I have seen some really cute pregnancy portraits lately. It’s got me thinking about what I might like to do next time around. I did the cliché heart-on-the-belly photo, the daddy-holding-the-bump photo, and the classic stand-by-the-crib shot. I tried (and failed) to take a similar photo every week to track my growth. I really want to be more diligent next time; and I really want to be more creative by capturing both meaningful and humorous elements of pregnancy. Here are some of my ideas:

From the sibling’s perspective: imagine a shot taken at eye level with the big brother or sister-to-be. He or she is standing by mom and dad, and all three are holding hands, but the photo is cropped just above mom’s belly and focuses on the new sibling’s expression.

What happened to your toes? You woke up one morning and you could no longer see them. What better way to capture the scale of your growing belly than to take a photo of what you see every day: your belly blocking the view of your feet.

Leaning in to kiss: during the ninth month, you really have to lean forward to kiss with all that belly in between you. A hug or a kiss between the mom-to-be and the expectant father shows both the romance and cute awkwardness of pregnancy.

Cooking, carrying children, propping a bowl of ice cream on the bump: these everyday moments make for great portraits. I think it would be cute to take some candid photos of the bump in ordinary places: nearly bumping into shelves at the grocery store, standing in line (anywhere) or waiting at the bus stop. The contrast between the ordinary (like the grocery store) and the extraordinary (a 37 week bump) would be both interesting and humorous.

What is the most creative or humorous pregnancy portrait you have taken?

With all the controversy surrounding Obama’s new healthcare bill, you might be wondering how the new laws will affect pregnant women and their care. Several parts of this bill will benefit both mothers and midwives.

Currently, maternity coverage is included in most group insurance plans. That is a good thing, but that means that decent maternity coverage is tied to employment. For those who are self-employed or unemployed, or those working for smaller companies that do not provide group insurance policies, acquiring good maternity coverage is a lot more complicated. Most private insurance plans do not include maternity. It must be purchased separately as a rider and raises the cost of the insurance considerably. In addition, it is considered a preexisting condition, and there may be a waiting period before maternity coverage goes into effect. If you become pregnant before the coverage goes into effect, you won’t be covered. That is the reality of the insurance market today.

In 2014, however, things will change. Maternity will be included in the state-based exchange programs and will no longer be considered a preexisting condition. This will dramatically improve circumstances for those middle to low-income families who must purchase private insurance. It will also prevent any woman from being denied coverage because she has given birth via cesarean before.

Another benefit is Medicaid will be required to reimburse certified nurse midwives and the birth centers where they deliver, which will open up the door for some women to give birth in a birth center with a midwife, rather than in a hospital with an OB/GYN, if they so choose. Women who want to give birth outside of the hospital setting will now have more choices other than paying completely out of pocket.

While not everyone may support the bill in its entirety, I believe these changes will be appreciated by many growing families in the US.

I really learned how to cook the first year I was married. We were living in a decent apartment and the kitchen had an older oven, but it did its job fairly well. I did have to adjust most of my recipes since it appeared the temperature was a bit off, but once I got used to it, it was second nature. Then we moved into our house, which had a brand new oven, and suddenly I was overcooking everything on the new gas range and under-cooking everything in the oven. Burned rice and slightly raw chicken don’t exactly make for a delicious meal. It took me a long time (and a meat thermometer) to readjust. The moral of the story is: not all ovens take the same amount of time to cook a particular dish. Even if the package says, 20-25 minutes, you still might need to bake your cupcakes for 28.

Babies are the same way. Thirty-eight weeks post conception is just an estimate for how long it will take your baby to finish growing. Repeat after me, “due dates are for doctors, not for babies.” Sometimes, babies are ready to come out a little early and they are just fine. Sometimes they need a few extra days, or even weeks, to mature to the point where they are ready to be born and thrive on the outside. Medically speaking, you can be overdue, but practically speaking, no one gave your baby the memo on when they were supposed to come out. They are not overdue, they are just not ready.

