The Four Epochs of Woman's Life Part 11

An excess of fat in the milk is indicated by vomiting; too little fat causes constipation with dry hard stools. Proteids in excess are a prolific cause of colic and also of diarrhea.

Prescription blanks are furnished the physician, who fills out the percentages of fat, milk-sugar, proteids, and alkalinity, to suit the age, weight, and general condition of the child. He orders also the amount to be given at each feeding, and the number of feedings to be given in the twenty-four hours. Each bottle contains just the amount to be given at one feeding. All that the mother needs to do is to place the bottle in a receptacle containing warm water, until the milk has attained a temperature of 99 F., remove the cotton stopper, and put on the nipple, when it is ready for use.

The Nursing Bottle.-- This should be of clear gla.s.s, with a rounded bottom, and of such a shape as is easy to clean; so that no particles will cling around a corner which cannot be reached. The graduated bottle is the most convenient, as it enables the quant.i.ties of each of the materials used in the preparation of the feeding to be mixed in the bottle, doing away with the trouble of measuring before putting into the bottle.

Rubber Nipples.-- Two nipples should be kept for alternate use, and no nipple should be used longer than two weeks. A soft rubber of conical shape is best, with an opening at the top which is not too large, so that the milk will not flow through, as it is desirable that the child should obtain the milk by suction. So soon as the feeding is over, the nipple should be removed from the bottle, and brushed on both sides with a stiff brush. It should then be put in cold water, where it is kept until it is again wanted.

The baby should be fed slowly, from ten to twenty minutes being taken for each feeding. Sucking from an empty bottle or with a nipple in the mouth should never be permitted, as in this way the baby draws air into its stomach, which will result in colic. Each flask should contain only enough for one feeding.

In lieu of the regular sterilizing apparatus, milk may be similarly prepared by placing the milk in an ordinary gla.s.s fruit-jar with a screw lid. This is placed in a colander over a pot of boiling water; the milk should be allowed to boil in the open jar for two minutes; the jar-lid is then screwed on, and it should steam for twenty minutes longer.

The capacity of the infant stomach at birth is about one ounce, which is the average quant.i.ty of food that should be taken at one meal. The average rate of increase in the amount of food is one and a half drams a week for the first six months; subsequently somewhat less. The intervals of feeding should be two hours at birth, and increased to three hours at the end of the third month. The food should be given at a temperature of 99 F. and fed directly from the sterilizing bottle.

Fresh Air.-- In warm weather the baby is taken out-of-doors in from three to four weeks after birth; in cold weather not before two to three months. In the latter case it is prepared for the change by being first dressed as for the street, with wrap and cap; the windows of the room are then opened, and the infant is carried about here. In the winter months when the baby is first taken out, it is better to carry it in the arms, as it will be kept warmer in this way, and if it does become chilled it will be more quickly noticed.

Characteristics of the Healthy Infant.-- The average weight of an infant at birth is about seven pounds, and its length is about twenty inches; the extremes are four pounds or a little less up to eleven pounds. The head and trunk of the child are developed out of proportion to the limbs.

The skin of the new-born infant varies from pinkish to red; about the fourth day the color becomes somewhat yellowish; this tinge should disappear about the end of the second week, and at the same time the skin begins to peel off.This process lasts about two weeks longer, when the baby's skin takes on its normal color.

The shape of the head varies greatly, much being due to the amount of pressure during labor; but this disappears in a few days. As a rule, the large bones of the head are felt to be separated by membranous ridges called sutures; there is one on the median line on the top of the head, and at either end of the suture is a large open s.p.a.ce, called a fontanel. The largest one is at the front of the head, and is called the anterior fontanel; it is about large enough to be covered by the tips of two fingers, and is of a lozenge shape; this opening does not close till the child is about eighteen months old. In a healthy baby this fontanel should be on a level with the bones of the head; a slight pulsation may be noticed in it, due to the pulsations of the vessels of the brain. There is a much smaller three-cornered fontanel at the back of the suture, and one behind either ear; these soon close up with bone.

