In a series of columns, we at Mommy's ER would like to share the gifts of pregnant exercise with any mamas-to-be and aspiring mamas-to-be who also wouldn't mind a bit of sweet relief from the trials involved in the truly miraculous process of growing a family.

Like any exercise routine, assess intuitvely and together with your caregivers what will work best for your body based on your pre-pregnancy levels of fitness and symptoms. That said, what we present here should be gentle enough for most pregnant women in their second trimester and beyond...

You have "Aided your Digestion", now here are some great poses in our Pregnancy Yoga series for Heartburn:

Pregnancy Yoga Poses that Help with Heartburn

Baby Amyas is now 15 weeks old...so when my assistant Maddie asked me if I'd like to profile our natural nursery for a blog post, it was a safe -- and completely inaccurate -- assumption that our nursery was set up and ready to go. I call myself a marsupial mama, in the sense that I co-sleep with my little one, and carry him around everywhere I can. Translation: our master bedroom is the functioning nursery of the house for now.

Introducing Mommy's ER very own, Amyas Richard Crain, born at home November 1st, now 15 weeks old!

Well, my pregnancy is over (I guiltlessly say thank goodness!), and now I'm blessed with the most gorgeous little boy that I have ever seen, the stuff of mama urban legends -- one who wakes up smiling, nurses easily and gratefully!, and sleeps soundly -- most of the time. With this blessing, I would have thought that the memories of the 39 weeks it took to bring him into the world would have faded into a misty memory rather than a salient experience of morning sickness suffering... and it has -- like most mamas, I would gladly suffer it all again (but please, dear universe, not yet :)). Feeling healthy again has also given me the opportunity to look back and assess what got me through when most of my favorite remedies had failed.

Dear other pregos-on-the-go out there (or preggie mamas who used to be on the go, but whose babies are now telling them to stay put):

I just found out about the best pregnancy news ever today. In my world, which is now inundated with fears of health complications to watch out for, products to avoid (I’m still pouting about sushi), and hormones that are predisposed to latch onto any and all worries that I might deem remotely and sometimes not-at-all reasonable, good news is something to shout from the rooftops.

As I officially enter the 18th week of pregnancy morning sickness (otherwise known as ‘I’d pray for swift death to take me if it weren’t for the miracle waiting on the other side of 20ish more weeks’), I sadly report that the typical first trimester ills haven’t left me completely. I watched week 11 and 12 come and go as the end of the first trimester. Nothing. Then I read articles that led me to believe that week 14 was the miracle week where the baby’s placenta starts producing hormones that no longer would then be flooding my own blood stream. It got worse this week. Then my midwife reassured me that spikes happen -- from which I naively and self-servingly inferred that on the other side of the spike would be sweet relief.

My assistant extraordinaire Maddie never stops finding great mama tips -- even as she’s getting her hair cut. This week, she was talking to Charlotte, at Maison d'Etoile, about how kids can have healthy hair and scalp. Here are her notes:

Does your little one have a scaly scalp or sores?  This can be helped by taking extra time rinsing your child's hair.  Making sure all of the soap is out.  Taking a break from shampooing.  If you wash your child's hair every day or every other, try every three or four days.  During a bath or shower have their hair rinsed.

Dear readers, I’m pregnant again. I wish I were saying this to elicit congratulations and by way of launching a new column about pregnancy -- and I am, at least, doing the latter, but the truth is, I also have been pretty miserable. The good news with morning sickness is that it can indicate that your body is producing the natural and necessary hormones for a healthy pregnancy. There’s an adage I’ve heard, “sick mama, healthy baby” and I’m not sure I agree entirely, but I do cling to it when I’m sick and can’t sleep at 1am. That’s about it for the good news.

Well, it’s Spring, and for a nice change of pace, nothing seems to be ‘going around’ these days among school or neighborhood friends. Everyone’s healthy and enjoying our newfound flowers and gorgeous 75 degree weather (to my friends and readers in colder parts, I apologize for my insensitivity and promise, it’s coming...) Still, when seasons transition is always a good time to boost immunity, so that our children’s little bodies are ready for the weather and dietary changes that naturally come with the shift. Here are my favorite immune boosting tips, to be used during any time of travel, climate change, or when something seems to be ‘going around’, in hopes that we can all look forward to a happy and healthy Springtime.

1. Wash hands, and wash hands again.

Ugh, today I got lazy -- and failed. I offered my son another English muffin (homemade this time, but this gets a big ‘who-cares’ from most little ones I know -- if it isn’t delicious, they aren’t impressed by elemental cooking). In any case, it was another English muffin, with nut butter -- strike that -- I was in a hurry and just threw on some fruit jam, which at that moment was easier to find, and cut a couple of slices of pear -- strike that too, my husband did it.... And we threw it all in the car instead of sitting down as we’ve been doing throughout this challenge. So, in total, a complete disaster. In the end, my tired son, already feeling ornery and slightly rebellious about going back to school after Spring Break, took one look at breakfast on a paper towel, and disdainfully shut his lips tight and glared at me as though I had just demanded he drink down battery acid.