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Jeneba Jalloh Ghatt

4 Tips for Regaining Intimacy after Having a Baby

Being intimate after pregnancy is never an easy feat.  It can be difficult for a woman to feel sexy after the rollercoaster of weight fluctuations and out-of-control hormones.  Dr. Laurence Levine, Urologist and CMO of Promescent®, has a few tips to ensure couples are still keeping their connection alive after the birth of their baby.

1. Take time for yourself.

If the thought of being intimate overwhelms you, take some time and sort out how you feel. Whether it’s emotionally or physically based, don’t beat yourself up. Remember that it’s completely normal to feel this way. Pamper yourself and do what you need to do to get yourself in the mood again.

2. Honesty is key.

Don’t feel discouraged if it’s taking a while to get back into your normal groove with your partner. With a new baby in the house, the old “normal” doesn’t really exist. Being open and honest about your exhaustion, soreness, and feelings about your body are going to help him understand what’s going on in your head. Expressing your concerns and working to find solutions will help the two over you to work overcome them and bring you closer together.

3. Coordinate your schedules.

While the baby is on a schedule, it doesn’t mean your urges are. With a little foresight and preplanning, you can put items and ideas in play for when the baby is asleep. For instance if your baby typically sleeps at 7pm, at 6pm – you and your partner can start exchanging quick kisses, light touches, and sexy messages to get you both in the mood as the countdown to bedtime begins. Communicating your likes and dislikes will help you and your partner align your intimacy schedule with your baby’s schedule.

4. Be aware of the changes.

Your body just underwent a great deal of change and you may not be aroused in the same ways you were before. It can be completely liberating and fun to explore the new erogenous zones on your body…together. Gentlemen, this works the same when you’re exploring; things that may have been off-limits before could suddenly develop a ‘green light.’

Good luck new parents!

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Scarlett Johansson and Lupita Nyong’o to join ‘The Jungle Book’ cast with Idris Elba (VIDEO)

Rumored mom-to-be Scarlett Johannson (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and People magazine’s  newly announced 2014 “Most Beautiful” person Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years A Slave) are reportedly in talks to join the cast of the upcoming animated Disney film version of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book


New dad for the second time, Idris Elba (Thor), has already been cast in the Jon Favreau -directed project set to film later this year.
Johannson would play the voice of villain Kaa, a python who hypnotizes and eats other animals; Nyong’o would voice Rakcha, a mother wolf who adopts a young human boy named Mowgli; and the ferocious tiger Shere Khan would be voiced by  Elba.
News surfaced last month that Johansson and fiance journalist Romain Dauriac are expecting although neither have confirmed the reports.

Check out an AOL video on the news

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Mother’s Day: 24 Websites with DIY Gift Ideas for Mom

Mother’s Day is around the corner. If you are thinking of ideas including some DIY and homemade gift ideas, you might want to check out one of these 24 sites via AuPairJobs.com for suggestions. Good luck!


Wearable Art
Mom would be proud to

wear a butterfly ring that her child made her or maybe a funky necklace with

interchangeable felt roses to match every outfit.  Grab the kids and a few

craft supplies and make some wearable art for mom.  Your daughter may want

to make one for herself too so that she can match her mom.  These six blog

posts will show you how to do these and more.
·        

DEMO! 3D Fabric Butterfly Ring
·        

Recycled Scraps
·        

Interchangeable Felt Necklace
Eco-Friendly
Is mom into being green

and recycling?  Maybe you should create an eco-friendly Mother’s Day

present for her?  How about stopping by the thrift store and picking up a

candle stick and an old plate to make her a pedestal cake stand?  Grab the

spray paint and give it a good coat of mom’s favorite color and you are home

free.  Maybe that project is a little too involved; you could always

create a room air freshener using stuff you already have around the

house.  Find instructions for these and other eco-friendly gift ideas in

these six blog articles.
·        

Repurposed Candlesticks
·        

Wheel of

Affection
·        

Plantable Seeded Paper Flowers
No Crafting Involved
Some dads aren’t that

crafty and that is okay.  You can still help your child come up with a

heartfelt gift for mom.  Print out some Mother’s Day coupons using free

printables or a geometric word art piece with words to describe mom put into a

frame.  These ideas still make gifts that mom will be excited to receive

and you didn’t even have to break out the glue.  Take a look at these six

blogs for more, non-crafty gift ideas.
·        

15 Dessert Recipes in a Jar
Homemade with Love
Most kids love to craft

so it’s a no brainer to let them make something for mom for Mother’s Day. 

