The Ancient Chinese Say: "It's A Boy!"

According to parents.com, legend holds that a Chinese birth chart (supposedly predicting the gender of a baby with 93 percent accuracy!) was buried in a tomb near Beijing for almost 700 years. The original is now at the Beijing Institute of Science.

If you are pregnant, you can use the chart to find out if you're having a girl or a boy. If you're considering getting pregnant, use this chart as a guide to the best month if you are trying specifically for one gender or the other :)

Here's how to use it: On the left hand side find your (the mother) age range at the time of conception, then look for the month of conception at the top. Where your age and month of conception meet will tell you if legend says your baby is going to be a boy or a girl!

We will see when the time comes if this thing works or not ... but it claims I'm having a boy :)

BMI Calculator

Fit Pregnancy has a pretty cool BMI Calculator that tells you what you "should" gain during pregnancy. While we hear the 25-35 pound amount quite frequently, its actually different if you begin your pregnancy under or over-weight.

Using the BMI Calculator, you enter your height and weight (pre-pregnancy) and it will give you the area you fall into: underweight, normal, overweight, or obese. There is then a corresponding weight gain to each one of those categories.

Its important to know that this is just a guide - and there are many controversies around the idea of a BMI, or Body Mass Index, calculation. The primary problem is that it does not take into account your actual body composition. Most of us know that muscle weighs more than fat - so an individual may be classified as "overweight" but yet have a very low bodyfat ratio.

To prove this point, according to an article on docshop.com, Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarzennegger, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone are considered obese according to their BMI calculations. This not only includes Arnold Schwarzennegger today (as "Governor Schwaqrzennegger") but also back in the day when he was Mr Universe ... weighing in at 235 at just over 6 ft tall ;)

But many of us are concerned about pregnancy weight gain - how much should we gain? is my weight gain normal? will I ever get back to my original weight? This tool is a good way to verifiy the normal ranges of your weight gain. If you tend to be more muscular and know that your BMI is not an accurate represention of your pre-pregnancy body, then take that into consideration when using this tool. Ultimately, use the BMI Calculator as a guide, not as fact!

Week 25

Another week gone by, and happily no weight gain. They generally say you should gain 1-2 lbs per week from now until the end, but I made up a lot of those extra lbs in the past few weeks :) There is no concern that I am not gaining enough weight, I can assure you of that!

The Baby @ 25 Weeks
Height & Weight: About nine inches long and more than 1.5lbs
. According to the Baby Center, the baby starts to fill out, adding baby fat to the long and lean frame during this stage. Wrinkled skin will start to smooth out, and hair is growing.

Me @ 25 Weeks
The Baby Center also claims that my hair may be "more full and lusterous than ever". Ha. Looks like one of the pros of pregnancy has just skipped me by...big suprise :) Baby Zone notes that beginning round my 25th week I may start to notice aches and pains in some unusual places as your pregnancy progresses. For example, moments of shooting pains in your legs. This offers some explanation to the two days of pain I had over the weekend, and I have been having leg cramps for about two weeks as well. Baby zone also goes on to discuss the troubles of sleeping (and how they will also continue) that are related to: the belly bump (a bit hard to get comfy with all the body changes), breathing issues (as the uterus expands it pushes the lungs aside, making breaths shallower and more frequent), potty breaks (baby tap dancing on bladder = many late night trips to the restroom), and indigestion (along with squishing lungs and bladder, baby squishes stomach too!).

Ah, I cant wait to see what week 26 brings. For now, its off to yoga! (The less-crunchy one).

A Tale of Two Yogas

Mamá Yoga
Originally uploaded by Gisela Bohórquez

A few weeks ago I began taking a prenatal yoga class. I have never done yoga before, but it was often recommended as a great method for strecthing when I was training for a marathon last year. As my activity level dwindled during my pregnancy I knew I had to do something ... and yoga was my answer.

I actually enjoy the class and was interested in doing more of it, but found that the other prenatal classes my studio offered didnt really fit my schedule. I searched around online for other Chicago yoga studios that do prenatal yoga and found them few and far between. There was another studio that was often highly recommended, but it closed its doors this year. On that studios website it mentioned that the instructor would be teaching a class at the local YMCA - a class that fit my schedule! I signed up and was ready to begin my two-a-week yoga lifestyle.

I have had two weeks of the "new yoga" and about 8 weeks of the "old yoga". The two classes are TOTALLY different. Different poses and moves, but more importantly different instructors. The instructor for my new class is a bit "crunchy". She has done two home births, stresses natural births and appears to really be pushing the home method. She spends a great deal of time talking and delivering her birth philosophies. She also wants us to share our stories/concerns/plans, etc. While my other class embraces the yoga mentality and we spend time "sending colors to our babies", the instructor does not share her philosophies/opinions and spends very little time talking.

Its funny how two classes based on the same exercise, with the same audience (a bunch of pregnant ladies!) can be so different. So far I am really not getting a good vibe in my "crunchy" class but considering I signed up for a 9 week session it looks like I am there to stay :)