The Pregnancy Test Hack Giving TTC Women False Hope

Posted on August 6, 2016

Bellyitch rewind

So…the new thing in women’s online parenting and pregnancy forums is a practice called pregnancy test “tweaking”.

It entails a woman who is trying to conceive posting an image among other members of the online or bulletin board community of a recent pregnancy test that doesn’t’ definitively indicate she is pregnant. There is usually a very faint second line or indicator that could be perceived to be indication that she is pregnant.

Afterwards, members of the community use digital imaging tools to enhance the photo so they can decipher better if there is a second line.

The “tweaking” process give women false hope, some critics say. They worry it could be a damaging practice that toys with the emotions of women who are struggling to conceive.

Some tweakers defend the practice.

“We can NEVER bring something out that IS NOT ALREADY THERE,” says Brandy Linex, who says she tweaks photos on BabyCenter.com “We do not create positive tests out of negative ones. It’s either already positive or it isn’t and we are VERY up front and honest about that.”

There is a common explanation for the faint line that is seen after the tweaking: It could be residual indication of an early miscarriage.

Doctors warn that some tweaked photos may actually reveal a chemical pregnancy, which often times go undetected and women recognize them only as a late menstrual period.

Only a follow up test at a doctor’s office, usually a blood one, can confirm the home-based test.

The tweaking process is just an exercise that lasts only until the obvious is confirmed a few days or weeks later when there is either positive confirmation of an active pregnancy or not.

What are your thoughts about “tweaking”?

h/t Dr. Drew at HLN

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Parenting

Earn $400 Extra Cash: Spots Open Now To Join this Focus Group for Moms/TTC/Preggers

Posted on July 21, 2016

Awww! Among the 72 New Emojis Released today is a Pregnant Lady Emoji

Posted on June 21, 2016

Last May, Yahoo news reports that the Unicode Consortium — a little-known Mountain View, California-based organization that standardizes characters and emoji across all the different operating systems — voted to release a batch of 74 brand new pictographs, including a wilted flower, bacon, and a symbol for the word “selfie.”

People who are trying to conceive and planning families will now have a pregnant woman emoji option now too! Woo hoo! It made the cut.

Though, to be fair, current 2nd time mom-to-be to the newest Kardashian, Blac Chyna released it first as part of her Chymoji Emoji app options.

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The new Unicode Emojis were released today and people are most excited about all the new food options including bacon!

!!!!!they’re releasing a bacon emoji today!!!!!
— Lauren Lux (@laurennleighh) June 21, 2016

FINALLY THERE WILL BE A #BACONEMOJI! ? https://t.co/LVZwwpTGbp #emojis #yas #JimmyFallon pic.twitter.com/MpzwEgelUR — Cherry Ocean (@CherryOcean_) June 21, 2016

Sadly, to make room for more, we lost some.

The taco is no more. Why? I don’t know. I’m sad because what will I use to express Taco Tuesday now? No fair!

We suppose because of the recent mass shooting violence, they removed the rifle. Though, the pistol is still there so…. shrug

And as an avid selfie taker, I thought it was so cool to see the Selfie emjoi make its debut. Finally!

Sadly, still no red hair emoji! Sorry gingers. 🙁

Are redheads considered just as dangerous as rifles or is there another reason we still don’t have our emojis?
— Rachel Schallom (@rschallom) June 21, 2016

Are you excited for the new emojis too?

Here’s the complete list:

Rolling On The Floor Laughing

Face With Cowboy Hat

Clown Face

Lying Face

Drooling Face

Nauseated Face

Sneezing Face

Prince

Mother Christmas

Man In Tuxedo

Shrug

Face Palm

Pregnant Woman

Man Dancing

Selfie

Hand With Index And Middle Fingers Crossed

Call Me Hand

Left-Facing Fist

Right-Facing Fist

Raised Back Of Hand

Handshake

Black Heart

Gorilla

Fox Face

Deer

Rhinoceros

Bat

Eagle

Duck

Owl

Lizard

Shark

Shrimp

Squid

Butterfly

Wilted Flower

Kiwifruit

Avocado

Potato

Carrot

Cucumber

Peanuts

Croissant

Baguette Bread

Pancakes

Bacon

Stuffed Flatbread

Egg

Shallow Pan Of Food

Green Salad

Glass of Milk

Clinking Glasses

Tumbler Glass

Spoon

Octagonal

Scooter

Motor Scooter

Canoe

First Place Medal

Second Place Medal

Third Place Medal

Boxing Glove

Martial Arts Uniform

Person Doing Cartwheel

Wrestlers

Water Polo

Handball

Fencer

Goal Net

Juggling

Drum With Drumsticks

Shopping Trolley

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The One April Fool’s Day Joke this TTC Couple didn’t Want to See Anyone Pull

Posted on April 2, 2016

Infertility is real and about 12 percent of women ages 15 to 44 struggle to conceive, according to the Centers for Disease Control. So for many of them, like Rhode Island school teacher Chelsey Kimmel, seeing April Fool’s jokes from women pretending to be pregnant is no laughing matter.

