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Read To Your Baby Bump By : Kristi Bernard Expert in Tips For Mom Are you a first time soon to be mom? Are you planning to read books to your newborn as soon as they arrive? Why wait? Start reading now. Your baby will love the sound of your voice. It's a great way to relax and you can get started building your babies library. Using Aromatherapy During Pregnancy By : Wendy Mackay People get very concerned about the use of aromatherapy and essential oils during pregnancy. Some, including some aromatherapists, even advise not to use any essential oils at all. I personally think that is a bit extreme, and also a great pity, as many essential oils can be quite useful in helping the prospective mum through this time. Life after a Miscarriage By : April Lisbon-Peoples One of the most challenging things a woman may go through is having an unexpected miscarriage. There will be highs and lows when you may question what you may have done wrong or why did it happen to you. However, do know that there is life after a miscarriage and you will make it. The path to losing a child may be dreary but happiness will be achieved when you allow yourself to grieve and look forward to living a life filled with great expectations Born Aliens By : Sam Vaknin The womb is a self-contained though open (not self-sufficient) ecosystem. The Baby's Planet is spatially confined, almost devoid of light and homeostatic. The fetus breathes liquid oxygen, rather than the gaseous variant. He is subjected to an unending barrage of noises, most of them rhythmical. Baby Name for My Child – What Every Parent Should Know About Baby Naming By : Joanne Justis As parents of a newborn baby, what would you say if you realized that the single most important influence you will ever have over your child’s life is directly tied to what you name your baby? Baby naming is not what you’ve been led to believe and something every parent should know about before assigning the final name. The name given to a child is the most priceless gift of a lifetime that parents can bestow on their child. When is The Best Time to Start a Family? By : Ministers Michael and Wanda Collins If you're wondering when the best time is to have a baby? Here are four things you should consider when making your decision. Having Trouble Getting Pregnant? This Toxic Chemical Could Be the Reason By : Art Saborio Trouble with Pregnancy? Couples who are having trouble with pregnancy should ready this article. There are certain chemicals in your food that may be causing problem. Baby Eczema – Can Organic Baby Clothes Help? By : Frank London Being a parent is hard enough at the best of times without the added problem of dealing with an uncomfortable and irritated baby. My daughter suffered from eczema and it made her quite miserable and it's very frustrating when your little one is upset and you can't make it go away as your natural instinct is to protect your baby. So what is eczema and how can you protect your baby from it? The Best Baby Shower You Can Give By : Rhonda Grice There is a lot to do when you give a baby shower. There are invitations, decorations, food, and gifts. Many showers are given a theme and some just go with anything baby. You can amaze your friends by giving a great baby shower with just a few little extra touches . Everyone knows how to do invitations, and can decorate, but sometimes we focus so much on what we have to do, we lose some of our creativity. Pregnancy and Aromatherapy - Simple Recipes to Assist By : Donna Chisholm Try these simple recipes during your pregnancy to alleviate some of the stress! Pregnancy and Aromatherapy - A Definite Yes! By : Donna Chisholm Aromatherapy can be of great comfort and assistance during pregnancy. Add another dimension to your health and well being during these special months. Traumatic Birthing Memory Clears with Emotional Freedom Techniques: EFT By : Patzia Gonzalez Twentu-two years ago "Connie" had wanted ahome birth and ended up with a caeserean. She thought she was over the anger and disappointment about the caeserean as she had a healthy baby; but she discovred she was still holding the resentment in her body. EFT helped her release it. Effects Of Acid Reflux On Pregnancy By : Caroline G. Many women tend to experience heartburn symptoms when they are still carrying their babies, and this happens for several reasons. The Relationship Between Pregnancy And Stretch Marks By : Caroline G. The minute you find out you are pregnant you know things are going to be changing, from your waist size to those little stretch marks that pop up. Stretch marks are exactly that, red or purple marks left in your skin because it has stretched. TTC with PCOS Natural Treatments By : Diana Farrell, M.A. For women with PCOS, TTC (trying to