Moms-to-be swap birthing classes for the internet. Gone are the days when expecting women went to their Lamaze classes (often dragging reluctant daddy’s along). Studies show that these days women are looking to the internet and television shows to prepare themselves for childbirth. Only 56% of expecting women went to a class (9% for subsequent births), while 68% of pregnant women watched pregnancy related TV shows.

Reasons for the decline include the ease and availability of information online with today’s busy schedules, as well as women who opt for epidurals or C-sections feel it is not as necessary to attend classes and do not want to be pressured of made to feel guilty for their birth choices.

Disney bans kids… from its nicest restaurant. The post Victoria & Albert’s restaurant at Disney’s Florida resort has decided to ban children under 10 years old so that adults can enjoy a sophisticated dining experience. This is not the first time they have done this - they also ban unaccompanied kids from places in their Pleasure Island resort and some nightclubs. Don’t worry, there are still 97 other restaurants where you can grab a bite to eat with the kiddos.

More celeb expecting news. Jack Black and his wife, Tanya, are expecting their third child. (and just to slightly tangent, does anyone else whose family member got a Guitar Heroes III game for Christmas think that Tenacious D’s song The Metal is kind of addictive?)

Is a sperm-donor a father? The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recently decided this is not necessarily the case. A woman asked a man she knew to be the sperm donor so that she could conceive a child. The woman agreed that this was a sperm donation only and that the donor would have no financial responsibility nor would he have any visitation rights. Well, after that she decided otherwise and took him to court to grab his cash.

Lower courts decided that he should pay, and he was ordered to pay more than $60,000 in back support. The recent PA Supreme Court decision overturns this, favoring donor’s rights.

“Where a would-be donor cannot trust that he is safe from a future support action, he will be considerably less likely to provide his sperm to a friend or acquaintance who asks, significantly limiting a would-be mother’s reproductive prerogatives,” Justice Max Baer wrote in the majority opinion issued last week.

What they didn’t tell you about the HPV vaccination. It is turning out to be the most painful of childhood vaccinations, and girls are actually fainting from it. Girls are complaining it burns when the liquid goes in and their arm is sore the next day. Ok, that’s not so bad, and to prevent cancer and disease a moment of discomfort does not seem unreasonable. I remember as a kid there were some shots that hurt my arm for a few days after (perhaps it was the smallpox shot… yes I am that old!) Perhaps this vaccine is getting a bit more bad press because of the initial controversy surrounding it?

Rock bottom. Police were called to Britney Spears home where there was a 4 hour custody standoff ending with KFed taking the kids and Britney being taken off in an ambulance. Those poor little boys. Let’s hope they are taking her away somewhere safe for a looooonnnggg time so she can get the help she obviously needs.

What a year it has been!

We had some sad times - including the Utah mine disaster, the California fires, and the Virginia Tech shootings.

We also said goodbye to Harry Potter and the Sopranos.

It was not all bad though… 2007 did bring us the iPhone!

We were informed again and again that obesity is ever increasing and it is a serious threat to our future health and our medical system.

And we learned that many toys aren’t safe and it is perhaps time to make a stand to ensure the safety of our children.

Women’s health has made many advances this past year, and I wish all of us wonderful women good health!

On the entertainment side, we bid a sad farewell to Anna Nicole Smith, and we watched with our boxes of popcorn in hand how Lindsay Lohan is seemingly crawling out of her dependency hole, while Britney Spears is diving deeper down.

For sports, we saw Tom Brady pull a nice one out of somewhere to lead the Patriots to a perfect season (that’s for you Supa!), and college football was a rollercoaster ride that has sparked many passionate debates about the BCS system. But many of our favorite athletes fell to scandals - Michael Vick, Floyd Landis, Marion Jones, and a whole lotta baseball players… leaving a lot of wide-eyed kids disappointed by their heroes.

We also watched our politicians gear up for the presidential race that has us wondering if we will see the first female President next year. (BTW - this is not an endorsement!)

Over on the boards, we celebrated the births of many future squawkers, we watched our precious ones grow a year older, we supported each other through the sleepless nights, potty training, magic marker mishaps and terrible two’s. And we marvel at the strength of our guy, Mikey. We shared the good times and the bad, laughed and cried and we can’t wait to do more in 2008!

