The Biggest Myths About Pregnancy

Any mom will tell you carrying a child comes with lots of aches, pains and plenty of bad advice! If you’re expecting a baby you’re probably being bombarded from all sides with advice, but what should you really believe when expecting? My Health News Daily discovered eleven of the biggest myths about pregnancy.

1. Pregnancy Lasts Nine Months. Sorry, girls-it's actually forty weeks which calculates to nine and a half months.

2. When You Have Sex Determines the Gender of Your Baby. Some people believe a woman's body can be more welcoming to boy or girl sperm at certain times of her cycle, but new studies show there isn't any correlation between the conception window and the sex of the child.

3. You Can Predict the Sex of Your Baby Without Technology. Doctors have discovered that most folklore methods have about 50/50 odds, except for extreme morning sickness. If you're feeling seriously nauseous your chances of having a girl go up.

4. Twins Skip a Generation. Fraternal twins do run in families thanks to a gene that allows women to release more eggs during ovulation, but it doesn't leapfrog from grandmother-to-granddaughter.

5. Breastfeeding Makes Your Breats Sag. Hungry babies don't change the firmness factor for "the girls," but smoking, multiple pregnancies and aging can all contribute to south-bound cleavage.

6. The Mom to Be is the Only One Going Through Hormonal Changes. A study cited in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior found that an expectant daddy's testosterone levels go down and prolactin goes up, perhaps as nature's way of getting ready for baby.

7. Your Body Shape Will Never Be the Same Again. Blaming the extra girth on Junior might be convenient, but your body would change as it ages with or without that little bundle of joy.

8. Pregnancy Makes Your Feet Grow. A few girls go up about a half-size during pregnancy, but most will fit back into their stilettos after swelling in their calves, ankles and feet goes down.

9. Drinking Any Alcohol During Pregnancy Will Hurt Your Baby. New studies out of the UK and Australia show that light drinking --anywhere between one drink per-week or one small drink per-day --may not be harmful. In fact, many physicians in the United States allow their mommies to be the occasional adult beverage after the first trimester.

10. Morning Sickness Only Happens in the Morning. Unfortunately, shifting hormones don't have a strict schedule and waves of nausea can strike any time, primarily in the first sixteen weeks of pregnancy.

11. Pregnancy Brain Makes It Impossible to Concentrate. Ladies in a "delicate condition" have thirty-times the normal amount of progesterone running through their noggins so it's natural to be quite tired or forgetful. However, one study found that women in their third trimester have increased attention spans --presumably because they'll need the focus to care for a newborn.

Source: My Health News Daily