Heathguru Answers Your Questions

I remember back when I was pregnant I had so many questions. I was young and did not know what to expect. Sure, people were telling me this and that, but the questions I kept in my mind were never really answered. I didn't feel my Mom was comfortable talking about my pregnancy. My goodness, the subject of sex was never even mentioned.

Looking back, I did have the most easy pregnancy. I didn't gain much weight. I looked like I swallowed a basketball. I was one of the lucky ones who didn't have any morning sickness. I was able to eat what I wanted, when I wanted and was never bothered by something repeating on me, upset stomach, cramps or diarrhea.

As my body went through the many changes, I just accepted each one. Sure I wondered why was I always in the bathroom. How much urine is in me? Why am I so tired? But I found I really couldn't sleep. I just went along month after month with the idea that I am going through this because I am pregnant. That's it, don't question it...just accept it. I guess it would have helped me to have explanations.

I remember I was a couple weeks into my ninth month. My mom and I went to visit my grandmother and great grandmother. We were enjoying our visit, but throughout the day I was feeling 'pressure'.I kept this to myself because once again, I figured I am suppose to feel this. I kept getting up to go to the bathroom...with each trip to the bathroom, a few drops of urine escaped. Ok I'm good, I thought. As long as I don't pee my pants, I'm fine. After about the 5th trip, my great grandmother (who spoke Italian) started to get excited and I couldn't understand what was going on. My grandmother was then asking why I was getting up so much. As I explained, my Mom was now nervous and told me my water is probably breaking. My water? What? We were about 40 minutes away from home and another 15 from the hospital. Call the doctor they were all shouting. Ok...now my fear is settling in. What's happening? Am I about to have this baby? They were explaining to me about the danger of a dry birth. By this time, my head was spinning and feeling like a robot, I just got in the car and was driven to the hospital. All ended well. We made it to the hospital in time and a few hours later, I was a Mom with a healthy baby boy.

With a first pregnancy, I believe all women have questions and possibly fear of what to expect. Getting information, having all your questions answered and knowing what to expect would probably help throughout the nine months. If you do not have someone to turn to for this information or maybe you feel embarrassed to ask, here's a great website to get the information you need.

Healthguru.com provides all the information you might need to put your mind at ease. Heathguru answers your questions you have kept to yourself, wondered about or couldn't get the answers to. Let me also tell you that this site offers not only information on anything and everything associated with pregnancy but also provides information on fertility and conception, sex, college student health, STD protection, birth control, your body, your mind, weight loss etc. There's just too many topics to list.

This might be a great site to guide your teenage and college aged children to, whether male or female, for answers you might feel uncomfortable speaking about. This site provides videos and articles which were put together by a team of expert doctors.
Have a question? Find your answer there.

Do you remember having questions with your first pregnancy? Have a funny story to share?

Report Annoying Callers

Are you stressed out due to repeated, annoying phone calls to your home or office? The calls can be those automated telemarketing calls (I get them all the time at my office), brokers looking for a new client/customer or any other type of sales pitch, scam or spam call. There are also those annoying 'wrong numbers' who insist that they did dial the right number and call again and again.

Whatever type of annoying call you may be receiving, there is now a way you can eliminate your stress. You can now Report Annoying Callers on a new site that allows you to post the telephone number you received and what the caller was calling for. This alerts others to be watchful and aware. There are so many scams out there.

There are hundreds of comments on this website. From collection calls, harassing threatening calls to computer automated calls. All the telephone numbers are listed with an explanation from every state.
You can search their directory to find out if the annoying call you are receiving is listed due to their reverse telephone look up capabilities.

Help eliminate your stress and that of others by reporting annoying calls

Cataract Free America

I love bringing awareness to others about topics they could benefit from. This is one topic that hits home.

Cataracts.

My grandmother had cataracts and I remember when I was a child, she was almost blind. Luckily our family was able to help with the cost of corrective surgery. Others are not so lucky. My mom had to have a cataract removed also and her quality of life improved. She was lucky enough to have great medical insurance to help cover her medical bills. Others are not so lucky.

I believe more help should be available for our seniors. I heard about this program and couldn't wait to post about this. Cataract Free America is a new, non profit organization whose mission is to help seniors who are eligible to getfree cataract surgery. Isn't that wonderful? If Cataracts have touched you or a family member, please look into this. Your eyesight is a wonderful gift. This organization also provides information to the public about cataract related issues and gives researched answers to seniors' questions.

