When my daughter was 2, she had a routine lead test - and we never heard anything about it and assumed all was well. At her 3 year check up, they indicated her levels were high at 2, so we needed a follow-up check. Surprise, her levels had risen to 9.8 - and apparently over 10 is bad. In fact, we soon started getting calls from the health department and had to have her tested every 3 months. We also tested our home and found lead in our paint - especially on the porch. I did lots of research and wrote indignant letters to everyone at every level involved indicating that I thought that given the seriousness of the situation - prevention should be our goal. Imagine what a simple phone call that her 2 year levels were kind of high could have done - we would have found the source and made the necessary changes and prevented it from going up. Seems like a no brainer - but they don't worry about it until it is 10. As a paretn, I want to keep it from getting to 10, thanks.

So, my advice:

1. Call and ask for all test results. Ask for specific numbers and interpretation of said numbers. Never assume that no news is good news.

2. Test your home environment and toys, especially if you live in an older home.

3. Know that if your child's levels are high - there are some natural things you can do with your childs diet to help the body get rid of some, though never all, of the lead. Food high in iron can help prevent absorption and a Low Fat diet is essential as high fat foods promote lead absorption.

http://www.co.allen.in.us/images/stories/pdf/Foodsthatfightleadpoisoning.pdf

4. Don't give your baby and toddler real keys to play with as many keys have lead in them.

http://www.msdh.state.ms.us/msdhsite/_static/resources/760.pdf

5. Remember that ultimately, it is the parent's responsibility to provide a safe environment for a child - just because a toy is marketed as appropriate and safe, it does not mean that it truly is.

A concerned mom

Thank you for helping me make this point - even low levels of lead are unsafe. A brief reread of my post shows that I failed to emphasize my indignation with the fact that pediatricians do not care about lead levels until they reach 10 - but parents should be concerned by any levels. It is important for parents to find out the results of these tests so that they can determine if there child has any lead exposure and what they need to do about it.

(And we did by a HEPA filter vaccuum and my daughter and I went out of town while our porch was torn down and rebuilt.)

Of course I meant "their", my bad.

"Of course not. Abortion is a (in my opinion) tragic solution to a tragic lifestyle."

Part of the problem when discussing abortion, is that everyone works from a primary assumption: abortion happens because . . . and typically what follows the because is an ignorant/slutty woman had wonton unprotected sex.

The truth is, we can not realistically discuss abortion until we understand the complexity of the issue, and its "grayness".

Once we can honestly look at the various reasons that a woman pursues getting an abortion, then we can realistically look at ways of minimizing the need for and procruement of abortions. There is of course the reason of unintended pregnancies, inadequate access to birth control, and a lack of social support as indicated in the post. But we must also address the medical needs, of both the mother and developing child. Imagine the distress of a woman who has been told that she is sorry, her organs are failing and the baby's heartbeat is fading as she must cross the picket lines with a heavy heart and end a pregnancy that she desperately wants and will greviously mourn.

So I totally support looking at the reasons that a woman decides to terminate a pregnancy, and doing what we can to help minimize that need . . . in all ways possible.