Results tagged “pregnancy” from Momtourage: Blogger Knows Best

Why we shouldn't condemn the woman who gave birth at 66 via IVF and died this week at 69.

The death this past weekend of the woman who, for a time, held the Guinness Book of World Records title for oldest woman to give birth, surely incited a wave of judgmental head shaking. Some would argue that Maria del Carmen Bousada's pregnancy at age 66 went against the laws of nature. Others might even go so far as call her selfish. After all, her 2-year-old twin boys are now orphaned. How could she become a mother when she could not guarantee she'd remain healthy enough to raise her boys into adulthood?

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Too many women are starting pregnancy carrying too many pounds and are gaining too much while they're pregnant, according to a new report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

To counter this trend, the IOM has changed its pregnancy weight gain guidelines, which advise obese women (who have a BMI over 30) to gain a minimum of 11 and no more than 20 pounds during pregnancy. Previously they were advised to gain 15 to 25 pounds.

The institute's recommendations, which are the gold standard used by OB/GYNs, remain unchanged for overweight, healthy and underweight women. Overweight women are classified as having a BMI of 25 to 30 and are allowed to gain 15 to 25 pounds. Women at a healthy weight are classified as having a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 and are allowed to gain 25 to 35 pounds. Underweight women are classified as having a BMI below 18.5, and should gain 28 to 40 pounds. (Weight categories are based on the World Health Organization's body mass index calculations.)

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photo: people

Talk about a loaded image: Bristol Palin on the cover of People in a graduation cap and gown cuddling her 5-month-old son Tripp.

She looks pretty and happy and goes on, in the article, to discuss life at home with her young son. She graduated from high school recently, but didn't exactly attend any Wasilla High parties to celebrate. Instead, she stayed home with her family and gave her son a bottle.

Bristol is the current spokesperson for the Candies Foundation, a nonprofit arm of the teen clothing company Candies, that works to educate young women about--and prevent--teen pregnancy. As such, she's spoken openly about her choices, calling her son a blessing but encouraging teens to abstain from sex.

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by Amy Gates

Janet Fraser, a home birth advocate and founder of the site Joyous Birth, recently experienced a personal tragedy when her baby died at her home in Australia on March 27 during her free birth or unassisted childbirth (where a woman gives birth at home without the aid of a midwife or doctor).

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As you may or may not know, my husband and I have been "trying" to have another child for some time now.  Our first pregnancy was a spontaneous one so we thought the next one would be as well.....wrong.  Ever since I gave birth to the uber baby six years ago (nine and a half pounds), I have been suffering with very painful periods.  The pain is so bad I thought I was pre-menopausal or something.   To which my sensitive G.P. told me, "You're not pre-menopausal you're just overweight."  Thanks.  After seeing many specialists (including Infertility Specialists) and having all sorts of humiliating tests done (now when I see a gloved hand I just disrobe....which made skiing somewhat awkward this year) finally I have the answer:  Endometriosis.   

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by Melissa Ford

The whole online community recognized it at once. Many organizations came out with a formal statement. Reproductive endocrinologists took time out of practicing medicine to comment for local news stations. Everyone, for once, was in total agreement. The octuplet mum is bad for the infertiles.

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by Monkey Mama

While out running errands this weekend I came across a heavily pregnant woman waddling her way through the mall. As I reminisced about those final weeks of my own pregnancy and wondered how I managed, I heard a very familiar comment directed towards the expectant mother. "Oh my, you're gigantic!", exclaimed some insensitive passerby.

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My sister gave birth to another daughter yesterday at 3:43pm......all 7lbs 15oz of her!  The biggest one yet for my sister.  This little girl, who is yet to be named, is baby number three.  There are two names being bandied about right now.  Thankfully, my nine year old niece's favorite, Hannah Montana, is not one of them.  She was induced two weeks early but mum and baby are faring well.  I have yet to see the new tot so I haven't been able to play babyrazzi yet but I will soon.  The last time my sister gave birth I was her partner as she was widowed on 9/11.  I'm overjoyed at the birth of this baby but I can't help thinking of when Patrick (or as we like to call him 'the terror') was born.  So, I'm slightly melancholy today but truly happy about non Hannah Montana.

I won't lie. As a teenager, I was glued to Interview With a Vampire and its seemingly endless chain of sequels, (including The Tale of the Body Thief in which Lestat, that immortal superstar, gets a chance to live in a human body--a premise so predictable that even Lestat himself seemed bored by it). But the Twilight novels are a different sort of blood-sucking beast. I attempted to read Book 1 of Stephenie Meyer's blockbuster series and failed after one chapter, but the novels have become so popular that I know the whole tale--Bella the fey schoolgirl and her undead hottie boyfriend--without turning another page.