conceive) can be quite the challenge. Not only are the odds stacked up against them, but the costs of medical intervention can be astronomical as well. Others might not trust some of the treatments, feeling that they may be too intrusive or too untested to be safe. For those of you who want nothing more than to bring a child into this world, yet cannot resort to medical treatments to help you overcome PCOS, the outlook can be pretty gloomy. Fortunately, this doesn't have to be the case. TTC Success Stories Overcoming Unexplained Infertility By : Diana Farrell, M.A. Trying to get pregnant can be frustrating, especially when you’ve been diagnosed with unexplained infertility. Unlike specific health conditions, which can be treated with drugs or surgery, unexplained infertility leaves no clues on how increase your chances of conceiving. The good news is that couples with unexplained infertility have a very high chance of getting pregnant easily. These trying to conceive (TTC) success stories show how three women beat the odds with the help of Western and alternative medicine. How to Easily Get Pregnant: Plan a Conceptionmoon By : Diana Farrell, M.A. Let’s face the facts – trying to conceive can put a damper on your sex life. And while so many people want to know how to easily get pregnant, the fact is that it often takes much longer than we wish it would. While scheduling sex around your fertile days is one of the best and simplest ways of increasing your chances of conceiving, it might ruin the spontaneity, excitement, and romance of sex, especially as time goes on and those negative pregnancy tests keep appearing month after month. You might end up forcing yourself to get in the mood even though you’re too tired from a long day’s work. Or you could find your lovemaking sessions a little too routine and predictable, like a chore that needs to be done. If this sounds like what you’re going through right now, don’t worry – there’s still plenty you can do to bring back some excitement to your sex life and increase your chances of getting pregnant. All you need to do are three things… IVF Price: It Pays to Shop Around By : Diana Farrell, M.A. You wouldn’t buy a car without first looking at several different options, so why would you pay $15,000 for a round of IVF without first looking at the options that are available to you? With the IVF price higher than it’s ever been, it is becoming more and more important that you become an informed consumer when it comes to your ART treatments. If you want a baby badly, but don't want to break your bank, you need to spend time shopping around before you jump into an expensive treatment without doing all your homework. Here are some tips on shopping around for IVF. IVF Help is the Fast Track to Pregnancy By : Diana Farrell, M.A. Many couples who are struggling with infertility spend a lot of time wondering whether or not they’ll ever get pregnant, especially couples with unexplained infertility. There are lots of reasons that unexplained infertility can be particularly draining, especially emotionally, but the main one is that it’s hard to decide how best to treat it, since you don’t really know what the actual problem is. With today’s assisted reproductive technology, though, you can get help getting pregnant much more quickly than you thought possible. Currently, studies are showing that one of your best options is probably IVF. Help from this amazing procedure is likely the best way to put yourself on the fast track to pregnancy. Getting Pregnant with IVF: The Pros and Cons By : Diana Farrell, M.A. If you’re thinking about getting pregnant with IVF, you need to carefully consider the pros and cons. This procedure is long and can be difficult and very expensive. If can be incredibly rewarding, though, if you end up with a child at the end of the long road. Before you start searching for a clinic or doing further research on the IVF process, here are some of the pros and cons that you need to consider. Aromatherapy in Pregnancy By : Wendy Mackay People get very concerned about the use of aromatherapy and essential oils during pregnancy. Some, including some aromatherapists, even advise not to use any essential oils at all. I personally think that is a bit extreme, and also a great pity, as many essential oils can be quite useful in helping the prospective mum through this time. Tips On How To Loose The Pregnancy Weight By : Angela M. Linton Weight gain is a normal part of pregnancy and after the baby is born, Moms naturally expect to loose the extra pounds that she gains during this time. However, this do not always work out and a year after the little one has been born, she may still be carrying the same, or a bit more pounds than she wanted. TTC With PCOS: Can I Get Pregnant? By : Diana Farrell, M.A. After being diagnosed