BumpNews

Pace Wu is a stunning contender for Best Maternity Style

Posted on January 30, 2014

Starcast

Oooh! File this under missed but we think Taiwanese model and actress Pace Wu was an overlooked contender for best maternity style of 2013 when she rocked the heck out of this lemon Valentino Resort 2014 dress at the launch of her “Pace Wu’s Style Book: Fashion Alive” last Christmas.

And she dared to do it in quite dangerous yet fashionable sky high Tiffany‘s blue Christian Louboutin pumps.

Wu and her wealthy businessman beau Ji Xiaobo welcomed their baby this month and plan to marry later.

Sizzzling. Cute.

0 comments

BumpNews

Study: Pot smoking during pregnancy harms baby’s brain

Posted on January 30, 2014

Using marijuana while pregnant can impair the development of a baby’s brain, a new study says.The main component in cannabis – 9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC – can derail how nerve cells form connections, and that could limit the amount of information the brains of affected children can process, researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York say.Not all children exposed to pot will suffer immediate defects, the researchers said, but they are at an increased risk of delayed neuropsychiatric diseases.”Even if THC only would cause small changes, its effect may well be sufficient to sensitize the brain to later stressors to provoke neuropsychiatric illnesses in those affected later in life,” researcher Tibor Harkany said in a release about the study Wednesday.The study has been published in the peer-reviewedEMBO Journal.

Continue reading. http://www.lfpress.com/2014/01/29/using-pot-during-pregnancy-can-hurt-babys-brain-study

0 comments

BumpNews

Actress Teresa Palmer ice skates 9 months pregnant, 3 Extremely Pregnant Athletes (PHOTOS)

Posted on January 30, 2014

Look at this!

Warm Bodies star Teresa Palmer posted a photo of herself on her Instagram account this past Saturday, January 5 showing off her ice skating moves….at 9 months pregnant!

“Preggo-on-ice!! #Ninemonths @likemark,” Palmer wrote in the caption to the photo.

Wowza! Talk about putting your baby in danger. At that far along, your center of gravity it off balance and you are less able to control your movement while walking, let along on ice skates. Let’s not forget to mention the fact that another skater could bump into you while on the ice and cause you to fall ON her tummy and accidentally kill the baby.

Sheesh! I am going to assume she was not aware of the risk and she didn’t think that the list of things you shouldn’t be doing in your trimester included ice skating, but yeah. This was an uncool move here, Ms. Palmer.

I suppose the Australian actress wanted to join the long line of women recently who caught a lot of attention for engaging in athletic activities at 9 months pregnant like:

The 9-Months Pregnant weight lifter

The 9-Months Pregnant Ballerina

The 8-Months Pregnant Air Rifle Olympian

0 comments

BumpNews

10 Mistakes Women make when planning to save

Posted on January 30, 2014

Women are the driving force behind any economy. Moms make most of the household purchasing decisions, but don’t always put savings at the top of household priorities.

It’s hard to do given all the various items on the family budget. But finding room to stash savings can be done by first avoiding certain bad habits. Here are some tips for moms to avoid these common retirement planning mistakes when they’re considering their financial future.

1.Waiting to save.Start saving early so your money has time to grow. If you’re worried about sticking to your budget, start small. Even $20 a week can go a long way over time, and when your budget allows, contribute more. 2. Failing to plan.It is important to understand expenses for the type of lifestyle you want, so you can save enough money. Figure out what your retirement goals are, and start planning your retirement finances now. There are helpful interactive calculators that can help you determine how much you will need in retirement. 3. Saving for college before retirement.Moms want the best for their children, but there are many factors when deciding which savings take priority. Consider this: Your kids have access to loans and scholarships to help pay for college, but if you don’t save enough money for retirement, you may not be able to afford your expenses.* You could also have separate savings for college and retirement, and contribute to both. Even if you’re contributing less to each than you would like, the longer the money is in the account, the more the interest will accumulate. 4. Retiring with a lot of debt.Find a way to pay down or pay off consumer, student loan, and mortgage debt before you retire. These recurring payments will be harder to make when you’re on a fixed income. 5. Relying on Social Security.Your Social Security benefits are a valuable source of income during retirement, but with an average benefit of just $1,237,** it is unlikely that Social Security will be able to cover all your retirement expenses. Before you retire, visitwww.socialsecurity.gov to find out what benefits you should plan for. 6. Failing to research options to increase your savings.The key to growing your retirement fund is balancing risk and reward. Look into different options and how they could fit your retirement goals. If you want a low-risk option, check out fixed indexed annuities (FIAs) at www.FIAinsights.org. Market-driven options like mutual funds or securities have higher risk, but also the potential to really increase your savings. You can research a variety of retirement plans here. 7. Individualizing your accounts.If financial assets are in one account under one name, it may be hard to access those funds in the event of a family death. Having joint retirement accounts will protect you, your family, and your finances in the event of an unexpected death.*** 8. Using your retirement funds before retiring.Let the money in your retirement fund grow, and if you need money earlier, consider other sources. It is harder to save the closer you get to retirement, and many retirement accounts have steep penalties for withdrawing early. 9. Failure to plan for taxes.Keep in mind that you will still have to pay taxes after leaving the workforce. Plan ahead so you’ll have enough money to pay your taxes as well as enjoy your retirement. 10. Depending on a specific retirement age.You may plan to work until you’re 65, but sometimes unexpected circumstances alter your retirement plans. That is why it is important to start saving for retirement early, so you won’t be short of your retirement goals if you are unable to work earlier than expected.

