As if sleep deprivation and hourly diaper blow-outs aren't enough, dressing her post-baby body can reduce a new mother to a weeping mess. After months of wearing polyester smocks, trying to shove your now-unfamiliar shape into your old size 10 jeans is agonizing.

Most new moms feel ambivalent at best about their bodies. Yes, it is a miracle machine, creating a brand-new person. I mean, wow -- your body made a human being from scratch. Amazing! But the process wreaks havoc on your abdomen and bottom.

In fact, a survey of 7,000 new mothers revealed that more than half of that number felt their body image worsened after becoming a mom. To make matters worse, high expectations make it even harder to cope with the postpartum bod -- 65 percent of mothers expected to be back to their fighting weight by the baby's first birthday, but a poll of mothers of 1- and 2-year-olds showed that more than half of them were still carrying extra pounds.

OK, so there's a little more junk in the trunk than there used to be. A girl still has to get dressed.

My problem is that I always tell myself I'll wait, and buy new clothes when I lose the weight. Ha! Lose the weight! So I'll be buying new clothes when my son is, what, 18? This time, I vowed not to pretend that I'll lose 20 pounds in two months.

The first step to dressing your new body is honesty. I'm not a size 10 anymore. And my hours and hours of watching What Not To Wear during nocturnal feedings helped me realize that size, in this case, doesn't matter. Do the clothes fit you? Then ignore the number.

Source

Some folks claim they don't dream at all, others that they do every night, and quite vividly. Some of us lurk somewhere in the middle, but become very avid dreamers when we're pregnant. Weird pregnancy dreams are nothing new to the mother-to-be community, and should certainly not be something that puts fear into a new or soon-to-be mom. Still, some of the things we dream about when we're pregnant shock us, or at the very least give us pause.

Some of us feel that much about our soon-to-be children are revealed in dreams. What they'll be like, how they'll look, even what they should be named have all come up in conversations I've had with other moms who had memorable pregnancy dreams. When I was pregnant with my son I had a dream that God wrote his name in the sky. It was Avery. I didn't end up naming my son that, but it was a good name I worked with for a long time before moving on to something else. I felt like this otherwordly force was trying to tell me something. My friend actually ended up naming her daughter Avery, so I think we're all squared away--it's a great name.

Some women dream more about the birth than anything. It's not uncommon to dream of birthing an animal. I guess there's something Freudian to all that, but to me it just says you're nervous about the impending arrival of something very important and that you want it to go the way you hope it will. You know, like having a baby instead of, say, a chicken. It's not uncommon for gals to dream they birth dogs and cats and all manner of things. It's also not uncommon to dream of weird occurrences during labor. I keep dreaming, for example, that my water won't break, and that my labor will start and then stop just as the doctors attend me. Those dreams seem pretty self-explanatory, but I'm not so sure about the birthing a chicken thing.

What about you? Did you have any memorable dreams during your pregnancy? Anything truly weird and seemingly without explanation you'd like to share?

Source

Presidential nominee John McCain allegedly had a date set with actress Jenny McCarthy. The topic of their discussion? Not love but, rather autism, and specifically the link between the condition and the use of thimerosal in the vaccines McCarthy believes cause autism.

McCarthy was eager to meet with McCain after learning he believes there may be a link as well, and apparently flew herself out for a meeting with the Republican senator to try to make autism a major part of the presidential campaign.

According to reports, however, McCain backed out after his flack decided the subject matter was too controversial. Right, like presidential nominees should avoid discussing anything controversial! If they did all they'd end up doing at debates was drinking Yoohoos! Although not attributed anywhere, the post on IMDB claims McCain also bailed after learning there is no hard evidence linking vaccines with thimerosal and autism. Either way, McCain declined to meet with the former Playboy centerfold (huge mistake, dude!) and McCarthy has now set her sites on meeting with Senator Obama.

Source

On Mother's Day, Michelle Duggar surprised her family with what has probably become a not totally unexpected announcement: She was pregnant, and her 18th child was due on New Year's Day. The family recently visited with the Today show and revealed that their latest addition will be a girl. That makes things a little more equal at home; once this baby is born, the family will have 10 boys and 8 girls.

