Kim Kardashian Updates & Puts Morning Sickness Ad back Up

Posted on August 31, 2015

Today, Kim Kardashian put back up on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram the morning sickness ad that the US Food and Drug Administration made her take down for failure to state the side effects. She added the missing information about the side effects of the drug and the fact it hadn’t been tested on women with the most extreme form of morning sickness

The makers of Diclegis for extreme morning sickness should actually be glad the FDA stepped in. The amount of press the ad got because it was taken down had surpassed the number of people that follow Kim Kardashian on social media.

It harkens back to the old adage about there not being any such thing as bad publicity.

Anyway, one of my family members in her first trimester of pregnancy and she asked a group of us in an online forum for advice, and several people who are not Kim K fans and followers suggested Diclegis, partially because they had seen it discussed in the news related to the take down. There you go!

Anyway, the family member I’m referencing was also very happy to learn that the side effect to the drug is excess drowsiness because she is already too tired at work, naturally because of the pregnancy. She decided her level of morning sickness is not that severe that she would need to take a drug that would cause additional fatigue. She is going to try traditional relief remedies first. The drug is for women, for whom, traditional methods like changing diet, eating small mini meals, snacking on almonds, taking peppermint, ginger or eating things like preggie pops or wearing sea bands do not work.

Hence, the family member’s experience also exemplified what FDA warned about….the importance of having full disclosure in ads for pharmaceutical drugs.

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Parenting

Follow These Back to School Declutter and Home Organization Tips

Posted on August 31, 2015

It’s the start of a new school year in my home and I’m determined to make sure we have a smooth, clutter-free and positive school year.

As an avid believer in and the positive impact of having a decluttered and organized home, I believe having an organization system and clutter and junk free home are essential for ensuring positive energy flow and clear thought.

I highly recommend that parents use the beginning of a school year as another excuse to get organized, not just for the school routine, but the family home in general. So even if you did Spring or New Year cleaning, use the late summer/early fall to re-organize your life and priorities as well.

Even if your kids have already gone back, you can still get started. Here are some declutter and home organization tips that I’ve put together that I hope can help get you through the year.

Clean and Declutter the Kids Play, Work Rooms and Nursery. Limit the number of toys and books in the kids room. Get rid of old broken toys. Give away old books and toys to the Salvation Army, Good Will or another family member with children younger than yours. Keep only a few of the favorite story books and the toys your child or children play with regularly. Don’t let them know you’re getting rid of the stuff they don’t even play with. They likely won’t even know it and you don’t need the headache of having them plea for you to keep it.

Infuse Calming Scents in the Home. I’m a also a big believer in aromatheraphy and that scents guide the mood. Buy Glade or some other brand’s plugins to keep the air fresh and clean smelling. You can burn candles when you’re home or if you’re an incense type of person, those work too. Consider using those with essential oils or scents such as chamomile, rose, vanilla and lavender. They are calming scents.

Thoroughly Clean the Room. Wash and Wipe down the walls, baseboards, windows and floors — with natural cleaners. Repair wall

holes, cracks, squeaky windows, peeling paint. A clean home is great for fostering clear thoughts and just clarity, in general.

Set up Calendar and Chore Lists. Even if you’re a stay-at-home mom, you shouldn’t be doing all of the cleaning and upkeep. Set up a chore sheet for the refrigerator for after school chores. Also, start a new family calendar for keeping up with back to school nights, upcoming field trips, sports activities and other events so everyone knows what’s going on. If you’re the family manager as mom, you shouldn’t be the only one aware of what days are soccer practice. Sitters, your spouse and house guests should too. Also, a chore list is great for keeping up the principles of feng shui which are all about clean spaces.

Keep Toys Dedicated to ONE area of the home (or maybe two) Avoid the chaotic mind that comes when you have toys and other things sprinkled in every nook and cranny of the home. Toys should be kept only to the play room, the kids room or one area of the apartment that is quartered off and situated with a toy chest, storage bin or some place where you can quickly toss all the toys hanging out all over the house. The tough part may be to stick to this one simple rule.

When the kids are not playing with a toy, there is really no need for it to be taking up space on the kitchen table or creating a tripping hazard for you or a guest. Either you, your partner or trained kids if they are old enough should make a concerted effort to gather all errant toys and keep them in the designated area.

It seems pretty intuitive, huh?

