What if you could know your all about your baby's DNA before birth? All without any invasive or risky testing. This incredible procedure was done for the first time with over 90 percent accuracy by researchers at the University of Washington. They took a blood sample from mom and the saliva from dad and put together a near-total genome sequence of the fetus, possibly making thousands of genetic diseases known before baby is born. With more research and cost cutting, this could mean no more need for amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling.

But it also raises a lot of ethical questions. If this becomes an easy test, would this change more parents' decision to have a baby with a potential genetic disease? Would this open the door to genetically modified babies? I'm a bit worried about what this all could mean.

Fertility issues can strike when you least expect it -- even in young women in their 20s, attempting to conceive their first or second child. It seems like going for IVF treatment would be one of the last resorts for this group of women, but it definitely happens.

Although across all age groups IVF hasn't been shown to increase risk of breast cancer, younger women are a special case, according to a new study out of the University of Western Australia that followed 21,025 women for an average of 16 years. IVF may double their risk of breast cancer over the following 15 years. Even though this age group's risk is already low to begin with, this is still unnerving!

When I was pregnant  (the first time at age 32; the second at 34), my doctors asked me if I wanted any prenatal genetic testing. They assured me that I was very low risk, but asked if I would consider terminating if the results showedsome sort of genetic issue.

Both times, I was appalled that they had the nerve to even ask if I would do such a thing. No matter what, I would love the child I was carrying. I was resolute that I would never terminate, so why would I test? I declined the offer.

It sounds naïve now. Thankfully, both girls were born healthy without incident. 

Short of developing a cure or vaccination to prevent it, a new urine test to predict if a woman will develop preeclampsia is one of the most encouraging developments the disease has seen in years. It's not on the market yet, but researchers have seemingly found a highly accurate and easy-to-administer test that could alert women and their health care providers that they're at risk of developing the deadly disease.

While just knowing it's coming doesn't necessarily mean it can be prevented, that knowledge would make a huge difference for women who are often hit by it without warning, women whose bodies turn on them with no advance clues, women like me.

When I was pregnant with my first son and heard that you could rent those baby doppler gadgets online in order to hear the fetal heartbeat in the comfort of your own home, I thought it sounded kind of cool, but rife with the potential for obsession. I didn't want to be constantly poking a goo-slathered microphone around my belly, intently listening for sounds of distress, not that I even knew what a fetal sound of distress might be. (A tiny voice begging me to stop already with the Haagen-Dazs?) Then I sort of completely changed my mind and ordered one. I'm not really sure why—maybe because during those early weeks I felt ridiculously gassy and bloated (an overabundance of frozen dairy can do that to a person), but also weirdly not pregnant at all. I decided that being able to hear the heartbeat would be soothing, and that listening to it with my husband would be a special, loving ritual we could share together as we bonded with our unborn child.

If you follow my posts regularly, you know that I had a hard time in the past getting a tubal ligation scheduled, and I've been MIA for the past week or so. Thankfully, that's because after our move, I was able to find a doctor who did the procedure with no problem. But man, I don't know if it's just my body or what, but this was a lot bigger deal than a lot of people made it out to be.

I also learned that Vicodin makes my head so fuzzy that I get randomly dizzy and wicked dry mouth and can't concentrate on anything ... but I digress.

Do you actually know what goes on when a woman is having her fallopian tubes tied? Different types? I'll tell you a bit about what it was like, in case you're considering the procedure, or if you've had one, let me know if your experience lined up with mine ...

Not everyone who leans toward natural birth practices started there -- many have had bad experiences in hospitals or have been close to women who have. Sometimes it's women who read incredible amounts of literature on pregnancy long before peeing on the stick. It's not just patchouli-wearing, long-haired, barefoot hippies. It's law students, businesswomen, head of your PTA -- anyone. Especially with homebirth on the rise, it's safe to assume it's no longer just a fringe group of "weirdos."

Yet, many people still get accused of being conspiracy theorists, of thinking they "know better than doctors" and blown off like crazy freaks. Well guess what? It seems that many OBGYNs are letting their personal leanings interfere with their practice.

My daughter tried to tell me the other day that she remembers being in the womb and that it was dark and wet. I know, easy guess. But I swore something was up when she flashed what was either the heavy metal or hook 'em horns sign on her very first sonogram. (As a University of Texas alum and lover of all hair bands in the 1980s, I was quite pleased.) Gang signs aside, it does seem that those babies are up to something in there, and it's kind of amazing. 

It turns out, babies are doing all kinds of things before they even show up out of the womb. One of the most fascinating is developing those facial expressions and seeing that those womb babies are actually smiling and crying. Crying, I'm guessing, because you skipped the chocolate milkshake that day.

So when does all this business start happening, so you can take a much closer look at those pictures of your belly?