The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced its annual stats on births — there were about 3,958,000 babies born in the US in 2012. That’s about the same as 2011′s 3,953,593 babies. The fact that the birth rate hasn’t changed much from year to year is significant because the birth rate had been on decline from 2007 too 2011. Guess people are back to making babies!

So when are they doing it? The CDC says that the most popular birth month last year was August (362,000 babies) and the least popular was February (305,000). Maybe there’s something to the notion that people get to babymaking more when the weather’s cold.

What’s your due date or baby’s birth date? Have you noticed more friends having babies or fewer?

Plus, more from The Bump:

The US’s Scary Infant Mortality Rate

Countdown to Conception: A Three-Month Guide to Getting Pregnant

Join Your Birth Month Club!

New research published in the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s journal Fertility and Sterility has shed some inspiring light on egg-freezing success rates. The study, headed p by Kutluk Oktay, M.D., who specializes in preserving the fertility of female cancer patients, conducted a meta-analysis of ooctye cryopreservation cycles with individualized patient data to report the probability of live-birth from IVF cycles.

Most recently, egg freezing has become a common technique that enables women to preserve their fertility for medical or elective reasons. Until now, women who were undergoing oocyte cryopreservation (known as egg freezing) were not able to predict their chances of a life birth once the eggs were reimplanted.

However, Oktay and his team of researchers collected raw data from 10 previously published studies on egg freezing — which allowed them to acess what could be considered the world’s largest database on pregnancy outcomes after egg freezing — and were able to generate egg freezing success rates from more than 2,265 egg freezing cycles in more than 1,895 women in the United States and in Europe. From the groundbreaking data analysis, researchers were able to develop egg freezing success rates based on a woman’s age, the number of eggs frozen and the method of egg freezing.

LeAnn Rimes on Parenting, Fertility and the Possibility of a Surrogate — Us Weekly

Melissa Rycroft Dishes on Why Sunscreen is So Important — CelebrityBabyScoop

Delicious Gluten-Free Chicken Fingers Recipe — Elizabeth Street

Make Way for Hurricane Babies! Sandy Babies Will Arrive in June, July — MSN Living

Fashionable (and Comfortable!) Maternity Shoes for Every Mom-to-Be — Elizabeth Street

Chic Spring-Inspired Outfits Perfect for Your Babies — People Moms & Babies

14 Striped Maternity Looks You’ll Love — POPSUGAR Moms

New research appearing in the American Journal of Human Biology suggests that a woman’s reproductive functions may be tied to her immune status. While previous studies have found this same immune and reproductive association in men, this is the first time the association has been found in females.

Beginning by speaking of animals in general, Kathryn Clancy, anthropology professor at the University of Illinois who led the research, said that first and foremost, “an animals energetic resources must be carefully allocated. The body’s first priority is maintenance, which includes tasks inherently related to survival, including immune function.” From there, Clancy said, that any remaining energy is dedicated to reproduction. And due to a “resource allocation” to maintenance and reproductive efforts, often times environmental stressors can lessen the available resources.

In the case of human reproductive and immune system status, Clancy and her team of researchers studied healthy, premenopausal rural Polish women who participated in traditional farming practices. Researchers collected saliva samples and urine samples from each woman during the harvest season, when physical activity levels for each woman were at their highest. They found what previous studies had shown: the highest levels of ovarian suppression occurred during the harvest season due to the fact that the physical work constrains available energetic resources.

Researchers measured each participants’ salivary ovarian hormone levels daily over the course of one menstrual cycle and tested urine samples for levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), which is a common marker of inflammation. But researchers observed a negative relationship between CRP and progesterone in the Polish women: when CRP was high, progesterone was low. Clancy said, “Depending on the other factors that you look at alongside it, CRP can tell you about immune function or it can tell you about psychosocial stress, because CRP has been correlated to both of those things in other populations.” Researchers also found that estradiol and the age when a woman first started menstruating were the strongest predictors of CRP levels.

While Clancy noted that it is still too early on in the research to tell whether or  not these correlational relationships could indicate a causal relationship in which inflammation suppresses ovarian hormones, she does believe that there are two possible explanations for why these inflammations suppress ovarian hormones: “One is that there is an internal mechanism, and this local inflammation drives higher levels of CRP, and that is what’s correlating with the lower progesterone. The other possibility is that there is an external stressor like psychosocial or immune stress driving allocation to maintenance effort, which in turn is suppressing ovarian hormones.”