Avoid these traps and you’ll be well on your way to building a great nest egg.

0 comments

BumpNews

Kerry Washington’s Scandal castmates helped her conceal her pregnancy, 5 Ways to Hide your Pregnancy

Posted on January 29, 2014

During promotion for the next season of Scandal, Kerry Washington’s cast mate Joe Morton explained that when the cast learned she was pregnant with new husband Nnamdi Asomugha‘s first baby, they all worked to make sure her secret stayed safe and not leaked to the public until Washington was ready to reveal.

“We sort of new, but she obviously wanted to keep it private, so we helped her do that,” Morton told HipHollywood at Essence Women in Music event. “So there was no kind of big celebration. ”

For women who work in offices, concealing a pregnancy may take some work too. For professional and personal reasons, women don’t want the beans spilled too soon. Here are some tips on how to keep your pregnancy a secret until you are ready to reveal the news.

5 Ways to Hide a pregnancy

1. Hiding morning sickness. You may have one challenge to not be caught by a co-worker throwing up in the bathroom. If you work in a multi-level office environment, use the bathroom on another floor. Chances are the people from those other floors won’t know who you are or won’t recognize the shoes to the woman losing her lunch in the stall next door.

2. Shielding alcohol avoidance. You may be known to NOT skip a drink offer. So if it would be uncharacteristic of you to say no to booze, take the glass when offered and pretend to sip it. Then replace the liquid with alcohol-free version when no one is looking. If it’s white wine, replace it with apple juice if convenient. If it’s pure vodka, water works. If it’s rum and coke, get just the coke.

3. Covering up the Early Pregnancy Look. There is a certain look that women who are suffering from morning sickness get: glazed eye, red nose, puffy cheeks are indications of vomiting and dealing with nausea. It’ll be hard, but just try. Also, don’t look too dumpy because that is a dead give-away that something is up. Keep your hair coiffed and keep wearing make up even if you’re feeling queezie and not up to it. If you have to heave, reapply your make up so you don’t look so green coming out of the restroom.

4. Disguising the hand on the tummy posture. You may feel the uncanny urge to rest your hand on your tummy. It’s an unexplainable phenomenon. Try to be conscious where your hands are and make an effort to keep them at your hips or another natural place OTHER than resting on your tummy…LIKE A PREGNANT WOMAN! A couple of years ago, when Mariah Carey was pregnant and before suffering her miscarriage, many outlets, including this blog, reported that she MUST have been pregnant based on that photograph alone! (see right)

5. Dressing to Hide a growing bump. Finally, dress in chunky but hip sweaters or A-line or empire waist tops or dresses to take the focus away from your tummy. Keep it fresh and trendy so it appears that you are wearing those tummy hiding outfits for style, not for the convenience of hiding a pregnancy you don’t want someone to know about.

0 comments

BumpNews

Baby delivered on side of Atlanta highway during snowstorm

Posted on January 29, 2014

Yesterday, a snowstorm that hit the southern states in the US crippled many highways and roadways, causing some many accidents, some fatal, and leaving many people stranded for hours at a standstill in their cars.

One young lady couldn’t wait for her mom and dad to get to the hospital to deliver her. Baby Grace made her appearance to the world on the side of I-285 near Riverside Drive shortly after 5pm yesterday, January 29.

Her dad and a Sandy Springs Police Department cop, Officer Tim Sheffield delivered her inside the car in the middle of the icy and cold outdoor conditions. Paramedics arrived on the scene and took the family to the nearest hospital. Grace is a fitting name considering there could have been complications during the birth which could have made this story have a sad ending.

Thankfully, Baby Grace and mom are fine now, Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

0 comments

BumpNews

Bump Watch: Emily Blunt’s comfy maternity style

Posted on January 29, 2014

Maybe it’s because she always has a camera following everywhere she goes, but the papps have done a great job of capturing British actress Emily Blunt’s casual style. The Devil Wears Prada star must love comfy long sleeve maternity jersey tops and dark denim or stretch pants because that is all she is seen wearing when out and about. Not mad at her. Keep it comfy and functional, mama!

