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We often tell our partners, families, and friends (and ourselves) that all we want is a healthy baby. But whether we want to admit it or not, we often have a preference for having a male or female child. While we often use the term gender to denote a boy or a girl, the more accurate term to use is sex. For some, the discovery that their little one isn’t the sex that they had predicted or hoped for—what’s commonly referred to as gender disappointment—sends them into a tailspin of negative emotions....

Subscribe Now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts Every Monday on The Verywell Mind Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Amy Morin, LCSW, interviews experts, authors, entrepreneurs, athletes, musicians, and other inspirational people about the strategies that help them think, feel, and do their best in life. Meet Bryan Abrams Bryan Abrams is a multi-platinum award-winning singer who is best known for his role in the R&B group Color Me Badd. The group rose to the top of the charts in the 90s with songs like “I Wanna Sex You Up,” “I Adore Mi Amor,” and “All 4 Love....

So … you are using a short-acting SSRI medication. You have to discontinue it or titrate it down, you tend to be very sensitive to the effects of medication withdrawal, and you want to know what to do to head off SSRI discontinuation syndrome? A main approach is reducing the dosage very gradually under the supervision of your doctor. This can take weeks and sometimes months. You may be able to use the pills you have or you may need different doses or preparations prescribed....

Losing our loved ones is an inevitable and painful part of life. Unfortunately, we don’t get to choose when and how grief touches our families, and shielding children from the realities of death isn’t always possible. While a parental instinct may be to guard kids from those painful moments, keeping the truth about death from your child may not best for them either. “Children need to learn that grief and sadness is okay and normal, and that there are ways to cope,” explains Rene Guilbeau, Director of Child Life and Creative Therapies at Children’s Hospital New Orleans....

If you’re looking for a warm, familiar, traditional name that has been popular in the U.S. for the past half-century, Joshua could be the name for you. Joshua comes from the Hebrew name “Yehoshua,” meaning “God is deliverance.” In the Old Testament of the Bible, Joshua was the Israelite leader who succeeded Moses and led the Hebrews to the Promised Land. How Popular Is the Name Joshua? Joshua has been one of America’s top 100 boy names since 1971....

As soon as children start to play youth sports, they begin to learn the basics of sportsmanship for kids. In fact, this is the best reason for young children to participate in team sports. For athletes just starting out, swapping high fives with the opposing team after a game may seem like a minor detail, not a meaningful gesture. But moments like these lay the groundwork for true team play....

If you have ever looked at your bank account and wondered where all the money from your paycheck went, you are not the only one! Many of us don’t realize how much we spend or really pay attention to what we spend it on. If you were to start keeping track of exactly what you buy each week, you might realize that your daily morning coffee out is sucking way too much out of your income and decide to start making it at home....

When parents split up, it becomes necessary to create a child custody agreement. Navigating this process with the other parent and through the court system can be complicated. Many choose to delegate this job to child custody lawyers and/or mediators, but some parents decide to pursue filing on their own, which is known as filing pro se. Pro se is Latin for “on one’s own behalf” or “for oneself.” As a legal term, it effectively means self-representation....

If you recently learned that you are pregnant, you may be looking for ways to determine your baby’s sex. While some people might want to know this information so that they can plan ahead, decide on a name, or start to bond with their little one, there may be medical reasons motivating someone’s desire to learn more—especially if genetic disorders that are sex-specific run in the family. Blood tests and ultrasounds are concrete, scientific ways to learn the sex of your baby, but there are plenty of myths and old wives’ tales that supposedly offer alternative routes....

For many people, an essential part of any theme park vacation is the roller coasters; others experience roller coaster phobia. If you live with from roller coaster phobia, you may wonder how to get through your next theme park vacation. What Is Roller Coaster Phobia? To understand roller coaster phobia, it is necessary to first understand roller coasters. The original precursor to the roller coaster was the Russian Ice Slide, invented during the 17th century in Russia....

For the parents of newborns, the number of tests that a perfectly healthy baby undergoes in their first few days of life can seem endless. But these tests are important to ensure your new bundle of joy is developing as expected, and that there are no medical conditions that could require treatment. Newborn Screening Test The newborn screening test, called the Recommended Uniform Screening Panel (RUSP), is done when your baby turns 24 hours old and is usually performed in the nursery at the hospital....

As temperatures plummet and winter storms blow through, it’s important to have at least one good jacket in your closet, ready to protect you from the elements. This is particularly true if you plan to spend your fall and winter days getting active outside. Whether that means walking, skiing, running, or backpacking, the draw of the great outdoors (and the multitude of exercise options it offers) doesn’t stop just because the snow starts falling....

If the last time you had a girls’ night was at a college slumber party, you’re long overdue for a night with your friends. While ladies’ night out is always an option, it can be expensive and tricky to navigate logistics—especially if you have kids. Instead, consider a girls’ night in to let off some steam and get a much-needed recharge. Ideas for Your Next Girls’ Night In Here are 10 fun ideas to help you plan your next at-home night with your best girlfriends....

Treatments for social anxiety disorder (SAD) depend on the severity of your emotional and physical symptoms and how well you function daily. The length of treatment also varies. Some people may respond well to initial treatment and not require anything further, while others may require some form of support throughout their lives. Both medication and therapy have been shown effective in treating social anxiety disorder. Social anxiety that occurs in all situations responds best to a combination of medication and therapy, while therapy alone is often sufficient for people with anxiety specific to one type of performance or social situation....

What triggers the urge to smoke for you? Anger? Boredom? Fatigue? Joy? You may associate all of these feelings with smoking, but stress and anger might stand out as smoking triggers. When you’re stressed, the urge to smoke can be intense. You might think that you need cigarettes to keep calm. In fact, smoking tends to create more stress than it dispels. Learning how to cope with stress without a cigarette is difficult when you first quit smoking....

Pregnant women often wonder whether they’ll know when true labor begins. The end of pregnancy is filled with discomforts, including false contractions that mimic labor pains, making it difficult to determine when exactly it’s time to call the doctor. Labor is broken down into three phases: early, active and transitional. Early labor is referred to as the latent phase. This is the least difficult phase of labor but often lasts the longest....

The musical learning style, also known as the aural (auditory-musical-rhythmic), is one of eight types of intelligence defined in Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences. Musical learning style refers to a person’s ability to understand and process sound, rhythm, patterns in sound, relationships between sounds, and ability to process rhymes and other auditory information. Characteristics Musical learning styled people enjoy school activities such as music performance and appreciation, band, choir, orchestra, and writing poetry or songs....

When you’re feeling stressed, you probably know that something like exercise or meditation will relieve your stress in the short run and build resilience in the long run, but sometimes you might find yourself more likely to climb into be and watch a rerun of a favorite show, then emerge from your cocoon with more energy and patience. If you enjoy doing this (or if you’re completely perplexed why anyone would enjoy this), we have some interesting news for you....

For many kids, their birthday is their favorite day of the year. And why not? It is a day dedicated entirely to them—complete with cake, balloons, singing, and presents. Although parents sometimes stress over the idea of planning a birthday party, the preschool age is actually an ideal time to throw one. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you keep your sanity while ensuring that everyone has a good time....

At 3 weeks, many parents are starting to feel like they are getting into the groove of caring for their baby. They understand better what their baby needs, and are starting to adapt to the lifestyle of parenting a newborn—exhaustion and all! What’s more, your baby is becoming more and more alert, and really starting to feel like a little person. With that heightened alertness, though, comes more intense periods of fussiness, and some babies are even beginning to show signs of colic....