Your due date can be figured out by taking away three months from the first day of your last menstrual cycle and adding a week. Therefore if you got pregnant on April Fool's Day, you would be due on Christmas!  You ovulate two weeks BEFORE your next period was supposed to start....

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The baby's heart starts beating about four (4) weeks after conception, but the thyroid is the first organ to work.  The heart can be seen moving on ultrasound at about 6 weeks from your last period and heard with a stethoscope around twenty weeks.

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While some Moms may feel movement earlier, most Moms will feel movement after the first five months, BUT not feel every day movement until the third trimester.

 

Babies drink the water that they live in and urinate it back out ultimately recycling the water to the point that the water after 16 weeks of pregnancy is all recycled urine. They do not normally have bowel movements (i.e. poop) but sometimes will.  Drinking the water causes babies to get hiccups that are noticed by most Moms in the third trimester.  

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Heartburn has many causes in pregnancy and can be worsened by things that Mom's eat, but does not always mean that your baby has hair. 

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There is no evidence that an Eclipse of the sun or the moon has any effect on an unborn child.  You can safely go out in an eclipse without wearing something metal.

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All babies start out as one cell from mom and one from dad and are about the size of your finger at thirteen weeks and your hand at twenty weeks. All babies weigh about a pound at twenty weeks and two pounds at twenty four weeks and three pounds at thirty weeks.  After thirty weeks, family genetics kick in and growth rates differ depending upon many factors. 

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Yes, you can dye your hair in pregnancy.  Finger nail polishes, chemicals to dye or highlight your hair are safe in pregnancy.  As long as you don't  drink it or eat it, it's safe. 

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The shape of your stomach, whether you carry high or low, whether the baby's heart rate is fast or slow, whether your urine changes color with Drano, it doesn't mean it's a boy or a girl.  Even ultrasound can be wrong. Whether a boy or girl is determined by the father of the baby.

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There is no inexpensive way to get a boy or a girl for sure.  There are more boys conceived on day of ovulation than girls and more girls born to men who are exposed to increased gravity (i.e. pilots) but nothing else has any more odds of getting one or the other. 

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Moms don't always have a birth canal...  Labor starts in the EARLY third trimester with increasing INNOCENT tightening of the uterus (Braxton Hicks contractions) and softening of the cervix.  Your birth canal forms and widens in the end of pregnancy, thus allowing your baby to "DROP".  Moms walk different because of this...

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Contractions are caused by a chemical from the mom's brain.  When it starts and how much it comes, is unpredictable.  Some activities, like breast stimulation, can make this chemical come out.  Things a mom does or eats will not usually start labor if it's not meant to happen.  Certain teas, castor oil, and juices are not usually effective in starting labor.  Walking is great exercise in pregnancy, but will not usually start labor if it's not meant to happen. Sorry.

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Mom's do not have to get there bodies "ready" for delivery of their babies.  There is no need to prepare the nipples for breastfeeding or massage the vagina for delivery of the baby's head.  While not harmful to do, these activities do not prevent anything. A smooth, slow, controlled delivery of the baby's head is the best way to prevent a tear or an episiotomy. 

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Babies live in water that is an average of 102 degrees all the time.  They can be overheated if the mom is exposed to excessive heat for a long time (e.g. jacuzzi water above 104, saunas, extreme outdoor temperatures)  Short, less than fifteen (15) minute exposures should not be harmful.

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Swimming is great exercise while pregnant. The weightless feeling and the ability to burn calories while staying cool is priceless.  The cleanliness of the water is usually not an issue unless clearly polluted and does not get into the vagina without some strange movements of the mom's body.  So lakes, rivers, and public swimming pools are generally safe. 

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Once a c-section DOES NOT MEAN ALWAYS a c-section.  With some exceptions, a woman who has had one or even two sections can try to have a normal delivery in the right hands and in the right hospital.  Ask your OB for advice or, even better, exactly WHY you cannot try for a normal vaginal delivery.  

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A baby coming the wrong way (i.e. BREECH) does not always have to be by c-section.  It is recommended to at least try and move the baby with assistance of your OB rather than moving right to c-section because of the baby "sitting".  It is NOT dangerous to try and move your baby.  It is unlikely that a problem with the cord or the placenta will happen when trying to move the baby. 

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Age does not mean "HIGH RISK".  Most women over forty have healthy babies without genetic problems.  The risk of a genetic problem is less than one percent when a women is thirty five years old.  Most babies born with genetic problems are under thirty five years old.  Testing can now be done without a needle in your stomach.  Ask your OB.