Trust this two time mom when I say that once your kids are here, especially the second one or afterwards, you're not going to have a lot of time to work on scrapbooks, baby books or baby albums. I decided to do a handwritten journal for my two, figuring it would be easier. Neither of them has been written in since 2003, although I keep them on my nightstand, every night thinking, "I'll update them tomorrow."

Why not start a pregnancy scrapbook? If you're totally swamped once he or she is here, at least your baby will have mementos from this special time in your life. It doesn't have to be one of those huge projects that make you feel guilty. You can find a simple predesigned scrapbook at a craft store that only requires you to put down pictures and stickers, or you can do it the old-fashioned way and use a plain photo album, making your own tags in your word processor. Substance, in this case, is preferable to style.

Items to include in the pregnancy scrapbook include sonogram photos, cards from your baby shower, e-mails announcing you're pregnant to faraway family and friends, printouts of baby names and photos of your baby bump from month to month. Be creative! Anything that has meaning to you goes, although the actual EPT pregnancy test probably won't fit in the pages of your book.

Try to keep things roughly chronological, which you can do by putting an item in the day you decide to use it. That keeps the whole thing from getting out of hand. Buy the book and do the first page the day you get home from the sonogram appointment, adding each item as you acquire them.

Finally, finish up with a page full of predictions for your baby from your friends and family. These are delightful to read later as your child grows up. Everyone predicted my first daughter would someday be an ace left-handed pitcher for the Yankees, and I still think she might achieve that goal, except for the left-handed part!

Setting up a nursery is one of the more fun tasks facing first time parents, but if you've never hung out with babies before, the variety of baby-themed products on the market can be overwhelming. Here's a short guide to what you really need and what you can do without, even if your nursery is just a corner of your one-bedroom apartment.

1. A Crib
Though we all have heard stories of older relatives who were surprise babies and slept in a drawer (or maybe it's just my weird family), a crib is an absolute essential. Whether you're buying a crib new, borrowing from a friend or purchasing from a consignment store -- safety features are essential.

When purchasing bedding for the crib, make sure to order extra-deep sheets. The safety factor makes the extra cost worthwhile. Non-deep sheets can slide off the bed and become a strangulation hazard.

2. A Changing Table
This can be a fancy model from a catalog, or it can be as simple as a changing pad placed on the floor with a basket next to it for changing essentials, like diapers, wipes and ointment. Wipe warmers are NOT essential, but a trash bin to put soiled diapers in is essential. In my experience Diaper Genies and the like are more trouble than they're worth and just end up smelling horrible. You're better off with a regular trash can with a tight fitting lid, but most times you're going to want to take the bag with the dirty diaper out immediately.

3. A Comfortable Chair
Gliders are excellent for this purpose, but any soft chair where you can snuggle with the baby will do. Whether you're nursing or bottle-feeding, you'll get up several times in the middle of the night in the beginning, and you need a place where it won't hurt if you fall asleep!

4. A Baby Monitor
When my second daughter was born, she had the lungs of an opera singer, and my house was compact and vertical so you could hear a voice from any room in it. Even still, the baby monitor came in handy for when I was outside getting groceries out of the car or down in the basement doing laundry. This is something you can borrow from a friend as long as it's in working order.

The rules for a healthy pregnancy have changed a lot over the years. I discussed this with a friend who's old enough to be my mother once, and she said that during her pregnancy her doctor's advice was diet pills to keep her weight down and a cocktail every night so she remained calm! (In case you're worried she only had one child and that one turned out to be fine, thank goodness.)

These days the rules can pretty much be summed up with the word "No." No drinking and no smoking are obvious, but books like "What To Expect When You're Expecting" will have you believe it's not okay to ingest anything but wheatgrass toast. If you can handle that, fine, but some of us have health issues that need to be managed even during pregnancy. Here's a quick guide to how to deal with them.