Kimmel told ABC news that she warned her social media followers on Instagram to think twice before sharing a pregnancy joke on April Fool’s Day.

It’s been 18 months since the 24-year old and her partner of five years have been trying to conceive successfully. They suffered a miscarriage last October and are due to start another round of in vitro fertilization in 10 days, ABC reports.

“I’ve known people for a long time who joke that they’re pregnant and this year it hit me that it does hurt,” Kimmel told ABC News. “I struggle with real posts of people I know and love when they really are pregnant, but when people make a joke [about it], women like me, who want more than anything in the world to be pregnant … it just really hits home. It can hurt.”

It didn’t stop people, including celebs like Gwen Stefani, from sharing a sonogram on her Instagram today with the caption, “It’s a girl.”

One commenter with the handle bankstonlife wrote about Stefani’s joke, “Respect lost, obviously the completely clueless people on here have never lost a child!! Joking about a pregnancy when soooo many have suffered a loss during pregnancy is insensitive!!!”

It’s very sensitive issue indeed. There were several others too leaving similar responses.

“There are a lot of emotions and energy we invest when facing fertility issues. Seeing people joke about being pregnant is deflating.” said Ellicott City, Maryland engineer Qiana Gabriel.

She said she told her husband that she planned to stay off of Facebook today after seeing five friends joke that they were pregnant.

Consider this your warning for next year folks.

photo: courtesy Ericka Chick photography

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News

So um…There’s a Bluetooth App-Based Pregnancy Test Now

Posted on January 7, 2016

This week at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, pregnancy test maker FirstResponse released the first ever Bluetooth pregnancy test.

The First Response Pregnancy PRO Digital Test & App Access runs about $20. Download the app which is available on iOS and Android, activate Bluetooth on your smart phone, launch the app, follow the on-screen instructions, then take out the one-time use test, pee on it and then wait. While you wait, the app has entertainment, news, calming messages and other options to take your mind off of the wait.

Then once you get the results, you enter a code and store it on your app.

“The First Response Tracker App is a women’s health tool, customized to help you get more in tune with your body,”states the description of the app in iTunes. “The App eliminates guesswork by forecasting your next period, calculating your most fertile days, estimating how far along you are and predicting your due date. Knowing your cycle and identifying the days you’re most likely to conceive is very important. If you are trying to conceive, predicting these days can help you get pregnant sooner.”

Is something like this needed? meh. Slate.com says no. We say it’s a cute gimmick but the Dollar Store sells perfectly good tests for a buck and you have enough money to buy a magazine to keep you mind off the 5 minute wait. snark

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Get Out of My Uterus: Talking Societal Pressure to Have Children on Stiletto Moms Radio (VIDEO)

Posted on December 15, 2015

Married or committed couples get asked repeatedly over the course of their relationship when they will start a family. For some, they are not ready. For others, they don’t want children ever. Still, many are actually trying to conceive but facing difficulty, yet get to have to deal with the intrusive queries from well-meaning family and friends.

The cost of having children also weigh heavy on many young couple’s minds and a lot of people still want financial stability in their lives before going down that path. Some single women get tired of waiting for Mr. Right and decide to have a baby on their own.

Others are more traditional and because of religion, their Faith or other reasons decide they will not have a baby out of wedlock or a committed relationship.

Some opting out of raising a baby alone know the struggles of single parenthood and others were raised by a single mom or dad and know how difficult it was for them and do not want to subject their would-be offspring to the same challenges.

All of these complex issues were discussed on a recent episode of Stiletto Moms Radio.

I was a guest on the show and had a great lively, animated and very REAL conversation with the host, Neneh Diallo, and her other guest, Nina Perez of Mom Rising.org. who penned a popular blog post, “Stop asking me when I’m going to have a baby, because I just can’t afford it.”

The full show is 45 minutes. Watch or listen in the background! (AND SUBSCRIBE to STILETTO MOMS RADIO for future Shows)

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Married (no kids) Couples: ‘Seven Year Switch’ Season 2 is Casting

Posted on November 6, 2015

Are you a married couple without any kids yet at a crossroads in your marriage?

Would you be willing to go on a two week relationship swap experiment that would be televised and would test the future of your Union?

If so, then the creators of the FYI network docu-series Seven Year Swutch is interested in helping you? It’s like Wife Swap and Marriage Boot Camp, I guess.

There is an open casting for the show which initially featured on its first season four couples who swapped companions for two weeks and met with relationship coaching professionals who also worked with them to iron out any existing challenges or issues in their marriage to their real spouses. (Not the swapped ones)

Aleshia got paired up with Leah’s hubby Neal

Three of the four appearing on the initial season stayed together and one eventually got pregnant. Yay! Aleshia and Houston are expecting a baby girl.

Danielle and Eric Wolf and Rachel and CW McGee switched places

Sadly, Neal and Leah are headed do divorce after Neal realized through the show that he could not get over Alesha’s infidelity during the marriage, and that he wants kids and she probably won’t ever.