A new-born baby cannot probably do any more than distinguish light from darkness. Up to the sixth week there is an inability at coordination of the ocular muscles; after this time the eyes begin to move in an orderly manner, and they will follow a bright object moved slowly in front of them. At about the end of the second month rapid movements are perceived, as is evinced by the child's closing its eyes quickly on an object suddenly approaching it. At three months the child begins to recognize colors; the first recognized are yellow, red, pure white, gray, and black. But the faculty of distinguis.h.i.+ng between colors is not perfected till the third year. The mother is recognized about the third month. Hearing and a sense of smell develop rapidly after birth; loud noises in its vicinity will cause a child to start during the first day after birth. By the time the child has reached three months of age it shows signs of having a mind of its own, and is capable of exercising thought. It grasps for objects, and indicates its likes and dislikes. At from eight to ten months it can utter several syllables, and at the age of one year should be able to say mama and papa; at two years it should be able to frame short sentences.

Weight of the Baby.-- By the end of the sixth month the child's weight should be double what it was at birth; that is, about fourteen pounds; at the end of the twelfth month be three times as much as at birth, or about twenty pounds.

Muscular Action.-- Muscular action in the new-born infant is entirely involuntary, there being no voluntary acts until about the end of the third month. Sucking and licking are largely instinctive. The movements of the arms and legs are impulsive acts, and occur during sleep, just as they did in the intra-uterine life. The act of raising the head, which is attempted about the fourth month in healthy children, is volitional, requiring not so much added strength of muscle as power of coordination. As volition develops the power of coordination gradually increases, and the child learns to perform voluntary or purposeful acts. Voluntary grasping is done after the fourth month. As the child learns to balance its head, it attempts to sit up. This act is not successfully accomplished until about the fortieth week; the child sits firmly alone when ten or eleven months old. Before this time it is necessary to support the head and spine of the child with the hand. By the third or fourth month the infant should be able to grasp things. The child begins to creep about the ninth month. The clothing should be so arranged as to allow entire freedom of motion.

It should be able to stand up by a chair by the tenth month, and be able to walk alone at the end of the first year. It is important that parents should know this, since not knowing what a normal baby ought to be able to do, cases of birth palsy, or even an attack of paralysis due to teething, are not infrequently overlooked, not only by the mother, but even by the doctor, who attributes the inability of the child to do what other children can do at this age simply to weakness, which the child will outgrow; and thus the time pa.s.ses in which the most could be done to cure the child and to prevent the subsequent deformity.

A baby should not be forced to stand or walk; a very stout baby, on account of its weight, will stand up and walk much later than a slight one, the two being equally healthy. Or if a baby has been sick, it will feel no inclination to stand up. Naturally, a child creeps before it walks, and this develops the muscles of the lower limbs, so that they will support the weight of the child in standing. By prematurely forcing a child to stand up and walk, there is danger of causing bow-legs, as the bones of the legs are still weak; the child should be discouraged from standing up too much rather than encouraged to stand up more.

Sleep.-- A large proportion of the time of early infancy is spent in sleep; for the first few weeks the infant only wakens up to be fed.

During sleep the eyelids should be tightly closed; a partial opening of the lids, showing the whites of the eyes, is an indication of ill health. Up to the age of six, children require twelve hours of sleep at night, besides an hour or more in the middle of the day; the child should be permitted to sleep as long in the morning as it will.

Respiration.-- The healthy infant breathes on an average forty-four times a minute; the only time the respirations can be satisfactorily counted is during sleep. When the child is awake, the respirations are hurried by slight movements of the body, crying, and so forth. The average pulse of a newborn baby is one hundred and forty; this is hurried by the same causes that hastens respirations; the pulse is most easily counted at the anterior fontanel. The average temperature of the infant is 99 F. When the tip of the nose and the extremities are cold, it indicates a lowered vitality.

The nature of the child's cry indicates, variously, hunger, temper, or pain; the mother will soon learn to distinguish these varieties. If the child cries because it is hungry, the cry ceases so soon as it is fed. But a child is never to be fed simply because it cries; it must be fed on the hour by the clock. If this rule is not strictly adhered to, it will suffer all the forms of indigestion and colic that babies are heir to. If it cries because of colic, there is a drawn look on the face, and at the same time the legs are sharply flexed on the thighs and the thighs on the abdomen. If the cries are due to earache, the head will be rolled about from one side to the other. In either case nothing will stop the cries until the pain is relieved. A baby does not shed tears until the third month.

