One of her ears is
malformed, and she is almost certainly hearing impaired in that ear,
if not deaf in it. The other is perfectly normal. She also had an ear
tag on that ear, and has a matching 'bug bite' that is permanent on
the cheek of her odd ear. Since children born deaf in one ear tend to
compensate fully for it, and her development has been at least normal,
we haven't pursued further testing. The ear tube is smaller than
normal, and an ear drum was not detected in a special exam at 16
months, although her speech and reactions ranged from normal to
excellent. The second reason we haven't done further testing is that
there is not much of anything, with current technology, that
would/could be done, because there is a high risk of facial paralysis
with ear operations. So as long as she isn't being negatively
effected, the specialist suggested that we should leave things be.

I drank some caffine during little Corey's first trimester, although
not excessively, by the guidelines recommended to some people by their
doctors. I skipped a few of my vitamins - but his placenta didn't
implant correctly. He appeared perfect by ultrasound and by external
exam when he was born 4 months too early.

I drank caffine, ate frozen dinners, and worried quite a bit during
Robin's pregnancy. I didn't gain excessive weight, but am already
overweight and started his pregnancy heavier than I did Kathy's. (The
aftermath of losing Corey). Robin is perfect, got 8/9 apgars (with
muconium in his fluid), and weighed a full pound and a half more than
Katherine did. Matter of fact, he is a *calmer* baby than Katherine
ever was, and I've continued drinking caffine while nursing.

There are babies born with various defects and problems whose moms
were very careful during pregnancy. It's just that growing a baby from
2 cells is a very complex process and many tiny and not so tiny things
can go wrong. This doesn't mean that it's inappropriate to be
conservative and take the best care of yourself while pregnant. But
only *some* birth defects are the result of anything the mother did or
didn't do, the rest are just the way the cells grew.
-- 

Tigger (Grace Sylvan)                Mom of Katherine Yelena, 8/8/89 &
tigger@satyr.sylvan.com              Robin Gregory born 2/28/92

 "It seems to me that our large goal is to find the ways to help our
 children become humane and strong."
 
              - Dr Haim Ginott quoted by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish