By the age of 43, Jamie Rhein of Columbus, Ohio, thought it was unlikely she'd have a baby. "I had never gotten pregnant," says Rhein, whose adopted daughter was then 9. "My husband and I had been going our merry way with unprotected sex for years." But when Rhein started craving Whopper Jrs., she knew something was up. At an age when many women were parenting teens, she was preparing for a newborn. "I went from shock to being pleased with the idea," says Rhein, now 49. After her son was born, Rhein discovered that her age gave her an outlook on mothering that she probably wouldn't have had if she were younger. "I don't worry about being the best mother in the world," she says. "I'm able to just enjoy him for who he is. I'm just glad he's here and I'm having this experience." Midlife baby boom Record numbers of women over 40 are having babies. In 2005, their birth rate was 9.7 per 1,000, compared with just 3.8...

Planning to breastfeed your baby? You should. Nothing compares to the intimate moments between a mother and her nursing child, and nothing—nothing—helps a baby get off to a healthier start in life. Hundreds of studies have proved the short- and long-term benefits of nursing: It decreases the incidence not only of diarrhea, ear infections and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in babies, but also of diabetes, obesity, asthma, leukemia, bacterial meningitis and even some forms of lymphoma later in life. What’s more, research has shown that premature babies who are fed breast milk...

When I found out I was expecting my first child, my friend Leslie was about to give birth. "Are you ready?" I asked her. "Yes and no," she said. "I have 21 onesies and footie things, so yes. But I have no idea how to raise a child, so no." It was the most honest answer I'd ever heard. None of us ever feels truly ready to become a mother, no matter how full the changing-table drawers, how tall the tower of reading material on our bedside table. So we turn to each other. It was Leslie who told me which nursing pads to buy, and Kadi who reassured me it was OK for...

There are things nobody tells you: That your belly will itch so much it feels like the prickle is on the inside. That when traffic makes your husband an hour late, you'll have the phone in hand ready to call the police, absolutely positive that he's become a paraplegic in a five-car pileup. That your "morning" sickness will happen at night and last for more than six stomach-churning months, and your husband's breath will smell like rotting meat. Then you'll do a Google search or pick up The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy and realize that the warnings were there all...

If you’re like many pregnant women, you vowed to eat healthier the minute you found out you were expecting. You may even have started making a mental list of nutritional do’s and don’ts: Eat more calcium-rich foods, get more protein and cut out the caffeine and junk food. Good thing: Developing healthy eating habits now will set the stage for your baby to grow into a strong child and adult, as well as ultimately reduce his risk for certain diseases. In fact, scientific research increasingly shows that a prenatal diet rich in nutrient-dense foods is key in preventing heart disease...