Blog Posts by Being Pregnant

If you're anything like me, you've fantasized about unique and inventive ways to announce your pregnancy. And if your family is anything like mine, it didn't take long for the news to spill on its own. Yet if you can keep the secret, if you can announce the news on your own, then you might be looking for ways to do so.

For instance, rather than a phone call or typical card, the Etsy shop Sweet 'n Sassy Baby makes these cute pregnancy announcements ($8) to send your parents, siblings, friends, etc. Not only will you reveal the news in an exciting way, but your family will also have a lasting memento of the big event.

Personalized Grandmother Bowl by Elm Studios Online, $20

Priceless Pregnancy Announcement, Reneeber, $20

And when you announce your pregnancy, you can only hope for this reaction.

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If you're pregnant (or you ever have been) you know them well: The Pregnancy Police. They're not an official group, of course, but they're a big one, with big mouths and agendas they're unable to keep to themselves. They'll tell you what to eat and what (not) to drink. They'll warn you about what might cause your baby irreparable harm, while you're gestating and after he's born.

While butting into the pregnancies of strangers is a long held tradition, a few incidents lately have taken this behavior to a new level. Take the ousting of a pregnant woman from a Chicago bar last week. She wasn't drinking, she was there for pizza and company. But the bouncer said she couldn't stay because a pregnant woman might get hurt just by being there.

This is an example of what some say is a new trend: the "citizen's arrest" of pregnant women, in which a regular old person-not a pregnancy expert, and certainly not a medical professional with experience or authority to advise pregnant women about

A study out of Duke University is shaking up the world of prenatal testing. A group of economists found a flaw in the logic of our current prenatal testing recommendations, and they wonder whether amniocentesis (amnio) should be performed less frequently as women age, not more frequently.

The recommendation, until 2007, was that all pregnant women over 35 should be offered the option of prenatal testing-amnio or chorionic fillus sampling (CVS)-even though both procedures do involve some level of risk for miscarriage. For CVS, which is done earlier in pregnancy, the risk of miscarriage is thought to be about 1-200; for amnio it's about 1-400 (though many experts will tell you these numbers change depending on the experience of the person performing the procedure).

I can't think of any women I know who don't have some issues with their bodies. Our culture's obsession with weight, size and beauty makes it easy to focus on the ways your body doesn't measure up (or down) to the ideal. Since food is the primary way we contribute to, or try to control, our bodies' shapes, an unhealthy relationship to food often emerges as the companion to body image anxiety.

And these issues don't just go away when you have kids. In fact, body changes, whether they're the result of pregnancy or plain old aging, can make things worse.

More on Being Pregnant: How to Love Your Pregnant Body

Most of us are desperate to give our kids-present or future-a healthy relationship toward food and their bodies. But…how? Especially if your own body image leaves a little something to be desired?

It's no surprise that Natalie Portman won the Golden Globe for Best Actress. She's been the favorite all along. But seeing a pregnant woman on the Golden Globes best dressed list? That's unusual.While pregnant stars usually hold their own on the red carpet, Natalie is the first one I can remember who truly excelled. (Feel free to remind me of other outstanding maternity moments on the red carpet if you feel my memory fails.)

I'd go so far as to say Natalie Portman's Golden Globes look could be translated into some Golden Rules of Pregnancy Glamour.

Here's what I think her look can tell you about how to use your pregnancy as a beauty asset instead of a liability:

1. Eyes on the boobs.

Not to be crass, but let's face it. A pregnant woman's golden globes are her biggest fashion accessory. The key is to make them the center of attention without making them obscene.

Miranda Kerr gave birth to a baby weighing almost ten pounds without pain medication or other interventions. Kerr wrote on her website, "I did natural birth too, no drugs or pain killers!!! Love Miranda xxx."

I'm not saying this to set the bar high and make everyone feel bad who doesn't jump for joy at the idea of pushing a ten-pound baby out without pain medication. I don't care how you cope with pain. I'm saying this because, despite what many women are told these days, it's possible to give birth to a dreaded "big baby."

There is a persistent myth circulating about the big babies and birth, and it's doing such a disservice to pregnant women. You hear all the time, Oh…. it's a big baby. You know what that means: a c-section is coming down the pike. But are c-sections really necessary for big babies? And are there really so many big babies these days as to justify the medical interventions required to pry them out?

More on Babble: Study Says Exclusively Breast Feeding Bad for Six-Month-Old Babies

Here's what you need to know:

They say there's no way to really prepare yourself for the shock to the system that is becoming a parent. I sort of agree. No amount of description or illustration can really convey the magnitude of this life changing event; you really have to live it to believe it. Also, I know that many people subscribe to a Code of Silence when it comes to pregnant women. I guess they figure, there's no turning back now, so why freak them out? I'm of a different school: You're in for it now, you may as well be prepared! I recently found something floating around in Internetspace that might help a little. Or at least give you something to laugh about (and cry about at the same time). How to Prepare For Parenthood, in 11 Easy Steps. I wish I could say this was ridiculously exaggerated, but it kind of isn't! Here are the top 5.

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for

Heather Turgeon, psychotherapist and science writer, has written a great piece about advances being made in preterm birth prevention. Researchers have identified the sequence of hormonal events that triggers labor and are close to discovering a way to block that sequence and switch labor off, if necessary.

Preterm birth brings with it a number of risks and contributes to America's lousy maternity statistics. Though the number of babies born before term has been decreasing steadily for a few years, the number is still about twice what it should be.

More on Babble: 9 Postpartum Recovery Issues No One Likes to Talk About

The question I often get is, what can I do to prevent preterm birth?