I'm a full-time mummy

(** Article first published as Book Review: Hold It Mama: The Pelvic Floor and Core Handbook for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond by Mary O'Dwyer) on Blogcritics)

I received an email from Mary at the end of February this year asking whether I would be interested in reviewing her book and after checking out her book on her website and also Amazon, I decided to review it. So here goes my review for the "Hold It Mama" book:

Title: Hold It Mama
Author: Mary O'Dwyer
Publisher: Redsok (July 20, 2011)
ASIN: B005N049KY 
Paperback:  229 pages

Description from the product page:
"Hold It Mama is the essential guide for women who want the best of both worlds: children and a strong, vibrant pelvic floor and core. This guide gives women the power to reclaim their fitness, shape and pelvic health during pregnancy, birth and beyond.

Hold It Mama will help you —
- recover core strength and shape
- improve pelvic floor and abdominal control
- stay safely active during pregnancy
- practice skills for an empowered labor
- protect the pelvic floor during birth
- self-check for prolapse or muscle damage
- recover after C-section birth including scar minimization
- follow the ‘Shrink the Jellybelly’ program
- enjoy vital pelvic floor and core fitness throughout life"

To be honest, the only thing I know about pelvic muscle is exercising them during pregnancy as I read it helps to make the contractions faster. Oh boy, I hope I got it right. For both of my pregnancies, I squat as much as possible right up to my last trimester and I think it helps a lot! It is good to read on page 52 of this book about the benefits of squatting and reaffirm my understanding.

The exercise on page 16 item number 3 is the Kegel exercise I learned in antenatal class when I was pregnant with my first child. I also like the tips given during labor, ways to take to help baby move down the pelvis.

In section 6, this chapter touches the early postpartum phase and how it is important to use this period to heal and strengthened back the pelvic floor and abdominal muscles. I also find the tips on breastfeeding positions on page 100 very helpful as well.

Btw, one awesome point in this book is it sets out detailed recovery after caesarean as well as vaginal births. Do you know that it takes C section mums longer to recover after birth as deep healing needs to happen before they return to activity? I read with great interests on how the muscles are affected for C section mums after labor. Interesting!

My favorite chapter in this book has got to be section 13 (page 170 - 177) where in highlights birth and postpartum care in other countries and cultures, a good eye opener to always know more on how people from other countries do it.

Reading this book helps me to learn how important our pelvic floor and abdominal muscles are and how we can exercise and get it back to its shape even after birth and beyond.

You can get this book from Amazon and http://store.holditsister.com/books.html

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a PDF copy of the book by the author in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous book reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My Book Reviews"

I am so happy I get to review another health and beauty products! So here goes my review for the products by Lady Soma:

About Lady Soma:
"Lady Soma is an all natural, healthy and holistic source of women's probiotic supplements and skincare, which are all specially formulated to fit women's needs. Our skin care line includes the Renewal Serum, the Antioxidant Berry Masque, and the Skin & Nail Treatment. Our supplements include the Lady Soma Detox, the Lady Soma Fiber Cleanse with Probiotics, the Candida Advanced Cleanse, and the Cranberry Concentrate with Vitamin C.

We ship internationally, around the world, and are proud to offer our natural and healthy womens products to those women who wish to have a happy and healthy lifestyle.  The purpose of this website is to provide women with the information  educate women in making the right choices for their bodies."

I received a total of 3 products for my review, hence I'll break them down by each product:

1) Skin & Nail Treatment

** Usage: It helps repair dry and cracked skin and as it is specifically formulated for skin and nails, it promotes a soft supple cuticle, while repairing existing damage and also enhances nails for a shiny appearance and healthy looking cuticles

My feedback on:

- Smell: vanilla-ish, I like it!

- Texture: like normal lotion feel but not oily at all, leaves a shine on nails after application, also leaves a very nice vanilla-ish fragrance

- Results: My dry skin looks refreshed and rejuvenated and I love the shine on my nails after I rub some of the cream on it.

2) Antioxidant Berry Masque

** Usage: allows for a detox facial treatment using the antioxidant power of blueberries and cranberries, which enhance cellular renewal and collagen production and the glycolic and alpha lipoic acids create a microdermabrasion-like effect that eliminates dead skin cells to reveal a fresh new layer

My feedback on:

- Smell: berry, grape-y smell, I love the smell, makes me want to ermmm... eat myself? Hahahah..

- Texture: sand papery and looks like sandy mud

- Results: The first time I used this, the area around my nose stings and is a little bit red but few more times with using this masque, my skin feels soft and smooth and no more redness or stinging sensation.

3) Lip Balm

My feedback on:

- Smell: minty

- Feel: cooling and I use this when I had mouth ulcer recently to keep my lips from drying up. Very helpful in keeping my lips moist!

You can shop at http://www.ladysoma.com/products.html

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the product by Lady Soma in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

Last year, I have a wonderful opportunity to review the "Buzzle" app and this time, Sonia of Walnut Labs contacted me again to review their 2nd app which is an educational app called "Feed The Animals". Anyway, my review as below...

* Title: Feed The Animals
* Price: $0.99
* Category: Games
* Updated: Mar 30, 2012
* Version: 1.0.51
* Size: 11.4 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Anshu Dhanuka
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later

Description from the product page:

"Wouldn’t it be fun to feed a banana to a monkey or an acorn to a squirrel? Did you know that a hippopotamus is a herbivore animal? Think carefully to select an animal’s favorite food and feed it to the animal and make them happy!! They will merrily chomp away the food making a clatter of funny sounds and cute faces! You will even be awarded stickers for correctly feeding them. Watch your child squeal with joy and hear their uncontrollable giggles as they feed one animal after the other.

Feed The Animals aims to educate your child on the eating habits of different animals. They will be able to differentiate between carnivore and herbivore animals, without even realizing that they are learning. This app will improve their decision making skills and refine their motor skills.

Feed The Animals has been designed keeping a child’s interests and behavior in mind. It has been tested by several kiddos to ensure an effortless game play. The app endeavors to be enjoyable and educational at the same time. There are no complicated menus and options for kids to get confused or lost in. The sticker rewards are bound to encourage your kids to remember the correct food item of their favorite animals.

Feed The Animals attempts to strengthen your child’s cognitive skills, concentration and memory. It’s interactive and animated graphics will keep the kids engaged and bring them back for more!"

* I love the illustrations of this app, it is very cute and pleasing to the eyes.

* This is a fun app where you get to feed animals with the right food and at the same time unlocks stickers for entertainment and decoration in the app!

* I like that there a variety of animals in this app and I personally learned a couple new things on what some animals eat!

* Some of the animals got my boy laughing such as the frog when it eats the fly with its long tongue and the fish with the worms since we have an aquarium at home. 

* The sticker screen is very sensitive, even the slightest touch or movement will prompt us to the next screen which is quite annoying as there is no way or button to go back to the sticker screen until we solved another set of animals and unlocked a new sticker.

Room for Improvement

* This app has so much potential! I'd love it if the objects (such as the food and animals) can be pronounced if we tap on the image. For example if I tap on the fly image, it'll make a buzzing sound with the word 'Fly' being announced.

* I would love for a button to allow us to go to the sticker page at any point of the game. Currently, you can go to the sticker page by pressing the Home button on the app and then look for the '+' button which will you can then choose the Sticker page. I find these steps too cumbersome and might be confusing for my boy as well, so it would be really great if a direct button is placed on every page of the game (probably a button called 'Stickers' or something)

You can purchase the "Feed The Animals" app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"