In this day and age, induction is often a decision made without any serious consideration, but there is no such thing as medical intervention without side effects. In my experience, induction made my labor go much too fast and was probably a major factor behind me needing an episiotomy (not fun!). In the future, I will do everything I can to avoid another induction. As uncomfortable as those last days of pregnancy are, I’ve decided that it will be much better for me and the baby to wait for the right time, rather than try to enforce the due date.

Do you keep your eye on the due date?

Pregnancy is a fun topic to write about in a journal. This time in your life is so new and different from any other stage in life. So much is packed into nine months; if you don’t write it down, you’re bound to forget some of it. It can be really entertaining to look back at your pregnancy journal and relive some of the memories (or be grateful that some of them have passed, like morning sickness). Writing about your pregnancy might come naturally for some, but if you’re suffering writer’s block, here are some ideas for what kinds of details you might want to include in your pregnancy journal.

Symptoms. Begin each entry with a list of symptoms. You don’t have to go into detail if you don’t want to, but even a brief list will be interesting to look back on later when you can pick up on patterns. You may also appreciate the time line of symptoms during your next pregnancy when you find yourself asking, “was I sick this many weeks last time?”

Pictures. Include photos of your growing belly, your glowing skin or your swollen ankles. I wish I would have taken a picture of my poor ankles the day I was admitted. They looked like they didn’t even belong to me!

Stories. Pregnancy is full of funny moments. One of my favorite memories was when I brought my sister and my mom with me to an ultrasound. Right as my sister was looking at the screen, my son lunged at the ultrasound with his mouth wide open and startled her! Considering it was a 2D ultrasound and all you could see what his skull, it looked like a scene straight out of The Mummy. It was pretty strange looking, I’ll admit, but her reaction was priceless!

Letters to your baby. Spend some time reflecting on your pregnancy and the new life ahead of you. What would you like to say to your child? What would you like them to understand about where you are in life right now? Imagine handing your child a journal in 15 years; what will you want it to say? Tell them how much you are looking forward to meeting them and how much you love them already.

Plans and milestones. Write about your progress on the nursery, shopping trips for baby clothes, your first baby shower and your hospital tour. Anything you do related to your pregnancy and new baby is fair game for your pregnancy journal. Even the most minute details will bring a smile to your face later on.

I look back at blog entries I wrote when I was pregnant, as well as e-mails I sent my friends, and it’s clear that there were moments when I was so eager for pregnancy to end. I really enjoyed pregnancy for the most part, but near the end I became so sore and uncomfortable, and I could hardly contain my excitement to cradle my baby in my arms for the first time. As much as I was ready to become a mother, however, there are some things about pregnancy that I truly miss.

I used to lay on my side with my hand tucked underneath my belly. My son would rest on my hand and I could feel every movement. I would close my eyes and try to picture what his face might look like and envision his personality based on the way he moved. Sometimes now I look into his blue eyes and then at the blurry ultrasounds and I try to put the pieces together. The baby I knew inside of me then was different, and yet very much the same as the baby who sits on my lap and chews on my hoodie strings these days. I could only imagine what he looked like back then, and when he was born, I looked upon a stranger for moment, struggling to memorize every detail of his face. But when I held him to my chest and cupped his teeny bottom in my hand, that was when I recognized him. That cute little butt was the bump that always appeared next to my belly button when he stretched. The way he moved… that never changed. He is just as active today as he was then. He’s just as tough and strong. It definitely still hurts when he kicks!

I also miss the way he was protected in there. He’s always got a cut or a bruise somewhere on his body now that he’s literally running around the house and falling off of things. When he was born, every inch of skin was just perfect. I didn’t have to worry about him banging his head on anything when I was pregnant. I didn’t have to worry about other babies scratching him during play dates or him pulling end tables onto himself.

As much as I love the sound of his little voice, sometimes I miss how quiet things were when I was pregnant. The only noise he made was his precious heart beat on the monitors. Now I am serenaded by screams on the changing table and playful shrieking when I’m on the phone. At the end of the day, when he drifts off to sleep, the sudden silence in the house is almost unnerving because it’s such a stark contrast from the rest of my day.

