My daughter,  almost age four at the time of my second pregnancy, was smart and curious about my expanding belly. She asked a lot of questions.  I delighted in her intelligent questions and took pride in my thoughtful, age-appropriate responses.

 OK, I was a little smug.

 But all that changed one day at the farmers’ market when my daughter spotted a man with a protruding pot belly.

 ”Mama!” she scolded. “You never told me boys could have babies!!”

Vivian, U.S.

:   Everybody does it; moves house, starts an extension, takes on some major stressful project as soon as they realise they need space for the new family member who’s arriving in (eek) five months. We did a fabulous loft conversion. A lovely new big bedroom and en-suite just for us, and our old bedroom for Darling Son Number One. The finishing touch, just a week before baby number 2 was due, was a soft and creamy new carpet in all the bedrooms. Perfect.

Having endured two days of labour the first time, I was prepared. Even though everyone said it was faster second time around, for weeks I’d had acupuncture to speed things up.

It worked.

Talk about 0-60. I barely had time to ring Best Friend to come and get DS1 and I was on my hands and knees, ready to have the baby there and then. When the midwife and BF arrived at the same time, my Darling Son opened the door and told them ‘Mom’s doing her exercises in the hallway’.

Which is why our beautiful daughter was born by the front door, because there was no way I was having a baby on my new carpet!

 Lisa, United Kingdom

Oi.

We all know about the dangers of smoking and pregnancy, low birth rate, the impact of second-hand smoke; we even posted a link to a study on smoking and the use of psychiatric medications (see our May 13th post).

The Center for Disease Control just published another report regarding smoking mothers, low birth rate and infant death.  This is morbid, we realize. But important information if you are, or know, a smoking mother-to-be:

Here are the stats: 5 percent to 7 percent of deaths among the premature infants — and 23 percent to 34 percent of deaths caused by SIDS — could have been prevented if the mother had not smoked.

A horror, isn’t it?  Pass this on to those who might need to read it…

Try not to laugh when you read this:

A recent study demonstrates that pregnancy may worsen or bring on symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder in some women.  It connects this finding to the changes in reproductive hormones that occur during pregnancy.

We could be sarcastic and note, “Gee!  Ya think? I mean, the worry that comes along with concerns about health, safety, money, sibling rivalry, your spouse, sex, food, gestational diabetes, chromosomal disorders, work, aging parents, chiildproofing the house, childhood leukemia,  and laundry might make a woman a bit nuts?”

Or we could be sensibly compassionate.  Which is where I’m headed with this.

I have a dear friend who is a new mom.  She is a person who has spent her life being supremely capable, thorough, talented, responsible.  But new motherhood has brought on these behaviors that make me often wonder: perhaps a little anti-anxiety medication would help?

I worry that she is hesitant to leave the house, that she won’t take us up on our offers to babysit (we who have many years of child-raising experience), that her lovely and supportive husband will begin to get irritated…maybe it is OCD?

The article is interesting and reminds me how smart it is to read and absorb rather than read and react.  In the case of my friend, this development may prove to be helpful.  But a professional is probably better qualified to make that call.

The “Lion King” is a story and movie and Broadway play that touches on all the magical and powerful sentiments of life: joy, sorrow, fear, love…

Today we read in the New York Daily News that an adorable, vibrant and brave child actress, Shannon Tavarez, will undergo an umbilical cord blood transplant to treat her leukemia. The article shows a sweet picture of Shannon and her mother at the hospital where she is undergoing chemotherapy in preparation for her transplant

Doctors often for this cord blood transplant after a bone marrow match could not be found for Shannon, who is part African American and part Hispanic.[ If you haven't seen our repeated call for people from small or mixed racial groups to donate, here is the information on how you can register to be a bone marrow donor: www.dkms.org]

If you are interested in reading about the experience of becoming a donor and what ’s involved in donating, read this article in the News by copy editor Anthony Connors, who was called for further testing after a q-tip swab of his inside cheek revealed that he may be a match for a person suffering from leukemia.

Just in case you’re interested in the details of the GD testing process, this video is a short and succinct explanation: Gestational Diabetes

OK, we don’t really need anything else to worry about but if you’re interested, there is some correlation between placental separation during pregnancy (not a good thing) and the presence of particular antibodies that indicate early thyroid disease. Placental separation is, um, potentially fatal which is why we don’t want to dwell on it here, in the happy land of cord blood banking!

But,  if there’s thyroid disease in your family, read here  just to be informed.

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has issued a revised position regarding caffeine during pregnancy.  Though many of us growled our way through a caffeine-free pregnancy in order to reduce risk of miscarriage or pre-term birth, ACOG now posits that there is no risk of such in moderate consumtion of caffeone, 200 miligrams of caffeine per day or less.

So, what’s under 200 miligrams of caffeone?

According to a report by WebMD, an 12 oz cup of caffeinated coffee has about 200 mgs; 8 oz of caffeontated tea and most 12 oz caffeintated softdrinks have about 50 mgs. Importantly, a 1.5 oz sized chocolate bar only has 35 mgs.  Oh happy day.

Read the WebMd report for more.

Braxton HIcks are certainly a pain in the …….. we found this discussion on www.parents.com which has some interesting information and practical comments from women who have these types of contractions. read more here

When I was 8 months pregnant, it was a beautiful summer day so I hopped in my husband’s dune buggy for a quick trip to the store. (at the time I thought I “hopped”- I think the reality was closer to a heave). When I parked, I suddenly realized I couldn’t get out. I tried pulling myself up, pushing myself up, but nothing worked. I was wedged in. A couple of men passing by saw my predicament. One climbed in behind me to lift, while the other hauled me up from the side. All three of us were laughing so hard we actually attracted a small crowd, who cheered us on. We all had a good giggle that day.