Preparing Your Pet for the New Baby

When you are preparing for the birth of your baby, it is important to make sure that everyone in your home is also prepared for baby’s arrival. Your spouse or partner is probably at least somewhat prepared, and if you have other children you have probably spent at least some time getting them ready for the arrival of their little brother or sister. When you think about preparing your family for the birth of a baby, it is also important not to forget about your pets. Pets have feelings, and plenty of them. Those feelings, and the ways that our … Continue reading →

Equip Yourself for Breastfeeding Success

One of the things that you may be thinking about during your pregnancy is breastfeeding. While it is true that breastfeeding starts once your baby is born, it is important to educate yourself about breastfeeding and make sure that you have everything that you will need at the ready. Much of what you will need depends upon your personal plans for breastfeeding. I can speak to what has been helpful to me in my experience with nursing my two boys. Since I have been at home with my boys, pumping breast milk has not been a big part of our … Continue reading →

Keep Calm and Carry (Your Baby) On

There’s nothing like a positive pregnancy test to send your mind into worry mode, especially if you are at all prone to anxiety. Of course you are excited, but you are nervous, too. After all, you can’t see what is going on in there and you won’t be able to feel the baby moving until about halfway through the pregnancy. The good news is that often, pregnancies go well. Even better, there are many things that you can stop worrying about or at least worry less. One way to do this is to think about any information that you receive … Continue reading →

The Things That New Parents Miss Most

You already know that having a baby will change your life dramatically, but you may not know exactly which things will change the most. You are sure to have many, many new things to appreciate as you get to know your precious little one. There will be other things that you will miss like crazy after baby arrives. Whether you have a few weeks or a few months left of your pregnancy, you may want to pay close attention to and allow extra time for savoring the following things that may fall by the wayside once baby arrives. Sleeping in. … Continue reading →

When Things Do Not Go As Planned, Remember This

One important thing that I learned from giving birth to my two sons is that with pregnancy, labor, delivery, and birth, you are never fully in control of what goes on. Pregnancy is a miraculous process, and a complex one, too. Many factors affect a pregnancy throughout its term as well as during the final hours of labor and delivery. Pregnant women and their partners often go to great lengths to take good care of themselves before and during pregnancy, in order to increase the chances of giving birth to a healthy child and having a satisfying birth experience. My … Continue reading →

A Coat for Your Pregnant Belly

If it’s more than just a little bit cold out where you live, and if you are having trouble zipping or buttoning your winter coat as your pregnancy progresses, you may be wondering what to do. Since there is quite a bit more winter still to come, you need something to keep you warm. However, maternity coats can be quite expensive. Even though you may get over heated more easily than usual now that you are pregnant, going out in winter temperatures with only a sweater may not be enough to keep you warm. Trust me – during both of … Continue reading →

What to do on Bed Rest

No one likes to be told that they have to be on bed rest for the remainder of their pregnancy. After all, when you are pregnant, you already feel like your liberty is restricted because you can not eat or drink certain things and as your body grows you certainly can not move in all of the ways that you usually can. If you do end up with a prescription of bed rest, it is wise to take it seriously in order to protect your health and the health of your little one. What’s a girl to do when she’s … Continue reading →

What Happens When Your Water Breaks?

If you are pregnant, chances are you have heard at least one or two accounts of how someone’s water broke when it was almost time for their baby to be born. While having your water break before you head for the hospital is completely normal, it is also normal for your water to remain intact until you are at the hospital and your labor is well underway. What is it like for your water to break? I have no idea, because mine did not break during either pregnancy, it had to be broken both times. I did some research so … Continue reading →

Baby Center’s 15 Best Baby Products of 2012

If you are in the process of planning your baby registry, you may want to take note that BabyCenter has released its list of the top fifteen baby products of 2012, as chosen by moms. Who better to offer real life feedback on what works (and doesn’t work) for babies and their parents, and, perhaps more importantly, why. Since parenting is such an individual thing, it only makes sense that there are many products out there to address the needs of different parents with different lifestyles. Of course, it makes it a little harder to pinpoint which products will work … Continue reading →

How To Avoid Oversharing Pregnancy Related Information

Social networking can be a great way to keep friends and family abreast of all things pregnancy – related. For one thing, it sure beats having to make phone calls to absolutely everyone every time key information (like baby’s gender) is found out, and worrying about whether you have remembered to call absolutely everyone lest you should forget and offend someone. The one drawback with social media is that there tends to be a lot of oversharing going on. How can you be the thoughtful pregnant woman who keeps all of her friends and family up to date with the … Continue reading →