I think I will enjoy my next pregnancy even more because of these things. I will relish the peace, the rib kicks and the ability to keep the child so close to me, safe and sound. that’s not to say I don’t absolutely love what comes after pregnancy. I miss pregnancy sometimes, but I really love this stage I’m in,too. The grass is green on both sides in this case. Pregnancy and motherhood each offer their own unique blessings.

Wedding season is about to hit; I’ve got two invitations tacked on my fridge already. One of the first questions that comes to mind is, “what am I going to wear?” I didn’t get invited to any winter weddings when I was pregnant, but I can only imagine how tricky it might have been to find a dress that I liked without emptying my wallet. It’s not just about the money, either; when you’re pregnant you have to guess what your measurements will be in a few weeks or months. What is a pregnant woman to do?

First, try to wait as long as you can to shop for your outfit, without putting yourself under too much stress. It’s hard to predict how your body will change as your baby grows. Some women gain weight all around, and some women seem to expand in their belly and nowhere else. Not all maternity clothes fit the same – some may flatter certain shapes more than others. If you can put off shopping until two to three weeks before the event, your size shouldn’t change that much before the event.

If you have to shop early for some reason, try maternity stores, which often have fake baby bumps that you can strap on to see how something fits with a larger belly. This will help you determine whether something is going to look good on you once you fill it out. If you have been pregnant before, you may be able to look at pictures and make a pretty good guess as to what you’ll look like once the wedding rolls around.

If you plan on wearing the dress only once, save money by buying a very simple dress or outfit, and make it dressy with accessories that you can use again after your pregnancy. For example, you could buy a basic shift dress and pair it with decked out shoes, a beaded shrug, or a piece of jewelry that really makes a statement. If you’re planning on having more kids in the future, buy a dress that you can wear in any season, that way you’ll have a better chance of being able to wear it again.

Occasionally, women who are diagnosed with a miscarriage after an episode of cramping and bleeding go on to have a healthy pregnancy. It’s called misdiagnosed miscarriage, and it happens more than you might think. What is worse is that many women are pressured to end their “doomed” pregnancy medically via D&C or other means.

Miscarriages can be misdiagnosed when the estimated date of conception is off. When the ultrasound is done, the doctor may expect to see an embryo of a certain size, but if the dates are off, the baby may not be visible yet. This may lead the doctor to believe the pregnancy is not viable. Sometimes this is diagnosed as a blighted ovum.

Another common misconception that may lead to a misdiagnosis is that HCG levels must double every 48 hours. In reality, a certain percentage of women experience a slower increase in HCG and have perfectly healthy pregnancies.

Ultrasounds can also be misread as well. Because of these factors, a miscarriage diagnosis should always be followed up with at least a second ultrasound and round of tests to confirm the miscarriage. A woman should never be rushed into getting a D&C. There is no danger in waiting for the pregnancy to end naturally if that is what is truly happening. Most women are able to miscarry naturally without surgery. As long as they are aware of the signs of infection, it is safe to wait out the diagnosis. Sometimes, a woman will wait and wait for the miscarriage, only to find out she is still pregnant weeks later.

If you experience cramping and bleeding, realize that there are many explanations for these symptoms, not just miscarriage. For example, when I was pregnant with my son a while back (he turned 1 today), I experienced bleeding early on in the pregnancy and the doctor could not find a reason for it. We were a little nervous because he was unable to detect the heartbeat with the Doppler. Fortunately we were able to see the heartbeat on the ultrasound. He diagnosed me with a sensitive cervix and put me on pelvic rest for several weeks. I did not experience any more spotting in my second and third trimesters.

Do you know someone or have you ever been diagnosed with a miscarriage, only to go on to have a healthy baby?

Are you looking for something a little out of the ordinary in terms of design for your baby’s nursery? An interesting paint job can make even the most popular “nursery-in-a-bag” look like custom designer decor. Skip the solid pastel wash and try one of these simple, yet elegant designs.

The first step for any of these ideas is to pick your perfect color, whether it be pink, green, blue, yellow or purple. Head to the paint department and look through those handy paint cards – the ones that have 4 or 5 shades on each one. Pick a swatch that you like – each of these designs will use at least two of the shades on your card.

