| 4 Signs You May Be Pregnant
1. Tender breasts: Many women report increased sensitivity, fullness, or heaviness within a few days. By two weeks after conception, your areolas (the pinkish or brown skin surrounding the nipples) may start to enlarge.
2. Spotting: Scantier than a period and sometimes mixed with a yellowish discharge, a small amount of bleeding may occur when the developing egg implants itself in your uterine wall.
3. Fatigue: Can't keep awake at work? If you feel tired even after a good night's sleep, your body may be going through the changes of early pregnancy.
4. Nausea: Don't think of it as "morning sickness," since it can strike at any time of the day or night. It might feel like a slight case of seasickness or a full-fledged stomach virus -- or you may not experience it at all.
HPV vaccine creates parental challenge
What they thought would be a routine physical for her volleyball team found 14-year-old Amanda Zaborowski and her mom facing a big question: Did they want Amanda to get a new vaccine that would protect her against the common and serious sexually transmitted disease HPV, or human papillomavirus?The vaccine, Amanda's doctor told them, could prevent potentially deadly cervical cancer. He also explained that the three-dose inoculation would work best if she had it well before becoming sexually active.This was a doctor that her mom, Linda Zaborowski, had trusted since Amanda was a child. She thought the vaccine sounded like a good idea. But she ultimately wanted her daughter to make the decision."If you think this is right for me, you know what's best," the high school freshman told her mom and doctor.
PREGNANCY DOESN'T USUALLY WORSEN SCOLIOSIS
DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am the mother of an only child. She is 31 and has been married for one year. My daughter is afraid to become pregnant because she believes she'll have difficulty carrying a child due to her spinal curvature. She's also afraid that carrying a baby will make her scoliosis worse. An orthopedic doctor followed her in her teens and didn't suggest treatment since her scoliosis was ''borderline.'' I know she wants to be a mom, and I want to be a grandmom. What do you say? -- A.A. ANSWER: Scoliosis is a curving of the spine to one side. The curve can be in the upper back, the lower back or in both upper and lower back. The degree of curvature correlates with the severity of symptoms and with the limits of physical activity. The degree is assessed through X-rays. Your daughter had mild scoliosis as a teenager.
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