About Pregnancy & Childbirth

Did Santa bring you a big fat positive pregnancy test?

2009-12-25T08:10:34Z

If so, congratulations! Are you planning to share the big news of your pregnancy today at Christmas? Well here are some special ideas for sharing the good news on Christmas.

Or perhaps you're not yet pregnant or are looking 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! If you've decided to keep the secret a bit longer, you can still come talk to us about it at the due date forums I'm personally spending the day tracking BabyDickey on Twitter - she's in labor!. If you're there, stop by and say hi to me. Merry Christmas!

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Did Santa bring you a big fat positive pregnancy test? originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Friday, December 25th, 2009 at 08:10:34.

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Thrifty Thursday: Packing for Labor

2009-12-24T05:00:03Z

Packing for labor and delivery is always a fun task. Sure, you see people in the throes of labor, madly throwing things into a bag at the last minute, and while that happens, my bet is that most people plan way ahead for this one. When I was packing my hospital bag for my first baby, I think I started it around week 36. As I dutifully ran down the check lists of everything I was supposed to bring to the hospital, I realized that the tooth brush would need to be a last minute addition. But what if I forgot it and had to use the nasty hospital fake tooth brushes?

So the obvious solution was to buy a new tooth brush. I'll admit it. I was being cheap. Who wants to shell out like $4 for a new tooth brush for the hospital bag, just in case you forget it? I mean seriously, it was $4 versus the nasty hospital fake tooth brush. I chanced it.

The other day when I was preparing to go on vacation, I was at the dollar store and it suddently hit me - that was the perfect solution! For about $5 you could stock up on every health and beauty product that you would need for the hospital. Seriously, you can buy like six tooth brushes for a dollar. One for you and dad, and a few guests. You could add tooth paste and a brush... We are up to $3. Throw in a two pack of Chapstick and a bag of hair scrunchies and you're all set! Seriously, this is an inexpensive and worry free way to take care of getting that bag packed for the hospital.

What was your must have item for a labor bag?

Thrifty Thursday from About.com Parenting:

Thrifty Thursday: Packing for Labor originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Thursday, December 24th, 2009 at 05:00:03.

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Midpregnancy Ultrasounds

2009-12-22T13:00:31Z

When we're pregnant we all worry about the health of our baby. We usually change how we eat, we take prenatal vitamins and we seek prenatal care from a midwife or doctor. One of the screenings that we do in pregnancy to check on the health of most pregnancies is the midpregnancy ultrasound, also known as the fetal anatomy survey. This test is one that many women and their families look forward to their whole pregnancy for a variety of reasons.

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Midpregnancy Ultrasounds originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 at 13:00:31.

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New Blood Test Accurately Predicts Baby's Sex at 5 Weeks Gestation

2009-12-21T21:50:09Z

A Dutch study looked at 201 women over the course of several years. They were able to give an answer 189 times and were right every time. This didn't involve an ultrasound or any invasive genetic testing, just a simple vial of blood from mom. And the results take only a few days to return.

The researchers would like this to be employed immediately, stating that this can greatly reduce anxiety and additional, sometimes dangerous testing, like amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS).� It can also ease anxieties immediately of families worried about X-linked disorders.

When they have the mother's blood, they begin looking for SRY (sex-determining region Y gene) and DYS-14, found only in males.� This being present indicates that it has to be a male fetus.� If it is not present, the researchers could conclude that the baby is a girl but this is not sufficient.

A polymorphism could be found that does not match the mother's DNA.� If it matches the father, then the baby would be a girl, assuming DSY-14 and SRY is not found.

This test, will not, however, tell anyone if the baby has any genetic issues.� There is no word on how much the testing would cost or where it would be done, nor how soon it would be available commercially.

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_Source:

Reliability of Fetal Sex Determination Using Maternal Plasma.
Scheffer, van der Schoot, Page-Christiaens, Bossers, van Erp, de Haas. Obstetrics & Gynecology, January 2010.

New Blood Test Accurately Predicts Baby's Sex at 5 Weeks Gestation originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 21:50:09.

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Getting Pregnant Can Land Some Women Jail Time

2009-12-21T16:49:46Z

Women who get pregnant, and the men who impregnate them, can be sent to jail in one Division serving in Iraq. This is true even if the couple is married. I first heard about Division Commander Major General Anthony Cucolo's decree last week. I had hoped it was just rumor, so I didn't report on it. But it's now showing up in the New York Times.

