Congratulations! You're pregnant! It is an exciting time in your life, whether it is your first pregnancy or you are a seasoned pro. With all the excitement also comes changes and uncertainty. Your body is changing, your emotional and mental states have become inconsistent waves rolling across the mind. Spiritually, you feel lost in a world of philosophies, myths and - at every turn of the page - different advice. You have become a sponge for any information regarding pregnancy, yet you question everything.

One major question you may have regarding your health and well-being is whether exercise is safe during this time. The undeniable answer is exercise, when practiced safely, is one of the greatest components for a healthy and happy pregnancy. The body is going through incredible and amazing changes - changes exercise can help ease the body through. Exercise also helps to decrease stress, negativity and uncertainty.

Yoga has increasingly become the most popular avenue for facilitating the various needs of pregnancy by including physical, emotional, mental and spiritual activity. Yoga helps a mother-to-be learn about her body, how it works and moves throughout her pregnancy. Strengthening and stretching the muscular system and learning breath control prepares her for birth. Emotionally and mentally, yoga helps to relieve stress and improve confidence at a time of so many uncertainties. It also helps to develop trust in self, in the baby and in the birthing process. On a spiritual level, yoga allows the expectant mother to connect with her baby and trust her mother's intuition to provide a safe environment during pregnancy. It will teach her the skills to stay calm and focused during labor.

Bookcases, armoires, chest of drawers, change tables and all large pieces of furniture should be anchored to the wall to prevent them from tipping over and falling on top of baby.

DO NOT hang artwork or shelves above the crib or change table.

If you are using a nightlight make sure that it remains cool to the touch.

Put baby to sleep on his back on a firm, snug fitting mattress with no soft bedding.

Use plug covers on all unused electrical outlets.

Crib Safety:

- Check that your crib meets all crib safety requirements.

- Should have no decorative cut outs or corner posts.

- Check often to make sure the frame is solid and screws, nuts, bolts and all hardware are securely tightened.

- Make sure the mattress is a tight fit against all four sides of the crib.

- When the baby can sit up move the mattress down to its lowest level and remove all crib gyms, mobiles, hanging toys and decorations.

- Slats should not be more than six cm (2 3/8 inches) apart and should not be loose or turn when twisted.

- Your crib should have a label on it that shows when the crib was made and who the manufacturer is.

- Wood should be smooth and free of splinters.

- Health Canada recommends that soft mattresses, pillows, comforters, stuffed toys and bumper pads not be used in cribs. Once your baby can climb out - stop using the crib!

Once your baby is able to walk and climb, take a look at the nursery through their eyes. If they can climb something and if it can lead to a potentially dangerous situation, remove it or relocate it. For example, if they like to sleep in their crib with a giant baby-safe bear...consider that they can use this lovely bear as a stepping stool to climb out of the crib.

Our info: Beautiful flowers photos will please both baby and his mother.

by Ann Douglas

Finding yourself being hit with the urge to buy something - anything - for your baby-to-be? Sounds like you've been hit with a bad case of baby fever - a condition that tends to run rampant among mothers-to-be and that can be almost impossible to cure until your bank account runs dry and/or your credit card finally gives up the ghost. Here are six reasons why so many pregnant women end up shopping until they (literally!) drop:

Pregnancy lasts for nine months - about six times longer than the holiday shopping season. Imagine how much debt you could ring up if you were to spend nine months loading up on gifts for the holidays. Chances are you'd have an armload of presents for each person. Well, that's exactly what happens if you fall into the all-too-common trap of hitting the baby boutiques the moment the pregnancy test comes back positive: you end up going on a nine-month-long shopping spree. Even if you only spend $50 each time you step inside a baby store - the baby world's equivalent to a miracle, by the way - you can easily ring up a couple of thousand dollars worth of purchases by the time your real nesting instinct kicks in. And don't think for a second that you can bypass that late-pregnancy spending spree by getting your shopping out of the way early on: if you've already purchased your baby's entire layette by this stage of the game, you'll simply find other baby-related products to spend your money on.

Most baby clothes are designed to be too adorable for words - just like the babies who wear them. Just think about what happens at a typical baby shower: there's absolute silence as the mother-to-be opens up a gift and then a chorus of "oohs" and "aahs" as everyone present cooingly admires the adorable duck-covered flannel sleeper, the unspeakably cute miniature running shoes, or whatever other baby-related item happened to come out of the package. The same thing happens the moment you set foot in a baby boutique: you find yourself picking up one adorable outfit after another and, in a matter of minutes, your baby-to-be ends up having a better wardrobe than you do.

You've already given up all your other vices by this point. Given that the more rabid pregnancy book authors will leave you feeling like the worst mother in the world if you eat anything other than free-range organic tofu, you're long overdue for a bit of good old-fashioned sinning. And since most of the truly worthwhile vices are temporarily unavailable to a woman in your condition, all you've got left is shopping.