| Inside the unit where babies cling on to life
They are called miracle babies. Born to mothers who are just over halfway through their pregnancies, their lives are balanced on a knife edge, resting precariously on whether modern medicine can complete the job that nature has chosen to abandon. Babies are usually born at 40 weeks and anything under 37 weeks' gestation is defined as premature. Increasingly, however, hospitals are reporting that babies are surviving much earlier births, sometimes after a gestation period of just 22 weeks; an age at which some foetuses can still be legally aborted. Hope for these children is a brittle construct, measured not in days but in hours. In neonatal wards across the country, parents endure agonising vigils lasting many months. 'Our daughter was born five weeks ago, but we haven't even been able to take her out of the incubator and cuddle her,' said Laurie, whose child, Janie, was born at 23 weeks.
Warmer days ahead
Tonight's low will dip back to near freezing, but Monday will see more sunshine and temperatures cracking the 60-degree mark, according to the National Weather Service. Don't break out the shorts and flipflops, however. A chance of showers returns on Tuesday, and highs will fall back into the lower 50s or upper 40s for the rest of the week, according to the forecast. .
Young Aussies fretting over body image
Ouch! Reducing reading to "borrowing another person's thoughts" is a little rough. You're allowed to have your own thoughts while reading. & indeed are probably more likely to do so than while being bossed around at Boot Camp or buffetted with doof-doof on the gym treadmills. I agree with Puck. A bit more interest in cultural areas would provide a bit of balance, especially in a city like Sydney. Agree (0) Alert moderator Paul: 04 Dec 2007 8:55:12am The interesting twist here is the metrosexual male.The feminists were howling , some twenty years ago, that they were working full time jobs but were still expectedto do ALL the hoursework and still look good for thier men.Now the guys are still expected to bring hime the bacon, do as much housework as the females AND still look good for thier partners.This whole equality business is going too far.
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