Actress and Dancer Jenna Dewan is Expecting

Posted on October 5, 2019

Jenna Dewan is pregnant!

Congrats to actress and dancer Jenna Dewan who is expecting her second child, but her first with her actor boyfriend Steve Kazee.

According to PEOPLE magazine, the baby is due in 2020. Dewan has a 6-year old daughter named Everly with her ex husband Channing Tatum.

Dewan posted an elusive photo of Everly who she only shows the back of and keeps pretty private and from the public eye.

“Becoming a mother is quite simply the absolute best ost incredible thing that has ever happened to me,” she wrote. “@stevekazee you are a gift from above and i couldn’t be more excited to be expanding our family together…!”

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Becoming a mother is quite simply the absolute best most incredible thing that has ever happened to me ? @stevekazee you are a gift from above and i couldn’t be more excited to be expanding our family together…! Thank you guys for all the love!!
A post shared by Jenna Dewan (@jennadewan) on Sep 24, 2019 at 4:30pm PDT

Jenna and Steve have been dating since the Fall of 2018. Congrats!

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Study: Antidepressants During Pregnancy Increases Gestational Diabetes Risk

Posted on October 4, 2019

Taking antidepressants while pregnant may be associated with an increased risk of gestational diabetes, a new study suggests.

published in the journal BMJ Open on Tuesday. The study suggests a correlation but not causation.

“This study gives another piece of the puzzle showing increased risk of using antidepressants during pregnancy,” said Anick Bérard, a professor at the University of Montreal in Canada and director of research on medications and pregnancy at CHU Sainte-Justine Medical Center, who was senior author of the study.

“Depression needs to be treated during pregnancy. There are many forms of treatments — antidepressants is one of them,” she said. “If a woman is pregnant and is taking antidepressants, she should not stop by herself but should have an informed discussion with her treating physician to assess the best way forward.”

Gestational diabetes, a type of diabetes that can develop during pregnancy in women, can increase the risk of certain complications for both the mother and baby, including risks of high blood pressure for the expectant mother, needing a cesarean section delivery, having low blood sugar for the baby and developing type 2 diabetes later in life for the baby.

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Watch Erica Mena and Safaree’s Fun Gender Non Reveal Video

Posted on October 3, 2019

Before the birth of their first child together, the married VH1 stars of the hit show Love and Hip Hop Safaree and Erica Mena performed a series of gender reveals to find out whether they’re having a boy or girl.

In the set of stringed-together shorts, they try three very popular gender reveal tactics to determine if they are having a boy or girl for their first child together. First, they cut open a white frosted several-layered cake hoping to see a pink or blue colored inside but no luck!

There is a set of different colored layers of a rainbow cake. Womp Womp Womp!!! Next up…the balloon reveal. Will this trick reveal the baby’s sex or no?

A bunch of white balloons drift out when they open it together at the count of 3 so… no luck there, either. Their banter is pretty funny in between each “reveal.” Finally, they dry the usual poppers which usually stream out pink or blue confetti if done right. But for the Samuels, they get a bunch of tiny bills flowing out! Not “tiny” as in $1s but as in miniature bills! ha!

It’s a fun reveal and in the end, we still do not know. Stay tuned!

Love & Hip Hop New York follows the lives and relationships of hip-hop artists as they make their mark on the Big Apple. The cast includes the outspoken Joe Budden, Cyn Santana, Remy Ma, Papoose, Juelz Santana, Kim “Kimbella” Vanderhee and more.

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Swedish Climate Advocate Greta Thunberg Poetically Re-frames Autism and Neurotypical Diagnoses

Posted on September 27, 2019

“You are never too small to make a difference” is a quote attributed to 16-year old Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg who has been leading youth climate strikes for the past few years, including “Fridays for Future,” a global movement that encourages students to walk out of their classrooms against inaction toward climate change.

Thunberg has become an activist celebrity and been in the US for the last week and a half after docking in New York in late August following a two-week voyage aboard a solar-powered sailboat which is an eco friendly alternative to flying.

The inspirational young leader also stands out because she has Asperger’s, a highly functioning form of Autism, but has chosen in recent years to embrace the neurological diversity as her ‘Superpower”, as she has described it.

She has poetically described how the diagnosis aids in her work.

