Bi-Weekly Bump- Week of January 28th

Duchess Kate is almost seven months pregnant and is looking wonderful with each passing month through her second pregnancy

Here’s a quick guide on how to keep exercising during pregnancy

Ryan Reynolds jokes that even he has tried breastfeeding baby Violet

Watch this adorable video of a baby seeing his mom for the first time thanks to new technology

In the UK, there is a new program to offer vouchers for pregnant women to start smoking

A new law in Ohio will ban abortion after 20 weeks into pregnancy

According to new study, post-natal depression can start while you are STILL pregnant!

Jaime King talks about how motherhood is hard enough already and why mothers should be more supportive of each other

Speaking of judging other mothers, have you seen this video of mothers in action

Apparently teen pregnancy prevention program doesn't stop 'Small Child From Implanting'

Make sure you check out our Tumblr for even more of our Pregnancy Hacks

Sex and the Conceiving Woman: Keeping It Fun

By Nicole H.

Trying to get pregnant, especially if you've been on some form of birth control, can be like opening a present every time you have sex. There is something so extraordinary, wonderful, and sexy about making love and potentially creating a new life in the process.

If you haven't been trying for long, the shear enjoyment of having sex without any kind of barrier can be heady enough to create mind-blowing sex. On the other hand, if the process is taking a while, things can get repetitive, stale, and even become stressful. When your love-making starts to lose its luster or even if you just want to spice things up, here are a couple of suggestions to help you keep it fun:

1.      Don't just have sex when you're ovulating.

Many women hoping to get pregnant can quickly become focused on ovulation like a bloodhound on the hunt. The longer it takes, the more intense you may become. Days of monitoring your cervical mucus, urinating on ovulation test sticks, and pouncing on your husband when the egg drops can take its toll. If you're not careful, sex can become all about making a baby and not about enjoying the whole experience. The result can leave you both feeling like automated baby-making bots. The answer – don't just have sex at ovulation time.

Embrace this special time in your relationship and enjoy each other! Do it when you both know that it's not about the baby. Your husband won't feel like a workhorse, and you won't feel like a pre-heated baby oven. Remember, sex is about expressing your love for one another. It's important to make sure that your partner knows that love-making isn't all about the baby. And you may need that reminder too.

2.      Take your show on the road.

The best part about relinquishing the birth control is that you don't have anything holding you back anymore. A load of responsibility has been dropped, whether it's remembering to take a pill, put on a condom, or get a shot. Now is the time to experiment and act like a bunch of teenagers. Whether you do it in a car or at a hotspot that you've always dreamed of, go for it! Nothing is holding you back (except the law so be careful there).

3.      Don't forget the foreplay!

Sex on its own can be its own reward, but the truth is, it can quickly become all business when you're trying to make a baby. By making every love-making session a quickie, you could be missing out on a chance to intimately connect with your partner. Remember when the baby arrives, the opportunities to thoroughly enjoy your time together are going to be fewer and farther between. Here are a couple of ways to enhance your foreplay:

• Role play
• Explore sex toys
• Research love-making techniques and try some out
• Up the romance factor (intimate dinner, candlelight, music, etc.)
• Send romantic texts to each other while you're apart

When you're making a baby, it can be easy to slip into the mechanics of doing it. While you're waiting for your little miracle to happen, use your imagination, pitch in the extra effort, and make sure to luxuriate in the time you get with your partner. Soon your time will be limited, so enjoy the journey to motherhood from the very beginning.

Bi-Weekly Bump- Week of December 26th

The Chicago School District is in big trouble after alleged pregnancy discrimination

Find out which celebrities are pregnant and expecting in 2015

What would you do if a waitress refused to serve you because you were breastfeeding?

Must read for anyone who plans on having some spiked eggnog this year while breastfeeding

The Irish Government is looking at a young woman’s case who is brain dead and is being kept alive for the sake of her unborn child while the family wants to pull the plug

Kristen Bell gives birth to second child and you will never guess what they named their baby

And you thought breastfeeding was hard, this one mom did it for 3 years with triplets!

