Some women are using their ultrasound pictures as their Facebook and MySpace icons. The Sydney Morning Herald calls this “Social networking with a foetal attraction, and describes the reactions of various people.

Some women think it’s a fun way to announce their exciting news and update family and friends of their pregnant status.

Others think that sharing foetal pictures could be oversharing - and worry about what happens if the pregnancy goes wrong.

Some think that it brings people closer to each other when they share their intimate trials and joys. However, many expectant mothers take advantage of privacy filters and other measures so that only designated readers can view the photos.  And some people feel that ultrasounds are too private to share on the world wide web. The sensitivity of the subject matter leads one woman to joke about how inappropriate it is to post pictures of one’s uterus online.

What is your opinion??

We all know that smoking and drinking during pregnancy are harmful to the baby, but now researchers say that junk food “may also sow the seeds of heart disease and diabetes in the unborn.”

A new study on rats, who were fed a diet of crisps, cheese, muffins and other processed foods throughout pregnancy and lactation.

The babie were overweight at birth, and even when fed a healthy diet, the junk-food babies had a host of medical problems that lasted beyond adolescence into adulthood.

Problems included raised cholesterol and triglyceride levels (associated with heart disease.) They had unusually high levels of insulin and glucose in the blood (a cause of type-2 diabetes). These rats remained significantly fatter than normal with extra fat around the kidneys (another diabetes risk-factor). The female offspring were particularly prone to obesity, expressing high levels of glucose and the appetite-promoting hormone leptin.

“It seems that a mother’s diet whilst pregnant and breastfeeding is very important for the long-term health of her child,” said Stéphanie Bayol, who led the study. Although living a healthy lifestyle is still important, the study shows that mothers must “eat responsibly” while pregnant.

Grab yourself a peice of fruit and read more about this study here!

One item that I thought was really fun and functionable is something they call a swimsuit “skirt” cover-up, from Kindred Hearts. The lightweight skirt can also be worn post pregnancy over the shoulders as a shawl or cover-up for nursing. The softness also lets it work as a baby blanket for the stroller. Now that’s what I call multi-functional!

Sharon Leach of the Jamaica Observer presents one interesting perspective, which is in line with the general reaction of the public to this event. She reminisces on her own teenage summers of “inchoate adolescent angst” and affirms that it was only fear that kept her and her friends (back in 1982) from becoming pregnant. Fear of her parent’s reaction, fear because she didn’t have the resources to care for a baby, fear of the repercussions that having a baby would make on her future.

“Fear, however, is what is conspicuously absent from these teen girls at Gloucester High,” states Ms. Leach. “Forget about appealing to teenagers’ paranoia in order to reduce the figures, though. I don’t know that teenagers today have that kind of moral inner compass that keeps them terrified of taking off their clothes in front of each other.”

She basically lays the blame on today’s society, where teenagers are not taught self-control and are unable to reign themselves in during their quest for sexual discovery. We live in a culture of “over-the-top consumerist excesses, lack of boundaries and general bad examples [that] we set for our children… The best a parent can hope for is for their teenagers to make responsible decisions despite the raging hormones.”

Ms. Leach reiterates the common public response, which seems to be shock and a tendency to blame not only the girls themselves, but anyone else who could have—or should have—but didn’t—rein them in.

I read with interest an article with a completely different viewpoint. Christopher Caldwell of the Financial Veiwpoint claims that the Gloucester pregnancies are “some kind of a rebellion.” He quotes the Gloucester Daily Times, who calls the idea of 15- and 16-year-old girls wanting to become pregnant “profoundly shocking,” and says that “others being ‘disappointed’, not relieved, when learning their pregnancy tests proved negative - is a notion that seems absolutely contrary to most of our psyches.”

It may be contrary to our modern ideology, Mr. Caldwell argue, but it is the most natural of things to our human psyches. “Having babies at 16 is perfectly in line with our psyches, as a look at other cultures and our own history shows.”

The Gloucester pregnancies are not about information that these girls lacked, he goes on to say. Their level of sex-education was probably adequate. Their parents may have been sufficiently open and honest with them. They knew what they were doing and it was a conscious choice. “It is a fool’s errand to try to convince a girl that bearing a child is “sad” (a word used with appalling frequency in press accounts) or to argue that last year’s hit movie Juno leads girls astray by glamorising pregnancy… Having a baby is not sad.“ In Mr. Caldwell’s opinion, these girls are rebelling against the notion that teen pregnancies are bad—an argument that they just “don’t buy.”

According to this notion, the idea that teenage motherhood is something to be avoided comes from “Baby-boom feminists” who replaced one set of priorities with another. “Their careerism prevented teen motherhood as reliably as did their mothers’ moralism… They chose careers over - or on top of - child-rearing and reaped substantial rewards. Whether those rewards are worth the risks of never having a child might be judged differently by the next generation.” He argues that in a lower-class society, where the likelihood that a woman will raise her children alone is high, a woman might as well bear children young.

“As it gets harder to climb out of the class one was born in, the opportunity cost of being a young mother falls… might not the teen years be a prudent time to become a single mother, while the financial and day-care resources of one’s own parents are still available?”

In a radical change from the norm, Mr. Caldwell doesn’t just defend the young women against blame. He almost praises them for their insight: “If the old ‘pregnancy pact’ that went by the name of marriage is no longer so readily available, they are not fools to look for a substitute.”

I don’t think I quite agree with him. I’m not sure I quite agree with Ms. Leach’s observations either. I kind of liked this post on the subject, although again there are elements that I agree with some that I don’t.

