According to recent research, adult women who were breastfed as infants have a higher chance of not getting breast cancer than their counterparts who weren't. Oddly, this result didn't necessarily apply to first-born children. Women who reported they were breastfed as babies were 17 percent less at risk for getting breast cancer. This was not observed among women who were first-born however.

The mother's age at the time of birth was used to predict how many environmental contaminants were in her breastmilk, suggesting a possible link between the amount of contaminants and the woman's likelihood of developing breast cancer. Over 2,000 women between the ages of 20 and 69 with breast cancer and just under 2,000 at that age without it were studied. All three factors--the mother's age, the daughter's birth order and whether or not she was breast-fed--were given consideration for the study.

Women who were not breast-fed, reduced cancer risk was noted when the mother was older. Birth order did not affect this group, while in those who were breast-fed group it was noted women with three or more older siblings had a lesser chance of getting breast cancer than first-born women. As is the result with most research, more study is needed.

I've recently seen some version of the study linking weight loss to the amount of sleep moms get in at least five different places, and it kind of makes me want to cry a little. If I'm getting six hours of sleep, I call it a good night.

I mean, really, when was the last time you got eight hours of solid, uninterrupted sleep? Maybe it's just me, but I can't seem to make that happen, even on a good night when my 3 year old goes down like a dream (which is never) and my to-do list isn't two miles long (also never.)

I have three jobs: my full time day job, writing here, and full time parenting. In other words, when some people's day ends after the kiddo is finally in bed and the laundry is going, mine is just starting. Apparently this isn't good for my overall physique, or my mental health, but I can't even begin to fathom how to do things differently so that I could sneak in another hour of sleep here or there.

Even when I go to bed early, or perhaps more accurately, especially when I go to bed early I can't fall asleep. Instead I lie in bed, my brain going at a million miles an hour, worrying that I'll forget to do something, or strategizing about how I'll get it all done.

And I can't take any comfort in a recent poll by the National Sleep foundation, that found that half the nation reports having frequent insomnia, because it seems that the drug companies who market sleep medications are behind it.

But I am curious--misery loves company after all-- how much sleep do you get every night, really?

Back when my daughter was in high school, she went through a school-skipping phase. Blissfully unaware, I would send her off to class and she would immediately head in the other direction. This situation was brought to my attention by the helpful folks in the truancy office, who informed me that if she didn't get her butt into class, they would arrest me! Fortunately things didn't go that far and nobody went to jail.

But for a father in Fairfield, Ohio, his wayward daughter's refusal to complete her education did land him in jail. Brian Gegner is serving a six-month sentence because his daughter Brittany failed to get her General Equivalency Diploma (GED) after dropping out of school. But here's the twist - Brittany is 18-years-old and a legal adult.

Juvenile Court Judge David Niehaus ordered Gegner to jail on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor because he failed to follow a previous court order requiring him to ensure his daughter got her GED. Court administrators admit this type of punishment is rare, but say that despite the fact that Brittany is an adult now, her case remains active because she was a juvenile when the problems began.

You probably know a little something about the old school pregnancy test devised in the 1920's. A woman's urine was injected into an immature mouse, rat, frog or rabbit. If the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) was present, the animal would go into premature heat. Unfortunately, the only way to confirm the result was to dissect the animal. This is the source of the euphemism "the rabbit died", but in reality the rabbit (or frog, mouse, rat) was always destroyed after the test.

This hormone testing on animals is pretty well known, but did you ever wonder how pregnancy tests were performed in ancient times? Me either, but Mental Floss has an interesting article on the subject. Ancient Egyptian women were doing the equivalent of peeing on a stick long before EPT modernized the idea. The sticks were actually wheat and barley stalks and the diagnosis was made by seeing which one grew. If the wheat grew, you were having a girl. If the barley grew, you were having a boy. If nothing grew, you needed to go back try, try again. (A 1963 study found this method to be 70% accurate!)

Pee was still key even in the Middle Ages. Sometimes prophets could tell just by looking at it (clear pale lemon color leaning toward off-white, having a cloud on its surface) or by mixing it with wine and looking for certain reactions. My favorite method, however, has to be the peeing on a ribbon and burning it. If the smell made the woman nauseous, she was likely feeling nauseous for two.

Today, we are still peeing on things to find out if we're pregnant, but we have sure come a long way. We can do it ourselves in the privacy of our own homes and best of all, no animals need give their lives for the cause.

MSN is reporting, as they and many other media outlets before them have been since Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had their first offspring, that the TomKat super couple is planning another baby. this will be at least the fifth time I've read such a thing, which in my mind is really nothing more than speculation.

