Pregnancy and Baby Blog

One of the pregnancy signs that must be observed is the unusual increase in weight, especially since it has been believed that weight could be a factor on how the baby would be once born. A group of U.S. researchers revealed that women who gained significant amount of weight during pregnancy may have bigger babies once born.

Researchers at Columbia University in New York and Children’s Hospital in Boston compared the infants that were born to women who gained weight from 17.5 to 22 pounds during pregnancy and babies that were born from mothers who gained more than 52.5 pounds during pregnancy.

Using the state birth registry data from New Jersey and Michigan involving more than five hundred thousand women who had more than one child, they have discovered that for every 2.2 pounds gained would mean an increase in baby’s birth weight by one quarter ounce.

The findings have been published in the journal, The Lancet.

The increasing number of visitors to baby gyms has prompted businesses to create more of these establishments, as parents see the benefits of going to such places for their babies’ development.

In addition to this, purchases of classic baby toys has continue to increase despite earlier reports that predicted that they would suffer due to a greater presence of advanced baby toys using involving ever-changing technology.

Twenga, a newly-launched search engine for shoppers, reported that there’s an increase of searches for baby play mat, walkers, gyms, mobiles and rattles for the past month. The period they specified was from June 27 to July 26, 2010. Twenga has a reliable gathering system that analyzes the trends based on searches made by the site visitors.

The most favorite theme for the year, surprising, the long-loved cartoon character Winnie the Pooh and the popular brands for baby toys are Tiny Love, Galt and Fisher Price.

Actor, artist and DJ Nick Cannon has started considering baby names for his baby with wife Mariah Carey. The one that stood out was his joked that and his wife are planning to call all their children after their mother – even if they are boys.

Cannon and Carrey got married two years ago after a whirlwind romance. Since then, they have been openly telling the press that they desire to start a family. The past few weeks, Mariah Carey has been keeping the press guessing whether she’s really pregnant.

The rumors have strengthened after it was heard that Cannon told his friends that his wife is expecting. Cannon somewhat retracted the statement, saying that he will leave it to his wife to make important announcements about this development in the near future.

This will be the first child for the 41-year old multiplatinum artist should pregnancy rumors will be confirmed true.

First time parents are definitely looking forward to taking care of their babies. However, there are a lot of apprehensions, doubts and queries on how to do things right and to make sure that baby comfort is achieved.

•    Infants are delicate which means that don’t have control of their neck and head. They should be carried the right way because their heads will just move from side to side without proper support. Parents must place their hands behind the infants head while holding the baby upright.

•    Babies communicate via crying because that’s what they can only do at that point. Excessive crying occurs from time to time and this is usually because of the following reasons: hunger, dirty diapers, feeling cold, hot or sleepy. If the crying continues after resolving these factors, they may be a need to visit the doctor for medical advice.

Times are tough these days and expecting a baby is also expecting burgeoning expenses since there are a lot of things to buy when welcoming the baby to the world.

Now, it’s easier to just take out that credit card and charge the items on it but it would be financially draining in the long run. The best tip – plan beforehand.

Here are some tips you may want to do during baby planning:

•    Set a budget plan: Coming up with a budget limit helps you set things straight – from buying baby clothes and a maternity bra to buying only the essential foods for the baby. In fact, set a budget plan even during pregnancy so as not to spend so much on unnecessary items.

•    Set aside “baby fund”: College may be far in the future for this unborn child but it does pay to set up this fund at this point in time. The earlier you save for the child, the more interest you’ll earn.

•    Set up insurance: Adequate health coverage will pay off in the long run because during pregnancy, you’d find yourself visiting the doctor more often. Having a medical insurance avoids burgeoning expenses on medicines and professional fees.

HIV-positive women are most likely to double to risk of infecting their male partners of the disease during pregnancy. This was revealed through a research that was just recently released.

The findings were presented last Sunday at the International Microbicides Conference held in Pittsburgh.

The two-year long study was launched in South African countries – South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Botswana. The researchers focused on more than three thousand couples wherein one of the partners are HIV-positive.

University of Nairobi and Kenyatta National Hospital’s Dr. Nelly Mugo and his colleagues have teamed up with several researchers based in University of Washington in Seattle to check into 1,085 couples wherein the man was HIV-positive and more than 2,200 couples where the woman was HIV positive.

It’s been discovered that women with pregnancy signs have increased risks of transmitting HIV to their male partners. The research team, however, believes that further studies must be made regarding their findings.

Actress Amy Adams has come up with one of the most unique Hollywood baby names for her newborn daughter. The name she gave was Aviana Olea Legallo.

A rep for the Hollywood actress confirmed that this was the name given to the baby. The actress gave birth in Los Angeles last Saturday. The baby is healthy and weighs seven pounds.

The actress and fiancé Darren Legallo were said to be very thrilled about having their first child together. The 35-year old actress is currently at her family home recuperating from the operation. The name of the hospital where she gave birth remains unnamed.

Adams was quoted earlier this year as not coming up with her daughter’s name until she gets to know the baby. She also said that she will be settling with a traditional name. However, she said that she’s open to coming up with a unique baby name for her daughter should it fit her and this was the case.

Adams met Legallo during an acting class nine years ago. They got engaged two years ago and have yet to set a date for the wedding.

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A staff from the Pan Am Pool in Winnipeg, Canada has allegedly told young mother Jenna Baker that nursing her baby named Ocean Baker is “offensive” and must be stopped.

This irked Baker, who along with other breastfeeding mothers, stormed to the same pool on a Friday night to inform the public that breastfeeding is not an offensive act but a natural one.

More than a dozen women stood at the foyer of the public pool and randomly took turns in feeding their babies with no blankets or covers whatsoever to relay their message. Baker said that this awareness should be an eye-opener to everyone that a woman has the right to breastfeed anytime and anywhere.

City Mayor Sam Katz reportedly called Baker to personally apologize for the incident and the inconvenience that she went through.

Baker’s move gained public attention and support.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is reportedly taking steps to improve its communication process with consumers by issuing more complete and detailed product warnings on baby toys and other products.

Last year, more than 170,000 drop side cribs were recalled due to hazards. So far there are about 32 deaths reported when these items were used and hundreds of injuries have been documented as well. For the past ten years, more than seven million of these items have been recalled.

CPSC Chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum said that it is about time to stop the creation of drop side cribs since injuries and deaths still keep on happening when these items were used. The commission has issued a voluntary ban on retailers and manufacturers of these items in the United States. Toy retail giants Toys R Us and Babies R Us have stopped selling this items last year with other retailers following suit.

New Hampshire authorities say that a mummified body of a baby has been removed from a grave site and they are now investigating as to who’s the suspect is and what was the reason behind the stealing of the body.

A family had taken custody of the mummy for about a century. It’s been believed that the mummified baby was a stillborn son of one of the family’s great-great-uncle.

The corpse was interred two years ago after a judge ordered that the body should be buried.

Concord authorities said that the grave site seemed to have been unearthed deliberately. A lawyer for the family said that the mummy is considered an heirloom. The lawyer has been considered a person of interest in the case but the attorney said that he had nothing to do with the stealing.

The case is still ongoing.