Over time, it will become a habit or second nature and you will find toys are not strewn about as much anymore. I do this with other areas of my home and life. All papers, books, newspapers, invoices, magazines are usually put away in our home office. All clothes go in a hamper, closet or bedroom. Dishes, cups and silverware discovered anywhere in the house are picked up and taken in the kitchen.

Think of this mantra: “There is a place for Everything and Everything in its place.”

Organize the Paper Trails. Each year, families accumulate reports, information from school, permission slips and the such. It will get mixed in with bills, receipts, warranties and other paper that come into your life.

This Home Organization plan will make it easy for you: Get a binder or two and dividers or one of those mega accordion file folders with tabs and divide them in the following categories:

School Category

Car maintenance schedule/Receipts
School schedules and holiday list
Lunch menus
School information page
School reading lists
Summer Camp and programs information
Medical information sheet for each family member
Emergency directory
House-sitter information sheet
PTA newsletters and rosters

Health Categories

Prescription drug record
Health insurance information

Home Vacation

Travel packing checklist
Before-we-leave checklist
Vacation idea list

Home Renovation

Home renovation contractor lists
Contracts and Bids
Warranty information
Utilities/services directory
Home decorating ideas

Home Business

Business records
Tax Documents for Business
Consultants and Independent Contractor records
Liability Insurance
Business & Office Equipment registry

Financial

Tax Documents for Personal
Big Ticket Items receipts
Life insurance information
Budget/spending record
Bills to pay

Hope these Declutter and Home Organization Tips are helpful to you as you get yourself and your family organized for the season! Good luck!

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2015 VMA Awards Red Carpet & Show Roundup

Posted on August 31, 2015

Tonight was another celeb-studded musical event at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California.

Several of our Bellyitch Bumpwatch alums graced the red carpet before the event, took the stage and were nominated for quite a few awards.

Mega star Beyonce Knowles Carter was a no show even though she was nominated for 5 awards for her “7/11” Video (Best Female, Pop, Editing, Choreography, Video of the Year). She won only one for Best Editing.

Jennifer Hudson couldn’t make it either despite being up for the Best Video with a social message award for her song, “I Still Love You.”

On the red carpet, model Lily Aldridge stunned in a black Alexandre Vauthier couture gown with a plunging neckline, Stuart Weitzman shoes, Jen Meyer Jewelry earrings, Anita Ko bracelets, and an Edie Parker clutch.

Britney Spears showed mucho cleavage in a showgirls-esque gold sequined number with cutouts in the tummy.

Kim Kardashian West covered her bump in a long sleeve draped military style dress.

Her sis Kourtney Kardashian was giving up the sexy in a hot pink jumpsuit, fresh off of winning our 2015 Posh Mom Icon award.

Their family’s arch nemeses Amber Rose and Blac Chyna came dressed in matching nude outfits with cartoon caricture lettering featuring all the insulting names that people have called the duo who are headed for an MTV reality TV show this fall.

The show wasn’t without its dramatic moments, of course, including some toxic exchanges between show host Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj who won the Best Rap Video Award for video for “Anaconda“. It was the same video Minaj suggested was deserving for being up for the Video of the Year Award but was slighted because she felt the women featured in the video weren’t thin. Taylor Swift assumed it was a slam against her given all the women in her Bad Blood video were pretty much rail thin and the two had a brief Twitter beef which reeled their fans in on it and was more or less squashed until Cyrus added her two cents during a promo appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Cyrus said Minaj was “not nice”. The rest is history and can be seen on Twitter but since we’re about promoting positivity by and among women, we’ll leave it at that.

mariska hartigay vma ciara bellyitchblog.com

Ciara showed off a new bob in a fringed black outfit and Law and Order‘s Mariska Hargitay made an appearance in all black while walking with the other members of “The #SwiftSquad” from Taylor Swift‘s “Video of the Year” winning video “Bad Blood.”

(Gigi Hadid, Martha Hunt, Hailee Steinfeld, Cara Delevingne, Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Serayah, Mariska Hargitay, Lily Aldridge and Karlie Kloss)

My fave look for tonight came from singer Tori Kelly who looked stunning in a a laced long sleeved top tucked in a cute pair of high waisted shorts with a gold clutch and black bowed pumps, with tussled hair to complete the look. Her bronze sheer makeup was flawless. Yassss!

photos: Getty

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Parenting

How to Avoid ‘Financial Infidelity’ in Marriage

Posted on August 30, 2015

Guest Post

Children, sex, in-laws, work stress – how couples handle these issues says plenty about a marriage and, often, a divorce.

Not surprising to many, however, the No. 1 predictor of divorce is money, according to a study from Kansas State University.

