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- Baby Names
- Most Popular Baby Names 1998
Every year, the Social Security Administration puts together the top baby boy and girls names. Here are the most popular baby names for the year 1998!
- Non-traditional Baby Naming Situations
Seems pretty cut-and-dried – you're having a baby, so you need to give him a
name.
- Most Popular Baby Boy Names 2000
Every year, the Social Security Administration puts together the top baby boy and girls names. Here are the most popular baby boy names for the year 2000!
- Naming Your Baby
Naming your baby is one of the most exciting activities in preparing for its
birth. It is also one of the most important decisions you make.
- Middle Names
When I was pregnant with my son, my husband and I scoured baby name books trying
to come up with just the right name for our child. While we settled early on the
first name Zachary, finding a middle name wasn't quite as easy.
- Birth Plan Maker
- Not According to Birth Plan
Women love the birth plan concept – it gives us the illusion that we, not our
bodies, are in control. But it's hard to be prepared for everything.
- Birth Plan: Dad-to-be's Hospital Bag
When Allison Duff of South Daytona, Fla., and her husband, Garrett, went to the hospital to deliver their daughter, they did something most couples do – packed a bag for Mom, but they didn't give much thought to what Dad would need.
- Birth Plan, Big Decisions
The decisions you make as a parent are endless. Even before your baby is born you have to choose a name, a stroller, a crib and pick out a nursery theme, and then purchase and assemble it all.
- The Birth Plan
Many people view writing a birth plan as an important step in preparing for childbirth.
Your childbirth educator may guide you or you can find ideas in many books (see
resources section for suggestions).
- Birth Plan Considerations
These days it's common to include a birth plan in your pre-baby preparations.
A birth plan allows you to make choices about labor and delivery while you are
still able to participate in decision making.
- Breastfeeding Basics
- Providing Protection Through Breast Milk
Breastfed babies are provided with protection from developing allergies during
the breastfeeding period and well into the future for two major reasons, says
Ann Russell, IBCLC, of Poway, Calif.
- Breast, Baby and Belly
People you know may be surprised if you decide to breastfeed during a pregnancy
or even fear that it is dangerous. However, there is no documented danger to the
mother or fetus when mothers breastfeed during a healthy pregnancy.
- Breastfeeding During Pregnancy
"The tender nipples while nursing were a give-away that I was pregnant," says
Traci Coburn.
Becky Sweetser has just found out that she is pregnant.
- A Good Start for Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding can be a wonderful bonding time for you and your baby. It is a
round-the-clock commitment, and for first-time moms, it is a new and unfamiliar
experience.
- Breast Care Basics
Perhaps the most important part of breastfeeding your baby is, well, the breast.
How well you care for your breast during breastfeeding, especially those critical
first few months, is crucial to your ultimate breastfeeding success.
- Complications & Cesareans
- Just in Case of a C-section
Meghan Rodberg never expected that her second labor would end in a Cesarean birth. After all, her first child had been born vaginally.
- Oligohydramnios: Low Amniotic Fluid
When Koni Howard was 25 and pregnant with her second child, she sensed something
wasn't quite right. The Oak Ridge, Tenn.
- Placenta Previa (Low Lying Placenta)
Holly Faubion of Austin, Texas, was 12 weeks pregnant with her third child when
she was diagnosed with placenta previa during a routine ultrasound.
- Managing Group B Strep
Dawn Fox of Mount Juliet, Tenn., had a 3-month-old daughter when she became pregnant
again at the age of 26.
- Lupus and Pregnancy
Vicki Crough of Ridley Park, Pa., always knew she wanted a family, and she also knew
that, even before getting pregnant, there would be a lot of things to consider.
- Dealing with Miscarriage
- Chemical Pregnancy and Blighted Ovum
Linda Sherwood of Lake City, Mich., didn't hear the term "blighted ovum" until
she was 29 years old and well into her third failed pregnancy.
- Pregnancies Lost, but Not Forgotten
I was 22 years old and had been reunited with my high school sweetheart just
one year prior. When I got pregnant I was overjoyed at the prospect of having
a baby.
- Stress and Miscarriage
Nancy Grandle of San Francisco, Calif., is almost halfway through a
high-risk pregnancy.
- Made to Miscarry
Penny Wade of Sherwood, Ore., is an intelligent, educated mother of one.
- You've Had a Miscarriage
The process of having a miscarriage can be frightening, painful and tremendously
disappointing. If you have just had a miscarriage, you may be upset and confused
about what you have just been through.
- Fetal Development
- Pregnancy, Month by Month
Pregnancy is a time of rapid change and development – in merely nine months,
you're growing a whole person inside you. And Mom, your body is in for some dramatic
changes, too.
- Fetal Development in the First Trimester
During the first three months of pregnancy, which are known as the first trimester,
many changes take place within the mother's body, from the fertilization of her
egg to the growth of a fetus.
