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Calf Stretch

2012-05-18T15:45:53Z

I'd read about women having leg cramps and I didn't have a single charlie horse until my fourth baby. I was actually at a conference and sharing the room with another pregnant mom when it happened. If she hadn't been pregnant too she might have thought I was dying I was screaming and hopping around. If leg cramps bother you in pregnancy, or if you're worried about that dreaded charlie horse, try the calf stretch. Doing it just before bed can help you prevent leg cramps from waking you up in the middle of the night howling in pain.

Have you been spared from the dreaded charlie horse?

More Fitness Friday:

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Calf Stretch originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Friday, May 18th, 2012 at 15:45:53.

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How common is your birthday?

2012-05-17T11:29:06Z

Do you know what day of the week you were born on? And did you know that people actually track those types of data. In fact, check out this cool infographic of all the birthdays during the year ranked by popularity. Where do you fall? Do you notice that there are certain days that are lower than others? Like the Fall and Winter holidays? Did you notice that all of the top ten birth dates are in September?

Did you try to plan conception to give birth at a certain time?

Related:

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How common is your birthday? originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Thursday, May 17th, 2012 at 11:29:06.

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Benjamin's Birth

2012-05-17T08:35:30Z

My son turns 19 today. At this point, I'd been in labor for a very long time, more than 45 hours by the time he was born. His birth was amazing and changed my life forever.

How would you describe your births in a word or two?

Benjamin's Birth originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Thursday, May 17th, 2012 at 08:35:30.

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What causes twins?

2012-05-15T20:47:08Z

Mariah Carey. Jennifer Lopez. Angelina Jolie. Julia Robert. Celine Dion. Marcia Cross. Rebecca Romijn. Molly Ringwald. What do they all have in common? Twins!

I was reading a blog post the other day that had a long list of celebrities with twins. It was talking about how these celebrities had probably used fertility drugs and didn't want to talk about it. Most people were of the belief that these celebrities had used some sort of help to get pregnant with twins. Though the one thing that wasn't pointed out was that there could also be a logical explanation - as you get older, it becomes more likely that you'll have twins.

There are some other things that can increase the likelihood of having twins, including:

Breastfeeding when you conceive.
Be a twin.
Being older when you get pregnant.
And more...

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What causes twins? originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 at 20:47:08.

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Go Ahead, Swear in Labor

2012-05-15T17:02:49Z

There are a lot of things that you could say in labor to help ease the pain. I spend some time in childbirth class telling my students that vocalization in labor is really good for helping to ease pain and feel "on top" of a contraction. In my practice as a doula, there are always some women who swear in labor. Usually you will hear a simple expletive here and there. According to a study, swearing may actually help increase your pain tolerance. So before you think you need to chant the F bomb to get any benefit, the good news is that any word that you choose as your swear word seems to work.

I know that in one of my labors I chanted the words "60 seconds" over and over. But I do know that with my 7th baby, she was in a funny position and it hurt a lot more than I had remembered and it was a fast labor. I said a choice word. I opened my eyes and looked up and thought, "Maybe I shouldn't say that word." Next contraction, said it again. Maybe it was working for me. Thankfully the baby was born a contraction or two later. Think it would work for you?

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_Source:
_{Swearing as a response to pain. Stephens, Richard; Atkins, John; Kingston, Andrew NeuroReport. 20(12):1056-1060, August 5, 2009. doi: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e32832e64b1}

_{Photo © April's Grapevine Photography}

Go Ahead, Swear in Labor originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 at 17:02:49.

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Hyperemesis in Pregnancy

2012-05-15T10:01:25Z

Hyperemesis is a severe form of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy that is diagnosed when a mother experiences rapid weight loss, dehydration, and malnutrition. The Hyperemesis Education & Research (HER) Foundation has declared May 15th to be the first annual Hyperemesis Day.

Over 285,000 hospitalizations occur every year due to hyperemesis, that's about 0.5-2% of the pregnant women will be affected. We don't know what causes or why it happens. Though there is some evidence to say that once you've had hyperemesis you have about a 50% chance of hyperemesis happening again in a future pregnancy.

Have you experienced hyperemesis or know someone who has experienced it?

Related:

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Hyperemesis in Pregnancy originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 at 10:01:25.

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Most Popular Baby Names

2012-05-14T10:16:07Z

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has released the top baby names from the 2011 birth certificates across the United States. This year Jacob and Sophia are the winners of the most popular names! Unlike other lists of most popular baby names, these are actually the most popular baby names based on the entire birth certificate data.

Is your baby's name on here? Does that change how you feel about the name?

Related:

Top Baby Name by Decade

Most Popular Baby Names originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 10:16:07.

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Have you ever had a D & C?

2012-05-14T09:57:02Z

A D & C is an surgery that is usually done on an outpatient basis. It may be done after a miscarriage or sometimes for other issues having to do with your menstrual cycle. I was just talking to someone the other day about her D & C. We were comparing stories. The common theme? Neither of us felt truly prepared for the surgery or the recovery, physically or emotionally.

Have you had a D & C? What advice do you have to give?

Have you ever had a D & C? originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 09:57:02.

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No Mothers' Day

2012-05-13T16:32:48Z

One woman dies every 90 seconds from a complication due to pregnancy or childbirth. That's 358,000 women a year. Christy Turlington Burns started Every Woman Counts as a way to increase the awareness of maternal mortality. She is also the filmmaker behind No Woman, No Cry.

This year on Mothers' Day she's asking that we do our part to raise awareness by disappearing as a part of No Mothers' Day. There are some ideas listed on her site. This includes being silent, changing your profile photo, talking to others about the important of raising awareness about maternal mortality.

Other places to find information on this:

Every Woman Counts Facebook

No Mothers' Day originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Sunday, May 13th, 2012 at 16:32:48.

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Mothers' Day Pregnancy Announcements

2012-05-13T10:40:20Z

Did you get a big fat positive this morning for Mothers' Day? If so maybe you're looking for some fun ways to announce your pregnancy to others, perhaps with a Mothers' Day theme. Here are some specific for today:

There are also several pages of ideas from other readers that are not specific to a holiday but are still loads of fun.

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Mothers' Day Pregnancy Announcements originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Sunday, May 13th, 2012 at 10:40:20.

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