Apparently America helped get an imprisoned Cuban spy’s wife pregnant

  

Look at these celebrities are their bumps during pregnancy

Read our best 3 things to do before you try to get pregnant 

Bump on a Budget- Month of December

Signing up for email lists can be great; you can get coupons, free samples, and lots of valuable information.  However if you sign up for too many emails you run the risk of getting your information sold to other companies and then the 5 emails you signed up for daily become 50 or 100 emails.

Before even getting pregnant consider creating a separate baby coupon email using Yahoo or Gmail.  If you get too many emails you can simply just ignore them or close the account when baby comes.  You also don’t have to worry about your personal account getting flooded with emails that you didn’t ask for and don’t want.

Coupons & Sales

SurePredict - 15% our 50 Pregnancy Tests Combo Pack with the code ‘Z3SDGT8V’.  Ends 12/31/2014

Amazon Mom - 20% off diapers if you join a free trail of Amazon Mom

Fisher Price - Free Rainforest Bundle. Details Apply

ViaCord - Enter to win free diapers for a year

Gerber – Free 15 minute phone call with a lactation consultant

Other Money Saving Tips

Say ‘Yes’ To Baby Showers – If your office, your sister, and your mother in law all want to throw you separate showers, let them.  Not only are showers fun, but you can get gifts that will save you money later on.

Shop Secondhand – You can grow out of your maternity clothes quickly so instead of buying a whole new maternity wardrobe, buy a few key pieces from secondhand shops.  Also invest in Belly Bands. For newborns, they grow out of their sizes quick so stock up clothes in a variety of sizes.  Try garage sales (sometimes they sell new clothes or very gently used that the baby only wore a few times), flea markets, and the clearance rack during your pregnancy. Ask your doctor to help guesstimate baby’s size.

Get samples from your OB/GYN – Ask for samples of formula, diapers, and other baby items.  Even a little bit will help you. 

Start clipping coupons – As soon as you find out you are expecting, start clipping coupons for diapers, formula, and wipes.  Stocking up with just a few every month will help you when baby comes and you go through a pack of wipes in one week. 

Avoid buying everything – You don’t need to buy everything for your child right away when you are still pregnant.  Make a budget and try to stick to it the best you can. 

Borrow from friends and family – If you have friends that are pregnant or were pregnant, see if you can borrow maternity clothes from them.  Same goes with baby goods.  Hand-me-downs can go through many children before being worn out since most clothes only get worn a few weeks to a month before being outgrown. 

Learn to love freezer meals – Start making freezer meals during your third trimester (or before if you are too tired to cook while pregnant) and then just pull them out and heat them in the oven when dinner time comes.  This will be healthier and save you tons of money on takeout when your little baby arrives. 

The 3 Best Things I Did Before Trying To Get Pregnant

By Nicole H.

Planning to get pregnant can be very empowering. In a world where so many of us unintentionally get pregnant, there is something to be said about being able to plan this one (or several) event whose repercussions literally last a lifetime.

It's not a luxury that everyone has, but those of us who do have it, have the benefit of laying the foundation of our child's development from as early as the first idea of them.  For women with that advanced notice, I offer you the benefit of my experience – the 3 best things I did before trying to get pregnant.

1.     I talked to my obstetrician/gynecologist.

One thing that may shock you about this conversation with the OB is that laying the groundwork for baby-making can take a few months.  When I walked into the OB's office and announced my intentions to get pregnant and asked what I needed to do, I was shocked to hear that I should be on prenatal vitamins for several months in advance.  What?! I wanted to get pregnant NOW. I'm not going to say whether I listened or not, but that's just one of the many reasons to check in with the doctor before you start on your merry procreating way.

Some other reasons include:

·       Making sure your hormone levels are good.

·       Making sure you're healthy.

·       Testing for risk factors of certain diseases like Tay-Sachs.

·       Checking your iron.

·       Learning your blood type (if you didn't already know).  

Nobody likes surprises, and should something come up while pregnant, it's good to have a baseline for your health pre-pregnant.