She writes: “…my reaction to the news story in Time was one of sympathy. If adults who have years of imagining themselves as parents have difficulty with the transition, I am not sure how these girls will fare when they face their own squalling infant. In turn, my sympathy also goes out to the children born to these girls…. I love my children and I am so grateful for the chance to parent. I would sign up to do this job again and again. But I’m also glad that I entered parenthood for the right reasons and my heart goes out to anyone who enters parenthood before they are truly ready.”

That point I agree with one hundred percent!

What do you think?

“These girls screwed up and their stupidity shouldn’t be excused,” said Steve Booher in the St. Joseph, Mo., News-Press. But that doesn’t mean they should be punished by society. They’ll get punishment enough “in a few months when they have to get up at 2 a.m. to change a dirty diaper and feed a howling infant.”

I’d like to object to anyone calling a newborn infant a “punishment!” I mean, sure these girls are probably clueless about what motherhood entails. And I’m sure they won’t enjoy waking up in the middle of the night more than any other new mother. But a little baby is a precious gift and a blessing. I only  hope that these innocent children don’t grow up feeling like thier birth was a punnishment to their mothers!

The Maggie Box also makes a great gift idea for your favorite pregnant woman! Who wouldn’t love having these four wardrobe staples in the most versatile color there is?

Maggie Maternity’s other collections are equally practical yet pretty, providing maternity wear options that are both simple and elegant. Happy shopping!

Take a good look, and remember that as your baby grows, he’ll need less and less sleep! Just as you think you’ve established a reliable sleep pattern, you’ll find that your baby has grown a little older and is moving on to the next stage, which includes a little less sleep! If you find your baby is not settling down as easily as he used to at the prescribed times, you might have to space naptime a little farther apart!

Writing a Father’s Day card or speech? Putting together a personalized project in honor of Dad? Don’t shy away from expressing those warm feelings to your father! If you want to make him feel special, searching for just the right quote can awaken and rebuild long lost relationships. And if you are a dad yourself, take pride in all that it means to be a father!

Humorous, profound, and loving, here are some favorite quotes to get you started:

Helen Rowland:
A man’s desire for a son is usually nothing but the wish to duplicate himself in order that such a remarkable pattern may not be lost to the world.

Austin O’Malley:
The worst misfortune that can happen to an ordinary man is to have an extraordinary father.

Charles Wadworth:
By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.

Sigmund Freud:
I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.

Imelda Marcos:
I have never been a material girl. My father always told me never to love anything that cannot love you back.

Knights of Pythagoras:
A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help a child.

Mark Twain, Old Times on the Mississippi:
When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.

Anne Sexton:
It doesn’t matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was.

Ruth E. Renkel:
Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritance.

Clarence B. Kelland:
My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.

Looking for more? Try this!

Although she claims to be no expert on this topic, Laila shares tips from her own pregnancy experience:

Exercize together: Working out together or just taking long walks is a good time to talk and bond with each other. Not only does it make you feel better by releasing endorphins, but exercise can also relieve many pregnancy-related complaints such as back-aches, constipation, blood flow, relieve stress and anxiety, and help you sleep better at night. It will also help you control your weight gain, thus helping you regain your pre-pregnancy body quicker after you give birth.

Massage: When your body aches all over and your feet are particularly sore, make your husband a real partner in the experience. Ok, so maybe this one is really all about you. But really, I’m sure he’s happy to do anything he can to make you more comfortable! In addition to relieving tension, especially back pain, massage has a variety of other benefits. It can improve circulation throughout the body, reduce swelling in the legs and feet, and aids relaxation. As a side benefit, you can also use this time to bond with your husband… unless you’ve already fallen asleep!

Register and Decorate: Although you might think his interest in decorating the nursery or registering for baby gifts minimal, he might enjoy being included in discussing the color scheme and picking out baby clothes (at least sometimes). After all, let’s hope he’ll be spending lots of time in baby’s room too! And if he doesn’t have an opinion about crib sheets, maybe he’d like to test-drive a few rocking chairs.

Baby-moon: Honeymoons are nice, but the newest vacation is a baby-moon. You’ll have to avoid the hot tubs and river rafting adventures, but a chance to get away together (even if you don’t go far from home) will be a memorable experience. Let’s face it, once baby arrives, your lives will be changed forever and it that couple bonding time will be much harder to orchestrate.

Name that Baby: Choosing a name for your child can be an emotional time, especially if you want to name after a loved one. If you don’t know where to start, get some baby-naming books (or search the internet) and sit down together to discuss which names you like. Use this time to relax and have fun!

Here you can watch as Laila Ali shares her favorite maternity tips for mom and dad with Maggie Rodriguez.

Laila Ali on Pregnancy

We live in an age where we expect an easy cure for every beauty ailment. Frizzy hair? Acne? Bags under your eyes? Cellulite? Just get your hands on the right formula and all your problems will be a thing of the past! So when a pregnant woman walks into a drug store, what’s the first thing she searches for? Anti-stretch mark cream. And despite the shocking price tag on some of the more promising products, doctors have bad news. According to this article in the NY Times, you can blame the stretch marks on genetics and race (Caucasian women tend to get stretch marks more often than women of color). Rapid weight gain causes skin to lose its elasticity, and there’s not much you can do to prevent that.

The good news is that it’s possible to lighten stretch marks as well as reduce their size. Keeping your skin moisturized with creams and body oils will also make you feel more comfortable.

So if you’ve been wondering what the magic potion is that keeps certain celebrities (or your neighbor or girlfriend) stretch mark-free, it’s probably just that they’ve got good genes. Or they just got lucky.