It was June 2017. My husband and I decided we want to try for our third baby, so we headed to the clinic to get my IUD removed. We kept giggling with excitement in the office before the doctor came in. After it was taken out, we went on our merry way. Everything felt so perfect. Just three days after my IUD was taken out, I got pregnant! Of course, I didn’t know until two months afterward....
Sometime in your third trimester, you’ll likely start to feel like that cute little baby bump has grown to be the size of a beach ball. Or a small private island. Or a large mountain. And you’re not alone: One couple decided to document these sentiments in a photo series, incorporating the mom-to-be’s belly into scenic landscapes. The idea for this project began when graphic designer and photographer Simon Schaffrath and his wife Saskia Repp started brainstorming exciting ways to announce they’re expecting their first child in November, a boy they’ve already named Theodor....
A small percentage of babies are sensitive to a protein found in cow’s milk. If your baby has this sensitivity, then yes — if you drink or eat cow’s milk products, it could affect your baby. If baby has suspicious allergy-like symptoms (like excessive gas, spitting up, fussing, rash, irritability, intestinal upsets, or green stools with mucus or blood) and you suspect cow’s milk is the cause, you can try eliminating dairy products from your diet for a couple of weeks to see if you see improvement....
If your breastfeeding toddler is eating a variety of solid foods, her nutritional needs from your breast milk are really quite small. (Meaning solids can fill her with the calories she needs for hitting the playground and having hissy fits.) Breast milk still provides some great perks though. Research shows that the antibody levels are highly concentrated as your milk supply decreases during weaning. So the milk your child gets — even if it’s not a lot — can seriously help protect her from illness....
Researchers at the Department of Pediatrics and Women and Children’s Hospital in Buffalo conducted the first study of its kind to find out whether early-term babies (born at 37 and 38 weeks) would be as physiologically mature as those born at full-term , defined as between 39 and 41 weeks. Researchers found that though these early-term babies may look as healthy as their full-term counterparts, they’re — by a large extent — still physiologically immature....
I personally never had any issue with my name. It’s pronounced “Sarah”, but is indeed spelled “Sareh.” There was apparently some conflict between my parents and all the grandparents regarding my name choice. They all settled on Sareh, but my mom wanted to make sure it was distinct, so she threw in an “e” for good measure. The “e” never bothered me as a kid. I often thought I was special because it was different and unique....
The lines between “baby” and “toddler” are somewhat blurred. Usually using the term “toddler” is appropriate when your child starts walking or starting on his first birthday, but you can totally get away with calling your toddler a baby for a long, long time. You know when you can’t call them a baby anymore? Once they hit preschool. My son reached that milestone yesterday. The first day went pretty well. My son Ryan found his name on the desk, did some puzzles, met his teacher (he was shy around her, but that won’t last long) and didn’t particularly care when my husband and I walked out the door....
No matter how many books you read or how prepared you feel, babies have their own special way of throwing you for a loop. From your breastfeeding troubles and postpartum bleeding to baby’s colic and indecipherable crying, we asked Bumpies to give it to us straight on their most unexpected, unforgettable moments as a new parent. The surprise: Breastfeeding isn’t always easy. “No one prepared me for how hard breastfeeding was or how much it was going to hurt....
It’s a major headache that’s plagued plenty of parents over the years: After your child outgrows their infant car seat, how can you still travel without hauling your impossibly bulky, heavy convertible car seat around? How can urban parents confidently put their toddler in a cab and continue on their way without relying on a decidedly unportable forward-facing seat? WayB finally came up with the answer: a lightweight, foldable car seat that’ll keep your kiddo safe, whether in the car or on a plane....
And the Winner Is: First Response Early Result Pregnancy Test What We Love There’s no learning curve here—and no need to get your hands, um, dirty. A curved shape and wide tip make it easy to grasp and simple to maneuver under even the most unsteady pee stream It takes just three minutes to get your answer, and the results are very easy to read. One pink line means you’re not pregnant, two means you are!...