During an interview with CBS This Morning earlier in the month, Thunberg remarked of the condition, “it can definitely be an advantage to have some kind of neurotypical diagnosis, to be neurodiverse, because that makes you different, that makes you think differently.”

And of course, that is exactly what the doctor has ordered in this era where children are literally taking over where adults are failing to lead!

“Especially in such a big crisis like this, when we need to think outside the box,” Thunberg told the show. “We need to think outside our current system, we need people who think outside the box and who aren’t like everyone else.”

She has also used her very large platform on social media, including Instagram where she boasts over 6 million followers, to respond to the“haters” who have come after her for the way she looks or acts.

“When haters go after your looks and differences, it means they have nowhere left to go. And then you know you’re winning!” she captioned an Instagram caption posted in September.”I have Asperger’s syndrome and that means I’m sometimes a bit different from the norm. And given the right circumstances, being different is a superpower.”

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When haters go after your looks and differences, it means they have nowhere left to go. And then you know you’re winning! I have Asperger’s syndrome and that means I’m sometimes a bit different from the norm. And – given the right circumstances – being different is a superpower. I'm not public about my diagnosis to "hide" behind it, but because I know many ignorant people still see it as an "illness", or something negative. And believe me, my diagnosis has limited me before. Before I started school striking I had no energy, no friends and I didn’t speak to anyone. I just sat alone at home, with an eating disorder. All of that is gone now, since I have found a meaning, in a world that sometimes seems meaningless to so many people. #aspiepower #neurodiverse #npf
A post shared by Greta Thunberg (@gretathunberg) on Aug 31, 2019 at 3:01pm PDT

She hasn’t always been so open.

“I’m not public about my diagnosis to ‘hide’ behind it, but because I know many ignorant people still see it as an ‘illness,’ or something negative,” she continued. “And believe me, my diagnosis has limited me before. Before I started school striking I had no energy, no friends, and I didn’t speak to anyone. I just sat alone at home, with an eating disorder.”

She concluded, “All of that is gone now, since I have found a meaning in a world that sometimes seems meaningless to so many people.”

Love it!

"You are never too small to make a difference" @GretaThunberg pic.twitter.com/IVoRmXR5QX
— Earth Agora (@EarthAgora) March 16, 2019

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Revitalize and Breathe New Life to Your Sofa with a Classic Slipcover {REVIEW}

Posted on September 25, 2019

Even though Spring is usually associated with cleaning and sprucing up the home, actually Fall is a popular time to update, upgrade and redecorate your abode.

One of the easiest ways to breathe new life into a room is to swap out the decorations, add new frames, bring the outdoors in with plants and for furniture, throw on a slipcover onto a sofa or chair.

It’s not easy or cost efficient to go out and purchase an entire new couch but you can add texture, color or design using a slip cover. You can get a custom slipcover but that can be expensive so using a retail one works perfectly to enhance a room.

The Classic Slipcover Company, for example, offers a line of high-end slipcover products that make your furniture look brand new. From chairs to sofas and even dog furniture, they offer a variety of fits and styles and offered my the opportunity to brighten my front room with one if its quality items.

I was able to use a review sample to update my front room which has an Aztec print. Classic Slipcover’s twill one piece twill sofa slipcover ($94) Iwith bow ties was relatively easy to set up and keep cover in place and turn the space into a warm and inviting place to read, receive visitors, and kick back and unwind after a long day.

It fits sofas from 84″ to 96.”

I also used the company’s armchair slip cover in the same material and chair to refurbish an old raggedy chair that was in the basement. I brought it upstairs and threw on the cover (I need to affix it better than in this photograph) and it brought my office to life! Love it!

I love their options because they suit my style and tastes: simple, classic, customizable, crisp and clean. Perfect!

Check out the other offerings, including covers for pet beds!!

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Holiday Vacation Season: How to Travel with a New Baby

Posted on September 25, 2019

The 2018 US Family Travel Survey found out that almost three out of five families in the US are planning to go on a vacation in the next two years. American parents want their children to explore new places and experience new adventures, and traveling can deepen the bond between family members.

But taking the entire family on a getaway can be challenging, especially if you have a new baby. You need to think of everything in order to make sure that everyone is having fun. That includes packing everyone’s favorite food, making an engaging travel playlist, and keeping everyone entertained on the journey. But how can you make sure that the baby will also enjoy their first holiday?