Clancy believes that her research will help women understand their bodies better — and understand why they reproduce when they do. “From an anthropological perspective,” she said, “these trade-offs are really important because they help us understand the timing of different life events: Why does someone hit puberty when they do, why do they begin reproducing when they do, why do they space babies the way they do? It’s really interesting to see the interplay between a person’s intentions about when and why to have children, and then their own body’s allocations to reproduction or not,” Clancy said.

What do you think of Clancy’s research? Is she right in thinking that our bodies reproduce due to harmony with our immune system?

Plus, more from The Bump:

8 Surprising Facts About Male Infertility

The Vitamins You’ll Need to Conceive

6 Ways to Tell You’re Fertile

Rachael Leigh Cook and Her Husband, Daniel Gillies, Expecting Baby Number 1! — CelebrityBabyScoop

Meet the 50 Most Powerful Moms of 2013 — Working Mother

Moms-to-Be Get Punky at the Met Gala — People Moms & Babies

Snooki Shares Her Baby Name Advice for Kim Kardashian — CelebrityBabyScoop

16 Kid-Friendly Mother’s Day Recipes Your Kids Will Love Making! — POPSUGAR Moms

15 Things Moms Overshare on Facebook — MSN Living

Khloe Kardashian Wants Everyone to Stop Asking About Her Fertility — Us Weekly

60 Fun Ways to Feed Your Kids — POPSUGAR Moms

Fungus Found in Capri Sun: What You Need to Know — MSN Living

There are probably no good two things that go together like motherhood and antibacterial soap. Seriously! Moms (and dads and grandparents and babysitters) use the germ-killer to take care of just about everything in the home and in the kitchen.  In the past, we never had to think twice about using it on our hands after holding on to a staircase in a public place, or giving our kids’ hands a quick rinse after an afternoon at the park. Until now, that is…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has raised concerns about the functioning of tricolsan, which is the germ-killing ingredient that’s found in more than 70 percent of antibacterial body washes and liquid soaps used for bathing and cleaning kitchenware. Federal health regulators are trying to find out if the ingredients that make up the soap are actually doing more harm than good.

Back in the 70s, Congress passed a law that required the FDA to set guidelines on a number of antibacterial chemicals that are used to make up our most beloved soaps and scrubs. Though the FDA has published various guidelines, agencies have never approved the results. As a result, companies continued to use triclosan. It wasn’t until recently, after studies were performed of triclosan that raised concerns over the chemical’s negative effects. The research said, quite simply, that triclosan is not safe for use. From the research, they found that tricolsan can cause infertility and early puberty. The only catch? The FDA has said that their animal studies “don’t always predict effects in humans.”

Later this year, the FDA will come forward with a decision on whether or not the chemical germ-killer is safe for household use.

Do you use antibacterial soaps and scrubs at home? If not, what alternatives do you use?

Plus, more from The Bump:

10 Ways Your Home Is Making You Infertile

Best Baby Soaps, Shampoos and Washes

Bath Supplies for Kids?

New research, published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, has found “the first clear link” between babies who grow to above average size and birth and the risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Following a study of more than 40,000 children’s health records in Sweden, a team of researchers from The University of Manchester, confirmed what earlier research concluded: that premature and poorly grown, low weight babies appear more susceptible to the condition.

Professor Kathryn Abel, from the University of Manchester’s Centre for Women’s Mental Health and Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health, who led the research said, “The processes that leads to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) probably begin during fetal life; signs of the disorder can occur as early as three years of age. Fetal growth is influenced by genetic and non-genetic factors. A detailed understanding of how fetal growth is controlled and the ways in which it is associated with ASD are therefore important if we are to advance the search for cures.”

Researchers involved in the study believe that the Autism Spectrum Disorder has origins in both genetic and environmental causes. For the study, researchers looked at the data collected by the Stockholm Youth Cohort in Sweden, where early ultrasound data provides detailed weights of a baby’s progression in pregnancies. Following their birth, infants and children also take part in a structured clinical assessment of their social, language, motor and cognitive abilities.

The cohort contained records of 589,114 children ages 0-17 in Sweden between 2001 and 2007. Certain data was not necessary to the study and was removed: children too young for an ASD diagnosis, adopted children and non-Sweish or Stockholm residents, children not born in Sweden and twins. From the data that remained, researchers found 4,237 young people with autism and 36,588 children who did not have the condition. These children acted as the control group.

From the study, researchers found that bigger babies born weighing over 9 lbs. 14 oz. showed a higher incidence of autism, as did smaller infants born weighing less than 5.5 lbs. A baby who had poor fetal growth during pregnancy would have a 63% greater risk of developing autism compared to “normally” growing babies and a baby who was larger at birth would have a 60% greater risk than “normally” growing babies. This effect, researchers found, was independent of whether or not the baby was born pre- or post-term.