2.     I checked out the policies for pregnancy and maternity leave where I worked.

This is one of those things you may think you have down, but you might not.  Look into what kind of maternity leave, if any, there is at your office.  Familiarize yourself with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Also, look into any added benefits your office may offer such as a cafeteria plan to help you with additional expenses like daycare and other medical bills.

A word of caution, however, the workplace isn't always the friendliest place when it comes to women planning to become pregnant. For the higher ups, it means they now have the added stress of doing without you for a period of time or maybe forever.  Only you know your office climate, so just keep it in mind when you start perusing through the handbook and potentially asking questions.

3.     I did the cold, hard math.

Having a child is expensive.  And while you may have heard that money shouldn't make a difference, that you'll "make it work" regardless, that just isn't good enough for some of us.  Make sure you do the salary to expenses math. Don't forget to factor in how much it will cost to add a child to your medical, dental and/or vision insurance.  Try not to get too upset if you come up short.  All that means is that you'll have to get more creative to get the needs of your family met.  And you can.  It doesn't mean you have to give up on your dream.  

Bi-Weekly Bump- Week of November 24th

When exactly can you take your first pregnancy test?

How to deal with second thoughts while trying to get pregnant and what to do about them

The UPS has to show flexibility with pregnant workers with new lawsuit initiated

What are the real risks when co-sleeping with your baby?

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge has ‘strict’ guidelines to adhere to during her choice of clothing for her second pregnancy

Preventive care is the key to dealing with high risk pregnancies

New results in study not linking light alcohol use to low birth rate

What to do when your significant other isn’t excited about an unexpected pregnancy 

And make sure to send us your positive pregnancy tests for our Tumblr blog

Bed Sharing with your Baby

The rise of attachment parenting is on the rise.  Celebrity endorsers of this parenting method include Mayim Bialik, Alicia Silverstone, and Kourtney Kardashian.  Mayim Bialik came under fire when she stated that she breastfeeds her 3 year old son, sleeps with her 2 sons, and has never given either of her sons any antibiotics or medicine.  Alicia Silverstone fed her son Bear Blu by chewing his food and giving it to him through her mouth when her son was still a baby.  There is a fine line between attachment parenting and being a helicopter parent. The main principles of attachment parenting include: Co-sleeping, Baby-wearing, breastfeeding, birth bonding (bonding directly after giving birth), and being there almost 100% of the time for your child. 

The main question is co-sleeping safe or is it dangerous for your child? SIDS or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome  is the leading cause of death in infants from 1 month to 1 year old.   But is there a connection between co-sleeping and SIDS.  Some research says yes and some say no.  

The Huffington post reports that a new study and it's findings show an increase in SIDS with parents who co-sleep with their young children. 

"The findings, published in the journal Pediatrics on Monday, relied on data from 24 states collected between 2004 and 2012 by the National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child Deaths Case Reporting System. Researchers analyzed a total of 8,207 deaths.

The study defines "bed-sharing" as "the infant sleeping on the same surface with a person or animal." Roughly 70 percent of the infants were bed-sharing at the time of their death, a correlation that was especially pronounced among younger babies.

"Bed-sharing for 0-4 month old babies is extremely risky," Rachel Moon, M.D., a pediatrician and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) researcher at Children's National Health Hospital and an author on the study, wrote in an email to The Huffington Post. "In this study, this sleep situation presented the most important risk for infants in this age group."

Among babies between the ages of 4 months and 1 year, however, the predominant risk factor was rolling into objects in their sleep space.

"Although we always recommend that the infant's sleep area be clear of pillows, blankets, bumper pads, etc., many parents forget the importance of this message as the baby gets older," Moon said. "However, these items are equally dangerous as the baby becomes more mobile." 

--The Huffington Post 

 If you want to co-sleep it is important to understand the risks and how to protect your baby from the dangers.  Investing in a bed side bassinet that sits up against a bed can give you the feeling of closeness but can also prevent you from rolling on top of your baby. If you want to co-sleep please read this article in its' entirety.  

Sources: 

Baby Center 

CoSleeping.edu  

Huffington Post

Medical News Today

Chop.edu

Bi-Weekly Bump- Week of November 10th

Is Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake pregnant?