Love to you all and all the best for 2008!

Posted by Meganlux

Even more outsourcing to India. First it is all those telemarketers and customer service lines… now baby-making is being outsourced to India as well! “rent-a-womb”, as it is being referred to, gives Indian women a chance to make an equivalent of 15 years salary with one pregnancy.

But India is the leader in making it a viable industry rather than a rare fertility treatment. Experts say it could take off for the same reasons outsourcing in other industries has been successful: a wide labor pool working for relatively low rates.

Is this creative entrepreneurship, or exploitation of the poor? What do you think?

Parents in denial. The disturbing results of a childhood obesity study show that nearly 50% of parents with obese or severely overweight children ages 6-12 consider their children to be “about the right weight”. Isn’t the first step in getting help and fixing an obesity problem recognizing that there is a problem there in the first place? Perhaps they think their children will outgrow their weight issues. They probably won’t. And these children will be at increased health risks as they grow up. And this will cost our country billions and billions more in healthcare costs. 2008 starts tomorrow… a good opportunity to make lifestyle decision to change the health and happiness of our children.

Is she or isn’t she? There have been multiple reports of a Nicole Kidman pregnancy. Even moreso, people are wondering what “really” went on with her decade long childless marriage to Tom Cruise. There was always speculation it was a fertility issue, however with Suri’s birth and Nicole possibly pregnant, tongues are wagging. Nicole did help the rumor along recently when she said that “someday, maybe, that story might be told.”

Celebrity pregnancy drama. Jamie Lynne Spears, Britney’s 16 year old sister, has just announced that she is 3 months pregnant. Baby-daddy is her live-in 19 year old boyfriend, Casey Aldridge. Jamie Lynn is best known as the star of the hit Nickelodeon’s kids show, Zoey 101. No word yet from Nickelodeon if the pregnancy will impact the show.

On a side note, Britney and Jamie Lynn’s mom was due to release a book in the spring about how to raise children in show business. The launch of this book is now delayed indefinitely. Gee, ya think?

Anyone feel like commenting?

More celebrity baby news! Chris O’Donnell and his wife Caroline have just welcomed their fifth child, a baby girl they have named Maeve Frances O’Donnell. I have to admit - I am still swooning over his appearance in Grey’s Anatomy! Congratulations!

A little bit of Christmas trivia… Ever wonder about the history of candy canes? Curiosity got the best of me while I was hanging them on my tree. Origins are in Europe during the 17th century, when they used to decorate their trees with food and candies. At the suggestion of the choirmaster of the Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, white stick sugar candies were shaped into a hook to resemble a shepherd’s crook, and these were given to the children to pacify them during Christmas mass. Soon they were found all throughout Europe. The color remained white until the 19th century. If you are interested to find out more about them, including how they got red stripes and how they came to America, continue reading here.

A new prince is born. Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, officially known as the Earl and Countess of Wessex, have announced the birth of their son. The baby, yet to be named, has been described by his parents as “small, cute, and cuddly”. In following typical monarchial (I am hoping that is a real word) tradition, the baby will probably have a bajillion names. His sister is named Lady Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary Mountbatten-Windsor. Repeat that ten times fast.

The importance of iodized salt. Last week, the United Nations announced that their 20 year effort in getting iodized salt to all households is paying off and currently 70% of all people worldwide have access to this. Their goal is to have this available 100% worldwide. Why is this important? Iodine Deficiency Disorders can cause brain damage and and IQ loss in newborns. Interestingly:

“To avoid suffering IDD, a human requires in a life time a total just one teaspoon of iodine - this can be added to salt at a cost of about 10 cents worth per year. But it is necessary to ingest micro amounts of iodine on a regular basis. Consumption of iodized salt is the best form of IDD prevention and Universal Salt Iodization (USI) is the goal. The greatest need for micro amounts of iodine is in the mother’s womb.”

There are still safe toys out there for babies and toddlers. And to help you out, here is a list of ten toys that have high safety standards. Happy (almost) last minute christmas shopping!