What are Cataracts?

A cataract can affect one eye or both. When the crystalline lens within your eye becomes cloudy, it is considered a cataract. The crystalline lens is the clear part of the eye and it helps to focus light, or an image, onto the retina. A healthy eye receives the light through the transparent lens and passes it to the retina. Once at the retina, the light is then changed into nerve signals that are sent to the brain. If your lens is clear and the retina will receive a sharp image. If the lens is cloudy from a cataract, the image will be blurred, distorted, and/or discolored.

Cataracts affect millions of people each year and is the leading cause of correctable blindness in the world.

Cataract Symptoms

> No symptoms
> Poor night vision, halos, starbursts
> Hazy, cloudy, or blurry vision
> Glare
> Ghost images, double vision or multiple images in one eye
> Better near vision, worse distance vision
> Frequent eyeglasses or contact lens prescription changes
> Color changes toward yellow and brown

If you experience any of these listed symptoms, it could be a sign of other eye problems also. Please consult your eye specialist.

At Cataract Free America, they have a panel of doctors who are willing to reduce fees for eligible seniors. They will also accept existing insurance, such as Medicare as PAYMENT IN FULL. They will also provide surgery for FREE to those who have no insurance.

Informational links for you:

> How surgery can be free:
> Beneifts:
> Eligibility:

Give someone you know the gift of eyesight and the peace of mind knowing they don't have to worry about the financial aspect of this surgery.

Something For God To Do

To: YOU
Date: TODAY
From: GOD
Subject: YOURSELF
Reference: LIFE

This is God. Today I will be handling All of your problems for you. I do Not need your help. So, have a nice day.
I love you.

P.S. And, remember...
If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do Not attempt to resolve it yourself! Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something for God to do) box. I will get to it in MY TIME. All situations will be resolved, but in My time, not yours.

Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life now.

If you find yourself stuck in traffic, don't despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard of privilege.

Should you have a bad day at work; think of the man who has been out of work for years.

Should you despair over a relationship gone bad; think of the person who has never known what it's like to love and be loved in return.

Should you grieve the passing of another weekend; think of the woman in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed her children.

Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance; think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk.

Should you notice a new gray hair in the mirror; think of the cancer patient in chemo who wishes she had hair to examine.

Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what is life all about, asking what is my purpose? Be thankful. There are those who didn't live long enough to get the opportunity.

Should you find yourself the victim of other people's bitterness, ignorance, smallness or insecurities; remember, things could be worse. You could be one of them!

Now, you have a nice day...God

Do You Worry?

So many people spend a great deal of time worrying. The time you spend worrying, is time you can never get back.

Worry can be non productive or at times can help motivate you to take action and find a solution to whatever you are worrying about.

If you are worrying about your financial situation, especially these days when the cost of living is on the rise, you can learn how to help yourself and/or change your situation and get back your peace of mind.

Is your worrying regarding debt and/or bills? You can receive Debt help at a variety of places.

One such place is http://www.bills.com/. Their site offers a Bills IQ test. It is a simple and easy question and answer test. Just click on your answers and at the end of the test you will receive your score. The test covers such topics as credit, debt, budget, wealth and life plan. You will also receive personal tips and expert advice to help you learn more about your finances and ways to help bring you to a better financial position.

I personally took the test and received a B. So, it seems I need improvement. I remember as a teenager entering the workforce, my Dad always told me to save for a rainy day...just in case something comes up. As I entered adulthood and bought my first house, he said I should have at least 3 months of earnings saved...just in case an emergency comes up or for illness etc... Something I learned from taking the test is that ideally you should now have 6 months of earnings saved.

This test is something that can be beneficial to you. It's free, the advice is free. It can help you to stop your worrying, find out if you are financial fit and if not, you will learn ways to improve your situation.

Peace of Mind With Phone Service

My mom is in her golden years and lives alone. She's not only bothered by harassing marketing calls, but worries about the callers who do not leave a message. She's always wondering Who Called Me?

I mentioned to her to put herself on the free No Call List. The information I found on whojustcalledhere.com said that putting your number on the do not call list can take up to 30 days to take affect, but at least in the end, we know those calls will stop. Reading further, I saw information on the reverse phone look up service.