Check out these six blog entries for simple crafting ideas that kids can do

with a little help from dad or other adult.  Make a photo collage for mom

using pictures of the kids.  Moms love to look at pictures of their

babies.  No matter how big or small the gift is mom will love it because

the kids made it especially for her.

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Daphne Oz returns to ‘The Chew’ with new baby, Her Maternity Retrospect in PHOTOS

 The Chew‘s Daphne Oz came back to the show after delivering her first child, daughter, Philomena Bijou Jovanovic, in February, 26.
The TV host actually announced the baby’s name on her dad, Dr. Oz’s, show last month, on March 4th and since we didn’t get to really bumpwatch her progression, we’re sharing a retro of her bump progression selfies from Instagram for ya! Philomena is Dr. Oz’s first grandchild.
Congrats Daphne and hubby investment analyst John Jovanovic, who showed up on set to show off baby today. She’s nicknamed Philo or PBJ, in honor of the popular sandwich, perfect for a host of a TV show for foodies. Daphne said picked the middle name Bijou for its French meaning, which translates to ‘jewel.’



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Basketball Wives: Meanest thing said ever about infertility on realityTV (VIDEO)

Last night, on VH1‘s Basketball Wives LA finale, cast member Sundy Carter ended an argument with her show nemesis, Ovarian cancer survivor Brandi Maxiell in the worst way. 
Back story: Maxiell contracted the deadly disease at age 24, but is healthy now and recently has been struggling to conceive a second child with her husband Orlando Magic player Jason Maxiell. The two have a son. 
After Brandi & Sundy exchanged some harsh words inside a rented home where the two and other cast members were staying, Sundy told Brandi, “I have three healthy kids, go work on trying to get you some!”
She also referenced Maxiell’s medicine and infertility shots, telling her to go take them so she “can make a baby.”
How horrible!
The spat spilled into social media, with Carter insisting she still hasn’t apologized despite knowing how mean-spirited and below-the-belt her statements were and all the tremendous backlash she has gotten. 
Some have called on VH1 to kick her off the show or cancel it 

The show’s creator and executive producer Shaunie O’Neal (Shaquille O’Neal ex) felt compelled to issue a formal statement and delivers on her Instagram.

Watch the clip from the show here with the worst statements coming at the end:

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National Infertility Awareness Week: 10 Myths About Pregnancy in Your 40s

We are acknowledging National Infertility Awareness Week and doing our part to share news, articles, information, products and services about infertility for our audience’s edification.
Next up: 
Heidi Hayes of Donor Egg Bank USA shares her personal journey with infertility and debunks myths about pursuing later motherhood.

Like many other young women, she had thoughts of motherhood in the back of her mind. But then she went off to college, and after that joined the Peace Corps. She ended up working in the Ecuadorian Andes. It was in Ecuador that she began thinking seriously about motherhood. “I loved the Ecuadorian focus on family,” she says. “It made me start thinking about having children of my own.”

After marrying the man of her dreams, they started to build a life together. Finally, it seemed to be the right time to start a family. “I thought I would get pregnant easily, but each month nothing happened.” She went to see a specialist, and she and her husband began a heartbreaking four-year journey through a maze of infertility treatments before adopting. Years later, she used donor eggs to have twins.

She didn’t consider freezing her eggs, as that wasn’t available at the time.

