You hear it said all the time: "People should have to take a test to become a parent." It's not legal or really even practical. But it's said enough that when a judge tells the father of an abused child that he'd like to take away his right to make another baby, I get it.

Of course, Judge David Ticehurst can't actually require Jordain Palmer be sterilized, even though the British dad did nothing as girlfriend Melissa Phillips beat their 14-month-old daughter within an inch of her life. He's tied by the laws of the land, and the court of public opinion will tell you that taking away a person's right to procreate is a return to a dark day when governments sterilized people against their will.

There are a lot of things some men will just never understand -- a DVD box-set of The Hills, bath salts, and pregnancy being top among them. But thanks to a team of researchers in Japan, that might change. They've developed the 'Mummy Tummy,' a vest of sorts a man can wear that simulates being nine months pregnant.

Complete with full breasts and belly, the vest fills up with water in the stomach to mimic the unevenness, in the chest to simulate milk coming in, and using a series of actuators, the vest even simulates kicking. It stops kicking when the man soothes the "baby" (aka the sensors) by rubbing his belly.

The Mummy Tummy's realism was tested by women who have experienced pregnancy, and their reviews are surprising.

Trends. In the world of pregnancy and babies and kiddos, there are a lot of trends to choose from: Twilight-inspired names, non-kiddie nursery decor, gender-revealing cakes for baby showers ... really, tons o' trends out there. Millions of dollars are spent on starting trends, predicting trends, and following trends. Well, folks, I’m putting on my psychic hat (it is yellow, with silver and gold stripes, and has a peacock feathers) and predicting the next new baby trend. It isn’t a product you buy or a new name trend. Nope. My prediction: parents-to-be will start opening Twitter accounts and Facebook pages for their unborn babies.

Think about it. It is inevitable ... and this is going to be really annoying. What’s more: it'll just open up a whole mess of new social etiquette questions that I won’t know how to deal with.

If you're one of those peed on one pregnancy test, peed on 'em all kind of gals, get ready to feel like you've been living in the dark ages. The pee stick's gone USB! It's a hypochondriac trying to get pregnant's dream!

See, you're used to wiping and washing your hands while that bad boy does its little "one line or two" magic on the counter, but the PTeq Pregnancy Test ($17.99 at Think Geek) gets plugged into your computer, urine stain and all. Technically it does the same thing as a regular test -- you know, tells you whether it's time to call him Daddy or pour yourself a glass of wine -- but it does it with Charlie Sheen intensity.

Rachel TaylorAre you trying to get pregnant? Perhaps you're suffering from infertility and are at the point where you're ready to try almost anything? You may want to start packing your bags for a little vacation to the Sunshine State -- Florida.

Besides the fact that some studies show vitamin D plays an important role in getting pregnant, the legendary Ripley's Believe It or Not! Fertility Statues have come to rest in Orlando for awhile. So you can do Disney and get knocked up in one trip ... or so say some. The museum claims the statues are responsible for getting more than 2,000 women pregnant since 1993 as they have moved around the world.

A word to all pregnant women out there. Don't bother trying to hail a cab. Just call an ambulance to get you to the hospital. Cab drivers in New Zealand are making a name for themselves for refusing to pick up preggos on the sidewalk.

It's like gym class all over again. Except it's not the jocks picking the fatties last for volleyball. It's jerks in the comfort of a nice warm vehicle telling the women with the bulging bellies they can walk.

Is it wrong that I almost see the cabbies' side in all of this?

Teeny-weeny warning labels cropping up on the iPhone and BlackBerry that warn you to keep the cell phones away from a pregnant woman's belly and that of teenage girls are getting the companies plenty of flack for not being big and blatant enough.

But excuse us for looking at the bigger picture here.

Every other day The Stir seems to get a new PR pitch for an app that's designed to make a mama's life amazing. And now the smartphone industry is telling us we're screwing up our unborn fetuses one development milestone tracker at a time?

I remember my first trip to the beauty supply store for hair dye. Browsing the aisles I came to the deep conditioners and seeing … placenta. Granted, it was pig placenta, but still.

Women have used their placenta for many things -- some eat it some make placenta teddy bears. Turns out, you can do a LOT more than eat your placenta or make art out of it.