Bills Withers and the Crying Baby Hack that Starts In Utero

Posted on April 6, 2020

R&B crooner Bill Withers passed away over the past week from heart failure at age 81.

Not is his passing a loss for the music industry, it is for the world and all those who enjoyed his work. Withers played the soundtrack of my life too with his hits songs like “Aint No Sunshine“and “Just the Two Of Us” duet with Grover Washington, Jr. but his music was also an integral part of my baby rearing when I had a young family.

He helped me test out a hack for soothing an inconsolable baby that starts when that baby is still in its mommy’s tummy.

When I was pregnant with my first child back in 2001, I read a book about the importance of introducing classical music to your baby in utero.

So, I decided to play the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from The Nutcracker Ballet suite for my then soon-to-be first born child when I was pregnant with him while I traveled along my day, running errands, traveling back and forth to work.

When he was born and there would be moments when he would get inconsolable, all I had to do was put on the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and he would immediately stop crying and settle down.

I used that hack for my middle kid and again for my youngest child. For each of the subsequent pregnancies, I picked a different sound. I didn’t think it had to be classical music so for my last child, I picked the Bill Withers song “Lovely Day“. It worked on her too.

We lost a legend but the music lives on in our memories, hearts, feelings of nostalgia and playlists. If you can, please check out this excellent write up Rolling Stone magazine did on him back on 2015 and you’ll get to appreciate his very dynamic life.: “Bill Withers: The Soul Man Who Walked Away”

Lyrics:

When I wake up in the morning, love

And the sunlight hurts my eyes

And something without warning, love

Bears heavy on my mind

Then I look at you

And the world’s alright with me

Just one look at you

And I know it’s gonna be

A lovely day

A lovely day

When the day that lies ahead of me

Seems impossible to face

When someone else instead of me

Always seems to know the way

Then I look at you

And the world’s alright with me

Just one look at you

And I know it’s gonna be

A lovely day

A lovely day

When the day that lies ahead of me

Seems impossible to face

When someone else instead of me

Always seems to know the way

Then I look at you

And the world’s alright with me

Just one look at you

And I know it’s gonna be

A lovely day

A lovely day

Quelle: LyricFind

Songwriter: William Harrison Withers Jr. / Skip Scarborough

Songtext von Lovely Day © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Golden Withers Music

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Serena Williams Wins First WTA Tourney As a Mom, Ready For Final Test

Posted on January 14, 2020

Serena Williams has won her first professional tennis tournament as a mom this weekend when she triumphed at the World Tennis Association‘s Auckland Classic on Sunday.

It was 2017 when she last won a WTA title, the Australian Open against her sister and back then, she was weeks pregnant with her now 2-year old daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr with her husband Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.

This triumph marks her 73rd WTA championship title and also means she has been mounting tournaments for four decades, after capturing her first title in 1999 at the US Open against Martina Hingis.

Williams announced plans to give back to Australia during her winner’s speech.

“I’ve been playing in Australia for over 20 years and it’s been really hard for me to watch all the news and everything that has been happening in Australia with all the fire and… animals and people that have lost their homes,” she said. “I decided at the beginning of the tournament… I’d donate all my prize money for a great cause.”

With this win, she finally silences the naysayers who believe that pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood signal the end of a sportswomen’s career.

Although she is the most accomplished tennis champ since 1968 when the WTA only permitted professionals to compete, she still faces the final hurdle of earning her 25th Grand Slam title in the so called “Open Era” when amateurs were allowed to compete in Grand Slams. Margaret Court holds the record at 24 and ties with Serena at this point.

Williams can do it and in fact Court won three of her major titles after giving birth to her son in 1972.

Other moms have done it too.

Kim Clijsters won three of her 4 Grand Slams after the birth of her child.

Lindsay Davenport won 3 of her 55 Career titles after giving birth to her son.

And Olympic Gold medalist and seven times Grand slam winner, in 1914, Dorothea Lambert Chambers became the first mother to win a Grand Slam crown.

Mothers can do amazing things! Trust and believe!

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Celebrity

The Perfect Reactions to Serena Williams’ Post-Pregnancy Blood Clot Compression French Open CatSuit Ban

Posted on August 25, 2018

The outfit Tennis champ Serena Williams wore to compete in the 2018 French Open last May triggered the competition to ban her from donning that “Wakanda”-inspired black super hero cat suit for future competitions.

“I believe we have sometimes gone too far. Serena’s outfit this year, for example, would no longer be accepted,” French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli said in an interview with Tennis Magazine, adding it won’t adapt as strict a clothing code as Wimbledon, which requires players to wear all white, but will have its limits. He added that the FFT will be looking to view collections ahead of next year’s tournament.

The 23-time Grand Slam champ designed the suit with her sponsors at Nike with special compression material and technology to aid with blood clots she has and developed dangerously after delivering her first child, daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr. with her husband Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.