with PCOS, TTC (trying to conceive) often begins to feel like a hopeless venture. After all, the many hormonal imbalances that come as a result of PCOS can dramatically decrease your fertility. From androgens, to estrogen, to FSH and LH, there’s an intricate network of hormonal fluxes that work against you and your goals of becoming a parent. Simply put, PCOS can make it extremely hard for you to conceive. TTC Success Stories: Secondary Infertility By : Diana Farrell, M.A. Couples who had no trouble conceiving a healthy, active baby have difficulty dealing with the hurdles of secondary infertility. The inability to get pregnant again is just as frustrating as the inability to conceive for the first time. You got pregnant so easily before, why can’t it happen again? Often, the pain gets worse when your child asks, “When am I going to have a brother or sister to play with?” Difficult as secondary infertility might be, it is possible to overcome these problems and get pregnant again. We hope that these trying to conceive (TTC) success stories of women with secondary infertility might warm your heart and inspire you to keep trying. How to Easily Get Pregnant: Timely Love Making By : Diana Farrell, M.A. People often ask me how to easily get pregnant. While for some people conceiving happens without even trying, for others the path to pregnancy may require much more effort. Sometimes people attempting to conceive miss the most obvious step: have sex during your most fertile days. While making love as often as possible may seem like the fastest way to get pregnant, all your efforts (and healthy sperm) might be wasted if your baby-making sex sessions fall under your infertile days – that is, the first two weeks after your period. The average woman has a 5-day window of fertility in every cycle. Once released from the ovaries, an egg will only survive for 12-24 hours; if unfertilized, it will travel down the fallopian tube and fall out of the vagina along with the endometrial lining. On the other hand, sperm can survive two days in the womb. Pregnancy can occur only if intercourse happens anytime between approximately three days before ovulation until the day of its occurrence. Successful Post-Pregnancy Weight Loss... By : Michelle Moss Today's I want to share some tips to AVOID feeling anxious and frustrated about your post-pregnancy weight loss. Don't get caught listening to all the horror stories about how difficult it is to loose baby weight. You absolutely can get back to your pre-pregnancy weight or even better! After my pregnancy, I like MANY other pregnant women, had moments where I had to swallow hard while I was losing weight AFTER I delivered my babies. Here's what I learned... How Much Weight Should I Gain During Pregnancy? By : Michelle Moss Lately there's been a TON of media covering pregnant and post-pregnant celebrities. In fact, everywhere you turn some tabloid is commenting on HOW MUCH weight so and so gained and HOW FAST she took if off. I don't usually read tabloid magazines, but even I get sucked in to find out how much each celebrity gained! The thing I find most interesting is that even the celebrities don't keep to the rule of only gaining 25-35 pounds (11kg-15kg). So what is the perfect weight gain... The Lies We Live With By : Sheryl Paul Whether we’re getting married, having a baby, moving to a new house or city, or changing jobs, we’re culturally conditioned to believe that we’re supposed to feel unilaterally happy about these changes. We live in a culture that doesn’t allow room for ambivalence. We have a hard time metabolizing the concept that joy and sorrow that live in the same experience. We can experience joy around a death and loss around a wedding. The daily duality we endure as humans is magnified around transitions. I IVF Price Reduction Secret By : Diana Farrell, M.A. One of the main things that holds many couples back from trying IVF when they need it is simply the cost. One round of IVF can cost around $10,000, which puts it way out of reach for many couples, especially since it often takes multiple rounds of the procedure before a couple has a successful pregnancy. Before you give up on your dreams because of the high IVF price, though, take some time to look at this one price reduction secret: going out of state. Getting Pregnant with IVF: Acupuncture Can Help By : Diana Farrell, M.A. If you need help getting pregnant, IVF alone might not be enough. Although this procedure can overcome a number of infertility problems, there is no guarantee that you will get pregnant in the first try or that the pregnancy will result in a live, healthy baby. Fortunately, you can avail of complementary therapies like acupuncture to make the most out of your IVF cycle. Here are a few ways acupuncture can help you get pregnant with