About Pregnancy & Childbirth

Unexpected Stretch Marks!

2009-11-09T09:06:53Z

Okay, stretch marks all along your abdomen are bad enough, but seriously, have you ever found them anywhere else?� If you have, you're not alone.� Here are some unexpected places that you may find stretch marks in pregnancy. Where were your biggest surprises?

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Unexpected Stretch Marks! originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 09:06:53.

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Advice for Grandparents

2009-11-08T09:13:49Z

I have to say that my mom was broken in to the grandparenting thing by my sister. I really thought that meant I would have an easy road of it. Unfortunately my mom still had a lot to say about everything. She had actually convinced my sister that she had to drink a gallon of whole milk a day while pregnant! Thankfully I wouldn't fall prey to that one but there were other things she said...

So, here are some things to think about:

Advice for Grandparents originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at 09:13:49.

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Baby Shower Cakes & Cookies - including a Cake Wreck

2009-11-07T05:29:04Z

We've discussed fetal cookies and weird baby shower cakes before, but I got a really good laugh out of reading about the baby shower cake features on Cake Wrecks. (It's the second cake's story.)

I was feeling industrious a few weekends ago and tried to make some baby themed cookies. They'd be perfect for a baby shower, though I made them for a birth professional cookie exchange I'm going to this week. (I'll let you know if they're a hit or not.) On the baby shower forum, we'd had a discussion about some fetus shaped cookie cutters. Once I saw them, I knew I had to try them.

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Baby Shower Cakes & Cookies - including a Cake Wreck originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at 05:29:04.

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Reading in the Womb: Your Baby is Listening

2009-11-06T09:54:59Z

I often talk to moms and dads about talking to their baby, singing and even reading to their baby while pregnant.� We know that from about the midpoint of pregnancy your baby can hear you fairly well.� Research has shown us that baby's can recognize voices they've heard during pregnancy at birth.� And let me tell you, there is nothing that melts your heart like a newborn quieting and turning to look at you when you speak to them...

Now there is new research out that shows that baby's also acquire some early speak traits.� That means that they cry in similar patterns to what they've been hearing, what researchers are calling the "mother tongue."

This study specifically looked at German and French babies born to parents who spoke those languages. As with typical French speaking patterns, the French babies cried with a rising melody and increasing pitch.� The German babies had a falling pattern of cry.

French newborns tend to cry with rising melody patterns, slowly increasing in pitch from the beginning to the end, whereas German newborns seem to prefer falling melody patterns, findings that are both consistent with differences between the languages.

Just another reason to talk to your babies!� How do you connect verbally with your baby?

Related:

Books to Be Read to Babies Before Birth

_Source:

_{Newborns' Cry Melody Is Shaped by Their Native Language. Birgit Mampe, Angela D. Friederici, Anne Christophe, Kathleen Wermke. Current Biology - 05 November 2009}

Reading in the Womb: Your Baby is Listening originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 09:54:59.

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What do you know about pregnancy?

2009-11-06T08:00:52Z

So you've read a lot of good pregnancy books and you think you've got it all under control. Maybe you've had a baby already and known your way around a birthing room. Here is a fun quiz to test your knowledge of pregnancy and birth. How well do you score?

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What do you know about pregnancy? originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 08:00:52.

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Two Antibiotics Linked to Birth Defects

2009-11-05T23:39:53Z

There are two antibiotics, commonly used to treat urinary tract infections (UTI) in pregnancy, sulfa drugs (brand names including Bactrim) and urinary germicides called nitrofurantoins (brand names including Furadantin and Macrobid). They have recently been linked to some forms of birth defects including anencephaly (a fatal brain defect), cleft palate and heart defects. Though it is currently unclear whether or not the birth defects are caused by the medications in question. There are others that are still considered to be safer.

It is important to treat urinary tract infections in pregnancy to ward off preterm labor. The drugs used are rated by the FDA but not the safest grading, an A. But they have been used for years without studies as is common with most medications in pregnancy.

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_Source

_{Krista S. Crider; Mario A. Cleves; Jennita Reefhuis; Robert J. Berry; Charlotte A. Hobbs; Dale J. Hu. Antibacterial Medication Use During Pregnancy and Risk of Birth Defects: National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2009;163(11):978-985.}

Two Antibiotics Linked to Birth Defects originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 23:39:53.

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Inexpensive Preterm Labor Teaching Tools

2009-11-05T05:00:01Z

If you haven't heard yet, November is National Prematurity Awareness Month. Recently it was shown that the US ranks 30th in infant mortality, mainly due to preterm births. So in honor of this month of remembrance, I've found some tools for you to use in your personal life, in classes or just around town!

For the doula, doctor, childbirth educator or midwife, you can shop the already low prices at the March of Dimes catalog. They have inexpensive but attractive and effective visual aids. This month, if you use code PAM09, you can save 15% on the prematurity related items from the catalog. My favorite is the Late Preterm Baby Brain cards that show just how much a baby's brain develops in the last weeks of pregnancy.

You can also follow and learn from various bloggers and tweeters for prematurity, like the March for Babies blog and the Preemies Blog. There is even a YouTube Channel on prematurity. Who is your favorite blogger on the topic of prematurity?

Related:

More Thrifty Thursday from About.com Parenting

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Inexpensive Preterm Labor Teaching Tools originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 05:00:01.

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Thanksgiving Baby Announcements

2009-11-04T07:38:00Z

Are you planning to share the big news of your pregnancy at Thanksgiving this coming month? Well here are some special ideas for sharing the good news on either of these holidays.

Or perhaps you're not yet pregnant and looking ahead for generic ideas on announcing your pregnancy. If so, we've got some ideas for that as well! You can also add your own pregnancy announcement!

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Thanksgiving Baby Announcements originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 07:38:00.

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Birth Stories

2009-11-03T09:57:24Z

Your birth story is an essential part of who you are, no matter what the story entails. My kids love to hear the story of their birth, the good, the bad and the ultimate joy. It's a birthday tradition to share that story again on their birthday.

As I explained last week, I always share the birth story of my children with them on their birthdays. Isaac's birthday is today and he is twelve years old. This story is actually told by his dad.

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_{Photo (c) Robin Elise Weiss}

Birth Stories originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 09:57:24.

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Goodbye Jon & Kate, Hello Hayes Family

2009-11-03T08:44:20Z

The producers at TLC have announced that Table for 12 will take over for the space that Jon & Kate Plus Eight and the ill fated Kate Plus 8, held. Table for 12 features The Hayes Family. Their claim to fame is that they have three sets of multiples, all through fertility treatments, two sets of twins and a set of septuplets.

The big question is will this show survive? Production began in June and early viewers are saying that this show doesn't pack the punch that Jon & Kate had in their show. But what does that really mean?

Personally I think that the bigger question is, will the Hayes Family survive intact? As the mother of a large family, eight kids, only one set of twins (This ensures no one is knocking at my door for a TV show.), I can only say how hard it is to raise a family, let alone a large family, even without the constant scrutiny. I worry about the strain and stress it will take on the Hayes Family. Perhaps they believe themselves immune to the hullabaloo. Perhaps what is so not intriguing about their show is that there isn't all the unnecessary drama. I mean, how exciting is that huge vat of oatmeal I make every morning? What are your thoughts?

Goodbye Jon & Kate, Hello Hayes Family originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 08:44:20.

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