New study says that DHA supplements may help reduce stress in pregnant women

Brad Paisley spilled the beans- Carrie Underwood is having a BOY!

Veteran Women with PTSD face pregnancy risk due to high levels of stress 

How to manage and deal with those second thoughts while trying to get pregnant?  

The fit shaming of pregnant women needs to stop

Look at these cute celebrity babies all dressed up in their Halloween costumes

And finally make sure to send us your BFP’s (Big Fat Positives for your newbies out there) so we can put them on our Tumblr Page!

The risks with smoking while pregnant

Smoking is becoming less and less publicly acceptable.  I have severe smoke allergies and asthma so when I am behind a smoker on the street I usually stop and wait for about a minute until they are far enough away from me before I continue walking.  The number of times having to do this lately though has become less and less.   Another sign of the changing times is that smokers that stand right in front of entrances forcing nonsmokers to walk through a cloud of smoke to get inside are now considered a nuisance and are given dirty looks.  The number of smokers has gown down in the last 10 years reports Gallup.  Currently there is roughly 1 smoker in every 5 Americans. 

According to the CDC the number of pregnant women who smoke during pregnancy has also gone down.  So how many women smoke during pregnancy?  From the Center for Disease Control, approximately 10% of women reported smoking during the last 3 months of pregnancy. Of women who smoked 3 months before pregnancy, 55% quit during pregnancy. Among women who quit smoking during pregnancy, 40% relapsed within 6 months after delivery. 

This is good news but what about the women who relapsed or didn’t attempt to quit at all?  The 4000+ ingredients in cigarettes has been known to decrease fertility, increase risk of stillbirth or miscarriage, low birth weight,  increase risk of breathing problems for your child, placental abruption, and even birth defects. Below is a diagram that shows just a few of the ingredients that are inside that cigarette. 

How to Deal With Second Thoughts While Trying to Get Pregnant

By Nicole H.

So there you are, trying every position in the book, reading up on old wives' tales about how to get pregnant, tracking your cycle like a bloodhound on the hunt, and then you find yourself having nightmares of screaming babies. Suddenly, the idea of getting pregnant scares you to death. You've developed some sort of superpower that detects the sound of a baby's cry and a child's whiney voice from miles away. Panic has set in.

You feel like a traitor. You and your partner discussed this. You both decided you were ready to get pregnant, but now you're having second thoughts. Are these feelings just cold feet or are they something you should take seriously? Before you put the kibosh on baby-making, try these first.

Don't Ignore Your Feelings

The worst thing you can do is try to pretend that you're all right with everything. If you do that, you might make it worse, undermine your relationship with your partner, and actually make a very normal feeling into something much bigger. Take a deep breath, acknowledge that you are having doubts, and deal with them.

Communicate with Your Partner

If conception is a team effort, you need to tell your partner how you feel. One seed of doubt can destroy a relationship. It can lead to you avoiding intimacy and leave your partner feeling confused, hurt, and alone.

“Be open and honest.”

The best thing you can do is to be open and honest with your partner. Share your doubts and fears with them. They may be able to alleviate those fears and put you right back into the game, or they may share similar fears they've been having. It's OK to take a minute to regroup and reassess your feelings on pregnancy and having a baby.

Talk with Trusted Friends Who Have Kids

Who better to go to about second thoughts on baby-making than someone who already has kids?  Find a friend that you know will be honest, preferably one with older kids, get them alone, and pick their brain. They can share with you the gritty details – good and bad – of pregnancy and parenthood. And if you really want to see your girlfriend glow, ask her how she felt the first time she heard "I love you, Mommy."

Talk to Your Parents or a Close Relative with Kids that You Trust

What if you don't have a friend with kids?  Maybe you’re the first in your group to be going on this journey. Try one of your parents, a close aunt, or a cousin. The view may be a bit biased, especially if your mom is known to gush about what a darling little angel you were as a child, but they still have a wealth of knowledge to share. They can tell you how they dealt with their own fears and handled parenting challenges.

