Category — New Moms

After what seemed like the longest pregnancy in the history of pregnancy, Gwen Stefani has finally given birth, adding another healthy baby boy to her family. I am curious how they came up with the name “Zuma Nesta Rock” for the little guy; here are my best guesses:

• The baby was conceived either at or near Zuma Beach, which is right by some nice rock climbing, or Zuma Rock in Nigeria.
  
• Parents Gwen and Gavin are way into Jamaica (first baby Kingston, now “Nesta” as in Robert Nesta Marley aka Bob Marley.)
• They may just really like The Rock. Or The Rock. Or just plain Rock.

At any rate, congrats and best wishes to the family!

I’ve done enough babysitting to know that it’s pretty much duck-and-cover when changing little boys’ diapers, but it never occurred to me to do anything beyond trying to keep the baby covered with a fresh diaper. Recently, however, I have discovered the Pee-pee Teepee, which, in addition to keeping diaper-changing adults nice and dry, may be the best baby boy gift EVER. Here are some reasons why:

The Santa Hat: the mere thought of this Pee-pee Teepee in action around the holidays makes me giggle.

Green Camo: for the baby who loves going commando!

Skulls: because some babies are just born to rock.

I am not sure the babies will grow up and be thrilled to see photos of themselves sporting the Pee-pee Teepee (as much as those photos may amuse others), so let’s just hope for everyone’s sake that what happens in the Pee-pee Teepee stays in the Pee-pee Teepee.

After weeks of wondering and waiting, we finally have confirmed news: Angelina Jolie gave birth last night in France. Mom and the twins - a boy named Knox Leon and a girl named Vivienne Marcheline - are reported to be doing very well. Best wishes and congratulations to the newly enlarged family!

Yahoo! news just reported that Jamie Lynn Spears has given birth in Louisiana. Congrats to the new mom and family!

Here’s something a little unusual: Milkscreen alcohol testing for nursing mothers. Much like the one-step over-the-counter pregnancy tests that originally signaled Junior’s imminent arrival, nursing moms simply need to saturate one end of the test strip (with breast milk instead of urine) and wait two minutes for the results. I guess it is great for new mothers who prefer not to think about breast milk storage, and of course for new moms who’d like a glass of wine without feeling guilty about passing potentially harmful effects to their baby.

Here are some related links:

Ubergizmo: Milkscreen System Prevents Drunk Tots

Gizmodo: Milkscreen System Prevents Party Moms From Getting Their Babies Drunk

InventorSpot: Keep the Booze out of Baby with Milkscreen

Jessica Alba is the latest in a VERY LONG list of new celebrity moms. She and her husband welcomed baby girl Honor Marie this past Saturday, according to Yahoo!. Congrats to the happy new family!

Does anyone know if Angelina Jolie gave birth to the twins yet?  Some reports say Yes, others say No; I have no idea what to believe.  From all the pictures I have seen recently, she looks like she is like a year overdue and will give birth to walking, talking toddlers.

I have heard that the proud parents-to-be-again have auctioned of the rights for the first pictures of their twins for $15 million, so it seems those kids are pretty much set for life just from that one photo.  But, I am sure they will also be showered with tons of baby bling and baby gifts anyway.

This one is a little unusual: the FDA recently issued a warning not to use or purchase Mommy’s Bliss Nipple Cream. Apparently the cream contains two ingredients, chlorphenesin and phenoxyethanol, that can cause serious respiratory symptoms in infants, so the product has been taken off the market. That’s bad news for moms who welcomed the source of relief but great for moms who don’t want their babies to ingest more chemicals than necessary. It’s a little distressing — with BPA tainted baby bottles and chemically enhanced breast feeding products like nipple cream, it seems like it’s getting more and more difficult to simply feed children.

I mentioned another Mommy’s Bliss product, Mommy’s Bliss Morning Sickness Madness, in an earlier post because I was really excited about their products. I had heard great things about Morning Sickness Madness, and after checking out the Baby’s Bliss website, I was impressed with their commitment to natural products. I looked at the Baby’s Bliss site today, and they have posted a response to the FDA warning about Mommy’s Bliss Nipple Cream, but it doesn’t really help clear up the situation for me. My main issue is what constitutes an “All Natural” ingredient.

When I read “All Natural”, I interpret that as meaning no artificial flavors, colors, odors or preservatives. Basically, I envision that everything in that “all natural” product could be easily produced on a farm and not in a chemistry lab. I personally do not consider drugs like chlorphenesin to be “all natural.” It’s not even commercially available in the United States, so I wonder how and why the Mommy’s Bliss manufacturers started using chlorphenesin at all. All the information I have found on chlorphenesin states that it is not approved for use in children and should not be used by pregnant or nursing women, and that was just from a five minute Google search. It sounds like chlorphenesin is great as a muscle relaxant or as a treatment for foot fungus, but neither of those features make me want to feed it to a child, no matter how small the dose.

Put the baby bottles away and try breast feeding to help increase baby’s IQ. That’s the latest news on MSN Health & Fitness. This is great news, since I have a lot of pregnant friends and relatives, and I have been trying to think of good gift ideas that are BPA-free, lead-free or otherwise harmless to mother and child. This article got me thinking about things like: breast pumps, nursing pads, nursing pillows, breast milk storage and breast shells. I am really intrigued by the Medela Pump in Style Advance Breast Pump with Backpack and I think it will most likely be the next gift I purchase for a mom-to-be.

Links for more information on breastfeeding and breast pumps:

• Got Breast Pump!
• FamilyDoctor.org: Breast Milk: How to Pump and Store It
• Breastfeeding.com
• Women’s Health.gov: Breastfeeding–Best for Baby. Best for Mom.
• March of Dimes: Breastfeeding: Strategies for Success