Make her — and baby — feel like superstars with a celebrity-inspired shower she’ll adore. Pull inspiration from her favorite gossip magazines, blogs, and reality shows and be sure to incorporate lots of photos! The Invite: Put baby in the spotlight right away with an invitation featuring a peek at his or her sonogram. This innovative invite, designed by Bonnie’s Press for Tiny Prints, is sure to be a new trend....
One of the most common questions I get asked during the first prenatal visit is, “when can we find out the sex of the baby?” My answer is dependent on what tool the expectant parents would like to use to help determine this. Your two main options are a blood test called cell-free DNA that can be done as early as 10 weeks of pregnancy, and an anatomical ultrasound, which can be used to determine fetal sex at 18 to 20 weeks....
C-sections have come a long way over the last year. For both moms who schedule them and moms who unexpectedly need them, c-sections are starting to have similar processes to traditional vaginal births. And the credit is largely owed to doctors and nurses willing to go out of their comfort zones for the best interests of both the parents and newborns. “Within the culture of medicine, we get so used to doing things a certain way,” Dr....
Is it okay? It’s the best thing you can do for the baby right now. This is when breastfeeding comes into its own. You actually will be protecting your baby by breastfeeding. And breastfeeding is even better than pumped milk because when you express milk, it loses some of those precious immune factors (antibodies are only one group of immune factors in the milk) that will help protect the baby. Also, the baby is comforted by breastfeeding and you will be comforted by your baby breastfeeding....
Let yourself obsess—but just a little “Once couples decide it’s time to have a baby, having to wait is quite frustrating,” says Connie Shapiro, a therapist and author of When You’re Not Expecting: An Infertility Survival Guide. And that can cause major anxiety—whether you’ve been trying for a year or for a month and you’re still not pregnant yet. The thing is, focusing too much on what you don’t have (yet!...
New research published in The Cochrane Library has found that mothers who use a midwife as their main care produce throughout their pregnancies are less likely to have preterm labor and less likely to need medical intervention during birth. Researchers from the UK and Ireland led by Jane Sandall of the Women’s Health Division at Kings College London reviewed data from 13 different trials that involved more than 16,000 women. Eight of the trials included women who were at low-risk for experiencing complications during labor and the remaining five trials included women who were at high-risk of complications....
And the Winner Is: Medela Freestyle Flex Double Electric Breast Pump The right breast pump can change your life. There, we said it. If you’re on the hunt for one, look no further than the Medela Freestyle Flex Double Electric Pump. The freestyle model got a recent upgrade, making it even more compact, lightweight and efficient than ever before. It can be used just about anywhere thanks to a two-hour rechargeable battery....
Active labor is when things really get going! Labor is divided into three stages. Stage one—which lasts from the onset of labor until the cervix is fully dilated—is the longest stage of labor. During that time period, your labor will probably shift from not-so-bad to wow-that-is-intense! Childbirth educators and health professionals often talk about the three phases of labor that occur during the first stage (kind of confusing, huh?). The first phase is latent labor....
If you’ve got allergies and you’re trying to conceive, don’t worry. There’s really no good data to support the idea that allergy shots can interfere with your fertility or have any negative effects on conception. The shots — which typically contain small doses of allergens to help desensitize your body to their negative effects — may expose you to elements like pollen or animal dander, but that’s no worse for fertility than what you’re already exposed to on a daily basis....
There’s lots to love about babies. There’s even more to love about celebrity babies—you get to love and obsess over them from afar without having to deal with any of the hard stuff. Watching the famous couples who have our heart become parents inspires a special kind of fascination (Beyoncé nearly broke the internet with both of her pregnancy announcements), which is why we’re crossing our fingers (and toes!) that the following celebrity power couples welcome a new baby in the (near) future....
If you’re pregnant, you’ve probably seen a pamphlet at your OB’s office about umbilical cord blood banking and how it can offer some security down the line if you ever have to treat baby for certain medical conditions. But it’s a big decision—one where you’ll want to carefully weigh the pros and cons. Here, we help you figure out the difference between private and public cord blood banking, and how to choose from among the different cord blood banking companies out there....
Does baby have tiny red bumps on their backside? They may be experiencing a bout of diaper rash. Diaper rashes are so common, almost all babies will get one at some point. But while it’s nothing to be alarmed about, a baby butt rash is something you need to be proactive about addressing. After all, you hate seeing baby uncomfortable in any way, and diaper rashes can be a real pain in the, well, you know where....
Non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPTs) are advanced screenings for genetic diseases. The key word being screenings. They can tell you that your baby might have a problem, but false alarms are still possible. The confusion about when to get one and whether the touted 99 percent accuracy is true might be what prevented experts from issuing a position statement on NIPTs. But two major groups of human geneticists have finally done so....
Starting solids is an exciting and important milestone in baby’s development—one that not only opens them up to a brand-new world of flavors and textures, but also puts them on the right path to growing healthy and strong. Here’s what you need to know about how and when to start baby food for a smooth transition. In this article: When to start baby food How to start baby on solids Best first foods for baby Introducing allergenic foods...
What are nosebleeds during pregnancy? You know what nosebleeds are — when blood starts coming out of your nose unexpectedly. They’re more common during pregnancy, but nosebleeds are normally not something to worry about. They’re usually harmless. What could be causing my nosebleeds during pregnancy? When you’re pregnant, you have an increase in blood volume. The tender mucous membranes of your nasal area cause your veins to swell — making you more likely to get a nosebleed....
You’ve of course been anxiously awaiting baby’s arrival, but let’s be honest, you’ve also been craving a salmon roll, a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and your normal workout routine. The good news? “Restrictions in pregnancy are almost entirely related to preterm birth risk, so virtually all of these go away after delivery!” says Margaret Dow, MD, an ob-gyn with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Plus, things you’re told to avoid immediately after childbirth are usually given the all clear by the time your six-week checkup rolls around....
Now that you’re eating, sleeping and even breathing for two, donning the spandex and getting sweaty might be the last thing on your mind. But during pregnancy more than ever, exercise is important. After all, you’re working out for two too! While exercise may have once been used to shed pounds pre-pregnancy, now that baby is on the way, you’ll be watching the scale move in the opposite direction. So maintaining a healthy routine of pregnancy workouts will help you bounce back after baby—and get you both in fighting shape for the big birth day!...
Most of them are safe. But everyone, not just breastfeeding mothers, needs to be careful about taking drugs such as Tums (calcium carbonate) with milk. Taking large amounts of calcium plus milk for an upset stomach can result in high levels of calcium in your blood and may lead to kidney stones and even kidney failure. I mention this because many mothers drink a lot of milk when breastfeeding because they think it helps make milk (which isn’t true) or to prevent osteoporosis....
What is rubella in a baby? Rubella (also called German measles) is a nonserious disease caused by a virus. Affected kids typically have a red, spotty rash that lasts about three days; they may also have a fever and joint pain. Rubella doesn’t usually cause any problems for babies and toddlers, but it can cause serious problems for a pregnant woman and her unborn baby if she catches it. “The reason we immunize against rubella is because it can cause serious risk to a fetus....
Daily schedule for a five-month-old, formula-fed baby boy (submitted by Inette P.) 8 – 8:30 a.m. Wake up and have a 6 ounce bottle. Play in bed in bed for about thirty minutes, get dressed, play in the exersaucer and have some tummy time. 10 a.m. Nap time. 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Have a 6 ounce bottle. Go for a walk, run some errands, and have some play time. 1 p....