“I feel like a warrior in it, like a warrior princess,” Williams said during a press conference, adding that she felt like a queen from Wakanda, the fictional nation in the movie “Black Panther.”

“I’ve always wanted to be a superhero,” Williams said. “It’s kind of my way of being a superhero.”

Besides making her feel amazing, Williams’ said the outfit choice was also meant to inspire other new moms, especially ones who have also suffered post-pregnancy health issues. “For all the moms out there who had a tough recovery from pregnancy — here you go. If I can do it, so can you!” she wrote on Instagram at the time. She had been in bed for weeks after delivering because of the clots.

“I’ve been wearing pants in general a lot when I play so I can keep the blood circulation going,” Williams told reporters. “So it’s a fun suit but it’s also functional, so I can be able to play without any problems.”

This is yet another bump in her road after motherhood. Not only did she lose her rank when she had a baby last September, but she also suffered postpartum blood clot related near-death experience, postpartum blues too.

Nike had the perfect response to the catsuit ban:

“You can take the superhero out of her costume, but you can never take away her superpowers.

I loved April on Twitter’s response which was supported by another Tennis Legend, Chris Evert!

And others not so subtdly pointed out that Serena was not the first to wear a catsuit though the first to be banned for it.

What was once a scandalous outfit is now, if not de rigueur, simply no big deal, thanks to fashion taste makers like Serena Williams. Well done @serenawilliams for your fashion tribute to Anne White and her 1985 Wimbledon outfit. pic.twitter.com/FCGONKXLA1
— Alexis Shabadoo Jr. (@JDGoodness) May 29, 2018

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Celebrity

Chanel Iman’s Newborn Beat Serena Williams’ Daughter In This Category

Posted on August 16, 2018

Model Chanel Iman‘s newborn Cali Clay Shepard has beat Serena Williams‘ daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr‘s record for the youngest child of a celeb to have an Instagram account!

At the tender age of 3-days old, the baby girl’s Insta was up and running and already has over 7,500 followers! Baby Alexis’ account didn’t go up until the little girl born on September 1 was 16 days old.

https://www.instagram.com/caliclayshepard/

She follows behind singer and dancer Teyana Taylor and NBA’s Cleveland Cavalier player Imani Shumpert ‘s daughter Iman Tayla Iman Tayla Shumpert Jr who not only has had a verified account since a baby but is also a female junior, named after her dad — just like Alexis! (Great trend!)

Other celebrity babies with verified Instagram pages include reality TV star, singer and businesswoman Kandi Burruss‘s son Ace Wells Tucker; record-breaking winning Olympic Swimmer Michael Phelps; son Boomer Phelps, who has 765,000 followers and, Chanel, daughter to reality TV star Cocoa Austin and her husband Ice T.

Alexis Jr has a verified account of over 435,000 followers and has beat Ace Tucker who had over 425,000 but had 100,000 at just 8 weeks old.

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Celebrity

Ne-Yo on His Wife Crystal Smith’s VBAC Plans

Posted on April 29, 2018

R&B singer-songwriter and producer Ne-Yo opened about his fear surrounding his wife Crystal Renault Smith’s upcoming attempted VBAC, the abbreviated term for vaginal birth after C-section.

As is commonly known, Caesarean section births carry more risk than vaginal ones because a Caesarean section, which is major surgery, requires anesthesia, an army of specialists, nurses and pediatricians in the operating room prior to and after delivery.

A lot of women who plan vaginal births but end up getting C-sections often attempt vaginal deliveries afterwards.

That might precisely be the reasoning behind Crystal’s decision but it isn’t without risks and fear.

https://instagram.com/p/BhCJ6Jbgfzq/

“I’m a little nervous just because [in] our first pregnancy, there were a few complications to the point where she had to get an emergency [cesarean] section,” he explained to the magazine after stopping by its Nowstudios. “This time, she is determined to not go c-section — she wants to do it the natural way.”

He continued:

“The complications that were [present] could still exist, so there’s a little bit of nervousness in there but above that, it’s more nervous excitement. I just want to meet him.”

https://instagram.com/p/BhmSL4LA-5Y/

Crystal has been doing everything usually prescribed to have a quick labor and delivery including exercising regularly and staying fit.

A quick scan of her Instagram shows she works out regularly and even attended Coachella this year in California at 7 months pregnant!

Wowza!

This would be the second child for the couple who is expecting a second son. They are parents to himsel Shaffer Chimere Smith, Jr born in March 2016.

Ne-Yo is also dad to 7-year old daughter Madilyn Grace and 6-year old son Mason with his ex fiancé actress Monyetta Shaw.