More specifically, researchers say that arguing about money, especially early in a relationship, is the best predictor of divorce – despite a couple’s economic bracket.

“As with sex, for example, arguments about money are probably connected to deeper, underlying issues, such as trust, self-esteem, identity, etc.,” says Dr. Anne Brennan Malec, a clinical psychologist and marriage and family therapist with a background in accounting and business.

“Like most other areas of conflict, frequent communication and formulating a plan for how to address the financial situation allows many, if not most, issues to be adequately and respectfully resolved.”

Dr. Malec, author of the book “Marriage in Modern Life: Why It Works, When It Works” (www.drannemalec.com), offers constructive solutions for marital money stressors.

• Be partners in your common cause. When one partner carries most of the financial burden, it can thrust that partner into an almost parental role over the other. This is a form of asymmetry that can affect other areas of the relationship and erode a marriage, creating resentment by each partner for different reasons. Whether or not you make roughly the same amount of money as your spouse – or none at all because you’re a stay-at-home parent – stay involved in the goings on of your household’s finances. Understand what you can and cannot afford as a family. Communication is crucial. Discuss your feelings about money and how both of you contribute to the overall well-being of your family.

• Avoid financial infidelity. Every couple has to determine how their joint and individual expenses will be shared. Account for the necessities, from rent or mortgage to groceries and more. Account for all of your typical expenses, which may include date night and individual interests or hobbies. Respect individual interests – whether or not they are reasonable expenses, understand that they are important to your partner and may help the relationship. If one shops too much or spends too much on cars, find a way to compromise. Having an agreed-upon monthly budget helps minimize financial tension, and to spend more requires a good explanation.

• Be open to money issues beyond the marriage. Most adults have some degree of debt because of a college loan, child support, a medical history or a host of other reasons. Ideally, you will have discussed and come to terms with a spouse’s debt before marriage. Also, consider the potential upsides to having a prenuptial agreement, especially when one or both of you come to the marriage with significant assets or debts, or when children are involved.

• Have annual discussions about a spouse’s stay-at-home status. There are many good reasons for a mother or a father to stay home and raise children, but you should revisit this decision once a year to determine if it still works for the family. The spouse who chooses to stay at home should make him or herself fully aware of the potential risk of doing so. Can you afford a one-income household? Will the stay-at-home spouse be able to re-enter the workforce? Will you be fulfilled at home? These are valid questions to seriously consider each year.

About Dr. Anne Brennan Malec

Dr. Anne Brennan Malec (www.drannemalec.com) is the founder and managing partner of Symmetry Counseling (www.symmetrycounseling.com), a group counseling, coaching and psychotherapy practice in Chicago. She also is author of the book “Marriage in the Modern Life: Why It Works, When It Works.”

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9 Signs That You are of Above Average Intelligence

Posted on August 30, 2015

Earlier this year, Business Insider published a list from a summary of various studies which identified certain factors, traits and other things that make a person smart or smarter than others.

They included:

1. Being left handed

2. Being tall

3. Owning a cat

4. Experimenting with drugs

5. Being an eldest in the family

6. Not smoking

7. Taking music lessons

8. Having a cat.

And in a recent infographic the site shared I noticed it left off one of the important ones we at Bellyitch always hear about:

9. Being breastfed!

Check out the infographic below from the recent piece for explanations on what makes these traits cause for higher IQ in a person:

Then consider the left out part from the February version of this piece:

“In two studies of breast-fed infants involving more than 3,000 children in Britain and New Zealand, breastfeeding was found to raise intelligence an average of nearly seven IQ points if the children had a particular version of a gene called FADS2,” Duke University reported in a press release.
That gene version is “involved in the control of fatty acid pathways,” said researcher and University of Illinois-Chicago psychologist Julia Kim-Cohen, and it “may help the children make better use of the breast milk and promote the brain development that is associated with a higher IQ score.”
Figuring out the exact mechanism of this relationship between FADS2, breastfeeding, and IQ will require further study, the scientists noted in their 2007 paper on the finding.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/signs-youre-smarter-than-average-2015-2#ixzz3kM4beF00

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Celebrity

Social Media Sunday: What Celeb Moms are Up To on Instagram

Posted on August 30, 2015

It’s Social Media Sunday!

We follow your fave celeb parent and Bellyitch Bumpwatch alum so you don’t have to.

So here is a quick round up of what the ladies we watch are up to on social media these days, in particular, Instagram.

