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Serena Williams

Beyonce Honors Meghan Markle; Sends Pregnancy Congrats

Beyonce has been more like us on social media these days.

She promotes brand partnership like other influencers, compares photos of herself as a child to those of her daughter Blue Ivy at the same age like other moms do and pays homage to her faves , idols and good friends on their birthday like we all do.

Just like us!!

Last night, she and her husband Shawn “Jay Z” Carter accepted a 2019 Brit Award for Best International Group via Instagram and while doing so gave a salute to first-time mom-to-be Meghan Markle.

“Thank you to the Brits for the award for Best International Group,” Queen Bey captioned her photo of her and Jay standing in front of a portrait depiction of Markle dressed as a queen. “I won this award back in 2002 with my besties, Kelly and Michelle [of Destiny’s Child}. How lucky am I to have been in a group with my other best friend, the GOAT Hova. ?? In honor of Black History Month, we bow down to one of our Melanated Monas.

“Congrats on your pregnancy! We wish you so much joy.”

Bey was referring to the Duchess of Sussex who was treated to a baby shower hosted by one of her besties Serena Williams yesterday.

It is an ode to the couple’s signature photo in front of the Mona Lisa they took back in October 2014 during a family visit to the famous and popular museum.

We saw them return to it when they filmed the video for their song off the “Everything Is Love” album, Apesh*t, last year.

The Best Super Bowl Commercials For Those Who Didn’t Watch The Game

I did not watch the SuperBowl last night so I missed all of the commercials. Congrats to our Bellyitch Bumpwatch alum Giselle Bundchen whose husband Tom Brady clinched his 6th historic NFL championship while playing for the New England Patriots.

In case you are like me, here are all the best ones:

One of the fave is our alum Serena Williams‘ commercial for Bumble.

And the other “mom” one featuring another one of our bumpwatch alums Christina Applegate.

Cardi B did one with Steve Carrell for Pepsi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9xy3cdykJs

And other really creative spots

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYkV64tPEPw

See the other commercials apart of Verizon’s series here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_awpNKfjDk

My fave because I like the Story telling aspect of it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-LRLub6m5A

I also like Toni Harrison’s Toyota ad.

Our girl “Carrie Bradshaw” is into beer now?

US Olympic Track Star Allyson Felix Is Married and Just Had a Baby

Allyson Felix, the most decorated U.S. Olympics woman track and field star with nine Olympic medals, secretly married and had a baby last month.

She revealed the news in a feature published Thursday at ESPNW, where she also explained, like the scrutiny and judgment Serena Williams felt, she felt pressured to put off starting a family so not to jeopardize her athletic career.

She married long time boyfriend and fellow Olympic sprinter husband Kenneth Ferguson, got pregnant  and at just nine weeks along, competed in a race and again at 4 months but both times, she ran noticeably slower. 

She said in the piece:

“When I ran back-to-back slow times this June, people started to wonder why.

My coach talked to me about shutting it down for the season. My brother wanted to make sure I wasn’t hurt.

It was time to tell them what was really going on.

I was pregnant.”

The baby, a little girl she and hubby named Camryn Grace Ferguson, came early at 32 weeks  via emergency Caesarean section and is still in the NICU.

https://twitter.com/spikesmag/status/1075766875710054403

Felix shared some of her birth story and anxiety over motherhood in her Twitter account  including her reaction to being told by doctors at her 32-week check up that they didn’t like the baby’s heart rate and to go to the hospital.

https://twitter.com/TeamUSA/status/1076247620945920002

She was just about to go do a photo shoot that would result in the pictures she would use for making her big public announcement about the pregnancy and thought it could wait. She explained:

I’m an athlete. I know how to take care of myself. I know how to eat right and get enough rest. And I’d been doing everything right throughout the whole pregnancy.

When I got to the hospital, I knew pretty quickly that something was very wrong.

Per Yahoo!

Felix had high blood pressure and the baby’s heart rate decelerated, forcing an emergency C-section on Nov. 28. Camryn was born 3 pounds, 7 ounces and 16 inches. She was immediately taken to the NICU, where she still is being cared for three weeks later.

Felix said her daughter is doing well and will be OK.

She is telling her story now to be open and transparent over the fact that famous people, including athletes have the same struggles as most women. 

“Pregnancy in sports shouldn’t feel risky,” she tweeted. “[B ]ut the reality is that it is. It’s scary to tell an employer you are starting a family & not know if you will be supported.

[I] know a lot of women can relate no matter what field you are in. i want better for my own daughter.”

In the ESPNW article, she said: “I hoped my experiences could help other women who were worried of what starting a family would mean to their careers. To let them know that I too have those anxious feelings.”