The Stools.-- The stools of a very young baby fed on breast-milk should be of a yellow or orange color. There should be three or four evacuations daily; they should contain no curds. Stools of bottle-fed babies are lighter in color and more offensive.

Constipation.-- Constipation is not uncommon in infancy; it may be overcome by the use of a soap suppository, or by an injection of warm soap-suds into the bowel, or by an injection of oil and water, or by gentle friction over the bowel, following the course of the large intestine.

To make the soap suppository, take a piece of castile soap about an inch long, give it the shape of a cone not any larger than the end of the little finger, and make it perfectly smooth. This is inserted to about half of its length into the r.e.c.t.u.m and held there until it causes the bowels to move.

The bowel injection is best given by means of the single-bulb syringe, known as the eye and ear syringe; the bulb holds about two tablespoonfuls of liquid. This may be warm cotton-seed oil, sweet oil, or glycerin one teaspoonful to warm water two tablespoonfuls. The nozle should be small, smooth, and well oiled. It should be very carefully introduced into the bowel, being directed a little to the left side, and the bulb gently squeezed to force the contents into the bowel. The injection is more effective if it is retained for a little while; this is accomplished by making slight pressure on the a.n.u.s with a towel.

Rubbing the abdomen for about ten minutes in the direction of the large bowel is sometimes very effective in overcoming constipation; begin in the right groin and rub up as far as the border of the ribs, then across to the left, then down on the left side.

Vomiting.-- Vomiting means often only that the stomach has been overfilled, and may be relieved by withholding all food for a few hours.

Urination.-- The frequency of urination in a newborn baby will vary greatly with the weather and other conditions; in cool weather it is not unusual for the napkin to need changing almost every hour. Healthy urine should not stain the napkin. The new-born infant secretes very little urine until it begins to take nourishment freely. The bladder is usually emptied during birth, and very often the bowels also, so that if the child seems well and there is no malformation of the parts, the family may be a.s.sured that the apparent retention of urine is only temporary.

The use of hot fomentations over the kidneys and bladder will often hasten the evacuation of urine if it has been unduly delayed. If the secretion seems highly concentrated, a drop of sweet spirits of niter in a teaspoonful of water may be given every two hours.

Teething.-- The first tooth generally appears about the end of the fourth month; in delicate children they come later. As a rule, the lower front teeth come first, coming in pairs, one tooth coming on each side of the mouth; followed in about a month by the corresponding teeth in the upper jaw. Preceding their appearance the gums become swollen, hot, and painful, and the saliva forms in excess and runs from the mouth. The child is irritable, flushed and restless; and there usually occurs some disturbance of the bowels, commonly diarrhea. This all indicates a nervous derangement, and calls for a judicious diet and general careful oversight. The symptoms subside when the teeth are through. During teething the child manifests a desire to bite on something, and a soft rubber ring will give it great comfort.

The first set of teeth are twenty in number, and are usually cut in groups, starting about the fourth month and continuing until between the twentieth and thirtieth month, when the first dent.i.tion should be complete. As a rule there is an interval of rest between the eruption of the various groups. During dent.i.tion children are generally more peevish and fretful than usual, but there should be no general const.i.tutional disturbance. During dent.i.tion it is of especial importance to keep the bowels well opened; it is better to have them too loose than costive; constipation at this time greatly increases the tendency to convulsions.

Bottle-fed babies are apt to cut their teeth later than those nursed at the breast. The lack of appearance of any teeth before the end of the first year indicates that the nutrition of the child is below par, or, in other words, that the child has rickets. The permanent teeth begin to appear about the sixth or seventh year.

PART IV.-- THE MENOPAUSE.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE MENOPAUSE.

Average Duration of the Menstrual Function; Duration of Menopause; the Menopause; General Phenomena of the Menopause; Prominent Symptoms of Menopause; Pathologic Conditions of the Menopause; Hemorrhage at the Menopause a Significant Symptom of Cancer; Causes of Suffering at Menopause.

"Yet I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs, And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns.

Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers, and I linger on the sh.o.r.e, And the individual withers, and the world is more and more.

Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers, and he bears a laden breast, Full of sad experience, moving toward the stillness of his rest."

-- "Locksley Hall."

Average Duration of Menstrual Function.-- The average duration of the menstrual function is from thirty to thirty-two years. Raciborski estimated the duration of menstrual life at about thirty-one years and nine months. According to him, the mean age of p.u.b.erty at Paris was fourteen years and seven months; therefore, the average age of the menopause was forty-six and one-half years. Tilt gives the average age of the cessation of menstruation in 1082 cases as forty-five years and nine months. The average age is between forty-five and fifty years. It has been shown by Krieger, Kisch, and others, that the earlier the menses appear, the later they cease, and vice versa. However, when the first period is unusually early or late, the menopause comes very early. Also that the s.e.xual function is usually abolished earlier in the laboring cla.s.ses, who are compelled to work hard and who have many cares, than in the well-to-do and rich.

Race does unquestionably influence the duration, but given a sound healthy race, which is not too much enervated with civilization, and the menstrual process will, equally with the total physical vigor and the vitality, be increased. At the present day there is an increased s.e.xual vitality, which shows itself in the fact that the duration of menstrual life has been increased three to four years during the past generation. The inference can be fairly deduced that vigorous vitality causes prolongation of the menstrual process and the actual age.

Duration of Menopause.-- By the menopause or climacteric is understood the whole period from the beginning irregularities in the time of appearance of the menstrual flow until its actual cessation. The average duration of the menopause is from two and a half to three years.

The Menopause.-- The menopause is a physiologic and conservative process. It occurs at a time of life when all the tissues are most stable and the nutrition of the body is at its best. Other physiologic changes which occur at the same time are decrease in the size of the spleen and lymphatic glands, the muscular coats of the intestine atrophy, and lessened peristalsis ensues; hence the increased tendency to constipation. These are not the degenerations of age, but the blood-supplying, blood-making, and blood-elaborating organs of the body have completed the growth of the organism, done their work, and are striking a balance with the needs of the economy.

The object of each metamorphic or developmental epoch is a critical readjustment of the organism, in order to insure the greatest possible amount of health for each subsequent period of life. In the vast majority of cases this object is quietly effected, but sometimes the const.i.tution only rallies after having been severely shaken for a varying period.

General Phenomena of the Menopause.-- Borner states that while many women pa.s.s this period without noting any change in their former condition, and are conscious of the occurrence of the change of life only by reason of the absence of the menstrual flow, others suffer for years with a host of troubles.

One of the most essential changes is that of the woman s psychic condition-- from slight vagaries, loss of interest in the daily affairs of life, to melancholia and insanity.

"Two factors are generally taken into account: first, the sudden cessation of the menses; second, the reflections of the patient caused by her condition, meditations on the loss of youth and s.e.xual power, and anxiety in view of the dangers of the climacteric. It cannot be denied that there is some truth in the supposed sad thoughts about the beginning of old age, and the depression caused by them can scarcely be considered abnormal" (Borner).

Napier believes that it is extremely rare for the cessation to occur without some physical discomfort or some disturbance of the nervous system, but adds that: "Some women, however, cease menstruating with very slight inconvenience." As a rule, the woman misses one, two, or more periods, then a menstruation of almost normal quant.i.ty and duration; and this is again repeated at gradually longer intervals, and with a diminished flow, until actual cessation occurs.

The periods cease owing to the degeneration and disappearance of the glandular tissues of the uterus, and secondarily to similar changes in the ovaries and other glands. This is followed by an atrophy of all the structures of the genitalia.

An increase in the size of the uterus, from increase in the amount of blood, is frequently noticed at the beginning of the menopause; later it becomes smaller in all its dimensions. The wall becomes thinner; the cervix becomes shorter and thinner, sometimes hard, sometimes flabby as a membrane. But the distinguis.h.i.+ng feature of the menopastic uterus is atrophy of its lining membrane.

The changes in the uterus and Fallopian tubes are earlier than those in the ovaries, so that ovulation, though lessened in activity, may persist for a considerable time after menstruation has ceased. Ovarian atrophy has been referred to senile rather than menopastic changes.