I believe this service will give her peace of mind. When she receives a mystery call, she can receive a report on that number. She'll know who called, whether it was a reputable business,someone she does indeed know or was actually expecting that caller to call. She will feel safer knowing she can access this information and find out that the caller is not intending to cause her harm.

Errors CAN Happen in the Hospital

I am very concerned about human error when in the hospital. My recent stay in the hospital brought about a few potential errors that might have occurred if I wasn't on top of my care and the medications I was to receive.

May I suggest that if you find yourself in the hospital or a loved one, make sure you get very involved in their care. You can not leave your life totally in the hands of others. You need to look after yourself.

I wrote a more in depth post on my other blog...A Circle of Women ~ Human Error While in the Hospital and included some Important Tips that you should be aware of. Please read for your safety and the safety of your loved ones.

Are You Grounded?

We may have a lot going on in our personal lives which cause our stress levels to elevate. Add to that what is going on in our world and the levels increase even more so.

When we are experiencing feelings of stress, upset, anger, frustration or some other emotional form, we are ungrounded. Meaning our soul is not connected to our body. We are not experiencing in the 'now'. We are off thinking about other things. Being Ungrounded is usually a negative, but that is not always the case. Sometimes we are just off...somewhere else in thought, moving along in a daze, not paying attention. We experience Mental fogginess.

Anchoring your roots to the earth's healing energies can be achieved by learning how to relax and maintaining a balance within our physical and spiritual bodies. See my post on Balancing Your Chakras:Root. Have you ever been stressed and found yourself working out in your garden or felt the need to plant? Your hands working the earth, the soil. You are really grounding yourself. After you are done with this task, do you feel better? I know I do and enjoy working with soil, plants, even weeding.

We are spiritual beings, but sometimes we neglect our bodies. We need to care for the container of our spirit. Grounding brings to us health and well being. Usually grounding oneself can be done with visualization. See the exercise within the mention post Balancing Your Chakras.

Other Ways to Ground Yourself:
1) Learn to mediate, focus on your breathing. Inhale and exhale in a balanced rhythm. Be aware of this rhythm. Focus on the way you are breathing. This will bring your to the 'now'
2) Visulaize the color red. This color is associated with the root chakra.
3) Imagine you are wearing red shoes or slippers. Seeing red on your feet will remind you to stay grounded and bring your attention back to your physical self.
4) Hug a tree. Trees have deep roots
5) Imagine yourself as a tree and see your feet as roots deeply planted in the ground
6) Seating in a chair with both feet on the floor, your spine is straight. You are aware of your entire body in this position. Rest your arms on your thighs or on the arms of the chair. Notice your posture. You will feel strong and at ease. Allow the energy to flow through your entire body.
7) Saying Grounding Statements: If you are feeling stressed or another negative feeling, repeat to yourself...this feeling will pass, I feel strong and safe. Come up with your own grounding statement and repeat it to yourself or say it outloud.
8) Dance or sing a song that makes you feel good
9) Stump your feet. Feeling the power in your legs as your feet hit the ground.
10) Carry a smooth stone. Sometimes referred to as a 'worry' stone.

Create your own state of calm and comfort. Ground away those negative energies and bring awareness to your body.


Take this quiz to see if you are Grounded: CLICK HERE

Do You Over Analyze?

One of the differences between the sexes is how negative emotions are handled. Men usually like to avoid them and women... don't.

In fact, women get stuck in negative emotions and almost cause a downward spiral. According to psychologist Susan Nolan-Hoeksems, women are twice as likely to develop depression than men. Her findings also include that women are more inclined to over analyze about the stressors and disappointments they encounter to the point of getting stuck there. They focus on the distress and possible causes, over and over and over.

In repeatedly going over negative thoughts and feelings, we examine them, question them...actually creating the problems to swell in size. When we analyze like this, it just makes life harder.

It seems when we have a pause in life, we fill this space with things to worry about. What this does is suck our emotions right out of us, our energy level is low and we can start to feel overwhelmed.

Women can worry about...almost anything! Appearance, family, health, their jobs, friends, relationships, money...

