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As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, the anticipation of eating lots of delicious food grows. When families gather to enjoy the traditional dishes and drinks, pregnant women should keep in mind which foods on the dinner table they are recommended to avoid.

Here are the main foods and drinks to avoid this Thanksgiving day:

Lovelace Women’s Hospital’s Lactation Services and the Labor of Love team were recently recognized by national organizations.

The idea of giving birth and bringing your baby home can be exciting yet nerve wracking. You most likely have questions. What are my delivery options? How will I know when I am in labor? Where do I go when I arrive at the hospital? Is there someone to help me with breastfeeding after I leave the hospital? How do I know when my baby needs to see a pediatrician?

Sheri Milone has made a name for herself in health care and not just because she has been with Lovelace Health System since 1992, serving as CEO for two Lovelace hospitals.

More than 29 million Americans are living with diabetes, and around 86 million are living with prediabetes. Patients diagnosed with this chronic disease are typically considered type 1 or type 2 diabetic. If you are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, this means your body does not produce enough insulin to allow blood sugar to enter the cells used for energy. If you are diagnosed as type 2 diabetic, this means your body cannot use insulin properly.

John Gallegos had been feeling a bit off for almost two days when his niece, Sarah Padilla, finally convinced him to go to the hospital. Sarah worked in records management for Lovelace Westside Hospital, which was where John found himself driving around 4am.

“I didn’t know it then, but I’ve done a lot of research,” John says. “Now I know you don’t remember anything after a cardiac arrest.”

When Karen McCallum went to have a routine blood test done, she didn’t think anything was wrong with her. When her results came back, Karen found out from Dr. Angela Sanchez with Lovelace Medical Group that her thyroid levels were at 1200, when they should have been 3. “I’m a menopausal female who works in advertising and had an answer for every symptom I had,” Karen shares.

Vanessa Moreton, RN works in the same unit today that she was hired into as a new nursing graduate 13 years ago. However, don’t assume that means her career at Lovelace has been under the radar in any way. From starting out on the night shift as a staff nurse on the post surgical services unit, Vanessa moved to days then into a role as a clinical educator, and then ultimately the director. “I was asked to do this on an interim basis and ended up taking it on a full-time basis,” she says of accepting her new and current role in 2010.

It’s bedtime. I’ve worked hard all day and my children are finally asleep. I sit back and enjoy the quiet for just a few minutes. There is some relief, but sometimes I ask myself, “Did I stop and say I love you today? Did I smile at my child today? Did we make eye contact?” My life is set on “run” every single day it seems. I wish I could find ways to strengthen my bond with my children without adding an extra activity.

Most people have heard of postpartum depression (PPD). What about prenatal or perinatal depression (depression during pregnancy)? Women who have perinatal depression may feel ashamed to admit their unhappy feelings when they are in their first few months of pregnancy. Isn’t this supposed to be one the happiest time of a mom’s life? Feelings of agitation, anxiety and stress keep many women from asking for help, or from recognizing they have depression.