I just read a quick little piece in a copy of American Baby Magazine and according to a recent study conducted by Yale University scientists... pregnant women should be eating chocolate regularly. Women that had at minimum five servings of chocolate per week were 40& less likely to develop preeclampsia!

Of course it's also important that regular exercise accompany a regular chocolate regiment.

I'll be sure to keep chocolate (especially dark chocolate) on my list of foods when I'm preggers.

What about you... did you eat chocolate regularly during pregnancy?

This morning The Today Show talked about the potential dangerous that eating nuts during pregnancy can pose. Take a look at the video. What do you think? Did you eat nuts during your pregnancy? The second half of the video is about the rise in melanoma in our country.

It's FREE Slurpee day at 7-Eleven stores across the country. 7-Eleven's participating stores give away FREE 7.11 ounce Slurpee drinks on July 11th... the birthday of 7/11. Today the store is 81 years young. So if you, your kids or both need a sugar high today... you can get it for free at your local 7-Eleven.

I've never heard of pre-pregnancy food cravings... but when I saw this ice cream treat on Wal-Mart's website I immediately had the urge to get the ingredients and make it. It's made with lots of berries, vanilla ice cream and whip cream! The best part? No baking required. My kind of treat!

I stopped by the grocery store yesterday and got everything I need... I'll be fixing this up for family and friends on the 4th!

Here's the recipe from Walmart.com:

- 2 Containers Breyers® All Natural Chocolate Ice Cream and/or Breyers® All Natural Vanilla Ice Cream
- 4 Cups assorted sliced fresh fruit
- 1 Can (7 oz.) whipped cream or 2 cups thawed frozen whipped topping
- 50 Fresh blueberries
- 2 Pints strawberries, sliced or raspberries

Click here to get the directions and nutritional information. (180 calories per serving)

I recently read an article from Shine (Yahoo's female friendly site) that I thought all you mamas and mamas-to-be would be interested in. According to the article "Are your late night snacks killing your sexual appetite?"... your late night snacks really could be. A recent study showed that "one third of people asked said that they are too tired for sex or felt bloated after eating unhealthy foods at the wrong times." (The Sun)

Now if you are trying to make a baby... you don't want anything to derail your plan... especially not a "yucky" late night snack (think chili cheese fries, fried tomatoes and Doritos) that makes you want to hide beneath the sheets and grown yourself to sleep.

Check out the entire Shine article for a list of Do's and Don'ts. My fav "Do" from the list? "Not all carbs are mood killers". Finally something positive about my long lost friends, carbs.

Maybe you're already preggers, or breastfeeding, or you're like me TTC and starting to "wean" yourself off of the alcoholic drinks. To be honest I'm not much of a drinker anyway... one cocktail and I am done (always a cheap date for the hubby). I do love a nice glass of wine on the weekends but even that I am starting to set aside for water and iced tea. Not wanting to take chances in case I am pregnant and wanting to "wean" myself off of the weekend wine in the mean time.

Now if you're a mama that's craving that fab taste of a freshly made summertime cocktail... I found an article from Yahoo's Shine today that you're gonna wanna read... "Five Great Ideas for Making... Mocktails?" There are five links at the bottom of the article to five recipes for mocktails; Lemon Verbena Soda, Placebo, Lavender Lemonade, Citrus Cream, Lime Rickey.

If it won't shock the guests at your summer BBQ give it a shot! (Figuratively not literally of course). If you decide to try one of the five mocktails, or you've got a recipe of your own... let me know all about it. Write in the comments or email me at thebabymamablog@gmail.com. I'll put your recipe or your reaction in an upcoming post.