Not so, says a source who revealed all to E News: "[Katie] said she's got "the itch." I don't think they mean poison ivy. Apparently Mrs. Cruise is longing for another infant in the house. The insider also said Katie felt Suri would make a good big sister. It is alleged that Katie was the one who wanted to hold off on having more children, not Tom--until now.

All eyes are once again on Katie's stomach--did she eat a sandwich? Is she having a fat day?? Is she--OMG, pregnant??? Not that those eyes ever left her stomach in the first place. Well, if they are in the planning phases of having a new baby, good luck, Cruises! Hopefully they'll be able to keep things under wraps until they're ready to share such news with the world...and the paparazzi!

Pic of Katie pre-TomKat by mricon.

Many intelligent, enterprising and otherwise employable women choose to stay out of the workplace in order to be home with their children. But the desire to supplement the family income and perhaps have a life beyond the children, has led generations of stay-at-home-moms to turn to home-based businesses.

Beginning with Tupperware parties in the 1950's, the strategy of bringing women together to buy and sell in a social atmosphere has proved very successful. These days, I regularly receive invitations to product parties for everything from adult toys to candles to cookware. And now the newest party idea on the scene is gold parties.

It's the same concept, but with a twist. Instead of buying plastic bowls or fur-lined handcuffs, guests arrive at gold parties with pockets full of gold, ready to sell. As the price of gold nears $1000 an ounce, there is money to be made on what might otherwise just be cluttering up your jewelry box.

Of course, the real money is in hosting the parties. There are businesses who will sell you a kit that includes everything you need to confidently buy gold - a gold karat-testing machine, a scale, a jeweler's loupe and a how-to book. Once you've purchased the gold from your party guests, you then turn around and sell it for even more to a refinery.

I think it's a great idea and hope someone invites me to a gold party soon. Sure, I might make a little more money cutting out the middlewoman and selling directly to the refinery myself. But I am not likely to take the initiative and do that. Besides, I don't want to miss the party.

When the time comes for a child to leave home and go out into the world, many parents find they don't quite know what to do with themselves. To ease the loneliness of an empty nest, some parents might get a dog, begin traveling more or sell the house and downsize. A dad in Utah found an even better way to keep himself occupied and to stay connected to his law school bound son: he went to school with him.

58-year-old Tom McLelland says he had been thinking about getting a law degree for years and decided to go for it when his son Ryan enrolled in Ohio Northern University. Some young adults might not appreciate having dad along for the ride when going away to school, but Ryan saw it as a plus. "We could help each other a lot better," he said.

The pair graduated together this past Sunday and have plans to return to their home state of Utah to open a practice together. Tom hopes to work in labor and employment law while Ryan, who is a father himself, plans to focus on family law.

"I'm a little nervous," Tom said. "I'm looking forward to a new challenge in life."

With my due date now only one day away, I am looking forward to the labor and delivery of this baby, my fifth, with an entirely different energy and perspective.

For one, this pregnancy has been different. Physically, the last nine months have been harder than prior pregnancies. More kids to take care of, less rest, and a heavier belly due to weaker, older abdominal muscles.

On the other hand, the familiarity of it all has also made it easier. With the exception of a few splurges at an overpriced children's boutique and a new Boppy pillow cover, I haven't had to buy anything. No stressing over strollers, infant carriers, or nursery paint colors. My preparations have consisted of washing linens and baby clothes from my "newborn girl" bin in the basement and a trip to Wal-Mart for diapers and wipes.

Have plans for Wednesday, May 21st? Well, even if you do, if you happen to be pregnant, make sure you stop by Baskin Robbins. They're offering those expecting a new addition a taste of their own new addition--soft serve.

Now, you may say Baskin Robbins offering soft serve is pure ice cream blasphemy, but, if you're pregnant (and having a craving for ice cream, with or without the pickles) you can enjoy a free three ounce serving of the new soft serve from 11:00 AM until 10:00 PM. My advice? Locate the various Baskin Robbins stores around you and hit them all.

Unfortunately, the offer is limited to those lucky gals in California, Chicago, New York, Nashville and El Paso. if you don't happen to be located in one of those locations, you have two options:

1. Hop on the next train or plain and get yourself there to satisfy your desire for soft serve.

2. Consider that your OBGYN would probably say ice cream isn't good for you anyway.

I happen to be pregnant, located in New York, and a supreme lover of Baskin Robbins. So if you're looking for me on May 21st, you know where to find me.

Young and pregnant for the first time back in 1992, I picked up "What to Expect When You're Expecting" because pregnancy literature was pretty sparse and blogs had yet to be invented.

Predictably, I spent the remainder of that pregnancy freaking out over what that I should and should not be eating and that every twinge was a sign of a Rare but Potentially Fatal Badness due to something I had or had not done. The "Best Odds Diet" (which should have been called "The Best Odds for Making You Insane Diet") was a total bust for me. During pregnancy was NOT the time for me to give up all refined sugar and flour so I just ate whatever and then felt bad about it.

