Peyton Rose as a newbornMy friend Tricia is an amazing mom. She is a mom who had twins and had to face things some people never have to face in their lifetime. And through it all, she continues to be selfless and strong. I admire her so much. She is as much of a fighter as her daughter Peyton, who along with older (by one minute) brother Andrew, are reminders of how precious life is, and how love and faith can get us through even the toughest of times.

Tricia and her husband Stephen were trying to start a family. She had a miscarriage in 2007, and of course that adds an element of fear when trying again. Late in 2010, Tricia learned she was pregnant again ... with twins. But her cervix was thinning and opening at 18 weeks. This is her story of hope, loss, and love.

As we've become accustomed to the ability to find out our baby's sex long before he or she is born, it's jolting to think that privilege (or right, depending how you feel about it) could be taken away. No more gender reveal cakes! But some doctors say the information should at least be delayed in order to prevent people from aborting babies who aren't the sex they want.

In Canada, a call has been made to delay the revelation of a fetus's gender until 30 weeks. Typically the information is given during an ultrasound in the 20th week, when abortion is a more readily available option.

The list of banned words for 2012 came out and I think it's totally anti-parenting. They want to ban the phrase 'baby bump.' Clearly, they prefer the phrase 'with child' because they must be really proper and don't want to lump pregnancy in with other things that have the word 'bump' attached to it. Like speed bump. Bump 'n grind. Or bumpits -- you know that thing you put in your hair to make it Jersey Shore high. So what does that mean exactly -- this banishment? Well, nothing unless you listen to the kids at Lake Superior State University.

Still I can't help but want to poke a little fun at the fact that baby bump irks off the youngsters as much as the word 'amazing' (which is absolutely overused yet still an amazing word and one that I say a whole lot). Also on the list is man cave, occupy, shared sacrifice, new normal, and thank you in advance.

Just when you thought planking and owling were the strangest fads you've ever heard of, along comes one that will blow your mind. In China, it seems fake baby bumps have become a hot seller, and women are shelling out the cash to get their own.

Starting at $80 and going up to as much as $250, they come in all sizes to represent various stages of pregnancy. So if one day you want to look like you're just starting to show and another you want to look like you're ready to pop, there's a fake belly bump for that. Yes, really.

According to shop owners, some are being purchased as jokes and some for performances, which is fine. But others are donning them to see what it's like to feel pregnant (sorry not even close) and others simply do so because they think they look cute. At first I kind of giggled about the absurdity of someone really donning such an item just for the sake of fashion, then I started to get kind of pissed.

Names hold a lot of meaning and often evoke strong images of the person who bears them before we ever see a face. Our associations with names aren't always accurate, of course, but they certainly set the stage for the opinions we form about those we meet throughout our lives.

So there's a lot of pressure put upon expecting parents. Everyone wants to find that perfect baby name, unique, but not too crazy, meaningful, but not too big to bear, and most importantly -- not one that sounds like a stripper. No offense to the hardworking strippers out there, but I'm guessing even they would agree that it's not their first choice of an occupation for their offspring.

But unless you visit strip joints frequently, how exactly do you know what connotes a stripper name? I mean Destiny is a lovely name, but ... it's definitely been around the pole a time or two. Here are a few tips to help you avoid stripper-sounding names for your child.

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.

At no time in my life have I ever fielded as many ridiculously horrible comments from strangers as I did when I was pregnant. It's like everyone and their sister had to come up to me and make absurdly awful comments -- the sorts of things you should never say to ANYONE, let alone someone hormonal and pregnant.

So, now that I'm no longer hormonal or pregnant, I've compiled a list of the most wicked things people said to me while I was pregnant.

"I'm craving a cheeseburger."

"So let's go get one."

"But, I'm getting so fat. Look at my belly! It's HUGE!"

"It's not so bad, I promise."

"You promise?"

"I promise. You look fine!"

"I eat too many sundaes."

That was a conversation I had almost four years ago when I was pregnant with my second son. The conversation was, as you might have expected, was with my husband. The roles, as you might not expect, were reversed.

My husband was suffering from Couvade Syndrome.

In other words, he was pregnant, too.