It’s harder to kick childhood food allergies. Doctors are seeing a negative trend in relation to childhood milk and egg allergies. In the past, these would be largely outgrown by the age of 3. Now, doctors see that only 4% outgrow them by the age of 4, and only 37% outgrow them by the age of 10. Still, 70-80% will outgrow them by adolescence. Doctors do not know what is causing these allergies to be more resilient.

More permanent birth control. The FDA just approved yet another type of sterilization that is much less invasive than a tubal ligation. Adiana works by using a catheter to place a small piece of material (smaller than a grain of rice) into a fallopian tube. Healthy tissue grows on this and causes a blockage. Over 700,000 women each year have a tubal ligation, which requires hospitalization and anesthesia.

Because it’s a slow news day… Someone at Forbes decided to rank who are the most influential celebrity babies. I didn’t know that infants could be “influential”, but adorable Shiloh won as she was featured in over 2,000 news articles this year. Anywho, for those who, like me, enjoy a bit of celebrity gossip…enjoy!

Ever wonder why you don’t topple over when heavily pregnant? Researchers deemed this a worthy topic to investigate, and their conclusion is that there are specific vertebrae and a joint in the hip that permits pregnant women to adjust their center of gravity. This does not exist in men.

Which lead me to wonder what happens to all those men out there with huge beer bellies? (Aside from the fact that they are at risk of their pants falling down if they aren’t wearing suspenders.) Not to worry, scientists have that covered too! Men compensate with their back muscles but they usually have more back pain. Maybe there is a market out there for some super-sized belly bands. (giggle!)

Vaccine recall: A common infant vaccine has been recalled. About one million units of the Merck fabricated Hib meningitis vaccine have been recalled. This may cause a shortage for a short period of time. Don’t worry, your child’s vaccination schedule might be a bit off-schedule, but there will be no negative impact to that. The issue was that in a routine review, some of the production equipment was not sterilized. However they found no contamination in the vaccination itself. The recall is a precaution.

Another future celebutot has been conceived. Jessica Alba has announced that she is pregnant. Dad is long-time boyfriend, Cash Warren. I guess she will be putting those Maxim cover-shoots on hold for the next nine months! Best wishes for a healthy and happy pregnancy!

Teen births on the rise. For the first time in over a decade, the number of teen births is rising. Over the past 15 years, the number of teen births (ages 15-19) had decreased by 34%. Parents, educators and policymakers are hopeful that this years figures are just a one-time blip. Also interesting to note, CDC reports that cesarean deliveries accounted for 31% of all births, a record high.

One good thing about getting your period… Researchers have determined that menstrual stem cells could be useful in treating diabetes, multiple sclerosis and cirrhosis of the liver. Advantages to this are there is much less ethical controversy in obtaining these cells, and it could be collected over a period of many years. Let’s hope researchers can prove this to be useful.

How desperate are you to conquer your PPD? Some women are going to extreme measures to cure theirs. They are eating their own placenta. This is technically is called placentophagy. The placenta can be ingested in many ways. It can be fried up and eaten, or dried and ground into a powder to be ingested. If you are interested in this yourself, here is a link to some yummy placenta recipes.

Update on Usher. He has announced the name of his new baby son… Usher V (the fifth).

No exploding trees, please: The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued their warnings on hazards related to holiday decorating. Common sense recommendations include instructions for selecting a safe live tree: A fresh tree is green, needles are hard to pull from branches and do not break when bent between your fingers. The bottom of a fresh tree is sticky with resin, and when tapped on the ground, the tree should not lose many needles.

More gray matter in the brains of autistic children: a study of 25 adolescents using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) found increased gray matter in autistic children in the areas that govern social processing and learning by observation.

A preschool curriculum breakthrough? A Vancouver neuroscientist claims a preschool curriculum called Tools of the Mind (Tools) may improve academic performance, reduce diagnosis of ADHD, and close the achievement gap between rich and poor kids. The program focuses on the executive functions of the brain, which include resisting distraction, considering responses before speaking, mentally holding and using information, and mental flexibility. The Tools curriculum encourages out-loud self instruction and dramatic play and has been used in several US states.

No way: In Touch Weekly is reporting that Britney Spears is pregnant once again, this time carrying the child of music producer J.R. Rotem. Rotem is denying the rumors.