Borat Baby! Sacha Baron Cohen, aka Borat, Ali G, and a host of other identities, will soon add a new role to his repertoire: Dad. He and his longtime girlfriend, Australian actress Isla Fischer, confirmed that they are expecting a baby this winter.

Obesity Clues? A new study published in the Medical Journal of Australia finds that overweight, single mothers are more likely to have children with weight problems. Parenting style, which has been implicated in the past, does not appear to be a factor, the study concludes. The researchers hope this finding will allow for better targeting of obesity prevention efforts.

Home Fertility Test: Fertell, a “his and her” at-home fertility screening kit, is now available to consumers. The test has two parts - one to test the number of motile sperm in a man’s semen sample, and another to measure a woman’s level of follicle stimulating hormone (determined via a urine sample stick), which is thought to be indicative of egg quality.

Did she drop a pickle jar? Actress Julie Bowen (Boston Legal) gave birth to a healthy baby boy last Tuesday after her water broke on the set of the TV drama. This is her first child. Ms. Bowen is married to real estate investor Scott Phillips. The couple named the baby, their first child, Oliver McLanahan. Dad reports that mother and child are doing well. Congratulations!

What does woman want? A new study published in the journal Hormones and Behavior finds that women’s preferences in seeking male sexual partners change with her cycle, and according to whether she’s looking for a short or long term partner. Fertile women tend to prefer more “masculine” male faces and body types, perhaps because of the perception that these men have more testosterone and will perhaps be better at producing healthy offspring.  However, non-fertile women are more likely to prefer more “feminine” males, possibly because subliminally they see them as more likely to stick around. Thus women looking for long-term partners are also more likely to find the “softer” males more attractive.

Recall News: CPSC announced a recall of Disney Princesses Easter Baskets, sold at Wal-Mart, as they pose a choking hazard.

Fertility News: Researchers out of Cornell University have discovered a gene mutation that causes infertility in male mice. Because this is the first time such a discovery has been made in a mammal, the researchers hope their work will lend promise in better understanding infertility in human men.

Hollywood News: DNA testing has revealed that Larry Birkhead is the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter, Dannielynne. Mr. Birkhead previously noted that he and Howard K. Stern would work together to transition custody of the baby should he prove to be the dad.

Scene: House, fairly well put-together (for the 27th time that day), kids reasonably happy, having had good food, plenty of recreation, and some downtime over the past 11 hours. Husband walks in from work, and after pleasantries, asks, “How was your day?” Wife answers, “Good, but I’m exhausted.” Husband offers, “You were up too late last night.”

Evening suddenly stormy.

Let me explain: There are times I want my husband’s input on how to fix a problem. Lots of them. But this was not one of them. His easy explanation for why I was tired was, to me, like saying that taking care of two toddlers all day was actually no big deal, and that if I had gotten to bed at a decent hour, I’d still be fresh as a daisy at dinnertime. When I told him I was exhausted, all I wanted was an “Oh, I’m sorry you’re tired, baby.” That’s it. Instead I got Mr. Fix-it.

My husband and I have had the conversation about Mr. Fix-it so often that I couldn’t believe it when he once again reared his inappropriate head. I can’t count the number of times I’ve said, “All I wanted just now was a ‘there, there’, not advice, criticism, or analysis. Please exit your Mr. Fix-it program and launch the Sympathetic Partner of Comforting Words and Gestures.”

So tonight I was poking around online for some backup for my anti-Mr. Fix-it position, when I stumbled on an old article by Dr. Scott Haltzman. He is the author of a book called The Secrets of Happily Married Men, and he has a very different take on my nemesis:

[Successful] husbands view marriage woes as they would any malfunctioning household item; they take it apart and try to fix it… For too long the Mr. Fix-it role has been the object of derision among women. Therapists see men’s “tell-me-the-problem-and-I’ll-tell-you-a-solution” approach as being insensitive to deeper issues affecting the relationship. The bottom line message of popular culture is: the thing men are best at-problem solving-serves no role in relationships.

Nonsense.

I don’t know where the argument goes from there - I’d need to read Dr. Haltzman’s book (and he wrote a companion volume on happily married wives). But just that little blurb is needling at me. Why should it be that my husband’s natural response to my being tired is automatically inappropriate� He wasn’t actually saying that I had no right to be tired. He was just offering an idea that might make my life less exhausting than it’s been.

So, I’m feeling a little chagrined, because I was pretty hard on Mr. Fix-it. I didn’t want him to pop in like that, but that doesn’t mean it’s my place to strip him of his rights. I’m not exactly putting out the welcome mat for him just yet…but I’m certainly re-examining my anti-Mr. F. stance.

Posted by MommaSteph.

The Daily Show’s John Oliver�profiles a crusader against “ladies night”. Kool and the Gang weigh in!

Posted by MommaSteph.

(Via Feministing.)

Hispanic Dads and Culture Shock:  A study out of the University of Missouri-Columbia used interviews to explore Hispanic male immigrants’ attitudes toward family planning and found that for these men, their traditional values are often in conflict with the fast-paced, wealth-driven culture of their adopted country.  For example, traditionally Hispanic masculinity is associated with large families, which can be hard to manage in the US.  Other factors requiring adjustments:  Accepting that they will not necessarily be able to be the sole breadwinners for their families, and losing family time because of challenging work schedules.

Vasectomy Danger?  Researchers out of Northwestern University have found that older men who underwent vasectomies are more likely than their peers to develop a form of dementia called Primary Progressive Aphasia, in which the ability to recall and use words is impaired.  A possible reason:  It may be that in men who are snipped, the semen that leaks into the bloodstream breaks the blood-brain barrier and causes damage. 

