With massages, special yoga sessions, and concierge services available to them, being a pregnant lady in this day and age doesn’t seem like it would be that bad. And mothers-to-be are catching on that it’s wise to pamper yourself while you’re pregnant, because once you give birth, there will be no pampering, only sleepless nights. Nearly 60 percent of couples surveyed said they went on a “babymoon” before becoming parents, according to a 2005 online poll sponsored by Liberty Travel and BabyCenter.com, and some food-delivery services bring fresh meals to pregnant women’s doorsteps to ensure they’re getting the nutrients they need without having to weave a cart through a crowded grocery store. However, none of this pre-baby pampering seems to help once the baby comes out: “The arrival of a baby is a shock to anyone’s system, regardless of the amount of pampering they engaged in pre-baby,” psychologist Deborah Roth Ledley said. [CNN]

Baby Mama star Amy Poehler and her husband Will Arnett are expecting their first child. The only sucky thing about this is that Amy will probably have to take off SNL for maternity leave and the show won’t be as funny. Mazel Tov nonetheless! [Us Weekly]

While we might joke that chocolate is a lifesaver, but it actually is! A new study from Yale University found that pregnant women who eat chocolate every day dramatically reduce the risk of preeclampsia, a disorder that raises a pregnant woman’s blood pressure, causes premature births, and can result in death. But there’s also hope for those without a bun in the oven—the treats contain theobromine, which helps with persistent coughing. Hacking up a lung never sounded so sweet! [Daily Mail]

According to Us Weekly, that is. Isn’t it amazing how so many people in Hollywood can’t seem to figure out how to put on a condom properly? Papa Joe must be freaking out.

UPDATE: Pete Wentz is denying that his fiancee is knocked up, saying, “There is a witch hunt for people to be pregnant whenever they get engaged in Hollywood. This is all news to me. I can’t wait for the story about how I’m really in a gay relationship and this is all just a cover. … I mean really, this is crazy. … I mean were engaged, that’s true, and happy about it.” [Perez Hilton]

Uh, I think I might be pregnant. What are the earliest signs of pregnancy? How soon after conception will a home pregnancy test work?—Bun In The Oven?, Burlington, VT

The # 1 sign of pregnancy is a missed period. It might sound super obvious, but unless women are on the pill they can sometimes miscalculate their period and not recognize when they’re late. Other early symptoms include breast tenderness, darker areolas, morning sickness (aka vomiting or nausea), strong aversions to smells and foods, general fatigue, low back pain, constipation, and frequent urination.

As if we already didn’t know that famous people are allergic to birth control and condoms, the New York Daily News is reporting that Beyonce may be pregnant with Jay-Z’s love child and that may explain why they rushed to wed this past weekend. B’s sister Solange famously did the same when she married her now ex-hubby after she got knocked up. Fertile ovaries run in the family! [NY Daily News]

A few weeks ago we wrote about Thomas Bettie, the Female-to-Male transgender man who’s currently six months pregnant. Yesterday, as the news of Thomas’ pregnancy spread like wildfire through the media (initially his story was reported in The Advocate, which everyone seems to be forgetting in lieu of the fact that People has jumped on it), he appeared on Oprah with his wife Nancy. It was kind of an awkward interview, honestly, because the audience had no warning and appeared flabbergasted the whole time, while Thomas and Nancy are clearly not media whores—they just want to get their story out into the public so they can go on with their lives, without scrutiny. I really do think this story is wonderful and phenomenal and give so much credit to Thomas and Nancy for being brave and telling their remarkable story. Oh, and as a side note, I totally think Thomas makes for a pretty good-lookin’ dude, but he was really hot as a woman too. Clip above.

It was like out of a dirty dream: I was lying on my back on a stainless steel table completely naked when the door opened. Owen Wilson walked in with a large white sexy toy looking thing, wearing a lab coat. He looked so hot I could barely stand it.  As he walked near me he started to talk…

“Hi Kate, my name is Dr. D.”

Oh that’s right. No, I am not lucky enough to be having a sexual role-play encounter with Owen Wilson. I am pregnant and seeing my OB/GYN (who happens to look and talk just like the You, Me, and Dupree star) for the first time. A girl can dream though right?  Especially when the reality is as unexpected and bizarre as any nighttime mind wanderings.

Dr. D explained to me why he was holding what appeared to be a massive sex toy; it was an internal ultrasound machine, which would allow him…me…to see the baby. As my lady parts (the parts…the position, that got me in this situation in the first place!) were being poked and prodded, I began to contemplate how the hell I got here.

A natural birth control method that involves keeping track of your cycle with a set of beads and abstaining from sex from day 8 to 19 was shown to be nearly as effective (when used properly) as the Pill and more effective than the diaphragm or condoms, according to a study of 1,646 women in six different countries. We’re kind of skeptical though, because there were 14.1 pregnancies for every 100 women per year in the study. The main reason the women got pregnant, the researchers found, was that couples knowingly took a risk and had sex on fertile days. Ya think? Being forbidden from having sex 11 days out of every month is probably one of the best aphrodisiacs out there. [Reuters]

Speaking of babies, here’s a story far more amazing than J.Lo finally giving birth to twins. As Elle mentioned in The Frisky Forums, The Advocate has a first person essay by the first transgender man to carry a child. Thomas Beatie was born a woman and is married to Nancy. Though he went through sexual reassignment surgery, Thomas didn’t opt to be sterilized and kept his reproductive rights. Together for ten years, the couple had always wanted to have children, but Nancy is unable to conceive after a hysterectomy 20 years ago, so Thomas decided to carry the child himself. He hadn’t had a menstrual cycle in nearly eight years, however (due to testosterone therapy), so getting pregnant required fertility treatments—his first pregnancy resulted in an ectopic pregnancy with triplets, a life-threatening condition that required surgery and all three embryos were lost. Thomas successfully got pregnant again, and this time everything seems healthy—he and Nancy are expecting their baby girl this summer.

The story is an interesting one for many reasons, particularly because it describes the experience of a man experiencing pregnancy. While Thomas’ ability to get pregnant is possible because he was born a woman, he identifies as a male and therefore, “Wanting to have a biological child is neither a male nor female desire, but a human desire.” It’s a great essay—check it out and then chime in about the story in the forums. [The Advocate]

You’d think that all of the studies about the effects of drinking, smoking, and doing drugs while pregnant would make women cease partying for nine months at the very least. Who wants their child to be born with fetal alcohol syndrome or a heroin addiction? Well, apparently some women are okay with taking the risk. A University of Washington study found that 77 percent of women cigarette smokers and 50 percent of women marijuana smokers used those substances at some time during their pregnancy. Part of the problem is that men’s levels of drinking, smoking, and marijuana use remain stable before, during, and after pregnancy. So, when the aromatic smell of pot is in the air, you forget that you’re with child? [Newswise]