Even the cover of the book was disturbing. An illustrated pregnant woman in a huge mauve tent dress and wearing ugly, but sensible shoes sat in a rocker looking pained (or gassy) while reading a book. (Perhaps she just read that in rare instances, the shrimp she had in her salad at lunch can cause children to be born with cloven hooves and horns?)

The other day I found myself wandering the aisles of Babies R' Us looking for a few small items for my almost-toddler aged son. I was surrounded by hundreds--no, thousands--of items, and by nearly as many bewildered parents-to-be, all of them searching for just the right...everything!

Seems like first time parents have a really hard time making sense of what they really need, what can wait, and what is fad or just plain silly (see, in my opinion, wipe warmers). The second time around, though, it should be easier to figure out what you need, right?

And, what's moreso, you should already have all the stuff, or at least most of it, right? Here is the thing, though--well, several of them:

1. People tend to get rid of stuff, whether or not they need it.

2. Even if they do have the space to store baby items, it's entirely possible the old version will be covered with baby much OR, what's worse, the item will be declared unsafe or find itself recalled.

3. Some people really have an issue with using the same items--sheets, blankets, clothes--for children of the opposite sex. Not many of us really have that much green or yellow baby clothing. And bedding and that sort of thing tend to be very specific toward one sex or the other.

Adventure Moms is a group of mothers. Sure, there are tons of mommy groups out there, organizing playdates, taking stroller walks around the local mall, discussing the latest parenting books. This one, however, is different. The group plans less traditional mommy outings such as rock climbing, sea kayaking, and fencing.

Naturally, they leave the kids at home for these activities. "Having kids is an adventure in itself," said thirty-nine-year-old Jenn Keohane, a mother of two. "It's so all-consuming, you lose a part of yourself, the person you used to be before you had them. By the time my kids got out of the baby phase, I realized something was missing." The group, she added, "enabled me to get back a little of what I used to have. Even though it's only half a day once a month."

Mind you, everything on their list is either something I've enjoyed doing in the past or would love to do. Alas, since having kids, such opportunities are few and far between. If you're in the same boat, perhaps you should consider starting a similar group in your area. And if anyone wants to start an Adventure Dads group, by all means, let me know.

Hey, it's Mother's Day. Just because you're not a mommy yet doesn't mean you shouldn't take care of yourself like one. I can tell you from past experience, how you treat yourself while you're pregnant will very much impact how you take care of yourself (or don't) when you're a mom. And, take it from me, it's important to do both. It will make you a happier person and probably a better mom to do so.

MSN offers several keen suggestions for moms to be to make it through the day and keep on track. even if you're not a mom to be, and are already a mom (or not!) I think there is something in this list of suggestions that would benefit us all. So, if you have time after your Mother's Day brunch, check out these tips and see which ones you might like to give a whirl.

I myself am partial to the one regarding taking naps at lunch. I don't know how well this would fly at my office or anyone else's, but if you have the ability, I say go for it. Sleep during pregnancy is of the utmost importance. After you become a mom, it's downright essential. And it seems none of us parents ever gets enough. Heaven forbid those of us without TiVo stay up late enough to watch the latest episode of Lost!

Generally speaking, moms have a lot of power at home. Some moms, however, wield a lot of power outside the home too, and that takes a lot of effort and determination. Dana over at Mombian has compiled a list of the most powerful lesbian moms in America. These are women who are not only caring for their kids, but are also making a difference in the world.

The list includes a lot of women we hear about all the time -- Melissa Etheridge, Mary Cheney, Rosie O'Donnell -- as well as some you might not have heard of at all -- Lisa Brummel (senior vice president for human resources at Microsoft), Megan Smith (vice president of new business development at Google), and Karla Drenner (Georgia State Representative).

Of course, everyone's definition of power is different, but I think we can all agree that these are women who are definitely higher up on the ladder than most. And if that weren't enough, they're also all moms -- probably the most challenging and difficult job on the planet. Cheers to all of them!

Sadly, there appears to be a dearth of movies that feature female leads at all, let alone mothers, except, perhaps, on the Lifetime channel. As XKCD points out, the ratio of male-to-female lead roles is definitely out of whack. Can you think of a big-budget film with a female lead (where the female wasn't just a love interest)? Sure, there's Tomb Raider and The Devil Wears Prada, but for every movie like that, there are literally dozens -- if not hundreds -- of movies with male leads.

Now consider the plight of the mother in Hollywood. Or, rather, lack thereof. Moms seem to be just an afterthought. Someone to give context to the male lead's homelife. Frankly, that kind of sucks. Still, I was able to come up with some maternal movies for Mother's day. Take a look at my list and then see if you can add any more in the comments.