Leah and Neal are heading for divorce after appearing on season one of the “Seven Year Switch”

So that says the experiment works, I guess!

Good or bad, it’s best to figure it all out before kids get involved, huh? Anywho!

The production company has asked that I share this with Bellyitch readers given many of you guys are without kids yet and trying to conceive.

Let us know it you get cast after hearing about this opp from us! Thanks.

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Celebrity

Why Kim Kardashian West says Pregnancy is ‘The Worst Experience’ of Her Life

Posted on October 6, 2015

Not all women enjoy pregnancy. Second time mom-to-be Kim Kardashian is no different.

The reality TV star took to her website to pen a blog post titled, “From the Desk Of: How I Really Feel About Being Pregnant.”

In it the 7-months pregnant paparazzi magnet bemoans all the horrors of pregnancy.

“I’m gonna keep it real: For me, pregnancy is the worst experience of my life! LOL!” Kardashian wrote on her post yesterday, Monday, Oct. 5. “I don’t enjoy one moment of it and I don’t understand people who enjoy it.”

She went on to list the various ailments that go with pregnancy as the source of her disdain for the baby incubation process.

“Maybe it’s the swelling, the backaches or just the complete mindf—k of how your body expands and nothing fits,” she continued. “I just always feel like I’m not in my own skin.”

The biz mogul and much sought after starlet seemed to be upset she wasn’t warned about it all before.

“People just don’t tell you all of the gross things that happen during pregnancy or after. Do you know you basically have to wear a diaper for two months afterwards?!” Kardashian added. “LOL! No one told me that! #SoSexy.”

But in the end, despite all the aches and discomforts, she ends her rant saying it is all worth it.

“Really, it is all SO worth it when you have your precious baby in the end! So for all my complaining, it’s 100 percent worth it and more!!!”

We know of several women who did not like the process and she is not the first celebrity to keep it real and open up about not enjoying the process.

People like my mother in law would tell women who can have babies to not complain because there are so many infertile and other couple’s trying to conceive who would gladly trade in their situation for the privilege of getting to be pregnant…even with the problems.

But in the end of the day, women have the right to vent and share openly and shouldn’t be boxed into keeping shut to not upset someone else.

Just our thoughts on the situation because we see her critics saying if she complained about not getting pregnant easily this second round then she has no right ot complain once she does become pregnant.

h/t US Magazine

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Celebrity

Tyra Banks and Chrissy Tiegen Open up About Fertility Struggles

Posted on September 17, 2015

The same week that Gabrielle Union opened up about fertility struggles, Tyra Banks and Chrissy Tiegen are also sharing about their personal battles.

A clip from Banks’ new lifestyle show, FABLife, reveals the two models getting real on what they’ve gone through to start a family.

Tiegen revealed that in the 10 years she has been with and later married to John Legend, she has spent some of that time trying to conceive but it has been hard and she sort of resents the constant prying by others asking when she will start a family.

The outspoken in social media star said she is asked about it“every single time I sit down for an interview with anybody.”

She seems to resent it.

“I can’t imagine being that nosy to be like, ‘So, when are the kids coming?’” she says. “Because who knows what somebody’s going through?… I will say, honestly, John and I were having trouble…it’s been a process. We’ve seen fertility doctors, and then once you open up about all those things to other people you start learning that a lot of other people in your life are seeing these people, and they have this shame about it.”

Banks said she could relate.

“I am so tired of seeing on my social media, ‘Why don’t you have kids? Why don’t you have kids?’ You don’t know — you don’t know what I’m going through,” she said, breaking into tears. “When I was 23 years old, I used to tell myself, ‘In three years, I’m going to have kids.’ Then I turned 24. ‘In three years, I’m going to have kids.’ Every single year I kept saying that. And then after awhile, it’s like, OK, now I want to, and it’s not so easy.”

The episode will air this Monday but you can Watch the clip from the show below:

((((hugs)))

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Parenting

The Pregnancy Test Hack that May be giving TTC women false hope

Posted on July 12, 2015

So…the new thing in women’s online parenting and pregnancy forums is a practice called pregnancy test “tweaking”.

Afterwards, members of the community use digital imaging tools to enhance the photo so they can decipher better if there is a second line.

The “tweaking” process give women false hope, some critics say. They worry it could be a damaging practice that toys with the emotions of women who are struggling to conceive.

Some tweakers defend the practice.

There is a common explanation for the faint line that is seen after the tweaking: It could be residual indication of an early miscarriage.

Doctors warn that some tweaked photos may actually reveal a chemical pregnancy, which often times go undetected and women recognize them only as a late menstrual period.

Only a follow up test at a doctor’s office, usually a blood one, can confirm the home-based test.

The tweaking process is just an exercise that lasts only until the obvious is confirmed a few days or weeks later when there is either positive confirmation of an active pregnancy or not.

What are your thoughts about “tweaking”?

h/t Dr. Drew at HLN

0 comments