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Featured Pregnancy Articles

7 Tips For A Healthy Pregnancy
It is always important to take whatever steps you can to be healthy, but while you are pregnant it is even more important: not only do you need to take good care of yourself, you are also profoundly affecting the life of another person - your baby. Here's ...

Preparing a Sibling For Baby
You may be excited about the thought of having another baby to complete your family, but your little darling first born may not quite feel comfortable with the idea of having a sibling! The spotlight that was on her all these years is about to shift and ...

Understanding Preeclampsia
What is preeclampsia? Once known as toxemia, it is caused by a defect in the placenta which causes a pregnant woman's blood pressure to rise, endangering mother and baby. Affecting about 7% all pregnancies, it is the most common of the serious ...




10 Free Gift Ideas For A Birthday
 
All of us know that the greatest gifts in life don't cost money. They do take time to think and create. Whether you are looking for ideas for a 21st birthday, 16th, 3rd, or 65th, these ideas will help you create some memorable moments and affect lives. Substitute the X for the birthday number. You can even be creative and use these same ideas for expectant mothers.

1. A list of X things you most appreciate about him or her.

2. A gift certificate for X things to do together that doesn't cost money. Give this some forethought and match with what you love to do and what they love to do. You can create the gift certificates on the computer or buy preprinted ones at an office supply store.

3. Ask each member of your family and friends to think about something they hold most dear and cherish most about living. Ask them to create X number on a list and send it to this person for their birthday. You can give them an album to place all of them.

4. Gift certificate for X favors and privileges that he or she may exchange for services later. Such as cooking a special meal, teaching them to cook a family recipe, cleaning out the garage or car, a picnic in the Spring, or a foot massage. The more creative, the better the gift.

5. A list of the X things you wish someone had told you when you were that age. They can be the simplest of things like not to change a flat while close to the road, don't pour bleach directly on clothes, or don't lick a frozen pole. Go ahead, I know you can do better than this.

6. Write a brief memorable, even funny story for each one of their years. For expectant fathers or mothers memories, record the funny moments of pregnancy.

7. Create a special album with one picture from each of their birthdays.

8. Write about your hopes and dreams for them as you see them on this particular birthday. This is especially well for young children. Accumulate them over the years and record how they change as you both get older. If they are too young now, save them for later.

9. Share your wisdom of what to do when life serves lemons besides making lemonade. For their 18th birthday it can be about the 18 best coping skills you ever learned.

10. Start a family journal dedicated to them. Pass the journal around before the birthday or on their birthday and allow each family member to write an inspirational message or a memorable moment. Use the same journal year after year to build on these.

If the family member is away at war and can't be home for their birthday, create a journal with some of these items, make a copy, and mail it to them. Tell him or her that the original will be waiting for them when they return. If your son/daughter is away for any reason, you can use any of these ten things to make creative, memorable birthdays. These would work whether you are on a tight budget or the richest person in the world. Honestly, when you learn to give from the heart you are the richest person in the world anyway.

(c) Copyright, Catherine Franz. All rights reserved.






Pregnancy News


CBS News

Study: Pill Among Least Effective Birth Control Methods
Voice of America
Pfizer Inc. recalled about 1 million packets of birth control pills in the US because they may not contain enough contraceptive to prevent pregnancy, they urged consumers to "begin using a non-hormonal form of contraception immediately," FILE January ...
Unplanned pregnancies 20 times more likely on birth control pill than IUD ...CBS News
IUDs, Implants Better Than Birth Control PillsFox News
Long-termcontraception more effectiveNew York Daily News
Los Angeles Times -Philadelphia Inquirer
all 154 news articles »

Entertainmentwise

Pregnant Reese Witherspoon in Cannes: "I Feel Great!"
Us Magazine
Credit: Paul Morigi/WireImage.com Tennis matches, hikes, international travel, industry soirees--Reese Witherspoon certainly isn't letting her pregnancy slow her down! In Cannes to promote her film Mud alongside costar Matthew McConaughey, ...
Reese Witherspoon's pregnancy is going ''great''.Arizona Republic
Reese Witherspoon Gushes Over Pregnancy In Cannes 'I'm Feeling Great' Star ...Entertainmentwise
Reese Witherspoon's pregnancy is going 'great'MSN Philippines News
E! Online -Daily Mail
all 33 news articles »

Daily Mail

Cannes 2012: Reese Witherspoon does pregnancy chic in a LBD at Cannes photocall
Daily Mail
By Emily Sheridan Less than two days earlier, pregnant Reese Witherspoon arrived in Cannes after enduring a 14 hour long-haul flight from Los Angeles. But despite the uncomfortable combination of flying while pregnant, the Oscar winner, 36, ...
Pregnant Reese Witherspoon shows off baby bump, we cooYahoo! omg! UK
Reese Witherspoon: "I Feel Great"Celebrity Baby Scoop
Reese Witherspoon Is Beautiful In Black In Cannes!Growing Your Baby
BabyCenter (blog)
all 318 news articles »

PsychCentral.com

Fever in Pregnancy Ups Risk of Developmental Delay, Autism
PsychCentral.com
By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor A provocative new study suggests untreated maternal fever during pregnancy increases the chance that the child will be developmentally delayed or autistic. Researchers from University of California – Davis found ...
Fevers during pregnancy linked to autism, but medication helpsLos Angeles Times
Fever during pregnancy doubles risk of autism in childZee News
Pregnant women struck down by fever 'twice as likely to have autistic child'Daily Mail
MyHealthNewsDaily -Newsmax Health -ScienceBlog.com (blog)
all 28 news articles »

Counsel & Heal

Obesity in pregnancy strongest predictor of large babies
Fox News
Obesity during pregnancy is the strongest predictor of whether a mother will give birth to a large infant, a new study from Canada suggests. In the study, the more the woman weighed before pregnancy, and the more weight she gained during pregnancy, ...
Pregnant women should watch weight to avoid having overly big babies: studyVictoria Times Colonist
Mom's excess pounds key in newborn weightReuters
Pregnant Women's Diet Could Be Good for BabiesCounsel & Heal
MedPage Today
all 61 news articles »