But welcoming a new sister isn't the only change going on in the Duggar household. Eldest son Joshua, 20, recently married his home-school group sweetheart, Anna. The two will be setting up house near the Duggars in Arkansas. Does Anna embrace the Duggar's "we'll welcome as many children as we're blessed with" lifestyle? Is this the beginning of The Duggars: The Sequel? Or will the young couple show a little more reproductive restraint?



As for Michelle, she's not closing the door on motherhood just yet. "We would love more," she told the Today show. "We really believe each child is a gift from God. We would love to receive more gifts if the Lord sees fit. I guess we'll just wait and see." What that means is, watch for another "surprise" announcement next fall or winter, I think!

Source

Here's a newsflash--a celebrity who will have her child, or in this case, children, early! Most celebrities never make it through the ninth month or pregnancy, opting for c-sections at the eighth month in order to avoid getting ginormous during the final weeks of pregnancy. Too late, Rebecca!

Those carrying twins--celebrity or not--are more likely to give birth earlier anyway. Rebecca Romijn is both a celebrity and carrying twins, so she is expected to pop--or have her babies--sooner rather than later. She is allegedly being placed on bed rest starting in October in hopes of getting the twins she's expecting with super-lucky husband Jerry O'Connell in January through some time in December.

Romijn joins countless celebrities in recent months who've either gotten pregnant with or given birth to twins. Her husband Jerry recently commented that she was "huge" and then later apologized. Perhaps the baby hormones are affecting him too! Good luck, Rebecca! Here's to hoping you make it to the new year! I can't imagine a woman on the go like her having to deal with bed rest!!! That'll be harder than surgery!

Source

According to The Guinness Book of Records, Bao Xishun is officially the world's tallest man. The 7'9" Chinese man earned that title by default as the actual tallest man in the world, 8' 9" Ukranian Leonid Stadnyk, has shunned all publicity and refuses to be measured. In guess one man's shame is another's pride. While Stadnyk is so distressed about his appearance that he refuses to even look in a mirror, 60-year-old Xishun has used his notoriety to find a wife.

After broadcasting his desire to marry with advertisements around the world, Xishun eventually found true love with a girl from his own hometown. Last year, he married 5'6" Xia Shujuan in a traditional Mongolian ceremony that was heavily sponsored by companies hoping to cash in on his fame. 29-year-old Xia insists it was love, not fame, that drew her to her husband. "You need to have feelings for someone to be in love. Even if he is a big shot, you can't love him without feelings", she said. Or in this case, maybe a ladder as well.

Despite the difference in heights, they are both walking tall now as they await the birth of their first child. Xishun is hoping the kid will be tall, but not that tall. "I hope he or she can be about 2 meters tall.' he said last year. "'Then he or she can play basketball." For those of you who are metric-impaired like myself, 2 meters is just over six feet - downright short compared to daddy.

Source

Louisiana State Representative John LaBruzzo is concerned about the future. He's worried for the poor of his state who cannot afford the children they apparently keep having and about the quality of future generations made up of the children of the poor and uneducated. "We're on a train headed to the future and there's a bridge out," said LaBruzzo.

His solution? Sterilization. He is looking at a plan to pay poor women a thousand dollars to get their Fallopian tubes tied. The plan would also cover other forms of birth control, including vasectomies for men (to avoid accusations of being sexist). His plan might include tax incentives for well-to-do, college graduates to have more children as well.

Before you accuse him of racism, however, he is quick to point out that there are more whites on welfare than groups and that the program would be completely voluntary. On the one hand, since it would be voluntary, those who don't like the idea can simply choose not to participate. On the other hand, it sure seems like a step closer to a world where only the wealthy and successful are allowed to reproduce.