- Baby's Early Days
Many women may not realize it, but the best time to make lifestyle changes to
help ensure a healthy pregnancy and a well-developed baby is prior to conceiving.
- Fetal Movement and Kick Counts
From the moment you know you're pregnant, you wait for the day you feel your
baby move for the first time. Once your baby becomes active, he or she becomes
somehow more real.
- That First Kick
You've made it through your first trimester, and you are ready to leave behind
all the nausea and fatigue problems that plagued you since your test came up positive.
- First Pregnancy
- Trimester One
Perhaps during no other time in a woman's life are the physical changes so rapid
and so pervasive as during the first trimester of pregnancy. For Heather Truett
of Brandon, Miss.
- A Guide to Determining Baby's Gender
Sara Fleury of Phoenix, Ariz., swears by the Chinese fertility chart.
- Second Trimester Worries
The second trimester has long been reputed to be the "good" trimester. Many women
are blessed with a feeling of well-being during this time.
- The First Trimester
Ever hit a state of too much information? When it comes to pregnancy, there is definitely a lot out there.
- First Trimester Worries
Most moms-to be find that pregnancy comes with a lot of worries, especially during
that crucial first trimester. Weight gain, the health of the developing baby and,
of course, miscarriage is always on the mind.
- First Trimester
- The First Trimester
Ever hit a state of too much information? When it comes to pregnancy, there is definitely a lot out there.
- First Trimester Worries
Most moms-to be find that pregnancy comes with a lot of worries, especially during
that crucial first trimester. Weight gain, the health of the developing baby and,
of course, miscarriage is always on the mind.
- The Mental Symptoms of Pregnancy
Much is written about the physical symptoms of pregnancy – the morning sickness,
the swelling ankles, the dry skin – but little is written about the mental symptoms
of pregnancy.
- A New Way to Look at Morning Sickness
If there is one universal experience that knows no cultural boundaries it's the
morning sickness that so often goes hand in hand with pregnancy. It's almost as
common an experience as giving birth itself.
- Fitness & Nutrition for Conception
- Healthy & Safe Pregnancy
- Muscle Conditioning While Pregnant
Weight training with machines, free weights or resistance bands is a great way
to build muscle strength and create a more toned body.
- At Your Cervix
"Your cervix is so beautiful, it's purple. Do you want to see?
- Winter Pregnancy Safety
Wintertime can be tough when you're expecting. You may be tempted to just huddle under the comforter and hibernate.
- Foot Pain During Pregnancy
Women seem to get selective amnesia after holding their newborn baby in their
arms. They forget the pain of childbirth, the health concerns and the nervous
anticipation of pregnancy.
- Spider Veins
Shannon Eis was in for an unpleasant discovery during her second pregnancy: scrawling
red and purple spider veins nestled just below the skin's surface.
- Home & Water Birth
- Home Birth Stories
It used to be that giving birth at home was looked at as a "hippie" thing to do. Most people thought that no normal, conventional woman would consider such a thing, completely forgetting that until the 1920s home births were the norm.
- Wondering About Water Birth
Giving birth in a pool of warm water is nothing like lying on your back in a hospital bed with people holding your legs and telling you when it's time to push.
- Weighing in on Water Births
Mother's Day had extra special meaning for Katy Gartland this year – it marked
the arrival of her daughter, Natalie.
- Water Birth
I figured out how I wanted to birth my baby before I even got pregnant. An addict of The Learning Channel's A Baby Story, I watched a water birth episode.
- The Home Birth Team
You've decided you want a home birth, but now what? How do you go about building your home birth team?
- Labor & Delivery
- The ABCs of Cord Blood Banking
In this age of product recycling, it is exciting news that we now have the opportunity
to recycle life-saving blood cells that have routinely been discarded with the
placenta after childbirth.
- Fetal Distress
At Anita Lavine's 40-week checkup, an ultrasound determined her amniotic fluid was low, so her doctor decided this Seattle mom should be induced.
- Braxton-Hicks Contractions
After giving birth to five children, Sharlene Crull of Clarkston, Mich., has
experienced her fair share of false labor.
- Recognizing the Signs of Labor
This is it. Nine months of pregnancy have all led up to this one event.
- Easing Labor Pain Part Two
Given freedom of choice, few women in any part of the world lie down during labor.
The supine (flat on the back) position reportedly originated in the French court
of Louis XIV.
- Postpartum
- Belly, Back and Bottom Workouts
Let's face it: You may feel like you have been hit by a train after childbirth. You did the equivalent of a triathalon.
- Postpartum Thyroiditis
"I knew something was not right with me [approximately four months after delivery],"
says Lisa McShane of Annapolis, Md.
- Mom's Postpartum Health
After nine months of regular doctor's visits and an array of tests, it may come
as a relief for some new moms that the prenatal portion of pregnancy is over.
- Belly, Back and Bottom Workouts
Let's face it: You may feel like you have been hit by a train after childbirth. You did the equivalent of a triathalon.