You might not feel motivated to move your body while you’re pregnant, but pregnancy is the absolute right time to turn your focus to fitness and get into a regular exercise routine — seriously! Here are a few reasons why: Fewer aches and pains . Regular exercise throughout pregnancy helps reduce common body aches. Since pregnancy really does a number on your body (like overstretching, weakness and tension), stretching the muscles that tend to tighten and strengthening the muscles that get weak helps prevent and alleviate many of the common discomforts during and after pregnancy....
Your super-chatty mother-in-law Even if you super-love her and she’s warm and nurturing and embraced you as if you were the actual fruit of her womb — and not just the chick her son knocked up — any fuzzy feelings you have for her may fly right out the window when you’re trying to hee-hee-hoo-hoo through painful contractions while she recaps the entire last season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey....
It’s been done before…but you can do it better. Noah’s Ark-themed baby showers are a favorite, especially when twins are on the way (“two by two”). The adaptability of this theme makes it extra-fun — you can go sweet (rainbows), sassy (leopard prints), or even Zen (wooden accents and lush greenery). Or follow our lead and mix all those elements together for a fresh look. The Invite: Go for style over sentiment with this unusual zebra invite from The Stationery Studio, $87 for set of 25....
Baby weight is a touchy subject to discuss. Always careful not to pressure women into trying to stay thin or create complexes over their fuller frames during pregnancy, I try to encourage expectant moms to focus on health and wellness rather than the numbers on the scale. However, many moms-to-be are worried about gaining too much weight, and rightfully so. Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight knows that it goes on a lot easier than it comes off....
Last year Lori, head of Creative Services here at The Bump, dressed her son as Mad Men’s Don Draper. This pop-culture costume isn’t only cute, but it’s easy to make too! Learn how to turn your son into a mini advertising exec. You know, without the drinking and womanizing. What You Need: Kid’s size white button down shirt Kid’s suit pants (no jacket necessary) Black shoes Tie (clip-on optional) Hair gel and comb Barbie dolls Plastic bottle of iced tea Black gaffers tape Canadian Club whiskey label replica...
If you’re itching to visit far-flung friends and relatives with your new baby, or if being housebound as a new mom is making you want to get out of town, like now, there’s no hard-and-fast rule about when you’re allowed to fly. How soon you travel after giving birth is really up to how you’re feeling. Some new moms feel almost like their old selves within a few days, while others are still having aches and pains for a while afterward....
You’re always taking photos of your kids, but how often do you take photos with them? Even if you tote around a tripod on family excursions, it’s tough to master the art of group selfies, especially when squirming children are involved. That goes double if you’re attempting them from your phone, which typically involves you straining your arm for the perfect angle, only to wind up dropping the device. Sick of pulling the camera out to capture pictures you can’t be in (or worse, bending over backwards to snap subpar portraits that only feature half of your face)?...
In addition to morning sickness and swollen feet, weight gain during pregnancy is to be expected. But in the US, pregnant women are packing on more pregnancy pounds than recommended. A new study from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 47 percent of US women gain too much weight during pregnancy. Women who are overweight before conceiving are more likely to exceed the recommended weight gain during those nine months....
Anyone will tell you that one of the most difficult things about being a new parent is getting baby on a good sleep schedule so you can finally catch a few ZZZs of your own. Most newborns have a tendency to act like nighttime is party time, which may not coincide with your way of doing things. It helps to be well-informed about newborn sleep, and to nail down your sleep techniques early on so you can stick to them....
It’s thrilling to watch baby start to explore the world outside of the womb—especially as her newborn vision develops. During the first six months of life, she’ll begin to see the world in living color and with increasing depth and clarity, developing a whole new (and decidedly heart-melting!) level of curiosity. Newborn vision sharpens in gradual stages during the first few years of life, and as with other important aspects of growth and development, it changes and improves every day....