This is going to sound obvious, but call your doctor to check before taking any over-the-counter medication (if he or she isn't available, and you need to know right away, a local pharmacist is a good resource.) There are things some of us take without thinking twice, like cold medicine or pain relievers, which could be dangerous to the baby. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is fine, but aspirin and ibuprofen (Advil) aren't. Antihistamines (Benadryl) are okay but decongestants (Sudafed) aren't, and the jury's still out on cough suppressants. And don't forget to check with your doctor again after the baby is born if you're nursing. There's a difference in what's absorbed by the baby before she's born, and what's excreted in breast milk, so don't assume anything.

With prescription medication, don't forget to inform your other doctors of the pregnancy. For example, if you're taking antidepressants, Paxil isn't good for the baby but Prozac is okay Work with both doctors to find the right replacement.

Finally, be careful with medication substitutes like herbs, dietary supplements and teas. Some of these products are VERY dangerous to fetuses, even to the point of inducing miscarriages, so it's best to check with your doctor before taking any such thing.

Tomorrow is my firstborn's 10th birthday! In honor of our happy memories, the topic of this post is how to recognize you're in labor the first time around! Believe it or not, it's not always immediately apparent, especially if you've never been through it, but there are some clues that it's on its way. This post is in honor of the birthday girl, Miranda.

The Nesting Instinct
Books like "What to Expect" describe the nesting instinct as an overwhelming urge to clean your house, paint the walls, etc. That's true, but it can manifest itself in different ways if cleaning and painting aren't in your vocabulary. Basically it's a burst of sudden energy at the very end of pregnancy that gets channeled into preparing for the baby in some way.

I am a huge shopper. The afternoon I went into labor, my husband was with a coworker who has five kids. Over the phone I told my husband I hadn't found the right bassinet for the baby but had driven to five separate counties looking for it and planned on visiting three more. After I hung up, he conferred with the experienced dad, who correctly told him, "Go home early, you'll be at the hospital by midnight."

Minor Back Pains or "Gas"
Labor doesn't start as immediate excruciating pain (and even when it gets excruciating, you have periods of rest in between). The night of my labor, I had a very minor, dull backache - not really even distinguishable from the usual pregnancy backache. (With my second daughter, I had what I thought was gas.) It wasn't even noticeable enough to alarm me, but I lay down on the floor while watching TV to relieve some pain. When my husband asked me what I was doing, I said, "I have a small backache and it's nothing more than a nuisance but it comes and goes." It was only when he made me time my "backaches" that I realized they were exactly six minutes apart. He made me call the doctor, who said, "Mother to be, come on down!"

Being pregnant doesn't mean you have to stay home for nine months with your feet up on the couch. If you're an executive experiencing her first pregnancy, you won't want to call off the annual sales meeting in Mazatlan due to morning sickness, and if you're a stay-at-home mom with number three on the way, numbers one and two aren't going to want to see Disney World over Columbus Day weekend any less. With a few precautions, though, travel during pregnancy can be both safe and comfortable.

The easiest time to travel during pregnancy, like the easiest time to do most things during pregnancy, is the second trimester, when you are feeling great, but travel can occur during the other trimesters as well. (I took a long car trip during the first trimester of my second pregnancy while suffering from horrendous morning sickness and unexplained bleeding. It was doctor-approved and the micro-brewed ginger ale I picked up in South Carolina helped with the nausea, while the sight-seeing helped distract me from the worry.) Of course, air travel for women in their third trimester is not recommended unless it's absolutely necessary, but other than that, you can pretty much do as you please.

When travelling by car, bus, plane or train, limit the amount of travel time to six hours at a time and be sure to take walks or stretch periodically to keep your circulation stimulated. Travelling by sea is not recommended due to the potential for seasickness and the fact that anti-nausea medications may not be approved for use during pregnancy.

International travel is acceptable as well if your OB/GYN okays it, but be sure to make sure you're immunized properly before going and carry a copy of your health records with you in case of emergency. The potential for diarrhea in a foreign country is the worst concern for pregnant women; drinking bottled water, canned juices or soft drinks, avoiding raw fruits and vegetables, and making sure all dairy products are pasteurized will go a long way towards alleviating that concern.

Finally, dress comfortably in loose clothing made of natural fibers, wear comfortable shoes, and carry snack foods with you in order to keep your energy up and your nausea down.

comfortable shoes,