She went the donor egg route to conceive and shares some of the 10 myths about pregnancy in your 40s:
1.     Pregnancy is easy in your 40s and happens all the time. Once you hit 40, there is only a five percent chance you will get pregnant in any given month (compared to 20 percent at age 30). Pregnancy is possible, but women need to know the most valuable and irreversible factor impacting success is time. This is largely due to a steady decline in egg quality that begins when a woman is in her early 30s and then accelerates in the late 30s.
2.     Fertility issues are always with the woman. For men and women in their 20s, there is an equal chance of problems with infertility in either partner. For couples with a female partner in her late 30s or 40s, the chance of infertility due to egg quality rises dramatically.
3.     Celeb moms make it look easy. They are having kids at age 46! There is an endless stream of celebrity mothers who are having kids in their 40s. Halle Berry had her baby at 46, Kelly Preston at 47, and Geena Davis had twins at 48. While it is statistically unlikely that some older celebrities are having children without any assistance, it is important not to compare your experiences to others. Some celebrities share their experiences with infertility, but most do not.
4.     You can only have a baby using your own eggs. According to the respected medical journal, Fertility and Sterility, 40-year-old women treated for infertility have a 25 percent chance of achieving pregnancy using their own eggs. By age 43 that number drops to 10 percent, and by 44 it becomes 1.6 percent. For those who are unable to use their own eggs, the good news is that women can achieve pregnancy success using donor eggs regardless of her age.  Women at 40 using donor egg give birth at a rate of roughly 45 percent, a success rate higher than younger women using their own eggs. The high success rate for recipients using egg donation does not decline with age.
5.     The age of a man doesn’t matter when trying to conceive. Age matters for both men and women. A study in Nature found a direct link between paternal age and an increased risk of Autism and Schizophrenia, which experts say may be one of the factors in the rise of autism diagnosis in recent years. The increase in medical problems with advancing male age is very small; the autism increase may be from 1 in 150 in the general population to 1 in 100 for men over 50.  As women age, the chances of chromosomal abnormalities such as Down Syndrome increase. These abnormalities typically occur due to a decrease in the quality of the egg with aging.  A 25-year-old woman has a 1/1000 chance of having a baby with Down Syndrome. The chance is 1/30 in a 44-year-old using her own eggs.
6.     If you’re healthy, fit, and look great, having a baby won’t be a problem. You do yoga, run half marathons, eat organic and fit into a size six. But do your ovaries do yoga? The truth is that eating nutritiously and maintaining a healthy weight can boost fertility and help balance ovulatory disorders, but it does not affect your ovarian supply and the health of your eggs.
7.     If I’m starting menopause, I can’t have a baby. There is about a 10-year phase of perimenopause that precedes the complete cessation of menstrual function, known as menopause. The quality of a woman’s eggs during this time is significantly reduced and the chances of conceiving decline sharply.  The chance of a miscarriage, for those who do conceive, is significantly increased. For women beginning perimenopause, which includes the months or years preceding menopause, a pregnancy may still be possible. A pregnancy will depend on where your body is at in the perimenopausal process. To increase the chances of success and save time, both parties should undergo basic fertility testing.
8.     Older mothers are less likely to have twins. Surprisingly, older mothers have a higher likelihood of conceiving twins. As a woman ages, her follicle stimulating hormone increases. FSH develops eggs inside the ovaries prior to being released into the fallopian tubes. High FSH levels can cause two or more eggs to release, which can result in twins.
The likelihood of spontaneously conceived twins rises from 1/80 in a 25-year-old to 1/40 in a 42-year-old.  Higher FSH levels are also associated with declining fertility, which means follicles may work overtime and release more eggs to compensate for lowering fertility. Twin rates have also increased due to general fertility and IVF treatment and patients choosing to transfer multiple embryos. The latest data shows that twin rates are declining as many women choose to transfer one embryo.
9.     Your family has a fertile history, so you shouldn’t have any trouble. There is a genetic component to ovarian function and a correlation between your mother’s and grandmother’s ability to conceive at an older age. However, this is a very limited factor and cannot provide significant reassurance. Conversely, if there is a history of early menopause in your family this will raise the likelihood of a problem. Your fertility potential and egg supply is individual. If your grandmother had her last baby at 43 and your mother had infertility at 41, this does not make your chances of conception any higher or lower.
10. Having a baby with donor egg doesn’t make you the biological mom. The egg donor is a genetic donor who provides the egg cell and half of the DNA in the creation of each baby, but the woman who carries the pregnancy provides the biological environment to allow the embryo and baby to thrive. The woman who intends to parent is the true mother of the child.   Motherhood is a conscious choice, regardless of how a baby is conceived or born.
Author Bio: Heidi Hayes is a mother of three through adoption and donor egg. After her personal experiences with infertility and professional experience in the infertility industry, she now helps others achieve their dreams of having a family as the CEO of Donor Egg Bank USA, a national frozen donor egg bank.  

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National Infertility Awareness Week: Enter to Win FertilityBlend ($39.99)

For National Infertility Awareness Week, Daily Wellness, makers of FertilityBlend , the first nutritional product to synergistically combine key natural ingredients to prime the body for conception, is offering three Bellyitch readers a chance to win a bottle of its formulas (tailored to the different needs of men and women.)
According to the makers: 
FertilityBlend For Women and FertilityBlend For Men were developed based on published scientific literature on nutritional components that benefit fertility and have a safe history of usage. In studies conducted with Stanford University Medical School, each formula has shown excellent results in both efficacy and safety.
Key ingredients in FertilityBlend For Women: Chasteberry (natural herb that supports good hormone balance and normal ovulation);  L-arginine (amino acid that helps maintain healthy uterine lining) and Green tea, vitamin E, and selenium (antioxidants that help enhance reproductive health by repairing oxidative damage due to aging and environmental toxins)
Key ingredients in FertilityBlend For Men: L-carnitine (amino acid that has been shown to be critical to the formation of healthy sperm);Vitamins C and E, green tea and selenium (all potent antioxidants that help improve sperm counts and quality)
OPEN until April 30. US ONLY

