Drug & Alcohol Class

Hey all!!

We went to a drug and alcohol class this morning at Catholic Charities. There was a prenatal specialist there who explained the effects of all sorts of drugs on a fetus (including smoking and alcohol).

There were several surprising things. We discovered the most damaging drug right now (that they have info on) is ALCOHOL. Yep that's right, alcohol. But, most of the studies are out of date....at least 10-20 years old. They don't really have any accurate data on the new meth craze. So unfortunately, we are running blind on that issue. It seems all of the drugs can cause permanent problems, but the meth products (the old fashioned stuff that doesn't contain gasoline, household cleaners, etc..) can cause psychotic behavior as well as anger and other behavior or learning issues.

It's really scary. They said that unfortunately, on "the street" rumors spread that certain drugs are perfectly safe to use during pregnancy (WRONG!!), so addicts will switch to those instead of using their old stand-by. How scary is that!!

The one encouraging thing they said is that the baby's environment can alleviate some of the effects. If the baby is raised in a loving home with lots of love and bonding, it can really help undo some of the damage, but if there is brain damage involved, that is another issue.

We also found out that a large percentage of SIDS cases are related to smoking, drugs or alcohol use during pregnancy, smoking in the home after baby is born, or baby sleeping in the same bed as mom and dad. The sad thing is, they don't know how much of a risk (percentage wise) these things pose because there are no completed studies yet. But there is a definite link.

It's unfortunate they don't have more data to go on, but most birthmoms won't admit to anything because they are open to prosecution in most states. So unfortunately the medical community can only guess for now.

There is more bad news.......we lost another grandparent last month. The sad thing is that this grandparent was an "adopted" grandparent. She was the only real Grandma Phyllis had growing up (her bio-grandma wasn't really interested in playing the role). She was adopted as an infant, returned to an orphanage, and then lived in foster care after that. We adopted her as a grandparent when she was in her 60s. She was sooooooooo looking forward to having another adopted baby in the family. She couldn't wait. Such a bummer!!