When I was pregnant, I was always told to think happy thoughts, banish negativity and surround myself with cheerful vibes. If I did, they said I'll have a happy baby.

Rubbish old wives tale? Not entirely.

According to a new study, a mom's mood during her pregnancy greatly affects her baby's behavior. In particular, they found that the mother's emotional state had an effect on her baby's regular sleeping and waking patterns, known as circadian rhythms.

Babies whose mothers experienced depression any time before they became pregnant, or developed mood problems while they were pregnant, are much more prone to having chaotic sleep patterns in the first half-year of life than babies born to non-depressed moms, the team has found.

For instance, infants born to depressed moms nap more during the day, take much longer to settle down to sleep at night, and wake up more often during the night. It's a baby form of the insomnia that millions of adults know all too well.

Not only does this add to parents' sleepless nights, but it may help set these children up for their own depression later in life.

In my experience, it doesn't seem like this was the case at all. I was definitely more positive, more bubbling, more excited, more cheerful during my first pregnancy, but it's my second-born who had a splendid sleeping patterns. Since she was two weeks old, she would sleep for 11 hours almost through the night, just waking for a feed once or twice, but going right back to sleep after feeds.

While I do believe in fetal programming, i.e., the conditions in utero has a big impact on the physiology of the baby later on in life, I'm sure that a mother's emotional state during pregnancy is only one of the factors influencing a baby's sleeping patterns.

According to Wikipedia, a baby shower is a party in which parents or expectant parents receive gifts for their newborn or expected child. It is a tradition, if one may call it that, popular in the United States, but one that's also starting to spread in Europe.

I find baby showers sweet. It's an event when close friends can gather and share the expectant parents excitement on the arrival of their new baby. Where I start to get a bit peeved, is when baby showers take grandiose proportions, with wish lists and registries and such. I even heard of a wish list with a Bugaboo in it. C'mon!

So, contrary to rumors, Ashles simpson is NOT concerned, moreso depressed, with her increasing pregnancy weight gain. In her MySpace blog, she says:

1. My doctor says I am right on target with my weight gain 2. Have not been to Planet Blue in at least two years 3. Love my maternity jeans ..they have stretchy tops it is awesome! 4. My closet full of size 0's are being worn by Pete right now and he looks hot in them :) So now that I have cleared that up let me tell you...carrying a child is the most inspiring, emotional, amazing experience of my life. My weight and my pant size are the absolute last thing I am concerned about. I am only concerned with having a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. People who talk and judge pregnant women's weight need to get a life!!!

Amen!

Many hospitals no longer make footprints of newborns as a keepsake, so if you want a remembrance of your baby's first days, make sure you bring your own print making kit in your hospital bag. Make sure you use an ink specially for this purpose, not the office stamp pad ink! The ink should be non-toxic and easy to remove so that you only need to gently wipe it off your sensitive newborn's skin.

Footprints should be easy to make, but handprints are usually trickier because most babies have their fists almost always closed in a fist during the first weeks. If you manage to get some nice prints, use them on the cover page of your baby album, or scan and make copies for baby announcement cards. They also make nice gifts for the new grandparents.

A lot of women who have navel piercings opt to remove their belly button rings for the duration of their pregnancy. But does one really have to? It all depends on the wearer.

As long as the piercings have completely healed and you don't feel uncomfortable, then by all means, continue to wear your belly jewelry. You probably just need to take extra care that it doesn't get caught on garments and such as your belly expands. Or you might want to consider switching to other belly rings that are more appropriate for your pregnant belly:

Long barbell. When regular belly jewelry first becomes uncomfortable, often around the third or fourth month of pregnancy, a woman can switch her regular jewelry for a long, curved barbell. The extra length allows the stretching skin around the piercing more room to spread out as the belly protrudes.

Acrylic retainer. If metallic jewelry becomes uncomfortable due to its weight, a lightweight acrylic barbell or retainer may provide relief. Acrylic retainers may come with threadable balls or rubber o-rings to secure the ends. Small rubber o-rings may allow extra room along the shaft of the jewelry, however, they slide off more easily than threadable balls.

Two-Inch Flexible Bar. Extra long barbells, or belly bars, made especially for use during pregnancy or for use after surgical procedures allow all the length and flexibility a pregnant woman will likely need. Belly bars are typically made of a threadable, cut-to-size, plastic such as PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), which is hypoallergenic and is used to make surgical implants.

If you decide to do away with the belly ring altogether, you might want to replace it simply with a fishing line to keep the holes from closing.

Getting a navel or nipple piercing during pregnancy, however, is a different story. Since the skin expands during pregnancy, it will be more difficult for the holes to heal, thereby increasing the risk of infections.

A recent study indicates that mothers who experience extreme stress during pregnancy are more likely to give birth to children who develop schizophrenia. We're not talking of day-to-day stresses that feels a bit more aggravating because of hormonal and bodily changes. This study refers to women who experience something comparable to a natural disaster such as an earthquake or hurricane, a terrorist attack, or a sudden bereavement.

Malaspina and her colleagues looked at birth data for 88,829 people born in Jerusalem from 1964 to 1976 and cross-referenced it with Israel's national psychiatry registry.

They found that the offspring of women who were in their second month of pregnancy during the height of the Arab-Israel war in June of 1967 - also known as the "Six Day War" - showed a significantly higher rate of schizophrenia as they entered adulthood.

These observations also confirm an earlier report on the effect of bereavement during pregnancy and on the likelihood that the child will develop schizophrenia.

A total of 7,331 schizophrenia cases were identified among Danes born between 1973 and 1995 over at least two decades of follow-up.

Being born to a mother who had a close relative die during her first trimester was found to be associated with a 67% increased risk for schizophrenia.

Clearly, the maternal psychological state, particularly durign the first trimester, has a grave impact on the mental health of her baby.