Candace Parker: cover girl

It's a new day in history. Candace Parker, the star of the WNBA, has just become the first pregnant athlete to grace the cover of ESPN magazine next to a headline asking 'How Big Can Candace Parker Get?' (not so sure I like the sound of that..but anyway). The photo shoot was planned before Parker even announced her pregnancy but even so, having a woman on this largely male magazine is huge according to the editor, Gary Belsky:

"We don't do a lot of female athletes on the cover," Belsky said. "Candace has made it more interesting. She's got Adidas, McDonald's and Gatorade as sponsors; that's a pretty strong big three. But it's still tough to put a woman on the cover for us.

According to the LA Times, Parker was nervous that the magazine was going to make fun of her. She is planning to return to the court this season and is continuing to exercise through her pregnancy:

"I'm working out three or four times a week. The hard part about being an athlete is learning that when you feel tired you can't push yourself."

Source: Candace Parker Next Big Thing

Surrogacy rising among military wives

Octo Mum admits 14 children is a bit much

Mother of 14 children, Nadya Suleman told Dr. Phil yesterday that her fertility treatments were irrational:

"At the time, I was just justifying my actions based on saying, 'Well, these are my children, they are extremely valuable -- their lives,' which is true, but I was not placing that above my others," Suleman said after Dr. Phil pressed for an explanation for why she decided to do in vitro fertilization to get pregnant after already having six children at home. "But my heart was in it. Not my head. I wasn't thinking rationally. In retrospect, would I have done that again? I don't know.

"It wasn't a realistic thing to do. It was irrational at the time, looking back. But then I was really reluctant to state that, because I don't want people to think, 'Well, you don't want the babies, you don't love them.'"

YA THINK?!

Source: Octo Mom Fertility Treatments

Portrait of pregnancy

I just came across an interesting portrait of pregnancy from a British writer in the new issue of UK Glamour. The author talks about gaining weight and 'losing' her pre-pregnancy figure:

"Why would I want a record of me getting bigger and bigger, when I’m the first to destroy any photograph of me that makes me look even remotely fat?"

Great photos and commentary, check it out:
Portrait of my pregnancy

What dance does your uterus do?

Ladies, if you've always thought that your uterus just lies back, chillin and waiting for the right squiggly guy (aka sperm) to fertilise an egg, it turns out that you're wrong.

According to new research from Tel Aviv University, women can, to a certain extent, reject or accept sperm thanks to powerful uterine contractions and the motion of the uterus is argued to be at the core of reproductive success (i.e. whether or not you actually get pregnant). One anthropologist from Cornell has explained it thus:

"...The uterus actually plays a role in make sure sperm are in the right place at the right time. Apparently, uterine contractions squirt fluid, and sperm, upwards.

After conception, the uterus waits below, for about seven days, as the newly fertilized egg takes its own sweet time to float into the womb, and then the uterus goes into action again.

When the egg finally arrives, the uterus begins to contract again, performing a welcoming dance that sucks the new embryo into the soft lining of the uterine wall, and voila, we have a baby on the way."

In theory, evolution dictates then that women are able to choose (unconsciously) the best sperm and create the best genes for the future child. Yet, women often have sex even when they know that their partner is less than perfect, so.....

There goes that theory.

Source: Secret Birth Control Method

Drinking in pregnancy = bad

I'm sorry but if isn't the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard....

"Scientists believe that early exposure while still in the womb can reduce youngster's sensitivity to the underlying bitterness of many alcoholic drinks, making them more appealing."

Apparently, researchers at SUNY in Syracuse believe that women who drink can give their unborn babies a taste for alcohol by doing experiments on rats. "When offered the choice of sugared water, alcohol, or quinine flavoured water, rats who were not exposed to alcohol [in the womb] tended to plump for the sweeter alternative."

*rolls eyes*

Source: Mothers who drink while pregnant can give their children a taste for alcohol

Ulrika stands up for post-birth incontinence

Well, Ulrika Jonsson is back in the news with her views on being a mum and post-pregnancy weight loss. This time, however, she reveals 'the most embarrassing' and intimate of health secrets that affects many women post-birth: light adult incontinence (LAI) or postpartum urinary incontinence. As a result of having four children, as she says, it's no wonder that the muscles supporting her pelvis were weakened. Laughing, sneezing or coughing are all triggers for the leaking of a small amount of urine. Women who give birth vaginally are less likely to have urinary incontinence as opposed to women who have caesareans. In Australia, women comprise over 70% of people affected by urinary incontinence.

As most women suffer in silence, Jonsson has decided to speak out:

"I can't bear the thought of women suffering alone, in silence and feeling so alienated by this condition through absolutely no fault of their own. I mean, there is nothing adult about panicking every time you laugh or sneeze and feeling that you're losing control, so it's so easy to understand the stigma.

At the time, it did make me feel self-conscious, to say the very least, although my minor leakage problems after going to the toilet were alleviated by using the right protection and were not extreme enough for me to be caught out. But I do remember wondering whether I would have to suffer the side effects of childbirth for the rest of my life.

As an independent working woman I felt a bit stupid: what, I couldn't even control my own bladder - something you normally learn to do around the age of three?"

She says the only way she got her continence problem under control was through weight loss (she put on 5 stone in her last pregnancy) and doing pelvic floor exercises religiously.

If you suffer from urinary incontinence as a result of childbirth, here are some resources:
Urinary incontinence explained
Continence Foundation of Australia
Always Envive: Sense & Sensitivity Campaign UK

Does anyone have any thoughts? Is urinary incontinence affecting you? What did you do to strengthen your pelvic floor?

Source: Ulrika reveals her most embarassing health issue