I have found when I lapse into my over thinking ways, I just ask myself one question, which leads to another, then another...having said that...this then leads into the expansion of the situation into another situation, then another. At times this creates a scenario in my head, that I actually can talk myself into thinking is true, when in reality, it isn't.

Many women analyze and obsess about relationships. Why? Because they are important to women. What we do though, is torture those around us. Constantly looking for reassurance, questioning, looking for support. This often creates an unpleasant atmosphere and what we are craving from those around us, we don't receive. We get less...it makes others not want to be around.

Of course, some situations requires over thinking and is quite natural, but when it becomes obsessive, that's when we have to learn to stop.

How can we overcome over thinking?

* Be aware and understand that over thinking is not giving you insight, but clouds your mind.

* Use positive distractions and get your attention away from the over thinking. Read, take a walk, watch a movie

* Exercise

* Repeatedly tell your self to STOP when you catch yourself over thinking

* Make a conscious decision to not allow your over thinking or negative thoughts control you

* Write down your thoughts. Keep a diary

* Listen to music, dance...

Are You Happy?

If you were asked...are you happy? How would you respond? Yes...sometimes....I don't know...

Why is it that some people can answer yes quickly and know they ARE happy, while others might just shrug their shoulders..no, not really they would answer. A lot of people fall somewhere in between.

I guess some people know how to enjoy their life no matter what happens. No matter what speed bumps of life they incur. Others, let what happens to them affect them on a different level and feel they can't be happy no matter how hard they try.

Researchers have explained that no matter what happens to us in life, we tend to return to a fixed rate of happiness usually within a year. Using a weight scale as an example...your weight number probably hovers around a certain number. The same is true for your happiness point. This happiness point won't change unless you change it.

Research shows that whatever experience: positive or negative, people return to their set point. BUT, there are three exceptions: losing a spouse, chronic unemployment and extreme poverty. These three take more time to recover, so returning to your happiness point takes much longer.

It is said that 50 percent of our happiness set point is genetic and the other 50 percent is learned...your thoughts, feelings and beliefs about your life experiences.

How Can You Change Your Happiness Set Point?
You have to raise above your set point by changing your thoughts, beliefs and feelings about certain areas in your life. Are there certain areas in your life that you are not happy about? Money, employment, friends, health, spirituality, sense of fulfillment or meaning in your life...

Bringing happiness into your life can include being more positive, change,acceptance, being optimistic. Feeling that you are the master of your fate, not a victim of circumstances.

Set goals for all areas of your life and find a way to balance all that is important to you.

Happiness is a state of mind...The happiest people don't have it all. They just make the most of what they have...

Take The Happiness Test:

Finding Peace of Mind

Do you find yourself anxious, nervous or worried? In the world today, there's much to worry about. Finances, our family, children, the war, our health, realtionships...I could go on and on.

Whatever your worry is, you need to find peace of mind. Meaning letting go of these anxious feelings. It maybe easier said than done, but honestly, if we can't truly control a situation, we need to let go. We're anxious because we want things to be different than they are. We need to accept what we can't control.

Who ever said life was going to be easy? Life doesn't hand us what we want either, but we do have control over our emotions and our actions.

From whatever reason we are anxious or worried about, we will learn and grow from the situation. We all have that inner strength to turn it into something good. Don't see yourself as the victim...poor me. See yourself as a strong person and able to trust in yourself. Keep negativity out of the situation by reminding yourself that 'whatever happens, you can handle it'. It brings to mind a saying I have heard many times...God doesn't hand us more than our shoulders can handle. Boy, at times my shoulders had to handle alot, but I handled it and got through the situations.

That could also be one of your affirmations if you are feeling anxious about something. Trust in yourself and really believe you CAN handle any situation. IF you truly believe, then you WILL handle it.

I know I sometimes think 'what if", but I quickly decide...ok, what if this happens or that happens....I can handle it. When I do that, I don't find myself dwelling on something or getting all crazy about it.

When difficult things surround you, keep your affirmation...you can handle it... and make that a part of your thinking. Keeping positive creates positive actions and that in turn will increase your self esteem and you will start to feel different. Inner strength and power emerge.

Bad and unfortunate things do happen, the outside world is not perfect, but we can't control what the universe holds for any of us. Don't dwell on things you can't control. Your life will have meaning if you take time to see the beauty and wonderment, enjoy the simple things, be thankful for the blessings in your life.