The most important thing to remember when you're trying to have a baby is that every parent becomes a parent for the first time. Everyone has had fears about it on some level. Take ownership of your fears, talk them out with your partner, and get some advice from those who have already gone down that path. Try to remember what started you down this road in the first place, and trust that with a little discussion, you can right your compass again. In the end, you'll feel more comfortable with your decision, and your relationship with your partner will be better off because of it.  

Did you have second thoughts tying to get pregnant? How did you cope?

Bump on a Budget- Month of November

Signing up for email lists can be great; you can get coupons, free samples, and lots of valuable information.  However if you sign up for too many emails you run the risk of getting your information sold to other companies and then the 5 emails you signed up for daily become 50 or 100 emails.

Before even getting pregnant consider creating a separate baby coupon email using Yahoo or Gmail.  If you get too many emails you can simply just ignore them or close the account when baby comes.  You also don’t have to worry about your personal account getting flooded with emails that you didn’t ask for and don’t want.

Coupons & Sales

BabyRUS - Select baby items are up to 60% off.  No code required
SurePredict - 20% off our SurePredict 20 Ovulation and 5 Pregnancy tests Combo. Use the code 'WZQBKR7D'.  Ends 11/30/2014

Amazon - 50% off of select baby items. No code required

Target.com - Free shipping. No Code Required

Kohls - $10 off any purchase of $40+ in women's sweaters. In store and Online

Vera Bradley - New baby collection out and free shipping on purchases over $75.  No Code Required.

Other Money Saving Tips

Say ‘Yes’ To Baby Showers – If your office, your sister, and your mother in law all want to throw you separate showers, let them.  Not only are showers fun, but you can get gifts that will save you money later on.

Shop Secondhand – You can grow out of your maternity clothes quickly so instead of buying a whole new maternity wardrobe, buy a few key pieces from secondhand shops.  Also invest in Belly Bands. For newborns, they grow out of their sizes quick so stock up clothes in a variety of sizes.  Try garage sales (sometimes they sell new clothes or very gently used that the baby only wore a few times), flea markets, and the clearance rack during your pregnancy. Ask your doctor to help guesstimate baby’s size.

Get samples from your OB/GYN – Ask for samples of formula, diapers, and other baby items.  Even a little bit will help you. 

Start clipping coupons – As soon as you find out you are expecting, start clipping coupons for diapers, formula, and wipes.  Stocking up with just a few every month will help you when baby comes and you go through a pack of wipes in one week. 

Avoid buying everything – You don’t need to buy everything for your child right away when you are still pregnant.  Make a budget and try to stick to it the best you can. 

Borrow from friends and family – If you have friends that are pregnant or were pregnant, see if you can borrow maternity clothes from them.  Same goes with baby goods.  Hand-me-downs can go through many children before being worn out since most clothes only get worn a few weeks to a month before being outgrown. 

Learn to love freezer meals – Start making freezer meals during your third trimester (or before if you are too tired to cook while pregnant) and then just pull them out and heat them in the oven when dinner time comes.  This will be healthier and save you tons of money on takeout when your little baby arrives.  

Vitamins to use while TTC

If you are TTC are pregnant, your body needs more vitamins than ever before.  A lot of the information out there can be confusing and misleading. 

Here are our top picks for vitamins that you need.  All of these vitamins are available at your local drug store or Target. 

Folic Acid – Helps prevent birth defects and increase fertility

Multivitamin – Studies have lined women taking a multivitamin to lower ovulation problems

Zinc – Zinc contributes to ovulation and fertility in women and also semen and testosterone production in men, according to the American Pregnancy Association. “It has been noted that zinc deficiency can correlate with impaired sperm production,” says Burger. The Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health recommends that men receive a daily intake of 11 mg of zinc and women take 8 mg. Oysters have more zinc per serving than any other food, but you can also consume other foods rich in zinc like whole grains, other kinds of seafood, beans and dairy products.

Iron – Pregnant women need around 27 mg of Iron per day.

