Should You Create A Birth Plan?

Should you create a birth plan?  It can be a helpful tool for making your wishes known both to your healthcare provider and the labor & delivery staff, but it also seems a little silly to plan something like one’s labor: after all, if we could control it, we would all have easy births. When I first heard about birth plans, I decided that they weren’t for me.  I’m a very Type A person; I get stressed if even my silliest of plans get messed up, if they’re ones I’m excited about.  Trying to plan my baby’s birth, and everything … Continue reading

Top Tips for Creating a Birth Plan

Today’s blog topic comes from Elizabeth Stein, a women’s health expert and certified nurse midwife of 25 years. She is also a patient advocate of patient empowerment, so she has put together a list of tips on how to create a birth plan to ensure a positive emotional experience for the mother-to-be, and to give her as much control over her birthing experience as possible. When Ms. Stein’s publicist contacted me to share this list, I just knew I had to share it with you. A birth plan can be a very valuable tool. To learn more about Elizabeth Stein, … Continue reading

Birth Plan Vs. Reality

Before I had my son, I said, “No induction! No pain medication! No episiotomy! No nothing!” Then I ended up experiencing what I like to call “lazy labor” and wasn’t stretching quite enough to fit the little guy’s head through. I did have a drug-free birth, aside from the Pitocin. I’ve heard Pit makes your contractions ten times stronger; needless to say I’m eager to know what natural contractions feel like compared to the ones I felt. I would like to go into labor naturally next time without the use of Pitocin. Will the natural labor feel like a walk … Continue reading

Discipline and the Plan of Salvation

I am the kind of person who overplans and overanalyzes pretty much everything. Lest you think I am exaggerating, at the age of thirteen, I worried that someone might break into our home, so I practiced walking around barefoot in the woods in case I had to flee, shoeless, in the middle of the night. So you can only imagine how far into overdrive I shifted before I gave birth to my daughter five and a half years ago. And if you are a parent, you can also imagine how much of that has gone out the window. Not that … Continue reading

Super Mom Snooki

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Rumors have been swirling for weeks, and now it appears that MTV’s resident smoosher is planning to go public with news that she’s got a mini meatball baking in her oven. Snooki, whose real name is Nicole Polizzi, is reportedly expecting her first child with… Well, isn’t that the million-dollar question? Okay, maybe not. But, the 24-year-old reality TV star is said to be raking in at least that much when she reveals her pregnancy and the ID of her baby daddy on her new MTV show– that’s not “Jersey Shore.” Snooki and fellow “Jersey … Continue reading

Bonding Moment with a New Baby

I hate to say this, but I was not excited about my second pregnancy. My first baby was only seven months old when I took the pregnancy test, and I was not prepared for another baby at home. I mentally ignored the fact that I was pregnant as my belly grew. It was a completely different experience than my first pregnancy, which my husband and I had planned for five or six months. My water broke at six am, and we headed to the hospital. I remember I was reading Eat, Pray, Love through the beginning of the labor. The … Continue reading

Brangelina Adopting from India and The Woz Gets a New Gig

Eight months after giving birth to twins Vivienne and Knox, Angelina Jolie is prepping to cradle a new baby. According to reports, the raven-haired beauty and her famous beau Brad Pitt are planning to expand their multinational brood by adopting a child from India. The pair is already parents to three adopted children – 7-year-old Maddox from Cambodia, 4-year-old Pax from Vietnam and 3-year-old Zahara from Ethiopia. Brangelina also have three biological children, 2-year-old daughter Shiloh, and infant twins, who turn one in July. British newspaper the Sunday Express claims Jolie recently revealed her secret plans to adopt from India … Continue reading

Clay Aiken’s Lucky Baby and Famous Mother and Daughter Team Up for “Dancing with the Stars”

If Clay Aiken’s new son ever visits China he might just be hailed as the luckiest boy alive. The former “American Idol” contestant and his music producer gal pal Jaymes Foster welcomed Parker Foster Aiken at 8:08 a.m. this morning. That’s right, the kid was born on 8/08/08 at 8:08 a.m. (Incidentally, my youngest brother was born on the ninth day of the ninth month at 9:09 a.m., but that was back in the late 70s.) In China the number 8 is considered very lucky because the Chinese word for eight sounds similar to the word that means, “prosper” or … Continue reading

Trista Gives new “Bachelorette” Marriage Advice

I will say this… at least she’s still married. Yes, I give credit to Trista Sutter, the original “Bachelorette” who found her Prince Charming in husband Ryan Sutter in front of an audience filled with naysayers, and then went on to marry him in front of millions more on national TV. The Sutters are not only still married, but they are also parents to a 1-year-old son Max, who lives with the couple in Vail, Colorado far from the media glare and the Hollywood rumor mill that constantly churns out stories of infidelities and break-ups. Trista’s happy ending apparently inspired … Continue reading