BuzzSugar

Box Office: Gran Torino Drives Off With the Money

BuzzSugar — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 07:00:20 PST

Recently, Clint Eastwood's movies (whether he's behind the camera or in front of it) are often critical hits but that doesn't necessarily translate into immediate box office success - until now!

Eastwood's latest movie, Gran Torino, debuted this weekend in the top spot, earning a whopping $29 million! It seems fitting that a movie that is rumored to be Eastwood's swan song is also his "best nationwide opening of all time, both as an actor and director." If you're gonna go out, go out on top!

In second place came Bride Wars which defied expectations with $21.5 million after a brutal week of being panned by critics. The horror flick The Unborn followed behind the brides in the third spot. Marley and Me and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button rounded out the top five respectively.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Should You Cleanse Before Pregnancy?

Rebecca M Gruber — Mon, 07 May 2012 08:04:46 PDT

Every mama wants to give her baby the best start possible, but just how clean should that beginning be? Anna Getty, the organic living expert and founder of Pregnancy Awareness Month (which happens to be now), recently wrote about her thoughts on preparing the body for pregnancy on the Healthy Child Healthy World website. She shared her year-long, pre-conception plan to whip her body (and soul) into shape for baby, saying:

I cut out all forms of caffeine including black or green tea and (gulp) chocolate, all refined sugars, gluten, dairy, and alcohol, any form of pharmaceutical drugs like aspirin or Ibuprofen and ate a mostly raw diet. I also included acupuncture, colonics, meditation, yoga and juicing. I had planned on cleansing for a year, however, somewhere in the middle, maybe five months, of my pre-conception cleanse the spirit of my unborn daughter decided I was "clean" enough and graced my womb with her presence.

It seems everywhere I turn these days, I hear someone talking about the latest juice cleanse. Friends, colleagues, and celebrities are busy touting the weight loss and detoxifying benefits of the drinks but I never thought about using them to prepare for pregnancy. You clean baby's linens and clothes before she uses them, but do you need to clean your womb before she enters it?

Source: Flickr User Meagan

Should Mothers Be Prosecuted For Exposing Their Unborn Babies to Drugs?

Rebecca M Gruber — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:03:34 PDT

Could a glass of wine during pregnancy land you behind bars? It might if you live in Alabama. In this upcoming weekend's New York Times Magazine, Ada Calhoun delves into Alabama's controversial chemical-endangerment laws where mothers who give birth to babies with even a trace of drugs in their bloodstreams are not only ordered into rehab but are criminally prosecuted for putting their newborns in harm's way.

In one case, when a newborn died hours after his premature birth, and mother tested positive for methamphetamine, she was charged with a Class A felony for contributing to the death of her child, with a mandatory sentence of 10 years to life. The laws - which are the harshest in the country - were designed to protect kids from "explosive meth labs," but they are now being applied to expectant mothers, and that's where the controversy comes in. Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists all fear that such prosecutions may just be the tip of the iceberg. In the article, Emma Ketteringham, the director of the National Advocates For Pregnant Women, says:

"It starts with cocaine, and then it’s cigarettes and alcohol. How much alcohol? And when? It’s only a matter of time until it comes to refusing a bed-rest order because you need to work and take care of your other children and then you have a miscarriage. What if you stay at a job where you’re exposed to toxic chemicals, as at a dry cleaner? What if you keep taking your SSRIs during pregnancy? If a woman is told that sex during her pregnancy could be a risk to the fetus, and the woman has sex anyway and miscarries, are you going to prosecute the woman - and the man, too?"

What do you think? Should women be prosecuted for exposing their unborn babies to drugs?

Facebook Removes Unborn Baby's Profile; Fair or Not?

Rebecca M Gruber — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 05:31:44 PDT

How young is too young for a Facebook profile? Mark Zuckerberg and company have gone on the offensive, removing profiles of Facebookers younger than 13, and that hard and fast rule also seems to apply to tongue-in-cheek sites for unborn babies.

Ellie and Matt Greene of Texas learned this the hard way when the page they set up for their unborn tot was serendipitously removed after the Facebook powers that be noticed its existence. Well into their third trimester, they started the page to update friends and family about their upcoming arrival. Within days, their status updates (along the lines of "I'm doing somersaults") were followed by more than 250 people, all interacting with tot in utero. Then, the page mysteriously disappeared. Was Facebook right to remove it?