Why Are Black Mothers Dying During Childbirth More/Miscarrying At Work in America?

Charles Johnson , his wife Kyira Adele Dixon and their son Charles  in Cartagena Colombia August 23, 2015 Photo Credit: Courtesy Charles Johnson

For every 13 white women who die during pregnancy or within one year of giving birth, there are 44 black women. Most of these deaths are preventable.

Maternal death rates is rising in America and black women are dying most. According to the Centers for Disease Control, black women are three to four times more at risk of dying from pregnancy-related causes than any other race.

“The experience of being black in America is so fundamentally different from the experience of being white in America that it translates to health outcomes,” said Dr. William Callaghan, chief of the CDC’s Maternal and Infant Health Branch.

It is happening at every socioeconomic level. Tennis Champ Serena Williams complained of doctors not listening to her about her critical chronic condition after the birth of her first child.

Trending this week is the story of celebrity TV Judge, Judge Hatchett‘s daughter in law, Kyira Johnson, who was a 39-year-old and mom to a 19-month old son with her husband, Charles Johnson IV, Judge Hatchett’s son.

Kyria walked into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for a scheduled C-section to deliver her second son Langton in 2016— and would never walk out.

Judge Hatchett, her son Charles Johnson and his childeren Langston and Charles at home in Atlanta, GA on 6/20/17. Photographer: Julian Dufort

“We were expecting this to be a walk in the park,” Charles, 36, an entrepreneur, told PEOPLE magazine in a feature last year. “We thought we’d go in, high five, spend a couple days in the hospital and come home with two little boys.”

Charles said he noticed blood in Kira’s catheter and that she was in pain, but “smiled through the pain”

“She never complained,”  he shared to that site. “She was so tough.” Kyria later died caused by a lacerated bladder that occurred during her C-section. Charles’ family sued but he didn’t stop there and has been working to create new laws and change policy, even testifying before congressional panels in Washington.



It’s not just the pre and post child birth experience either.

A new New York Times report indicates that women are also suffering miscarriages when they are denied requests for light duty at work when pregnant. The article told the story of few warehouse employees who lifted heavy boxes after work after begging their supervisors to work with lighter boxes but were repeatedly told no.

Editor’s note: As a black mother, I find this trend and the news coming out of several reports quite troubling.

This is a health crisis that should be addressed but I have no hope that it will get better before it gets worse if some things don’t change. Racism and discrimination, health disparity and negative attitudes towards certain groups won’t help either.

Could the solution be more doulas and midwifes and better laws and policies, and implementation? Perhaps! Let’s continue the conversation online at Bellyitch on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Find me JayJay Ghatt on Twitter!

 

Colin Kaepernick Nick ‘Just Do It’ Campaign: Celebs, Customers Pick Sides

Are you boycotting Nike for selecting former quarterback Colin Kaepernick as its spokesperson for the 30th anniversary of its “Just Do It” campaign?

If so, I’d like to suggest instead of throwing away your Nike products or burning them as some of his detractors and Donald  J Trump supporters have done online, that you consider donating them to homeless Military vets! Here are organizations you can donate to:

Kaepernick, a former San Francisco 49er has not played in the NFL since 2016, the year he began to take a knee during the National Anthem as a silent protest against police brutality. Dozens of other players followed his lead, which led to heavy criticism of the NFL and many angry fans boycotting the sport entirely. Due to this controversy, Nike, which signed Kaepernick in 2011, held off in using him for ad campaigns. However, Nike kept him on their roster even after Kaepernick became a free agent in 2017.

Several celebs including our Bellyitch Bumpwatch alums Chelsea Peretti and his fellow brand spokesperson Serena Williams shared their support online.

On Friday night, Kaepernick and his former 49ers teammate Eric Reid, a Pro Bowl safety who joined in the protests and also now out of the league, were each given huge ovations when they were introduced and shown on the big screen during a match between Serena and Venus Williams at the U.S. Open.

If you are team Kaep and plan to purchase Nikes in support of this campaign and to counter the 3 percentage point dip in stock price the company has suffered because of this announcement, I curated a few pieces from my partners at Shopstyle for you to pick from:

Social Media Helps Celebs Keep It Real About Pregnancy and Early Motherhood

The Independent explores the shift in celebrity pregnancy coverage being more authentic and real about the trials of pregnancy, labor, delivery and early motherhood and credits social media for it

EXCERPT:

Years ago, a pregnant starlet might drop out of the spotlight for a while – only to reemerge in a magazine looking well-rested and snuggling with an angelic infant.

