Photo by PrinceEdsmommy

November is Prematurity Awareness Month and I just learned of a test that can predict a woman's risk for preterm birth -- it's called fetal fibronectin testing (fFN Test) and it's similar to getting a Pap test.

I've never been more aware of preterm birth than I am right now -- I'm in the high risk category since I'm having twins. But I'm just about 34 weeks pregnant now, so I'm in a good place. But what about others with risk factors? Who is at risk?

Photo from CoffeeStencil

My husband and I were trying to have a baby for months, so each month when my period was late, I'd want to take a pregnancy test right away. We spent a lot of money on pregnancy tests! I would always take it too soon because I was so anxious and then would waste another one a few days later.

But back in March, I remember having a stronger urge to take the test, even though hubs said to wait a few more days. I took it when he wasn't home and it instantly told me I was pregnant. I waited out the three minutes and yep, still pregnant.

Photo by LelandsMommy

When you have baby, you'll say words like "poop," "breast," "diaper," "cry" and "sleep" about a million times a day. These words are short, easy to say, and self-explanatory for a reason: With a baby, you will no longer have the time or desire to consult a dictionary, or comb your hair.

During pregnancy, however, you're confronted with lots of long, medical-sounding words, most of which will leave you saying, "Huh?" (Except for the word episiotomy -- for some reason every pregnant woman knows what that means.)

So that you can prove to everyone how smart you are about this birthing thing, here's a list from Fit Pregnancy of some of the most common pregnancy terms that doctors and friends will bandy about in the coming months. These in particular definitely threw me ...

Earlier this year, a man from Spain announced he was pregnant with twins via IVF. Twenty-six year-old Ruben Noe Coronado Jimenez  was born a female, but has lived life as a male since 18, removing his breasts, but his female reproductive system stayed intact. 

Jimenez suffered a miscarriage at 18 weeks back in May. But now he and his 43 year-old girlfriend, who cannot have children, are trying again.

Sometime between 26 and 28 weeks of pregnancy, many women take the glucose screening test to check for gestational diabetes.

It's kind of confusing for a first time mom. I had thoughts like Why do I need that? I don't have diabetes. Am I at risk? What would a positive result mean for my twins?

And then I heard what the test entails: Drinking a super sugary drink within five minutes, wait about an hour, and then your blood is drawn to check your blood sugar levels and how it processed the glucose. And you can't throw up after you drink it or you have to come another time to repeat procedure.

Should I panic? I cannot drink anything fast except milk. Weird, I know. And if it's a super sweet drink, that's going to be even harder to get down.

Photo by LilStar9905

No doubt about it, the first look of your unborn baby on that ultrasound monitor is priceless. Here are some links I love about this wonderful technology:

Here we are -- the old folks

There are a lot of strong opinions on what's the best age to have a baby. I think it's fine if another person has a cut off age for themselves, but I don't feel other women should enforce a "rule" on others.

I'm going to be an old mom...according to some stat probably created before women had the right to vote. I'm 36 and will be 37 when my twins are born. Because of this, my husband and I went through genetic counseling, which was scary to think about. But when we went, our fears subsided.

My baby boy says hi!

Big news! I found out the genders of my twins -- a boy and a girl!

I'm so excited to be giving my mom her first grandson and my father-in-law is thrilled that there is finally a boy in the family to carry on the family name. And of course...who can't be excited about a little girl!

It was such a great moment. I was getting my ultrasound and the doctor asked if we were ready to know. My husband and I squeezed hands -- yes!

Photo by 23andMe

Thanks to the today's science and technology, parents can know practically what their child looks like before they're born (sometimes even going as far as designing their own baby). Here are some genetic links I found interesting:

Amniocentesis is a test that may be recommended by an OB/GYN following an abnormal test, genetic concerns, and/or age of the mother (35 or older). An amnio can detect chromosome abnormalities, neural tube defects, and genetic disorders. It also can be done to test lung development and provides access to DNA for sampling.

There are risks involved and according to American Pregnancy, the chance of miscarriage is 1 in 400 for facilities that are highly skilled in this procedure, to 1 in 200 for others.

Some women choose not to test, but others want to know particularly if they are at-risk. And a compelling reason to test is so the mom can arm herself with knowledge to better prepare herself if in fact her child is born with special needs. As one mom said in a thread I was reading on CafeMom: Knowledge is power.