Your first option is the easiest because it requires the least amount of taping. Pick two or four shades from your paint card and paint alternate colors on each wall, or all four walls in the room a different shade. Opposing walls in the room should match if you are using two colors, and if you are using four, follow the order of shades on the paint card as you work your way around the room. Save the darkest shade for a wall with a window.

The second option is a little more complicated, but very cool. Take your lightest shade and paint the entire room. Then using painter’s tape, divide the wall horizontally into four even sections. Then you are going to take the next 3 shades on the paint card paint wide horizontal stripes, creating a graduated effect going up or down the wall. So you might see the bottom quarter of the wall featuring your darkest shade and the top quarter the of the wall featuring your lightest shade, with the two middle shades in the middle of the wall, each a quarter width as well. This pattern would be especially cool to use with yellows, since it would create a sunrise effect – with blues it would be perfect for an ocean theme nursery.

A third option features vertical stripes, which give a really elegant feel. Pick two shades from your paint card that are each one or two shades apart, no more. Use the lighter shade to paint the whole room, and then tape off 6-inch vertical stripes around the room. Paint these stripes with your darker shade. This effect looks really good with light colors, especially pale pink or yellow. If you use pink, add a pretty chandelier and sheer curtains for the perfect princess room!

(Excuse me while I go all “philosophical” on you.)

You’ve spent the last week swinging back and forth between feelings of anticipation and feelings of dread. One minute you’re looking at baby shoes with a heart full of hope; the next minute you’re gripped with disappointment, trying to convince yourself you are not pregnant so you don’t get your hopes up. The truth is, in your mind, you are neither pregnant nor not pregnant. You are in limbo; you simply don’t know. You are aware that limbo cannot exist when it comes to pregnancy, but you are too uncomfortable with truthfully answering the question, “what if I’m not?”

What if you are not pregnant? What if you spent the last month taking your temperature, charting the status of every bodily fluid and dragging your husband to the bedroom at the exact moment of ovulation, and none of it matters? What if the sickness you’ve felt was nothing more than nerves? What if that due date you circled in your calendar (just in case) never happens? What if you keep moving that due date one month later, every month, and what if it never comes to pass? Isn’t that your deepest fear – that your conception journey will end in vain?

In reality, most of us will become parents… one way or another. Becoming parents is bigger than our journey, however; there’s a whole other life at stake here. Do you believe in fate? In destiny? Do you believe that a great deal hinges on the exact date that your child is born? When we conceive will impact our child’s life more than it will impact our own. Their date of birth – or year of birth – will determine when they go to school, who they meet in life, which elections they will vote in, and what wars they will fight in (or protest). If you believe your child’s life has a unique purpose, then your journey to conceive that child takes on a whole new meaning. Suddenly, it doesn’t matter if you conceived this month or not. What matters is that you will conceive on the exact day you are supposed to. Doesn’t that change everything?

Just a few weeks into your second pregnancy you realize, “wow, my pants are feeling pretty tight already.” If you don’t remember growing out of your skinny jeans this early last time around, it’s probably because you didn’t. The first pregnancy is almost always the slowest to show. Are second babies just bigger, or are there other reasons for the early “pop?”

One reason you show sooner is your uterus is given a head start if you have already had children. It never fully shrinks back to its original size after the first pregnancy. When you become pregnant with your second child (or third), your uterus begins to grow right away to make room for the baby, just like it did with the first, but this time it’s about a month ahead of schedule in terms of size. But don’t worry, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll look 10 months pregnant when you’re term.

Another factor to consider is the strength of your abdominal muscles. Unless you worked really hard to flatten and tighten up your abs after your first pregnancy, chances are that belly is a little less supportive than it was the first time around. As your uterus pushes everything else up into your belly, your abs will be a little less resistant to the pressure and will give a little bit, giving you a little “pooch” sooner than you expected.

You might grow a larger belly overall as well. For some women (not all), their second babies tend to be bigger than the first. It’s hard to compare your first pregnancy to your second, however. You didn’t have a small child to take care of during your first pregnancy, and that affects everything including your diet, the amount of sleep you get, and your activity level. These all affect how much weight you gain, and therefore, how big your baby gets.