IVF. Conceiving Tips: A Breakfast to Boost Your Fertility By : Diana Farrell, M.A. One of the most overlooked conceiving tips women receive is to start the day with a healthy breakfast. Most of us never have enough time to eat a good breakfast during the mad rush to work, but let me tell you why it’s important to make time to eat a healthy breakfast. Breakfast is the first opportunity your body gets to obtain glucose or blood sugar after eight hours without food. Glucose is needed by the muscles and brain so they can function well. Breakfast is also important for maintaining a healthy weight; it curbs your hunger and keeps you from binging on food several hours later. And as you probably already know, a healthy weight is important for optimum fertility. Ovulation After Miscarriage: When to Try Again By : Diana Farrell, M.A. If you've ever gone through the hurt of a lost pregnancy, then you may be wondering when ovulation after miscarriage can occur. After recovering from the loss, you'll probably want to try your chances at bringing a child into the world again. The thing is, you might be unsure as to when you can start trying again. If the right time to try conceiving again after a miscarriage is a mystery to you, here are a few tips on how to make the most out of your next attempt: Having a baby? How to make sure it doesn't break the bank! By : Michelle Chan Having a child is a big step in life, not only from an emotional and personal perspective but also from a financial perspective. It can mean the loss of 1 income for a significant (if not permanent) period of time, additional expenses and future costs to think about. Read on to learn 6 tips to make the next chapter of your life a less stressful experience. 4 Pregnancy Exercise No-No's! By : Michelle Moss Although exercise IS good for you, there are certain exercises that you should NOT be doing now that you're pregnant. I, for example, had to give up playing squash, which I loved! Why? Because it involved doing too much start-stop, jerky movement! I also had to give up my favorite body ball exercise, the hamstring curl. Why? Because my head was below my heart and it felt very uncomfortable and made me dizzy! Does that mean you shouldn't exercise? Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder By : Brenda McCreight This article looks at the signs of FASD and provides some online resources for the families raising children with this condition. Is Eating Chocolate OK During Pregnancy? By : Michelle Moss I am constantly getting food questions from concerned mothers-to-be. Is this OK...? Is that OK...? One of the foods that is constantly questioned is CHOCOLATE. Most people LOVE chocolate and couldn't imagine giving it up for 9 days, no less 9 months! Let me help you understand why chocolate make us women feel so DARN GOOD. Crack The Pregnancy Cravings Code By : Michelle Moss We've all heard the stereo-typical story about the poor husband/partner running out at 4am to get his pregnant wife pickles and ice cream. Yes, pregnancy and cravings do go together; but no, food cravings are NOT necessarily all bad. In fact, most food cravings are really just your body's way of communicating with you and telling you what it needs. The problem is getting the message right! Most of the time we misinterpret, we give in, and we overindulge. Learn How to Burn More Calories in Your Day During Pregnancy By : Michelle Moss Is calorie counting on your mind? I know that most women who are conscious about their weight do think about calories (yes, even when pregnant!), whether it’s how much they burned on their walks or how much they ate at lunch... Increase Your Energy During Pregnancy By : Michelle Moss With all the hard work that your body is doing right now, you (and your baby) need a lot of vitamins and good quality food especially at the start of your day. I like to think of breakfast as “breaking” the “fast” from the previous night... How to Quickly Create a Second Income Before the Baby is Born So You Can Stay Home, Part Three By : Jeanine Byers Hoag One of the scariest decisions I made when I was pregnant was that I wanted to quit my job, that gave me an automatic raise every year, and find a way to work from home so I could stay home with my baby. I needed to replace my income and quickly! If you are making the same decision, this article is the third in a series with lots of ideas of types of businesses that you can do from home with a ready-made market (the new mom market). How to Quickly Create a Second Income Before the Baby is Born So You Can Stay Home, Part Two By : Jeanine Byers Hoag When you are expecting your first child, there are a lot of important decisions to make. If one of your decisions is to find a way to stay home with your baby, but you know your family needs a second income, this