Hard to believe but it's already flu season again. Or, to be more accurate, it's really (hopefully) flu PREVENTION season. This week the Center for Disease Control whipped out a new, stronger than ever campaign to get pregnant women and young children vaccinated. This campaign, of course, is not without its controversy. Not so long ago, one of our commenters seemed to think the topic of vaccinations was my high horse, as I write about it frequently, but I can assure you that's not the case. I'm a parent, too, with the same concerns as many of you regarding vaccines and children's health--I'm just interested in getting as much information as possible and seeing how the whole thing turns out.

According to the CDC, children as young as six months of age should be getting flu vaccinations. It strongly recommended vaccinations for kids up to eighteen years old, pregnant women, healthcare workers and anyone over the age of fifty. Seems harmless enough, right? I mean, most of us have gotten at least one flu shot in our lives and for the most part we turned out OK. The problem with the flu vaccine, which contains thimerosal, is that thimerosal contains mercury. Yep, mercury. Rather DANGEROUS. Now, that said, we've all been assured that even if it did contain said mercury, the amount would be no more than that in a small can of tuna. Contrary to that, however, are the findings that the kind of mercury found in thimerosal differs from that found in tuna (methyl mercury) in that it stays in the system, namely the brain, for a lot longer period of time. This is not great news for a developing fetal brain.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists claim that pregnant women should be getting this vaccine and that there isn't any evidence of harmful effects to women or their unborn children. According to some that notion is quite misleading as it implies that tons of tests and research has been done on the subject, when, in fact, it has not. Still, what would my pediatrician say? Well, he'd tell me that the chances of something happening to my child as a result of the flu vaccine are a great deal smaller than what might happen if he remained unvaccinated. When one weighs the odds from that perspective the vaccination wins out.

Clearly, more research is needed and the results well-established before we make any uniform decisions with respect to vaccinating our children--unborn or not. The other side of the argument? Opt for what my pediatrician did--offer flu shots without thimerosal. Hopefully, pregnant women can get that option too.

Source

I don't know about you, but my second c-section took a serious toll on my mid-section. I'm not typically a vain kind of girl, but that little flippity-flap over my second incision line?

Not pretty, people.

Granted, it's only been six weeks since I delivered my son via surgeon's knife, and it doesn't help that my pre-baby body was less Jennifer Lopez and more Jenny Craig "before photo." I'm hopeful that once I'm cleared to exercise, I'll be able to get my abdominal muscles in decent shape.

Exercising isn't my favorite activity in the world, so I'm kind of bummed I didn't ask for a c-tuck while my doc was fiddling around with my fundus anyway.

In case you haven't heard, rumor has it that some celebrity moms are scheduling elective c-sections for the eighth month of pregnancy, to avoid the serious stretching that starts once you hit that ninth month. At the same time, so they say, they get a tummy tuck.

Can you imagine coming home from the hospital with a newborn and a new belly button?

Don't get too excited, though. Plastic surgeons say the procedure increases the risk of infection and requires amniocentesis.

So tell me, would you risk it for a flat belly?

Source

Ah, the rumor mill. It was a'buzzin' with the notion that recent newlywed Mariah Carey is pregnant. Then it went on to buzz that Carey would announce her pregnancy on an upcoming stint with talk show guru Oprah Winfrey. Well, it looks like that ain't so, on any level.

According to Oprah's flack, the Butterfly singer has no plans spilling the beans on her show. The spokesperson did not make any statement as to verify if Carey is pregnant. The Glitter star's reps have been denying her pregnancy ever since she married Nick Cannon in a whirlwind.

Mimi certainly doesn't look pregnant. The singer has been quick to reveal her latest attempts at having the perfect body, which have been successful. Perhaps marriage--and maybe even pregnancy--have been good to her. Time, not the media, will tell.

Source

One would think the obvious answer to that question is yes. One would surmise that exercise would help anyone stop smoking, right? After all, you're striving to do something healthy, sort of the opposite of smoking, by getting out there and running or doing yoga or whatever it is, not to mention that raising your heart rate and panting and whatnot is a little easier when you have full use of your lungs. Only problem is, smoking is touted as nearly impossible to quit--it's just that addictive.