See various People magazine covers: Jennifer Lopez in 2008, resplendent in a floor-length gown with an infant nestled in each arm, above the headline “TWIN BLISS!”; Angelina Jolie in 2006, gazing adoringly at Brad Pitt, as baby Shiloh snoozes away; Julia Roberts, looking dewy and fresh-faced in 2005 as she cradles her twins.

Now fans are starting to see a different side of postpartum celebrities: Model Chrissy Teigen shares an Instagram story that features her stretch marks and confesses that she’s “super insecure” about her body; actress Olivia Wilde posts an Instagram photo of her messy bun with the caption, “I call this hairstyle, ‘keep the kid alive’ “; tennis legend Serena Williams tweets about balancing work and her daughter: “She took her first steps . . . I was training and missed it. I cried.”

The common denominator in all those examples, naturally, is social media. The advent of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat made stars realize that they could connect with the public on a deeper level about personal subjects – and that fans appreciated honesty about the less-than-glamorous aspects of their #blessed lives.

“Social media has been such a game changer. . . . Celebrities are speaking directly to the fan base. Once they started doing that, things just got a lot more real,” said Kate Coyne, executive editor of People magazine. “One evolution of that concept has been celebrities sharing the realities of pregnancy, infertility, child-rearing, infancy, toddlerhood. It goes hand in hand with what social media is all about.”

Lately, celebrities have also been spilling details about serious medical issues surrounding childbirth. In January, Williams told Vogue that she had a potentially fatal complication during labor, including blood clots in her lungs.

Read the entire piece The Independent:

 

Peep Cardi B and Offset’s Daughter’s $4500 Crib



For a few years early in this blog’s life, I published an annual list of the most expensive strollers, cribs, baby and children’s clothes and maternity wear which I eventually compiled in a book called Bellyitch 100 (you can get it HERE!).

The most expensive crib on that list was made by Art for Kids and cost $4,400.

Cardi B‘s custom made crib for her and husband Offset‘s daughter Kulture surpasses that one. The rapper took to Instagram to show off the crib which according to Vogue’s research cost $4,500, retail.

“I didn’t want to set the crib up until we moved but Offset set it up while I was in the hospital,” she said. “It’s just so gorgeous.”

View this post on Instagram

Thanks @premadonna87 ???

A post shared by MOSTHATEDCARDI (@iamcardib) on

The crib’s designers, Kapesh Designs, said on Instagram that this exact one was custom made, but the fact Vogue could find a similar product in stock on their website proves that claim may not be entirely accurate.however, they had a similar product still in stock.

This little Princess’ crib adds to the crib’s of kids from other famous celebrities like Kim Kardashian West‘s  $4,500 Vetro Lucite crib for her brood (Beyoncé and Jay Z are also allegedly fans of the minimalist baby furniture), while Serena Williams posted a picture of her daughter’s rose gold crib by Incy Interiors to her Instagram story.

h/t Vogue

Your Guide to My Ethnic Braided Styles and How to Get the LOOK!

A few years ago, I started a beauty blog named for myself dedicated to ethnic braided hair called JJBraids.com.

I’ve worn my hair in variety of braided styles for over a decade and usually get stopped in the streets or inboxed by friends, and strangers asking me what type of style was my hair, what particular extensions, if any, were added, and which size, color, length they were; and finally, who did it.

The answer to the last question is easy: my hair braider Dorcas N’Ja who also used to be the personal hair stylist to Venus and Serena Williams and their mom and other sisters. She used to travel down to Florida to do the women’s hair and all, though she has since retired from travel styling.

My blog has taken off and has become one of few resources on the web dedicated to ethnic braided hair styles only.

While a lot of people cannot travel to DC, where Ms. N’Da is located, they can purchase the same extensions and take them to their nearest stylist. My blog has a stylist finder you can access HERE!.

Below are my most popular styles – based on viewer and friends’ preference and where on Amazon or online you can purchase similar hair extensions.

Crochet Braids are all the rage these days. In this article’s header is my hair in crochet braids, a technique that involves cornrowing the natural hair flat and down or around, then adding extensions the same way one would crochet a scarf or sweater. Really! I posted a tutorial on my blog HERE.

The reason why this technique of wearing braided styles is so popular these days is because they take a fraction of the time to install compared to individual braids which can take anywhere from 8-16 hours to install, depending on the length and width.  Ms. N’Da usually takes a little over an hour to do my entire head of hair using the crochet method! Imagine!

The grade, texture, length, color of the hair above and where to get it can be found HERE!