0 comments

BumpNews

10 Chic Pregnant Fashion Instagrammers to Follow

Posted on January 28, 2014

We’ve been scoping the Mothersinprotest Instagram account and the #maternitystyle, #pregnancyfashion #chicbump #pregnantfashion, #pregnantstyle #maternityfashion #maternity #maternitystyle #babybump #chicbump and hashtags and discovered some pretty chic and stylish moms-to-be who know how to rock the bump.

Here are 10 that caught our eye:

FOLLOW THEM ON INSTAGRAM!

nacstyles

0 comments

BumpNews

10 Outdated Parenting Theories

Posted on January 28, 2014

Bellyitch Rewind

It turns

out that conventional parenting techniques long heralded as law have often

proven to be less than the ideal approach. What our parents, and their parents,

held as child-raising gospel no longer holds water, according to many experts.

Here are some examples of old ideas that are giving way to new discoveries – 10

outdated theories about parenting:

1. Don’t pick the baby up every time she

cries. – The philosophy behind this old theory holds that it will spoil the

baby if she catches onto the fact that crying will garner your attention.

Babies, in fact, do need your attention for one reason or another when they

cry, and they need to know that you’ll be there for them when they do.

2. Alcohol rubdowns reduce fevers. – They do

not lower the baby’s temperature. To compound the error of this myth, the risk

of absorption of alcohol into the baby’s skin poses an even greater danger than

the fever itself.

3. Immunizations weaken your baby’s immune

system. – Your baby’s immune system will naturally develop antibodies against

minor illnesses as he grows. However, immunizations against serious diseases

protect the baby from experiencing their effects as opposed to enduring them

(if they aren’t in fact fatal) just to develop a resistance to them.

4. A strict feeding schedule is essential

for your baby’s health. – Wrong. Doctors now agree that it’s best to allow the

baby’s own hunger cues to dictate when they eat, rather than to feed her just

because ‘it’s time’. Feeding on a schedule rather than on the baby’s cues can

actually be unhealthy for her.

5. An infant should be put to sleep on its

stomach. – The logic here was that the

child would be less susceptible to choking on spit-up. However, evidence now

indicates this sleeping position leads to higher incidents of SIDS (Sudden

Infant Death Syndrome).

6. Too much sugar will make your kid hyper.

– There is actually no evidence to support this theory. The truth is that some

sugary foods lack the fiber that allows the sugar to be released gradually into

the bloodstream. That, and not the sugar content itself, is the cause for your

child’s energy burst.

7. It’s wrong to answer: “Because I said

so.” – Truth is, there are times when this is a valid answer to settle a debate

that has otherwise been answered in detail. Once you’ve provided ample

explanation as to why something is the way it is, ending your child’s protests

by reminding him who’s the boss is perfectly OK.

8. A child’s brain is fully developed by the

age of 3. – There are some basic skills that a child will fully develop by that

time, but her brain will continue to develop in some areas for years to come.

Such things as personal interests, skills, and abstract thought appear later in

life as a result of this continued development.

9. “My baby deserves the best.” – Not so

fast. There is a natural tendency for parents to want to provide everything

they can for their children; however overindulgence and leniency can be far

worse for them than letting them do without a few things from time to time. If

you’re going to lavish them with anything, make it love.

10. Parenting comes naturally. – It doesn’t

take more than a brief glance at headlines to see the lie in this myth. In

fact, you probably wouldn’t be reading this article if it came naturally to you

either. The truth is we all need to learn what does and doesn’t work in raising

healthy children. There is no shame is seeking advice and assistance from

qualified people.

What else? What outdated theory would you add?

image: @BrandiLombas

0 comments

BumpNews

Double Bump Watch: Kendra Baskett & Soleil Moon Frye out & about

Posted on January 28, 2014

Two expecting celeb moms were spotted out and about recently.

Kendra Wilkinson Baskett who is expecting her 2nd kid with hubby former NFL player Hank Baskett, was spotted at the Sundance Film Festival in Aspen, Colorado around January 19.

More recently, author, blogger and former star of Punky Brewster actress Spleil Moon Frye was seen heading to dinner with her hubby Jason Goldberg at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood, California Chateau Marmont, in West Hollywood, CA., with her husband, Jason Goldberg on Wednesday, January 22. The couple is parents to daughters Jagger Joseph Blue and Poet Sienna Rose sometime this spring.

Photos: Starcast

0 comments

Jeneba Jalloh Ghatt