- Preconception - Trying to Conceive
- Fertility Boosters
You've stopped taking the pill. You've started going to an acupuncturist.
- Baby Steps
It's time. You have discussed it, and you and your partner have come to the conclusion
that it is time to start a family.
- Fertility Truths and Myths
So many fertility myths and half truths exist that it's difficult to tell what
is true and what isn't. Read on, and highly qualified reproductive specialists
will help you sort the facts from the fiction.
- Herbs to Avoid While Trying to Conceive
With more than six billion people on the planet, you can't help but think that having babies is easy. After all, women are born with around 400,000 eggs, and you would think that one of them could easily become fertilized.
- I Should Do What to Get Pregnant?
Ever heard of drinking Robitussin cough syrup to increase your chances of getting
pregnant?
- Pregnancy Checkups & Tests
- Modern-day Doulas
As active labor begins to set in, Katie's contractions are becoming longer, stronger and more frequent. Her husband is holding her hand.
- Doulas
Traditionally, women helping women during labor has been part of the birthing
process.
- OB or Midwife? Hospital or Birthing Center?
You just found out that you're expecting. It's only natural to feel overwhelmed.
- Male or Female OB/GYN?
People look for different things when looking for an OB/GYN to deliver their
baby. They may want someone referred to them by a friend or perhaps someone close
to their home.
- Nurse Practitioners and Pregnancy
How do you choose an obstetrician? Most people open the yellow pages and scan through the physician section or they ask their insurance provider for a list of physicians that are included in their plans.
- Pregnancy Nutrition & Recipes
- Pregnancy Pounds
The range of weight gain in pregnancy varies quite a bit from woman to woman. A woman who was underweight before getting pregnant may gain relatively more weight than an overweight woman.
- Candida and Pregnancy
While the word "candida" may sound like candy, the overgrowth of this naturally
occurring yeast in your body can lead to more than just cravings for candy.
- 9 Tips for a Healthy Pregnancy
So, you've just taken the test and it came back with those unmistakable lines. Congratulations, you're pregnant!
- Asian Food During Pregnancy
Five thousand years ago – while Europeans were charring a hunk of raw bison over an open flame – the Chinese had already developed a method of quickly cooking small pieces of vegetables and fish with rice or noodles and eating them with chopsticks.
- An Organic Pregnancy
Nearly one-third of the United States population has recently purchased an organically
grown food product, according to the United States Dietary Association (USDA).
- Second Trimester
- Maternity Clothes for When You're Starting to Show
It's finally happened. You're starting to get over your morning sickness and
contemplating spreading the news of your impending new arrival to friends and
family.
- Saving Money on Maternity Clothes
Claire Winograd of Aliso Viejo, Calif., knows she will have plenty of hand-me-down
maternity clothes to wear after she conceives her third child.
- Birth Plan Considerations
These days it's common to include a birth plan in your pre-baby preparations.
A birth plan allows you to make choices about labor and delivery while you are
still able to participate in decision making.
- Muscle Conditioning While Pregnant
Weight training with machines, free weights or resistance bands is a great way
to build muscle strength and create a more toned body.
- Second Trimester Worries
The second trimester has long been reputed to be the "good" trimester. Many women
are blessed with a feeling of well-being during this time.
- Signs & Symptoms
- Am I Pregnant?
Some women know from the moment of conception. Others know from some secret signal
they or their husbands sense or become aware of.
- Acne During Pregnancy
When I was pregnant with my two children, there were times that I felt like I
was going through puberty all over again.
- A Morning Sickness Anti-Nausea Kit
Nausea during pregnancy is quite common. Unfortunately, the term "morning sickness"
doesn't always apply.
- Sense of Smell During Pregnancy
One of the many possible symptoms of pregnancy, along with swollen ankles, backaches
and morning sickness, is an increased sense of smell. Some women have such a strong
sense of smell they liken it to a bloodhound on the hunt.
- Pregnancy Swelling: Not So Swell
"During pregnancy, you obviously expect your stomach to get bigger. To see your
feet and ankles increasing in size, however, might be a surprise.
- Third Trimester
- The Stages of Labor
The idea of labor and delivery can bring a great deal of anticipation to any
new mom because the stages of labor can vary widely for each person.
- Recognizing the Signs of Labor
This is it. Nine months of pregnancy have all led up to this one event.
- Third Trimester Worries
Perhaps there is no time during pregnancy more filled with worry than the third
trimester. Women having their first baby are afraid of the pain.
- Investigating Labor Induction
"They're going to induce me ... " These days, it is not uncommon to hear pregnant mothers making such a statement.
- The Third Trimester
Once you get to the third trimester of your pregnancy, it becomes largely a matter
of waiting and preparation. Having made it this far without complications, your
chances of a healthy baby are excellent.
SOUND OFF! VOTE & DISCUSS
Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar were recently named Parents of the Year by a non-profit organization. Do you think they deserve this title?
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