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Celebrity

Ne-Yo’s Wife Crystal Smith Criticized For Negative Description of Son’s Hair Texture

Posted on February 24, 2018

After describing her child’s hair negatively and praising her own fine textured hair as “blessed” “Hawaiian Silk”, Internet users gathered second-time mom-to-be Crystal Smith all the way up to school her on her outdated attitude towards kinkier African textured hair.

“So my son wasn’t blessed with Mommy’s ‘Hawaiian silk’ as my sister likes to say,” Bossip reported the second-time mom-to-be captioning an Instagram post of a photo of herself and her son. “Can anyone suggest some good products or moisturizers? Nothing I’ve tried will help the dryness. His hair seems to soak up everything instantly.”

Following the outrage from followers and fans over the since-deleted tweets, Smith declared her intentions to convert the learning moment into a business opportunity in an Instagram stories post, vowing to create a hair care line for children of mixed race heritage.

“Thank you guys for the negativity, because once again I’m going to channel it into something positive,” she can be heard in the social media share taken in her car. “I am now in the process of creating a hair care line for mixed children … so thank you once again.”

Ok. Good luck with that, Mrs. Smith. The couple married shortly before welcoming their first child, son, Shaffer Chimere Smith, Jr. Ne-Yo has a 7-year old daughter Madilyn and 6-year old-son Mason (Irish Twins) with his ex-girlfriend, and our Bellyitch Bumpwatch alum Monyetta Shaw.

The Smiths’ are expecting their second child later this year.

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Celebrity

Serena Williams’ Post-Delivery Trauma: Lessons for Future Moms

Posted on January 11, 2018

Oh My! Serena Williams candid and public recent reveal of her post-birthing experience in a recent Vogue magazine cover story shows why it is important to know your body, your medical history and be your own advocate.

In the feature article , the 23-time Grand Slam Tennis champ and first-time mom relayed her experience of having to coach the medical staff at the hospital she delivered her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr. .

.@serenawilliams and her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., star on the cover of our February issue! Read the full interview: https://t.co/M3yiDQje6I pic.twitter.com/XLwLOLSsWJ
— Vogue Magazine (@voguemagazine) January 10, 2018

From Miami Herald reporting:

The next day, Williams, who has a history of blood clots, felt short of breath.
The tennis star, 36, informed docs that she thought she was having another pulmonary embolism, a blockage in an artery of the lung.
The doctor soon performed an ultrasound on her legs, which revealed nothing.
At her insistence, Serena was soon sent for a CT scan, which did reveal several blood clots in her lungs. As she had predicted, they put her on a heparin (anticoagulant) drip.
“I was like, listen to Dr. Williams!” the Palm Beach Gardens resident told the fashion mag.
That wasn’t enough.
Soon after the clot drama, her C-section wound popped open from coughing from the pulmonary embolism. In surgery, doctors found that a hematoma, a pooling of blood outside of a blood vessel, had flooded her abdomen (the blood thinner caused the hemorrhaging).
A filter was inserted into a major vein, in order to prevent more clots from traveling to her lungs.
She was home a week later and stayed in bed her “first six weeks of motherhood.”

The lesson here: stick to your guns and insist if you feel off or if something is not right. Don’t be afraid to speak up or to empower your spouse, partner or a close family member to demand answers and appropriate care when you think you need it. Good for Williams for sticking to her guns and knowing herself and her body.

Williams later in the Vogue piece relayed having the Baby Blues and fluctuating emotions. She looks stunning on the cover in a crimson Versace dress. Jennifer Meyer earrings. Eva Fehren bracelet.

Editor’s note: I am traumatized for her and am amazed she even made an attempt to return to championship tournament tennis so soon after welcoming baby. She is a true champion!

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BumpNews

Serena Williams Says She Won’t Defend her Australian Open Title This Year

Posted on January 5, 2018

Serena Williams famously won the 2017 Australian Open while she was 9 weeks pregnant but on Thursday, the 23-tim Grand Slam champ said she won’t be defending her Australian Open title this year.

It has only been 5 months since she gave birth to her first child, daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr. The newly wed to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian turned Snaphcat to share the news, stating in part:

“My coach and team always said ‘only go to tournaments when you are prepared to go all the way’. I can compete – but I don’t want to just compete, I want to do far better than that and to do so, I will need a little more time. With that being said, and even though I am disappointed about it, I’ve decided not to compete in the Australian Open this year.

“The memory of last year’s Open is one that I will carry with me, and Olympia and I look forward to coming back again. I appreciate the support and understanding of my fans and everyone at the Australian Open.”

The tennis tournament begins on the 15th of this month.

The Australian Open tweeted best wishes shortly after her announcement, saying in part: “Good luck for the rest of 2018, Serena! We’ll miss you”

Unfortunately @serenawilliams has withdrawn from the #AusOpen.
“I can compete – but I don’t want to just compete, I want to do far better than that and to do so, I will need a little more time.”
Good luck for the rest of 2018, Serena! We’ll miss you ?
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 5, 2018

Williams had tried to push it by registering for a tournament last month but didn’t make it out the first round. She lost to French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in an exhibition in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday.

