Amanda Rodriguez

Image Source: STX Entertainment I've yet to meet a woman who doesn't plan, shop, sort, save, and stress her butt off over the holidays, only to feel exhausted and unappreciated. In fact, I clearly remember my own mother staying up late wrapping gifts, shopping at all hours of the night, and making breakfast from scratch every year, while my sister and I just sat back and enjoyed it. Of course, we appreciated it. And yes, we definitely felt the magic of the "perfect Christmas" my mom created. My parents literally went as far as bringing in deer poop from the woods and telling us Rudolph has an accident on our kitchen floor. Then there was the time we found "muddy boot prints" from Santa himself. If that's not going above and beyond for the holidays, I don't know what is. The truth is, we want so much for our kids that we go to great lengths to manufacture this dreamy snow globe scene year after year. Then we are crabby, dirty, and tired. We do i...

KITTY HAWK, N.C. A helicopter maneuvered over a power pole jutting out of the Currituck Sound as two linemen dangled below. The workers straddled the pole some 100 feet above the water, fastened themselves safely and unhooked from the chopper cable. They hung a bucket of tools and hardware close by. In 15 minutes, the two men would attach a 3-foot-square aluminum platform to provide a long-lasting nest ledge for next spring's return of the ospreys. Then it was on to the next of the 12 poles stretching across the sound parallel to the Wright Memorial Bridge. "We're trying to give them a good home," said Carter Clevinger, a projects manager for Dominion Energy. Dominion contracted with a specialty helicopter service out of Tennessee for the crew to replace the platforms this week. The utility erected new concrete towers more than 30 years ago and left the old ones in place. Crews at the time attached wooden nest frames for the ospreys to keep them off the new poles ca...

Sometimes, it seems like getting pregnant must be the easiest thing, but that's not always the case. Many times, it's not until you start trying to conceive that you become hyper aware of your body, your cycle, and how that might affect your chances of conception. Other times, you might notice some slight changes that seem to be affected by trying to conceive. Like, has your period always been irregular, or can trying to conceive cause irregular periods? Experts say there are actually other factors to consider. "Trying to conceive does not typically cause irregular periods," Dr. Adrienne Zertuche, MD, MPH, OB-GYN and Georgia Maternal and Infant Health Research Group President, tells Romper. "However," she continues, "in the rare circumstance of a 'chemical pregnancy,' or an early pregnancy failure, it might seem like your cycle is later, heavier, or longer than usual." Chemical pregnancies, according to the American Pregnancy Association, m...

Obesity is prevalent in epidemic proportions world over, J&K included, spiraling the way for diabetes, cardiovascular and other diseases, as per a joint study by World Health Organisaton (WHO) and Imperial College London published this week in Lancet. Obesity in children is a serious concern. Last Tuesday, Lancet published the largest ever study on obesity ahead of World Obesity day (11 October).  The study has revealed that in India, the number of obese children has increased ten-fold since 1975. Two doctors from J&K, Dr Abdul Hameed Zargar and Dr Shariq Rashid Masoodi have contributed to the study, the largest such exercise focused on obesity and disorders/diseases related to it. Lead author of the study, Prof Majid Ezzati of Imperial School of Public Health, in a press statement said, "Over the past four decades, obesity rates in children and adolescents have soared globally, and continue to do so in low and middle-income countries." In J&K, Dr Zargar and Dr...