Crochet styles are usually curly so a lot of people were surprised to learn that this straight pressed hair I wore to my sister’s wedding last year is actually crochet braids!

The grade, texture, length, color of the hair and where to get it can be found HERE!

Also above is crochet but smaller curls.

The grade, texture, length, color of the hair and where to get it can be found HERE!

When bright colored hair came into fashion, I couldn’t help but experiment with it also. It is also a crochet style.

The grade, texture, length, color of the hair and where to get it can be found HERE!

Yes, these look like real dread locks, sister locs, Goddess locs, water locs (they have so many different names depending on their width, softness, loosness, wavy-ness) but they are actually faux locs installed in my hair…yes, crochet style again!

I purchased about 4-5 packs of this hair  length, color of the hair and where to get it can be found HERE!

Before crochet braided styling of braids were hot, people used to do half individual braids and half weave. The braider would install the edges and front of the hair in traditional micro, micro mini or medium sized indivual braids, then use the hair weaving method on the middle.

It saved time as well, but unlike crochet braids, weaved hair grows out much faster and needs to be redone more frequently. Well that was my experience anyway.

If you like this style above, you can get my brownish auburn weave here and a matching wavy braided hair HERE!

Waist and bottom-length individual braids, installed in tiny squares across the entire head and braided all the way down can last a long time, but they take a good 14 hours to install if you get one person to do it. If you go to a hair braiding salon or gallery where a bunch of women work, you may have 2-3 working at the same time on your hair which will cut down the time tremendously. You can use the cheapest extensions, Kanekelon on this style which is great because it usually costs a lot of labor time to put in and stylists charge a lot more too.

I purchased about 4-5 packs of this hair  length, color of the hair and where to get it can be found HERE!

Here is a shorter version of the same style with a little thicker width above and a bob style below.

The following three photos are also achieved using deep wave Kanekelon synthetic hair in Ombre below that you can get HERE!

For a long while, a lot of people who wore their hair in kinky, puffy, or Nubian twists achieved this look infusing with coarse 100% kanekalon  or toyokalon fibers. Make sure to get the ones that are shorter and puffy packed. You can purchase a similar style HERE! 

The following four styles were achieved using this hair.

Finally, in between styles, I wear my natural hair out like above or wear wigs like the ones below you can get from any hair and beauty supply store. Good luck achieving one or more of these looks this year!

 

BET Awards 2018 Recap and Blonde Ambition Red Carpet

It was blonde ambition at the 2018 BET Awards at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California as we spied many of our Bellyitch “Bumpwatch”  alums and past featured moms rocked platinum to strawberry blonde hair on the red carpet.

Amber Rose ditched her signature buzz cut for a wavy extensions. Her BFF Blac Chyna showed up and out in blonde finger waves.

And recent mom to a baby she adopted Tyra Banks wore a blonde blunt cut bob.

(To round up the collage, added Empire starnams singer Serayah McNeill)

Cardi B would have joined in the red carpet  trend we’re sure if she wasn’t taking it easy while waiting to give birth to her first child with beau Offset of the rap group Migos.

She did walk away with two awards: besting rap rivals Nicki Minaj and Remy Ma to win Best Female Hip Hop Artist; and nabbing the Viewer’s Choice Award.

Beyonce, new  mom to infant twins, won Best Female R&B / Pop Artist Award.

Serena Williams was awarded the Sportswoman of the year.

congrats to all the winners, the nominated and performers!

The night featured spectacular stage performances by Miguel,  Nicki Minaj, Yolanda Adama, Janelle Monae and others.

Peep a few at BET here.

Batman138 Bro138 Dolar138 Gas138 Gudang138 Hoki99 Ligaciputra Panen77 Zeus138 Kilat77 Planet88 Gaspol168 Sikat88 Rupiah138 Garuda138 Gacor77 Roma77 Sensa138 Panen138 Slot138 Gaco88 Elanggame Candy99 Cair77 Max7 Best188 Space77 Sky77 Luxury777 Maxwin138 Bosswin168 Cocol88 Slot5000 Babe138 Luxury138 Jet77 Bonanza138 Bos88 Aquaslot Taktik88 Lord88 Indobet Slot69 Paus138 Tiktok88 Panengg Bingo4d Stars77 77dragon Warung168 Receh88 Online138 Tambang88 Asia77 Klik4d Bdslot88 Gajah138 Bigwin138 Markas138 Yuk69 Emas168 Key4d Harta138  Gopek178 Imbaslot Imbajp Deluna4d Luxury333 Pentaslot Luxury111 Cair77 Gboslot Pandora188 Olxtoto Slotvip Eslot Kuy138 Imbagacor Bimabet