“I don’t think I am going to rate my performance,” Williams said. “I have plenty of comebacks, from injuries, from surgeries, but I’ve never had a comeback after actually giving birth to a human being. So, in my eyes, I feel it was a wonderful, wonderful match for me.”

Williams struggled with her serve and Ostapenko won 6-2, 3-6 and then 10-5 in a super tiebreaker, but as US Open opined, she “still impressed to take a set off the No. 7-ranked Ostapenko after nearly a year away from tennis.”

She can do it and there is a track record for it!

The legendary Margaret Court won three majors after giving birth to her son in 1972. Kim Clijsters won three of her 4 Grand Slams after the birth of her child. Lindsay Davenport won 3 of her 55 Career titles after giving birth to her son. There are at least three other major female players to make mommy comebacks and silence all the critics and naysayers!

Too soon, ma, too soon!

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Celebrity

Serena Williams Daughter Is Latest Celeb Baby with Verified Instagram Account

Posted on October 7, 2017

Ever since Serena Williams and her fiance Alexis Ohanian created an Instagram page for their newborn daughter Alexis Ohanian, Jr, we’ve been waiting for it to get verified status!

We checked and now the sweet gorgeous baby girl, whose initials are AO, same as the initials of the Tennis Grand Slam championship her mom won while pregnant with her, Austrialian Open, has been verified.

With this status, the baby girl follows behind singer and dancer Teyana Taylor and NBA’s Cleveland Cavalier player Imani Shumpert ‘s daughter Iman Tayla Shumpert Jr who not only has had a verified account since a baby but is also a female junior, named after her dad — just like Alexis! (Great trend!)

Other celebrity babies with verified Instagram pages include reality TV star, singer and businesswoman Kandi Burruss‘s son Ace Wells Tucker; record-breaking winning Olympic Swimmer Michael Phelps; son Boomer Phelps and, Chanel, daughter to reality TV star Cocoa Austin and her husband Ice T.

Alexis Jr already has close to 70,000 followers already and is right behind Ace Tucker who had over 100,000 when he was just 8 weeks old.

Check out their accounts below:

???? good morninggggggggggggggg ????
A photo posted by Iman Tayla Shumpert Jr (@babyjunie4) on Aug 27, 2016 at 7:59am PDT

That adorable cherubic doll was followed by the star of the Olympics coverage, Boomer Phelps. The son to swimming legend Michael Phelps and his fiance Nicole Johnson has over 630,000 followers on his verified page.

Trying to do my best #mpface!! Gotta do it for daddy! Love you so much @m_phelps00 !! A photo posted by boomer phelps (@boomerrphelps) on Aug 26, 2016 at 6:34pm PDT

He even has his own music video set to a recent photo shoot. Too cute! He is a star already!

Nothing like @boomerrphelps first video shoot!! Splashing around in the pool and having fun!! Love ya buddy!! #retiredlife
A video posted by Michael Phelps (@m_phelps00) on Sep 2, 2016 at 12:37pm PDT

Those two have set the bar a bit higher for other popular celebrity babies with major followings like Ace and Baby Chanel, daughter to Cocoa Austin and Ice T.

Another behind the scenes photo from my shoot…I just woke up so it took me a sec to warm up.. I just turned 9 months old! A photo posted by ChanelNicole (@babychanelnicole) on Sep 1, 2016 at 3:12pm PDT

❤️ @rileyburruss ♠️♠️♠️
A photo posted by Ace Wells Tucker (@acewellstucker) on Aug 25, 2016 at 4:08pm PDT

By the way, this Tennis fan claims to have predicted the name and she may be right because she has receipts to prove that Alexis follows her tweets! Nice!

Girl name: Alexis Jr – cuz why only boys get to be juniors? https://t.co/l8hDmnS9oz
— WTA Tea (@WTATea) June 16, 2017

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Celebrity

Nicole Trunfio from Controversial Breastfeeding Cover Model to Bride

Posted on August 6, 2016

Photo: Yu Tsai/Bride

We once spotlighted supermodel Nicole Trunfio to elevate attention to her controversial Elle Australia magazine cover of the gorgeous Australian breastfeeding her then infant son Zion.

Trunfio has a new reason to celebrate. She was featured inside Bride magazine with Zion who is now a year old. (She has since married her rock star beau Gary Clark Jr. this past April).

We love the photos and the backdrop of the mountains of Calabasas, California are heavenly. Zion is bareback in cute linen pants and an aboriginal necklace.

Photo: Yu Tsai/Bride

We love her wedding photo too!

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