The 5 Most Creative Ways to Share Baby News

LilSugar — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:51:36 PDT

We love a beautiful printed birth announcement as much as anyone. But with iPhones and Flip cams making it so much easier for anyone to become an at-home documentary maker, it's hard to resist the urge to take your baby news into the digital age. Here, we share five of the best hi-tech baby announcements that we've seen to date. Enjoy - and welcome, lil ones!

Isabella Jane: This proud dad documented the action-packed journey to the hospital that he and his wife made in the midst of an NYC snowstorm last Winter to deliver baby Isabella:

Keep reading for more birth announcement inspiration!

The Rise of the Fetus Party: Why Midwives Are Concerned

Natasha Dantzig — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:37:53 PST

What the fetus! For many expectant parents, routine ultrasounds are one of the things looked forward to most throughout the pregnancy process, offering an incredible glimpse at the eagerly anticipated bundle of joy within. The last couple of years have seen an increase in both the use and popularity of 4D ultrasounds, which provide an almost eerily realistic image of the baby-to-be.

Though parents are understandably delighted by these scans - OMG he has your nose! - creating one more photographic keepsake is not their intended use, which is to monitor the baby's development and ensure that everything looks good medically. Yet the use of these scans has taken a quick departure from their medical origins, with "fetus parties" - where parents-to-be invite friends and family to gaze upon the 3D and 4D scans - becoming more and more commonplace.

While everyone can appreciate why expectant parents are so excited to show off and share these lifelike images of their unborn baby with family and friends, not everyone in the medical community thinks it's such a great idea. In a column for the BBC, Professor Cathy Warwick, chief executive at The Royal College of Midwives, discusses her concern about the growing popularity of "fetus parties": "I think the worrying trend towards the commercialization of pregnancy and trend in 'fetus parties' can add to the burden, and can increase the expectation for mothers, which midwives then have to deal with.”

Did you have a fetus party?

The Name Game: Which Names Were More Popular in 2011

Rebecca M Gruber — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:32:12 PST

One of the biggest joys and most stressful parts of pregnancy is choosing your unborn child's name. Parents-to-be stress that they won't please family members with their choice, that they'll pick a name that 10 other kids answer to on the playground, or that they'll just grow tired of it in the future. Name trends may come and go, but each year two names - one boy's and one girl's - rise to the top. BabyCenter recently unveiled the most popular names of 2011. Take this quiz to see if you know names landed on the list!

Take the Quiz

Lil Links: Does This Anti-Co-Sleeping Campaign Go Too Far?

LilSugar — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:32:33 PST

An anti-co-sleeping campaign is angering many moms! - The Stir
5 ways to eat healthy when pregnant - Celebrity Baby Blog
Pete Wentz is living a double life - Celebrity Baby Scoop
13 tips for saving money on prescription drugs - Health
How to reduce your unborn baby's radiation risk - FitPregnancy
Fun ways to teach tots about recycling - Parenting
Useful, stylish, and fab baby products - The Bump
Doctors make the case for circumcision - Momformation
More hospitals are banning elective C-sections - Yahoo! Shine
A first tool box for kids that know a screwdriver from a wrench - Cool Mom Picks

A Diaper Cake For Fashionable Friend

Rebecca M Gruber — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:12:43 PDT

Hey good lookin'! When one of the most fashionable people in the office is due to welcome a baby, it's not easy to come up with a gift that will wow the crowd. I recently found myself in that predicament as our own pregnant FabSugar editor approached her due date. While I would have loved to shower her unborn son with a closet like Skyler Berman's, I decided to keep things a bit lower key for our office party. The LilSugar team has a tradition of creating show-stopping diaper cakes for our colleagues' parties, and I carried it through with a stylish cake topped off with the one thing every Vogue-reading mama loves: shoes! See how I made our party's centerpiece, which took less than an hour!

Beyoncé's Fabulous Pregnancy Style

Anna Monette Roberts — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 04:00:48 PDT

Pregnant or not, Beyoncé isn't a muumuu girl, and her unborn babe isn't keeping her from wearing short skirts, sequins, and platform pumps. See how Beyoncé is working her bump and showing off her gorgeous toned legs. She recently revealed that she's due in February, so that means she's in her second trimester. Click through to see her latest looks, from the most recent to back when she first announced her pregnancy.