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Ciara poses with Easter Bunny with darker hair, About pregnant women and hair dye myth

Instagram/Ciara
Mom-to-be Ciara posted pics on Easter Sunday of herself posing up with a giant Easter bunny and another after getting ice cream on the holiday.
The photo also revealed that she has gone back to her original darker hair color. It also reminds us of an old wives tail about pregnant women and hair dye. There is a prevailing thought, which may be based on fear and myth, that dye may impact negatively on a growing baby.
It’s not entirely accurate that chemicals in hair dye and other hair products that alter the color or texture of the hair may penetrate your skin cells and infiltrate the fetus.
Dr. Roger W. Harms wrote for the Mayo Clinic site about dying your hair when pregnant, “when you use hair dye, a small amount of the dye may penetrate your skin. Generally, however, the dye isn’t thought to pose harm to a developing baby.
“Few studies have examined women’s use of hair dye before and during pregnancy, “he said. “A 2005 study suggested an association between hair dye and pregnancy and the childhood cancer neuroblastoma — but other studies haven’t reached the same conclusion. Most researchers say it’s unlikely that maternal use of hair products before or during pregnancy would increase the risk of childhood brain tumors.”
The good doctor has suggested that those concerned should talk to their health care provider, who may or may not  suggest postponing any chemical hair treatments.
The Food and Drug Administration recommends for any person, pregnant or not, using hair dyes to:

  • Wear gloves when applying hair dye.
  • Apply hair dye as quickly as possible.
  • Rinse your scalp thoroughly after using hair dye.

For African American and Latina women who sometimes use chemical treatments to texturize, relax or soften their hair, similar precaution can be taken.  Many women when they become pregnant avoid relaxers and switch to wearing braided hairstyles.  The fear there too is the lye in the chemicals may somehow impact their growing fetus.
The styling consists of braiding or twisting their own natural hair or twisting in extensions that match their natural hair texture. 
In the end, women should do what’s best for them and within the guidelines of their OB or midwife.

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Earth Day: Innovative online boutique recycles kids’ clothes into cash for schools

Just in time for Earth Day, we learn about the launch of an iPhone app for an innovative online consignment boutique that lets parents recycle their children’s outgrown, yet gently-used clothes and turn them into cash for their kids’ school.
The team behind the service called Schoola does all the work: collect, sort through, clean and put the gently used donated clothes up for sale on its website, then give the proceeds from the sales back to schools where the clothes were donated to. 
Brilliant!
The concept is brainchild of Boston mom, Stacey Boyd, a former teacher and school principal of a charter school who used a children’s clothing sale to raise money for the inner city charter school she built from the ground up in 1997. Boyd used the revenue from the sale to support the addition of arts, physical education and foreign language programs for the school. The effort helped improve the math scores of the students at the school which became among the highest performing middle schools in Boston within a year of its founding. 
Since then, the website, which launched in 2012, has grown to support 3,000 schools. The  newly-launched app makes everything mobile.
On the site right now, a $25.99 retail GAP dress is on sale for $7.90. A pair of $25 retail Carters plaid shorts for boys is also selling for about 7 bucks. 
It’s a win-win. 
Parents get great designer quality clothing for less and their children’s schools can buy new paintbrushes and paints for art classes, purchase new instruments for the school band, and get new books for libraries. 

Sweet Deal! Check out Schoola and download the new App for FREE at the Apple iOS store!

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Bump Watch: Christina Aguilera’s bump in NYC, Gwen Stefani rumored to sub on The Voice

Twitter


Christina Aguilera looks to be enjoying her pregnancy. The vocal powerhouse tweeted a photo of  herself and fiance Mat Rutler in New York city this weekend with the caption, “Baby Loves NYC

And with pregnancy comes maternity leave and the rumor mill says a second Bellyitch Bumpwatch alum may be subbing for Aguilera while she is away: Gwen Stefani.



Recall, shortly after having her first child, Colombian-crossover superstar Shakira sat in as a guest judge on the hit NBC show. Stefani would make an excellent fill-in and will bring in that rocker edge!

News of the second pregnancy leaked in February and was confirmed just this month.

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