We've been told for years and years now how bad it is for pregnant women to smoke. Children of pregnant women run the risk of a number of problems including low birth weight, asthma and increased risk of infant mortality. According to researchers, seventeen percent of British women and twenty percent of American women profess to smoke during pregnancy. Exercise is seen as a great way to assist in the cessation of the notoriously hard to kick habit and is considered a much safer option than nicotine patches, which are seen as possibly harmful to the unborn child.

In a study recently conducted in Britain, women were asked to exercise and given weekly smoking cessation counseling. Twenty-five percent of the 32 women tested were able to give up smoking before they gave birth. It has been suggested that the physical activity alleviated cravings. A new study by the same researchers will focus on a group of 850 women in an effort to uncover more data.

Source

Want to save your marriage despite having kids? Remember this.

These days, you can get just about anything on-line. Apparently, "just about anything" includes a sperm donor. I don't know how legitimate this is, but given the purchases made by the Golden Palace Casino, and the recent auctions for young women's virginity, it certainly could be real, even if it isn't. A blogger has decided that she's ready to have a baby and, not having a handy man around the house, has posted on her blog looking for one.

Amy Jones says she is twenty-six years old, has "most of a PhD in Biophysics and will be finishing my JD before the child is born" and will be able to work from home, for the most part, once she returns to work. Going by the picture posted (which may or may not be of the young lady in question), I would think she would have little or no trouble finding a "sperm donor" in the real world, without putting it all out there on the internet. It strikes me as a little sensationalist and unnecessary.

Further, if she is really interested in raising a child (and not just some hot unprotected sex), why not consider adopting? Then she wouldn't have to go through nine months of discomfort at best and sheer hell at worst. Even if she is desperate for a genetic connection, at twenty-six, she's still got at least a dozen years to find a partner to help raise the kid. I'm not saying two parents are necessary, but it sure makes it a lot easier. Truth be told, I'm not sure what to think of this. What say you?

Source

Kate Moss has been known for a lot of things. In the eighties she was the face of the Calvin Klein fragrance Obsession. She was a supermodel. She was constantly embattled over her (lack of) weight. Then she had a child, and normalcy returned, until she was constantly in the spotlight for drugs and alleged partying ways.

In fact, rumor had it that Kate split from her most recent boyfriend, rocker Jamie Hince, because of her lifestyle. Not so, insists a source, who claims the real reason the couple split is that Moss was ready to become a mom again. According to the source the supermodel was keen to add to her family, which already consists of five-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.

So maybe Kate really is like the rest of us? She wanted a commitment, couldn't get one from the guy--he wanted to focus on his band--and perhaps she felt the clock ticking. Or not. I mean, this woman carries handbags that are worth more than my rent. But hey, you gotta feel for a woman who, if it's true, puts her family (and her biological needs) first. Good luck, Kate!

Kate's no stranger to the camera. Perhaps if she succeeds in becoming a mom again, she can join the ranks of these pregnant cover girls:

Source

(Click the photo to see the Top 10 Most Controversial Celebrity Dads)

Many of you probably know Jamie Oliver. He is, among other things, one of the many chefs whose work is showcased on The Food Network and who enjoys the title Naked Chef. I don't know much about him, so I am not sure where he gets that title, except hat he wrote the book of the same name, but it certainly makes me want to tune in to his programming.

Well, Oliver and wife Jools (Juliette Norton) are apparently in the family way again. Jamie and his wife Jools are allegedly expecting the third child together. The couple currently has two girls, Poppy Honey and Daisy Boo, and it is also alleged that Jamie is keen for the third child to be a boy. In fact, according to the source, he's so desperate for a boy he'd be wiling to adopt to get one.

As the parent of a boy, I highly recommend it. It's great. That said, I am also about to become mom to a little girl, and I think that's the most exciting thing ever. There is a fifty/fifty chance that a child will be a girl or a boy, so it's tough to try to rationalize the sex of your unborn child one way or the other. Perhaps it is also not so wise to get your hopes up--and make them public--in case you happen to be wrong about what's lurking in that womb. I'm sure Jamie will be thrilled regardless of what his new child turns out to be.

Congratulations and good luck!

Source