The usual policy has always been to send women who are pregnant and in combat situations home. A policy to send pregnant women home would make more sense. I get that they want to discourage women from getting pregnant. When I served in the Army, pregnancy was an easy out of your contract, as if you got pregnant, you could choose to leave the Army. I would imagine that in a combat situation, it's even more tempting.

This is simply not right. What about a married couple who has a birth control failure? It happens. Even if you're doing everything you can - what if you miss a pill because you're on a mission that takes too long? Or it just happens? This just seems mean spirited.

What are your thoughts? Have you been in the military? Have you been pregnant and in the military? Or do you just have an opinion? I'll listen to them all!

Getting Pregnant Can Land Some Women Jail Time originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 16:49:46.

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Twin Miracles!

2009-12-21T07:49:33Z

Seven years ago I got the news - we were expecting twins. When I was pregnant with my twins, I thought for sure there ought to be some way to tell I was pregnant with two rather than one - without the use of medical technology. With multiple birth rates on the rise, you may wonder if maybe your bundle of joy isn't really bundles (plural). This quick and easy quiz can help you sort out fact from fiction in the great scheme of things and help you determine if you're possibly having twins!

Our identical twin girls turned seven today! Take a trip down memory lane with me and read about their birth, it was a wild ride!

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Twin Miracles! originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 07:49:33.

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Pregnancy & Make Up

2009-12-20T05:45:39Z

I remember walking into work when I was about 13 weeks pregnant with twins. I hadn't told my co-workers about the babies yet, but they knew something was up. Finally one of the nice ladies from the front office came back with a bowl of chicken noodle soup, "Honey, you look awful! Just drained, maybe you need to go home and rest awhile." The problem was that I actually felt better than I looked! I didn't go into work again without putting on some blush.

Beyond that my skin changed with each pregnancy. One pregnancy I'd be oily and full of acne like a teen and the next my skin was dry and itching. I couldn't win. So, what do you do about pregnancy and your skin care? Do you wear the same old make up? Or forget it all together? These tips and tricks for pregnancy make up might be helpful.

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Pregnancy & Make Up originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Sunday, December 20th, 2009 at 05:45:39.

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Deliver My Baby

2009-12-19T08:30:26Z

Deliver My Baby is a new and interactive quiz found online. You answer about 20 quick questions and choose between a handful of statements. It took me about 2-3 minutes to read the questions and answer them. There are some questions that have additional information. For example, the quiz asks about your feelings about episiotomy and there is a link to more information, should you not know what an episiotomy is at that point.

When you're done it tells you what type of health care provider your answers matched with and how to find someone who meets your needs. There are many resources listed too, like The Birth Survey, Childbirth Connection or Got Mom. Even more importantly is the downloadable forms for questions to ask the provider that you've matched with per the quiz.

It's well worth the three minutes to sit down and play with this tool, even if you think you know what type of provider you'd be happy with for your birth. I thought some of the questions were frank and ones you don't hear often or even think about if you're a first time mom.

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Deliver My Baby originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Saturday, December 19th, 2009 at 08:30:26.

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Finding a Christmas Baby Name

2009-12-18T08:38:33Z

Baby names are often chosen because of a special time of year or event. Christmas is no exception to that rule. There are plenty of Christmas names to go around for girls. Boys names were a bit harder to come up with, but I finally had some come up in a conversation at a prenatal class the other night. Which of these are your favorites?

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Finding a Christmas Baby Name originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 08:38:33.

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An Inexpensive Push Present

2009-12-17T05:00:19Z

Sometimes we think about what's in it for me when it comes to birth. There is a lot of talk about push presents of the several karat variety. I'd like to to stop and consider a push present of a different variety: the gift of a safe birth.

The Hunger Site has a store that includes gifts that cost little but mean a lot. It could be paying a nurse midwife's salary for a week in a third world country, or a clean birth kit to help prevent infection in newborns. This is also a great gift for you to give to the doctor, nurse, midwife or doula in your life. I just gave a clean childbirth kit to a nurse friend of mine and she was thrilled. It wouldn't clutter her house and yet it made the world a better place.

More Thrifty Thursday from About.com Parenting:

An Inexpensive Push Present originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 05:00:19.

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