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My husband and I are seeing a fertility specialist, turns out we have reproductive issues.  I had to take the HSG test earlier this week and god was it painful!  They warned me ahead of time to take a painkiller and I was like yeah right.  I had a 9 and a half pound baby the first time!  I gave birth to a toddler!  How bad could it be?  Wrong.  Very bad.  In laymen's terms, it's an xray of one's fallopian tubes, ovaries, the works....  Looks like my right side is completely blocked. Why am I not surprised?  It couldn't be easy but I did conceive Lily 5 years ago with that same blockage (most likely) in place....so keep your fingers crossed. 

 

Semen, stirrups and massaging one's cervix...sounds like a porno right?  Wrong.  Those were the topics of conversation at my first meeting with our fertility specialist on Tuesday....and we didn't even have dinner yet!  No Sade or Luther Vandross playing in the background either and no candles!  Just barked out questions like, "How's your menstrual history?"  I don't know I wasn't very good in that class.  "How many days do you bleed?"  Wow!  I've forgotten what it's like to be pregnant or when one is trying to conceive:  you're no longer a human being you're a science experiment.  Now I know that the good doctor is just trying to help me.  This is his job and I am thankful that he's up for it.....excuse me....ready, willing and able.

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If you are a Hybrid Mom print subscriber you would have read in our Fall issue that I am expecting baby number 3, rather unexpectedly and unplanned! For those that aren't subscribers, I still want to hear from you. I need to know how each and every mom out there juggling 3 kids and EVERYTHING else we juggle - does it. We are all spread so thin and I had thought that I was as thin as I could be (of course not physically - but mentally)! I am amazed everyday from all of our Hybrid Mom readers that write in and tell us their stories and am inspired by them, which certainly helps fuel me and helps my thinning problem! I have another 18 weeks to go until this peanut comes out - please comment here and give me your uplifting words of wisdom. I need my momtourage now! THANKS!

 

When I was a teenager, a girl in our school got pregnant.....by a college boy no less.  Very shocking.  At least back then it was.  Today, this is very common and accepted and even more common for the grandparents to raise the child whilst the young woman finishes college and or grad school.  That girl was a friend of mine by the way.  Her son, the mistake, his real name is Robert, is now 25!  The mistake will graduate law school this year.  I remember the days when he wasn't supposed to answer the phone and his family denied his existence.  Thankfully, those days are long gone.  My husband and I waited a long time to have Lily.  She's now five and we're now old.  I'm 40.  I can't believe I actually typed that out loud.  Actually, at first I typed 36.  How pathetic, I'm even lying to people I can't see about my age.  Here's even more shocking news:  this dinosaur is trying to reproduce.  Should my eggs be in the Smithsonian too??

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It's all over the internet: GOP Veep Candidate Sarah Palin's unmarried teen daughter is pregnant. And? Why am I not shocked? Heres some new for you - it happens every day in America and all over the world for that matter. It's no secret, we all know that teen pregnancy rates among girls 15-19 years of age in America are on the rise. As the mother of a daughter, I'm hoping that perhaps this will draw some attention to this disturbing trend. I heard the Democratic Presidential Candidate say over the weekend (I'm paraphrasing), "..families and children [of politicians] should be off limits." Exactly. Right on Mr. Obama, once again you have proven that you are the man.

Submitted by oneofhismoms



Seven weeks ago, I gave birth to our second son. Being pregnant with the second child carries an entirely different set of emotions than those we had when my partner was pregnant with our first son.  I was surprised to find that, although I was extremely happy about being pregnant, the pregnancy brought with it a world of neuroses and laughable, yet very real-feeling worries. I worried for my future child.  How will he ever be able to follow an act such as my clever, handsome, charming son, Cakie? There is no possible way he can ever be as smart or well-behaved.  He's doomed. Doomed, and not even born yet. I worried about Cakie. How will he adjust to not being king of the castle?  Will he love his brother?  Will he hate his moms?  Will all of our potty training efforts have been in vain?  What if he tries to kill the baby, you know, by accident?

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by Rita Arens

Let me just start this post with full disclosure: I suffered from anorexia from age 17 through age 19, and I didn't really make a full recovery until around age 28. I have Issues With Food. I have Issues With Body Image. And pregnancy (and its accompanying forced, out-of-control body changes and weight gain) was extremely difficult for me to take emotionally. I can still remember sitting on my parents' couch when I was about three months' pregnant and seeing my legs beginning to swell in the evenings and realizing it was not going to get any better for a very, very long time.

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Hollywood more excited about bumps than boobs these days. 

I'm not that old at all, but being in show business myself, I do remember the days when having a baby meant the end of a starlet's career.  However, today is a much different story: between the all too excited rumors of Jennifer Garner possibly expecting again; the craziness over J-Lo's twins; and the reported $12 million paid for the first pics of Brangelina's summer blockbusters; I think it's safe to say that Hollywood is gaga for the goo goo set.

 

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