Calcium – Nutrition experts recommend that women looking to get pregnant should consume around 1,000 mg a day, because when you do become pregnant your growing baby will need calcium. 

Bi-Weekly Bump- Week of October 27th

Can marathoners keep up with their training during pregnancy? One woman says yes!

Jessica Biel and husband Justin Timberlake may be pregnant says new sources as she was seen buying baby goods

Woman told to stop breastfeeding her son in her OB/GYN’s office

Lots of celebrities are pregnant right now—here is the full list

How to tell your parents and in-laws that you’re pregnant

Duchess Kate resumes her royal duties as her second trimester of pregnancy begins

How to job hunt while pregnant and why it is harder than you think

How to survive chemo and breast cancer then find out you are pregnant

Is this the end of pregnancy and the start of the ‘artificial womb’?

And finally make sure to send us your BFP’s (Big Fat Positives for your newbies out there) so we can put them on our Tumblr Page!

Quiz: What's Your Baby Making IQ

Ever wondered what your knowledge is about getting pregnant? Do you know everything that needs to be known or are you still a novice? 
Take our quiz below and find out where you stand...

Quiz: What's Your Baby Making IQ?  

If the quiz isn't working, take it here 

Did you do as well as you thought were going to do?

Pre-pregnancy lifestyle impacts gestational diabetes risk

Most women during pregnancy try to do everything perfect for their unborn child; they sleep more, eat healthy food, take prenatal vitamins, and they stay away from anything that could be harmful like tobacco and alcohol. Recent studies have proved that your lifestyle before becoming pregnant can be as important as your lifestyle during pregnancy. 

A woman’s lifestyle before pregnancy can affect whether or not she could develop diabetes during pregnancy.  

The Chicago Tribune reports:

"Healthy eating, regular exercise, healthy weight and no history of smoking before pregnancy were each powerfully linked to whether women would develop "gestational diabetes," according to a new U.S. study.

Women with all four healthy lifestyle factors before becoming pregnant were more than 80 percent less likely to develop gestational diabetes than those with none of them, researchers found.

Dr. Cuilin Zhang, the study's lead author from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Maryland said that a healthy diet is essential in pre-pregnant women to reduce the risk of gestinational diabetes. “A healthful diet was one higher in intakes of vegetables, fruit, nuts, whole grains, polyunsaturated fatty acids and long chain omega-3 fatty acids and lower in intakes of red and processed meats, sugar sweetened beverages, trans fats and sodium” said Zhang.

For instance, being a non-smoker, getting in at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a week and maintaining a healthy diet was associated with a 41 percent lower risk of gestational diabetes, as compared with all other pregnancies. Another factor to look at is the BMI of the women.  A healthy BMI is that of 25 of below.  You can calculate your BMI here with this online calculator. 

The study cannot prove that lifestyle factors do or do not cause diabetes directly because it is based only on observations, the researchers note in their report in the journal BMJ.

The results are also limited by the fact that most of the study population was white, and obesity rates were lower than in the general population, they add, so the findings may not apply more broadly. "

This article was summarized using information from the Chicago Tribune which can be found here. 

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1BGbV61 BMJ, online September 30, 2014.

Bi-weekly Bump- Week of October 13th

Blake Lively is pregnant and here is how the internet reacted to it

Is drinking will pregnant ever OK?

BPA exposure during pregnancy can be linked to lung problems in children 

Kelly Rowland shows off her very pregnant self in a new photo shoot for Elle Magazine

Are baby friendly hospitals hurting new mothers?

Young pregnant women need better dental care says new research

Kelly Clarkson brought her daughter River Rose on set of her new music video

Eating healthy while pregnant is a whole lot harder if you are poor

Holly Williams welcomes daughter Stella June

Here are some pre and post-natal exercises for pregnant women

Lots of celebrities are pregnant right now; here is the complete list of babies that will be born in 2015

And finally make sure to send us your BFP’s (Big Fat Positives for your newbies out there) so we can put them on our Tumblr Page!

Bump on a Budget- Month of October

Signing up for email lists can be great; you can get coupons, free samples, and lots of valuable information.  However if you sign up for too many emails you run the risk of getting your information sold to other companies and then the 5 emails you signed up for daily become 50 or 100 emails.