Here are some useful tips for taking your baby on a vacation.

Look For A Kid-Friendly Recreational Vehicle For Road Trips

There are different types of campers or motorhomes on the road, but to make sure that traveling with a baby is a breeze, you need to use a vehicle that can sleep the entire family. If you’re planning to buy an RV for your upcoming road trip, you can consider the motorhomes that have everything you need in a single vehicle. You can also choose a towable RV so you can still use your family car during your trip.

With a larger budget, you can opt for a luxurious Class A motorhome. These come with all the comforts of regular homes, including a master bedroom suite and a fully-equipped kitchen. Some even come with extra storage space as well, which is a valuable asset when you have a baby with you.

Pick A Baby-Friendly Destination

Traveling with a baby makes an off-the-beaten-track vacation more difficult. It’s a good idea to make sure that your holiday destination is somewhere near a medical facility in case of emergencies. It’s also a good idea to go somewhere with easy access to markets and food establishments so that you don’t have to worry about running out of supplies.

If you stay at a resort, research child-friendly destinations, where you’ll be able to enjoy family meals in an environment where small children are welcome.

Pack All The Necessities

Whether you’re going on a road trip or boarding a plane with young ones, it’s important to take everything your family might need during the trip. When traveling with babies, you must always have enough formula milk on hand if they are not breastfed, as you may find it difficult to stock up while you’re away. Bear in mind, too, that laundry may be more difficult, so packing a lot of clothing for your baby would be a good idea.

The idea of taking a baby on holiday can be daunting, but with careful attention to planning and preparation, it’s possible to enjoy your family vacation with your newest member.

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Tips for Throwing a Halloween Party on a shoestring Budget

Posted on September 22, 2019

There’s no need to break the bank when it comes to throwing your next kids’ Halloween party. By using items you already have around the house you can throw a killer party without spending a ton of money, and making your own snacks and beverages can also help you cut back on the expenses. The kids will have a blast and you will be a Halloween hero, without going broke.

Theme

Deciding on a theme can help you tie all of the party details together. Here are a few kid friendly themes worth considering.

Ghouls and Goblins: Place tombstones in the yard for decorations, wrap hotdogs in dough and bake them to look like mummies and serve punch out of a caldron.
Witches and Fairies: Sprinkle glitter on table cloths and serve witch fingers and witch’s brew.
Nutty Professor: Put out assorted jars filled with food coloring in water, make invitations in the shape of a beaker and serve drinks in test tubes.
Hogwarts: Line the table with white owls and fake snow and make pretzel stick wands that can be decorated and then eaten.

Invitations

Tie the invitations into the theme to help set the mood for the party and let the parents know what type of costumes the kids should wear. By making your own invitations you can have something that is both unique and inexpensive. Here are some ideas for simple invitations you can make at home.

Tombstone Invitations: Using some gray cardstock, cut out the shape of a tombstone. Using a black ink pad rub the edges of the tombstone to create an aged, dirty look. Put a big RIP on the front and the rest of the party information inside.
Fairy wing invitations: Cut out the shape of a pair of wings. Write the details of the party on the wings. Take some vellum and cut out the same wing shape and attach it to the top with a brad. Use plenty of glitter for the fairies.
Witch’s broom invitations: Cut out the shape of the bristle part of a broom in a yellow or mustard color and print the details to the party on it. Attach a craft stick or a cut down skewer to the back of the bristle portion. Tie a black bow around the broom handle and you’re done.

Decorations

Use things you have around the house that go with your theme. Drape the furniture with white sheets for a spooky, abandoned look. Fill recycled jars with water and food coloring; float various things in them like a plastic frog or plastic eye balls and cover dessert tables with black plastic table cloths from the dollar store.

Games

Play games that kids love, but add a Halloween twist to them. Almost any game can be made into a Halloween game.

Monster Mash: Play fun Halloween inspired music and have the kids play freeze dancing. Whenever the music stops they have to freeze in their spot. If they move they have to sit out until the next song.
Flashlight tag: Supply everyone with inexpensive flashlights and let them chase each other around the back yard. A variation could be to hide glow in the dark items and have everyone hunt for them.
Bobbing for apples: Float apples in water and have players try to grab an apple out of the water using nothing but their mouths.
Spooky Bingo: Set up the normal bingo cards, but use miniature bat cut-outs to cover the spaces, or go online and print out Halloween inspired game cards. Light some battery operated candles and play by candlelight. Turn on some spooky music and call out the numbers using a creepy voice.