article is for you. It’s the second in a series of articles about how to create an income quickly so you can stay home. How to Quickly Create a Second Income Before the Baby is Born So You Can Stay Home By : Jeanine Byers Hoag When I was pregnant with my son, I was convinced that what would be best for him would be for me to be with him, at home, as he grew up. I’m lucky that I have been able to do that, but when I was still waiting for his arrival, I didn’t feel so lucky. One reason was because I didn’t know how I was going to do it. I needed to figure it out fast but did not even know where to start! How could I quickly bring in a substantial income by working from home? How to Bond with and Nurture Your Baby Even if You’re Having a Wounded Pregnancy By : Jeanine Byers Hoag “So much learning and conditioning happen during the nine months you carry your baby in your womb, that its importance cannot be stressed too much. Your influence as your unborn baby’s nurturer extends into later life, for the rest of her life. … Your mood is likely to affect your baby, too. Research would bear out what you’d expect—if you’re depressed during pregnancy, your baby will be prone to being unhappy from birth onward. Furthermore, your baby’s unhappiness is in direct proportion to the severity of your depression.” –Miriam Stoppard, Bonding Before Birth Are you having a wounded pregnancy? A wounded pregnancy is one in which the bonding experience is compromised by life wounds that have never healed. Women having a wounded pregnancy want to make all the best choices for their babies and want to fully bond with them but have difficulty doing so and instead, find themselves doing whatever helps them cope. Create Your Own Blessing Ritual to Empower Yourself & Open to Guidance By : Jeanine Byers Hoag This article is the final one in a series about Native American blessingway ceremonies and how they can be adapted by the mothers-to-be who are not surrounded by friends and family or for whatever reason, need or want to create a blessing ritual of their own. Using a Blessing Ritual to Release Fear Negative Emotions During Pregnancy By : Jeanine Byers Hoag This article is the second in a multi-part series designed to use all the best elements of a traditional Native-American blessingway ceremony in a blessing ritual you, yourself, can create. The focus of the previous article was creating sacred space as a beginning for the blessing ritual. This article continues the ritual with releasing negative feelings. In this part of your blessing ritual, you begin the process of bonding with your baby and you release any fear or negativity that might get How to Create Your Own Blessing Ritual By : Jeanine Byers Hoag “The blessingway ceremony helps a woman to prepare mentally, emotionally and spiritually for the work of birthing, and it opens her to the instinctive abilities, which will guide her as she steps into the role of mother.” –Yana Cortlund, Barb Lucke and Donna Miller Watelet, Mother Rising. How can you use the concept of a blessingway ceremony to create your own blessing ritual? Whether or not you have women in your life who will create this kind of ceremony for you, you can still create the energy of the blessing ritual and give it to yourself. Body Scan Meditation By : Bonnie Berk - Expert in Pregnancy Pre and Postnatal Fitness A. Find a comfortable position. B. Uncross your arms and legs… Close your eyes, if you wish. and more steps to relax your mind and body Preparing for Childbirth and Beyond : Breathing Techniques to Calm Your Mind and Body By : Bonnie Berk - Expert in Pregnancy Pre and Postnatal Fitness The following exercises will help prepare you for the childbearing process as well as throughout your parenting years. Pregnancy Body Scan Meditation: Relaxation Techniques By : Bonnie Berk - Expert in Pregnancy Pre and Postnatal Fitness A growing number of studies suggest that stress during pregnancy may cause problems for both mom and the growing fetus. For this reason, it is important for pregnant moms to find a few minutes everyday practicing relaxation Mindfulness Practices for Pregnant Women and New Mothers By : Bonnie Berk - Expert in Pregnancy Pre and Postnatal Fitness “Every moment of you waking life is a moment in which you might bring greater stillness and awareness. Mindfulness is a lifetime’s journey along a path that ultimately leads nowhere, only to who you are. The way of awareness is always here, always accessible to you, in each moment.” - Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD Balancing Energy during the Childbearing Year By : Bonnie Berk - Expert in Pregnancy Pre and Postnatal Fitness Our bodies are made to “fuel and burn,” constantly loading up and expending energy. With the increasing demands of pregnancy, finding balance in the energy