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From Robin Elise Weiss, LCCE,
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Hearing Your Baby's Heart Beat

We all long for the moment when we first hear our baby's heart beat. It is undoubtedly the best moment for most women in pregnancy. You can almost hear that collective sigh of relief. The miscarriage rates drop and we begin to accept our pregnancies more easily, feeling more assured of our baby's health. But did you know that there are many ways to hear your baby's heart beat in pregnancy? And these ways vary from practitioner to practitioner as well as from how you would listen to your baby in labor.

This discussion also brings up the question of whether or not the fetal heart rate can help you determine if you're having a girl or a boy. According to old wives tales, a heart rate over 140 is a girl and under 140 is a boy. This is something that other moms have been discussing on the pregnancy forums. Join them.

Related:

Feeling Your Baby Move | Fetal Kick Counts | How Your Baby Grows

Monday May 19, 2008 | permalink | comments (0)

Trouble Sleeping in Pregnancy

While there are plenty of things that can prevent you from sleeping well in pregnancy (the baby moving, needing to go to the bathroom all night, insomnia, etc.) a new study suggests that you might add something else to that list: passive or second-hand smoke. This usually comes from someone you spend a lot of time around like your husband or partner. So not only does it negatively effect your and your baby's health but your sleep as well. And Mama Knows Breast pointed out another study to me, that shows that moms who smoke and breastfeed have babies who sleep less overall and nap for shorter periods of time. It's also important to note that the American Academy of Pediatrics still supports breastfeeding for mothers who smoke, citing fewer respiratory infections in mothers who breastfed and smoked, compared to mothers who smoked and fed formula.

Related:

Insomnia | Pregnancy Sleep Tips | Quit Smoking Toolbox

Ohida T et al. "Is Passive Smoking Associated With Sleep Disturbance Among Pregnant Women?" Sleep 2007; 30(9): 1155-1161.

Mennella, JA, Yourshaw LM, Morgan LK. Breastfeeding and Smoking: Short-term Effects on Infant Feeding and Sleep. PEDIATRICS Vol. 120 No. 3 September 2007, pp. 497-502

Sunday May 18, 2008 | permalink | comments (0)

Do You Recognize the 25 Early Signs of Pregnancy?

Are you trying to get pregnant? Trying to figure out if you're pregnant or not can be a big deal. I know that my first sign of pregnancy is different than most people - I get horribly, can't-get-your-head-out-of-bed exhausted. This usually happens before a late period even. Some women know they are pregnant from the time of conception, because they are so tuned in to their bodies. Sore breasts rank fairly high on the list of new signs of pregnancy. Other women need that pregnancy test to show them what they may be wondering about. What was your first pregnancy symptom?

What was your first pregnancy symptom?

See the poll results.

Related:

Pregnancy Calendar | Pregnancy Books | 25 Pregnancy Symptoms

Saturday May 17, 2008 | permalink | comments (13)

Pregnancy & Sex

My mailbox often gets flooded with pregnancy sex questions. Perhaps you and your partner have questions about sex in pregnancy as well. When is it safe? Can you do it at the end of pregnancy safely? All your sex and pregnancy questions that you wanted to ask but were embarrassed to ask! Yes, you can do that!

Related:

Sex to Induce Labor | Sex in Pregnancy | Sex After Baby

Friday May 16, 2008 | permalink | comments (1)

Angelina Jolie Confirms Twins are on the Way

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt chose to visually announce to the world in February that they were expecting. Rumors have been swirling for weeks that Jolie is expecting not only one baby but two. Today in an interview with co-star Jack Black, Jolie supposedly confirmed that rumor that she is indeed having twins but said that she would like to keep the sex of the babies to themselves.

She declined to say where she was having the babies. I'm also dying to know if she's planning a VBAC for her twins since it's medically possible, particularly in some of the countries she frequents. The twins are supposedly due August 19.

So now the speculation is whether or not Angelina Jolie used fertility drugs. While it could have been a case of secondary infertility, there are also some who are claiming that perhaps she's simply trying to increase her family faster. The truth is that many women would love to have twins for a variety of reasons from "getting it over with quickly" to a "long held fascination with twins." So there are plenty of things that people try to do to increase the odds of having multiples, particularly twins, without fertility drugs.