Kate the Great:  Kate Winslet is threatening to sue a British magazine over a story that claims she is seeing a diet doctor in Los Angeles.  Ms. Winslet, a mother of two, has been outspoken about the pressure to be thin and has repeatedly announced that she will not conform to the super-skinny trend.  ”I will continue to say what I feel about this issue of women being thin and emaciated. It’s just out of control…I know I’m a role model to young women. It’s a role that I take very, very seriously and I would never want anyone to ever think I was a hypocrite in doing something like going to a diet doctor, for goodness sake. I mean, it’s really, really ridiculous.”  Go Kate!  Give ‘em hell!

Pregnancy is one of the most beautiful times in a woman’s life, but most pregnant women don’t feel like it is. Especially towards the end of their pregnancy.

The men in our lives are supposed to help use feel better. Feel beautiful. Feel loved. But, unfortunately, their brains short circuit and they say things they wish they could take back.

When I was pregnant with my first, my then young and naive husband once told a friend of mine I was going to have to go shopping at a tent store. My best friend has never let him live it down (bless her soul), but it was the first and last time he ever made a comment like that during any of my three pregnancies. Boy did he learn his lesson.

For those men who may not have learned their lesson yet: Here are 17 fatal comments to avoid:

17. “I finished the Oreos.”
16. “Not to imply anything, but I don’t think the kid weighs 40 pounds.”
15. “Y’know, looking at her, you’d never guess that Pamela Lee had a baby..!!”
14. “I sure hope your thighs aren’t gonna stay that flabby forever!”
13. “Well, couldn’t they induce labor? The 25th is the Super Bowl!”
12. “Darned if you ain’t about five pounds away from a surprise visit from that Richard��Simmons fella.”
11. “Fred at the office passed a stone the size of a pea. Boy, that’s gotta hurt.”
10. “Whoa! For a minute there, I thought I woke up next to Willard Scott!”
9. “I’m jealous! Why can’t men experience the joy of childbirth?”
8. “Are your ankles supposed to look like that?”
7. “Get your *own* ice cream.”
6. “Geez, you’re awfully puffy looking today.”
5. “Got milk?”
4. “Maybe we should name the baby after my secretary, Tawney.”
3. “Man! That rose tattoo on your hip is the size of Madagascar!”
2. “Retaining water? Yeah, like the Hoover Dam retains water…”

And the Number 1 Fatal Thing To Say If Your Wife Is Pregnant:

1. “You don’t have the guts to pull that trigger…”

Posted by Mally

On the heels of Megan’s blog, a study emerges about the health benefits of regular sex. Sex appears to have physical benefits as well as psychological ones.

In a British study that followed 1000 men, they found that the men who had the most frequent orgasms had a death rate of half of that of the other men.

Interesting…so if you want your man to be around for as long as possible a romp in the hay a few times a week may be a good thing.

Here are some of the other physiological benefits you can enjoy by having sex a few times a week:

An improved sense of smell: Following sex, the hormone prolactin surges, causing neurons to develop in the part of the brain responsible for smell.

Reduced risk of heart disease: A study done in 2001 found that men who had sex 2-3 times a week reduced their risk of heart disease by half.

(more…)

If you live in India and want to avoid an unexpected pregnancy, you may not want to use condoms as your only choice of birth control. At least not if you are with an Indian man.

With a twenty percent failure rate of this popular prophylactic, the The Indian Council of Medical Research has conducted a study to determine why the high failure rate. The study results may not be good for the psyche of the men who live there.

Initial findings suggest that the “international size specifications” are too big for Indian men. In other words, 60% of men have penises 1 inch shorter than the condoms were made for, and 3o% of men had a penis that was 2 inches shorter. This poor fit causes slippage and tearing during usage, leading to a higher failure rate.

According to the council’s Dr. Chander Puri:

One of the reasons for a failure of up to 20 percent is the association of the size of the condom to the erect penis.

The men, embarrassed about their size, are afraid to ask for a smaller sized condom, so instead they don’t buy them.

(more…)

Work/Life Balance Issues:  A study discussed in the journal Demography finds that women have less help with child rearing and household management than in earlier generations.  “In the late 19th century, nearly 50 percent of mothers with young children lived with another female who might help carry the load. By the end of the 20th century, the figure was down to about 20 percent.”

How’s That?  A Deafness Research UK study finds that many toys stocking shelves in time for Christmas are so noisy that they can damage a child’s hearing and even lead to permanent hearing loss.  The biggest offenders?  Toy guns.

When Spell Check Cannot Save You:  Apparently, a study presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine found an association between diet and “seamen quality”.  Though I’m sure the best sailors are those who eat well, the study is actually recommending lots of fruits and veggies for men who care about the baby-making capabilities of the sperm in their semen.  (Karma dictates that I have a typo in this post.)

Wha?  Pharmaceutical company Warner Chilcott has introduced a new birth control pill for women that is chewable and minty and conveniently packaged for one’s purse, which for some reason is supposed to help women remember to take it, but will not cause them to accidentally start popping multiple pills like so many Chiclets.

Little Gossip:  Reportedly, Jennifer Lopez and hubby Marc Anthony are looking into adopting a baby from Puerto Rico.  A source confides that they are hoping to avoid the negative publicity Madonna encountered with her recent adoption of a Malawi boy.  As for the process, the same source notes, “Apparently there’s a lot involved, even if you’re J.Lo.”

Posted by MommaSteph.