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News

STUDY: Pregnant Women Still Fear Exercising

Posted on August 30, 2015

Bellyitch Rewind

Though exercise during pregnancy has proven benefits for healthy women, many still fear it, according to a new study.

“Despite what we have said over the last 10 years, pregnant women are still afraid exercise is going to hurt their child,” says researcher Melissa J. Hague, MD, a clinical assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita.

In her study of 90 women, she found many regular exercisers stopped working out when they became pregnant. Some told her they did not think exercising, even walking, was safe during pregnancy.

“I was really surprised,” she tells WebMD.

Hague presented her findings this week at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) in San Diego.

Exercise During Pregnancy: Expert Opinion

In 2002, ACOG issued an opinion about exercise during pregnancy. Recreational and competitive athletes without pregnancy complications can remain active with their doctor’s OK, it says. They should modify their workouts as medically indicated.

Inactive women should consult their doctors before starting a program, it says.

Moderate exercise for 30 minutes or more most or all days of the week appears safe for pregnant women without complications, it says. Activities with a high risk of falling, contact sports, and scuba diving should not be done

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Parenting

For the #VMA’s, Dove Reminds Women to #SpeakBeautiful About Other Women

Posted on August 29, 2015

Tomorrow is the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) and in an effort to combat all the negativity shared by and between young girls and women in social media, Dove wants to shift the dialogue from all the recent controversial headlines related to Miley vs. Nicki, Nicki vs. Taylor, Taylor vs. Katy, or any combination of the three.

They recognize that loads of real girls and even celebs like P!nk and Selena Gomez have recently been the victims of social media attacks based on their looks alone.

During the VMAs this weekend, Dove is encouraging women and girls to #SpeakBeautiful when posting comments about other women on Twitter. The #SpeakBeautiful campaign launched earlier this year on Oscar night and we’re taking it to the next big event, the VMAs, to help change the social media conversation that affects our self-esteem.

In fact, we know 8 out of 10 women encounter negativity on social media that is hurtful/destructive to their self-esteem and it’s time for a change.

Since it launched the campaign, Dove states it has seen 69% more positive Tweets pertaining to how women talk about their own appearance, versus the previous year.

Tomorrow, @Dove on Twitter plans to monitor the language said about women by other women.

Join in and Be Kind.

#SpeakBeautiful

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Celebrity

Jill Scott/Lauren London head to FX, Amber Rose/Blac Chyna MTV Reality TV show Greenlit

Posted on August 29, 2015

Two pairs of Bellyitch Bumpwatch alums are launching or participating in new TV projects this fall.

Lauren London (Entourage) and singer/actress Jill Scott (Nanny Diaries) have signed on to play the part of a mom and sister of Director John Singleton‘s new FX drama pilot Snowfall, set in the 1980s at the beginning of the LA crack cocaine epidemic, the Hollywood Reporter notes.

Scott will play Sharon “Cissy” Saint, main character Franklin ((Damson Idris)’s no-nonsense mother, who, frustrated in both her personal and professional lives, has sacrificed her dreams to give Franklin opportunities she never had.   London, meanwhile, will play Louise Saint, Franklin’s party-girl aunt.

And on the Reality TV front, Amber Rose and Blac Chyna have signed on to star in an MTV reality TV show that follows their lives having exes that are rappers while balancing motherhood, work as party hosts and juggling the fabulous life, TMZ reports.

Both have fractured relationships with the Kardashians. Rose was previously in a long-term relationship with Kim Kardashian West‘s husband Kanye West and Blac Chyna’s son is rapper Tyga’s first child. Tyga is currently in relationship with recently legal Kylie Jenner who just turned 18-years old.

Reports are out there that the two ladies hope their show rivals E!’s Keeping up with the Kardashians.

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Parenting

Do You Fall In The Excess Back To School Supply List Trap?

Posted on August 29, 2015

Raise your hand if you have at least one basket or box or drawer or bin somewhere in your home that houses the piles of excess school supplies your child’s school made you buy that the kid never used?

I have such a massive basket in the corner of the office in my house so brimming with items that we can literally do shopping from this basket! Wow!

And…. surprise! I’m not the only one who feels this way! There have been several articles written on the ridiculousness!

Are School Supplies Getting out of Hand, All Parenting.com

Open Letter to Sadist Teachers, PeopleIWantToPunchInTheThroat.com

Too Many School Supplies, On My Mind

What Do You Think of Your Child’s School Supply List, NorthesCambia.com

Cray!

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