Related:

Celebrity Baby Watch | Is it twins? | Celebrity Baby Names

Photo (c) Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Wednesday May 14, 2008 | permalink | comments (3)

Tips for Pregnancy Tests

So, your period is late. Your breasts are sore. You might even be having some nausea. What are the first signs of pregnancy? Are you pregnant? Pregnancy tests are certainly one kind of test you want to prepare for before hand, particularly if you're having pregnancy symptoms. Being ready for test day does involve some preparation and prior knowledge. Here are tips to getting it right the first time whether you're using the ept, First Response or other brands...

While you're checking out the pregnancy tests, you might want to see some pregnancy pictures in our newly updated Belly Gallery.

Are you confident in your home pregnancy test results?

See the poll results.

Related:

Am I Pregnant? Quiz |25 Signs of Pregnancy | Trimester Guide | Due Date Calculator | Ovulation Calculator

Photo (c) EyeWire

Wednesday May 14, 2008 | permalink | comments (3)

Pregnancy Awareness Month (PAM)

Pregnancy Awareness Month (PAM) was started by Anna Getty who hopes to "empower pregnant women with information, “how to” ideas and inspiration to incorporate PAM’s four key initiatives – education, exercise, nutrition & wellness and nurture – into their life routines and to show women how easy it can be to make healthy changes in their lives for themselves and their children." They have a blog, gift bags and lots of really cool sponsors.

Related:

Due Date Calculator | Pregnancy Calendar | Belly Gallery

Wednesday May 14, 2008 | permalink | comments (0)

Reality Check When Trying to Get Pregnant

Once you've made up your mind to try and get pregnant, you're ready NOW! Unfortunately it really doesn't work that way. The menstrual cycle is complex and sensitive. Everything has to be lined up just right for the egg to meet the sperm and for that fertilized egg to land in the right spot and produce the right amount of hormones to sustain itself... you get the picture. So the first month you throw away your birth control isn't likely to be the month you get pregnant, even when everything appears to be well timed. Not to say it won't, but if it does, be pleasantly surprised.

I think part of the problem is that we live in a very birth control centered society. We're told from a very early age that if we have sex without birth control we're going to get pregnant. So when we're ready to throw away the birth control we're surprised to not be pregnant! Another part of the issue that when you're ready, you're ready. We've got fast food, urgent care, one hour dry cleaning and drive through pharmacies - why wait for anything?

The good news is that there are some things that you can do to help the process along. You can know about ovulation and how your body gets pregnant. You can actively try to determine when you ovulate and have sex appropriately. You can prepare your body for pregnancy by being healthy as well as your partner's body. These things can help you get pregnant more quickly.

Related:

Photo (c) A.D.A.M.

Tuesday May 13, 2008 | permalink | comments (3)

Pregnancy Guide

I can be your personal guide and childbirth educator through the pregnancy process. These newsletters and classes are designed to help keep you informed of the changes in your and your baby, the latest happenings, fashions and baby related news. Subscribe for free now.

Photo (c) L. Bruni

Monday May 12, 2008 | permalink | comments (0)

Top Baby Names Announced

Just before Mother's Day every year, the Social Security Administration releases the top baby names of the previous year. This data is compiled from social security card applications around the country for babies born in 2007. The top baby names are always wildly popular.

When did you pick your baby's name?

See the poll results.

Baby Girl Names
  1. Emily
  2. Isabella
  3. Emma
  4. Ava
  5. Madison
  6. Sophia
  7. Olivia
  8. Abigail
  9. Hannah
  10. Elizabeth
More top baby girl names.		 Baby Boy Names
  1. Jacob
  2. Michael
  3. Ethan
  4. Joshua
  5. Daniel
  6. Christopher
  7. Anthony
  8. William
  9. Matthew
  10. Andrew
More top baby boy names.

Awhile ago, I heard a lady discussing her baby's name with the lady at the grocery check out, not the celebrity baby names. She was saying that she and her husband picked out their baby names on their first date. That totally floored me. How could you do that so early? Annika? Eric? Poppy? Piper? Jerome? Which baby name sounds good to you? And has it changed? I know when I was little I hated my name. I wanted to be Mary. So how can you, sight unseen; heck even swollen abdomen or positive pregnancy test unseen, choose a baby name?

So my question to you is when did you choose a name for your baby? Did you do as the lady above and pick them before the wedding? Did you decide in pregnancy as soon as you had an ultrasound? Or did you narrow the field and decide once you laid eyes on the baby? (Okay this is where I confess that our last baby went three weeks without a name. She spent several of those being called various names just to try them out. She was almost Nora. In fact, the morning of her naming ceremony, the clergy called us up to ask if we really had a name or would we be canceling!)

Related:

Saturday May 10, 2008 | permalink | comments (3)

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