Before even getting pregnant consider creating a separate baby coupon email using Yahoo or Gmail.  If you get too many emails you can simply just ignore them or close the account when baby comes.  You also don’t have to worry about your personal account getting flooded with emails that you didn’t ask for and don’t want.

Coupons & Sales

Seventh Generation - 15% off your first purchase with the coupon code ‘Home’.  Ends 10/10/2014

SurePredict - 40% our 40 Ovulation/ 10 Pregnancy Tests Combo Pack with the code ‘WVYYA2DM’.  Ends 10/31/2014

Mom 365 - 15% off post pregnancy wrap with code ‘PJ15’

BabySteals.com - 49% off retail Bravado Prengancy and Nursing Tanks.  No Code Required

Baby Age - Get up to 40% off of Today’s Mom Pregnancy Pillows.  Ends 10/12/2014.  No Code Required. Also, sign up for Baby Age's email list and get 10% off your first purchase. 

Cotton Babies - Up to 42% off pregnancy clothing and free shipping.  No Code Required.

Other Money Saving Tips

Say ‘Yes’ To Baby Showers – If your office, your sister, and your mother in law all want to throw you separate showers, let them.  Not only are showers fun, but you can get gifts that will save you money later on.

Shop Secondhand – You can grow out of your maternity clothes quickly so instead of buying a whole new maternity wardrobe, buy a few key pieces from secondhand shops.  Also invest in Belly Bands. For newborns, they grow out of their sizes quick so stock up clothes in a variety of sizes.  Try garage sales (sometimes they sell new clothes or very gently used that the baby only wore a few times), flea markets, and the clearance rack during your pregnancy. Ask your doctor to help guesstimate baby’s size.

Get samples from your OB/GYN – Ask for samples of formula, diapers, and other baby items.  Even a little bit will help you. 

Start clipping coupons – As soon as you find out you are expecting, start clipping coupons for diapers, formula, and wipes.  Stocking up with just a few every month will help you when baby comes and you go through a pack of wipes in one week. 

Avoid buying everything – You don’t need to buy everything for your child right away when you are still pregnant.  Make a budget and try to stick to it the best you can. 

Borrow from friends and family – If you have friends that are pregnant or were pregnant, see if you can borrow maternity clothes from them.  Same goes with baby goods.  Hand-me-downs can go through many children before being worn out since most clothes only get worn a few weeks to a month before being outgrown. 

Learn to love freezer meals – Start making freezer meals during your third trimester (or before if you are too tired to cook while pregnant) and then just pull them out and heat them in the oven when dinner time comes.  This will be healthier and save you tons of money on takeout when your little baby arrives.  

Can men have pregnancy symptoms? Apparently- Yes, they can!

In her interview with Jimmy Fallon in June, Mila Kunis kindly pointed out that couples do not become pregnant.  A woman becomes pregnant with help from a man.  Her interview, shown in the YouTube video below demonstrates Mila’s true feelings toward men who say that they are expecting. 

What Mila probably didn't know is there has been a new medical phenomenon known as Couvade Syndrome or a semi-phantom pregnancy for men only. Symptoms include morning sickness, sore breasts, back pain, fatigue, and the ever-famous food cravings. 

The Washington Post writes that Couvade symptoms “follow a chronological pattern, beginning in the first trimester of pregnancy, before temporarily disappearing in the second and then re-appearing in the final trimester. They can even extend into the period after the baby is born.

While the syndrome primarily occurs in developed countries all over the world, the number of new cases in those countries varies. Several studies have found an incidence of between 25-52% of all men with a pregnant partner in the US; 20% in Sweden, and an estimated 61% in Thailand, though this includes mild to extreme symptoms such as the physical ones above. The incidence in the UK is unknown, but estimates in the 1970s put it between 11%-50%.” -- The Washington Post 

So yes men are not pregnant and will never give birth but they still might experience some of the symptoms included in pregnancy.  Are there any men out there who have had Couvade syndrome?