system becomes even more of a challenge. Improving your Balance Before, During and After Pregnancy By : Bonnie Berk - Expert in Pregnancy Pre and Postnatal Fitness Balance consists of a set of physical skills which can be greatly improved through the practice of yoga. Understanding Postpartum Depression By : Bonnie Berk - Expert in Pregnancy Pre and Postnatal Fitness I learned that I was a victim of postpartum depression. At dinner one evening, my mother announced that after delivering me, she couldn’t “stand to look at me” and went to bed for several months leaving my three-year-old brother and myself in the care of a “baby nurse.” Advice for New Moms By : Bonnie Berk - Expert in Pregnancy Pre and Postnatal Fitness New beginnings give us the opportunity to examine who we are, where we are going and whether or not we are moving in the direction that best meets our needs. Finding Balance after Baby By : Bonnie Berk Juggling the demands of family life and personal life is a challenge especially if you choose to return to work after having a baby. What is Perineal Massage? By : Bonnie Berk Historically, physicians believed that episiotomies would help decrease the risk of vaginal lacerations and perineal tears during childbirth. Getting to Know Your Newborn by the Expert Bonnie Berk By : Bonnie Berk - Expert in Pregnancy Pre and Postnatal Fitness Newborns are amazing and each child is unique. Every baby is born with innate characteristics that, for the most, determine how they respond to different environmental stimuli. Importance of Preparing for a Healthy Pregnancy By : Bonnie Berk - Expert in Pregnancy Pre and Postnatal Fitness Trying to get pregnant without preparation is like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute and hoping for the best! ABC's of Exercising Safely throughout Pregnancy By : Bonnie Berk - Expert in Pregnancy Pre and Postnatal Fitness In the mid-1980’s, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists developed safety guidelines for exercising safely during and after pregnancy. Planning for a Healthy Pregnancy By : Bonnie Berk - Expert in Pregnancy Pre and Postnatal Fitness Pregnancy can be a challenging time for both the athlete and non-athletic woman, but with proper exercise, appropriate lifestyle modifications and a sensible eating plan, you can have a healthy pregnancy and positive childbirth experience. Eating for Two: Sustaining a Healthy Pregnancy By : Bonnie Berk - Expert in Pregnancy Pre and Postnatal Fitness Hopefully, you will gain weight during pregnancy. The recommended weight gain during pregnancy is 25-35 lbs. However.... Benefits of Staying Fit during the Childbearing Year By : Bonnie Berk - Expert in Pregnancy Pre and Postnatal Fitness Nothing rattles a woman more than the prospect of gaining weight. And pregnancy is no exception. HypnoBirthing® for Fewer Cesareans and Other Interventions By : Kathie Dolce, MS, HBCE. Birthing Expert Women who used HypnoBirthing® for their labors had Cesarean sections at about half the rate of other mothers in the United States. They also experienced fewer preterm births and were able to avoid many common interventions during labor. Questions to Consider When Transitioning into Life with a New Baby By : Melissa Moog Expert in Pregnancy Planning Transitioning into life with a new baby is one of the most challenging times you will face but also a very precious time. How to Prepare Your Body for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) By : Melissa Moog Expert in Pregnancy Planning Getting pregnant can be difficult for many women and when they have to go through alternative means to do so it is even a more stressful experience. Diaper Bag Essentials - Must-Have Items While Your On the Go By : Melissa Moog Expert in Pregnancy Planning A diaper bag becomes like an appendage once you have a baby. What you must carry with you in it... Five Fun Baby Shower Theme Ideas By : Melissa Moog Expert in Pregnancy Planning Many expectant couples today want to move away from the traditional baby shower theme where everyone brings them a baby gift off their registry. Shopping and Registering for Your Baby By : Melissa Moog Expert in Pregnancy Planning Pregnancy already consumes nine months of your life so to relieve some stress and anxiety when preparing for your baby's arrival it's helpful to know what to spend your hard earned money on. Your Postpartum Experience - 35 tips for 35 days By : Melissa Moog Expert in Pregnancy Planning Congratulations, you survived the wonderful miracle of birth! Now you face the hardest job of all in becoming a new mom. The New Mama's Survival Guide for the Fourth Trimester By : Melissa Moog Expert in Pregnancy Planning *Home, sweet home......at least that's what you expect once you arrive from the drab hospital room with your newborn.