Food

Choose food that the kids already like and dress it up for Halloween. For example, you could take PB&J sandwiches and cut them out with a pumpkin cookie cutter, and then use a food safe black marker to draw jack-o-lantern face on it. Serve bat or witch hat shaped cookies or brownies. Give items on the party menu a creepy name by putting place cards in front of all of the food. A bowl of grapes could be called, “Green Eyeballs,” for example and a bowl of candy corn could be called, “Witches teeth”. Freeze some water or fruit juice in a plastic glove and then float it in green punch for some eerie fun. Sprinkle in some creepy crawly decorations in and around the food trays.

Favors

Wrap candy bars with strips of medical tape to look like mummies. Leave an opening to put in a couple of big googly eyes.

Kids will have fun no matter what they are doing so don’t stress out too much over party details. Create some suspense with the invitations, set the mood with the decorations and music, and feed them fun, creepy food and you will have happy kids. Use your imagination and ask your kids what they want to do. You might be surprised to learn what kind of fun ideas they have.

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IVF Clinic Mixup: White Couple Welcomes Asian Baby

Posted on September 21, 2019

A fertility clinic in New Jersey is being ordered to turn over a list of sperm donors after a white couple gave birth to an Asian baby. A recently filed lawsuit alleges Kristina Koedderich was given sperm from a man who was not her husband, and that the man passed on a genetic disorder. The couple is seeking monetary damages and information on their daughter’s biological father.

Koedderich and Drew Wasilewski said that when they had trouble getting pregnant, they turned to the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science at St. Barnabas in New Jersey. In 2013, after in vitro fertilization, Koedderich gave birth.

But around the time when their daughter turned two, the couple realized that something was wrong. “She doesn’t look like Drew,” Koedderich remembers thinking.

The couple, now divorced, said a DNA test revealed that their daughter is only related to Koedderich.

When he found out he wasn’t the biological father, “It was hard,” Wasilewski said.

“Meltdown, meltdown,” Koedderich said.

“You want to have a child and you can’t have one and then you’re finally able to … and it was upsetting,” Wasilewski added. “Very confusing.”

Wasilewski is also concerned that he has other biological children he doesn’t know about.

“The problem we have here, what happened to Drew’s sperm?” said the family’s attorney, David Mazie. “It was supposed to be inseminated that day. So if it didn’t go into Kristina, is it someone else who he fathered? ”

“If I have other children, I want them to know who I am,” Wasilewski said.

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Study: You Can Sleep On Your Back When Pregnant, Ignore What You Heard Before

Posted on September 18, 2019

Photo by bruce mars from Pexels

Pregnant women are often told to sleep on their left side to reduce the risk of stillbirth, but new research suggests they can choose whatever position is most comfortable through most of the pregnancy.

“We can reassure women that through 30 weeks of pregnancy, different sleep positions are safe,” said study lead author Dr. Robert Silver, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

Silver said the study didn’t include women past 30 weeks, so researchers can’t make any definitive statements about the last weeks of pregnancy.

The research is being published in the October issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology and ahead of print online Sept. 10.

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It’s Now Legal to Publicly Breastfeed In All 50 States

Posted on September 17, 2019

This news is not necessarily new but it is to me so I wanted to share:

After Utah and Idaho passed laws last year, it is officially legal to breastfeed in public in all 50 states.

The new laws allowed the United States to catch up to the U.K., Australia and other countries across the world that protect nursing mothers.

The Utah bill passed with a vote of 65-5 and after a little resistance over a modesty clause, got edited to “a woman may breastfeed in any place of public accommodation … irrespective of whether the woman’s breast is uncovered during or incidental to the breast-feeding,” in line with the rest of the country.

Idaho’s vote was smoother, with a vote of 66-0 approving legislation that protects breastfeeding mothers from indecent exposure and obscenity laws, according to the Idaho Statesman.

Women still face incessant shaming and criticism for breastfeeding in public but they can now officially say that it is completely legal across the United States.

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