Blog Posts by FitPregnancy

At some point in your life you've probably been reminded to "enjoy the journey." That's sage advice for most of life's adventures, but it's particularly true for the 40 miraculous weeks you'll spend with your baby growing inside you.

So enjoy this time while it lasts. To help you do so, we've compiled a list of things you just might find yourself remembering wistfully once your baby is born.

1) Having a secret Before anything shows on the outside, you know something's happening on the inside. For the first few months you might look like your same old self, but you know something that no one else does. (Unless you choose to tell them, of course!)

2) Smiles from total strangers Once you start showing, you might be surprised at what a friendly place the world has become. You've joined the sorority, sister, and your stunning silhouette brings smiles, questions and congratulations.

Read more: All About the First Trimester

3) Naps In our go-go-go world, there may not

Here's what they mean-and why you shouldn't worry.

When Traci Miller was pregnant, the 32-year-old commercial property manager from Mountville, Pa., dreamed that she drove away with her baby still in the car seat on top of her car. Although it was disturbing to Miller, "forgetting-the-baby" dreams are fairly common among women who are expecting, says Alan Siegel, Ph.D., assistant clinical professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Pregnant Belly Basics

"Many women interpret this as meaning they will be bad mothers," he says, "but this isn't the case at all. During times of transition, or when our identity is changing, such as during pregnancy, dreams often become more vivid. Women often have more nightmares as well." Around 70 percent of women say they have frequent pregnancy-related dreams, according to some studies. "Plus, anxiety paired with the disruption of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep during pregnancy may account for the perceived increase,

More and more women younger than 35 are looking for help in overcoming challenges to conceiving a baby.

The new face of infertility is getting younger, USA Today reports. Specialists aren't just seeing women who are 35 and older anymore as reproductive challenges are starting to change "the life plans of many in their late 20s and early 30s," according to the USA Today article.

Pregnancy in your} 20s, 30s &40s

"The older woman is sort of a myth, even though that's the public perception. Infertility affects women and men at all ages," says Barbara Collura, executive director of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, as quoted by USA Today.

According to the article, an increasing number of younger women are seeking the help of fertility specialists. They are often "impatient to start families; often they haven't been trying a year before seeking treatment," which is considered standard practice for women younger than 35.

Stress and Infertility

The

Got sugar?

There she stands. She parks her ice cream cart in front of the door of Leo's preschool, and every sunny afternoon, I see her and think, "crap."

This afternoon I watched for a moment, as child after child skipped out the door of the school, turned to their parent or sitter, and began clamoring. Half the kids got ice cream, their faces covered in chocolate or strawberry as they walked off into the sticky afternoon. The other half got a promise: "Daddy will give you a treat after Tae Kwon Do." "I'll get ice cream for you at the store." My kid has the food blogger mom: "Let's go home, I want to make you a chocolate milk frostie."

"What's that?" Leo asked with wonder, climbing into the stroller.

"A cold, delicious chocolate milk treat!"

We live in a neighborhood with so many treats sold on each corner that limiting yourself to one or two a day seems Spartan, and making our own treat at home, with a squeeze of Hershey's syrup, feels like homesteading. I

Your due date has come and gone. Here's how passing the 40-week mark can affect your pregnancy and delivery.

Ask any mom whose pregnancy went into extra innings: Right around your due date, the phone calls, emails and texts start coming: "Is anything happening?" "What does the doctor say?" "Wellll????" Playing the waiting game during the last few weeks of pregnancy is hard, but it becomes especially difficult when 40 weeks turn into 41 . . . or 42. But the first thing to know is this: Your due date is just an estimate. In fact, only 5 percent of babies are born on theirs.

Due Date Dilemma: Your due date may not be your baby's birthday.

"No woman should feel nervous or anxious if she's still pregnant after her due date," says Alex C. Vidaeff, M.D., M.P.H., a maternal-fetal medicine researcher and practitioner at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. "Due dates can be off by a week in either direction." Sometimes, even two weeks! Despite that fact, many

Am I normal? Our Labor Nurse answers personal questions about your body that you may be too embarrassed to ask.

I get lots of emails about breastfeeding, but even more about breasts, sex and boob jobs. Women want to know, "Am I normal?" but don't always feel comfortable asking their doctor or midwife. So, they ask me. Here's a sampling of some of the very breast questions:

My breasts were always more decorative for me during sex before I got pregnant. Now, they're my main attraction. I mean I actually had an orgasm when my husband got busy with my girls and that's never happened before. Am I normal?

You bet you are, reader. During pregnancy, your breasts get larger, more sensitive and receive more circulation than ever before. Women like yourself who may not have received much sexual pleasure from them before pregnancy are pleasantly surprised at how much they receive during pregnancy. It's one of the bonuses of being pregnant. Consider it Mother Nature's gift to women as

Though disproven, myths about vaccine safety are putting babies at high risk.

Measles, pertussis (whooping cough) and Hib meningitis-all vaccine-preventable diseases-are making a comeback in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). At the time of writing, 2011 was on track to be another record year for measles, a potentially deadly illness; 10 infants died in California in 2010 from pertussis; and five Minnesota children contracted Hib meningitis in 2008, resulting in one death.

The resurgence comes at a time when evidence supporting the safety of vaccines has never been greater. In a recent review of more than 1,000 studies for the Institute of Medicine, vaccines were determined to cause serious side effects only very rarely. No link between vaccines and autism was found, and the research that initially connected the two has been completely discredited.

Autism Update

Clusters of vulnerability
Despite all the

Being a working mom means I don't know exactly what my son is doing on a daily basis. Maybe that's not such a bad thing.

I am reminded constantly that my son has a whole life that I know little about. Just this month, he's started counting to 10. He'll randomly just begin counting whatever it is he's playing with, be it soap bubbles or toy robots. I have never sat down with my son and taught him to count to 10. In fact, I've never even brought up the subject of counting, period. So, I can only guess that this is what he's learning at preschool-along with how to identify a circle and where sharks live (Answer: the ocean, along with whales and goldfish).

Read more about your child's milestones

My colleague, Jeanine Detz, deputy editor of Shape magazine, shared a similar experience with me. Her 14-month-old son stays at home with a nanny during the day while she's at the office. Here's what Jeanine had to say about what she and her husband have dubbed "The Secret Life