Abel said, “To our knowledge, this is the first large prospective population-based study to describe the association between the degree of deviance in fetal growth from the normal average in a population of children and risk of ASD with and without intellectual disability. We have shown for the first time categorically that abnormal fetal growth in both directions increases risk of autism spectrum disorder.” Adding that she and her team of researchers “think that this increase in risk associated with extreme abnormal growth of the fetus shows that something is going wrong during development, possibly with the function of the placenta.”

“Anything which encourages abnormalities of development and growth is likely to also affect development of the baby’s brain,” Abel said of the research, noting that the “risk appeared particularly high in those babies where they were growing poorly and continued in utero until after 40 weeks. This may be because these infants were exposed the longest to unhealthy conditions within the mother’s womb.”

But just because babies may grow in utero at different rates compared to “normally developing” fetuses, it does not mean they will be diagnosed with the Autism Spectrum Disorder. What the research finds is that these growth differences are linked with more instances of of the condition. More than anything, the research is intended to raise awareness and work closer to finding a cure than it is to label below or above average birth weight babies with the autism diagnosis. Abel is the first to recognize that because a link appears it does not rule out the need for further research to explain the how and why‘s that so many parents and researchers have.

She said, “We now need more research into fetal growth, how it is controlled by the placenta and how this affects how the brain develops,” noting that one key place to start researching is, “maternal condition and healthy growth.”

Do you think baby’s birth weight could be a factor that leads to the ASD diagnosis?

Plus, more from The Bump:

New Study on Baby Vaccinations May Ease Parents’ Concerns About Autism

Autism: What Every Parent Needs to Know

Is This the Earliest Sign of Autism?

The Latest on Khloe Kardashian’s Journey to Get Pregnant — Us Weekly

21 Adorable Etsy Finds Perfect for Your Little One — MSN

Celebrity Moms Share Their Mother’s Day Plans — CelebrityBabyScoop

Is It Safe to Bring Your Kids to Work With You? — MSN

Kate Hudson Dishes on Life With Two Funny, Rowdy Boys — People

8 Educational Apps Your Kids Will Love (and You Won’t Feel Guilty Letting Them Play With!) — POPSUGAR Moms

Do Economics Influence Your Fertility Rate? – MU Study

Dad’s Sweet Lunchbox Illustrations Are the Perfect Afternoon Treat! — MSN

Why Amber Rose Feels Like She “Missed Out” On a Natural Birth — CelebrityBabyScoop

20 Creative and Cool Summer Crafts for Your Kids — POPSUGAR Moms

NICU Treatments Linked to Intellectual Disabilities — Reuters

Proud parents Kara DioGuardi and her husband, Mike McCuddy, welcomed a son Greyson James Carroll via a gestational surrogate in early January of this year. The new family-of-three even took off on a cross-country road trip from California (where baby boy Greyson was delivered) to the family’s home in Maine to settle down and enjoy baby’s firsts at home. At the time, Kara was open about her four year struggle with fertility, admitting that after undergoing three separate rounds of IVF treatments, the couple decided to look into surrogacy. On the first try, it worked!

But now, mom is coming forward and sharing how even more of her personal story. Two years ago, Kara learned that she was a carrier for the BRCA2 gene mutation, a mutation that is linked to hereditary ovarian and breast cancer.

In December of last year, Kara underwent surgery to remove her uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes, a move which, according to her doctors, greatly reduces the risk of developing these cancers in the future. Kara says she opted for the surgery because her grandmother had breast cancer and her mother passed away from ovarian cancer.

In an exclusive, heartfelt and brave interview with People, Kara opens up about how her cancer gene changed her path to parenting.

Kara shares that  it was by chance while she was in New York that she heard a journalist talking about people in her own family who had been diagnosed with breast and ovarian cancer. The journalist, Stacey Sager, shared that she had a genetic test done. It was the testing that got Kara listening. After returning to L.A. and undergoing her won genetic testing, Kara realized just how lucky she was to have answers — before it was too late. She says that the finding she had the BRCA2 gene mutation made her “think about my own mortality a lot earlier. It stopped me dead in my tracks and made me prioritize my health. I had to think about it in conjunction with the fact that I was trying to have a baby. I knew I was at an increased risk for cancer and it’s bringing me back to seeing what my mother went through and how hard that was on me at a young age and how I don’t want to put my child in the same predicament if there’s some way I can stop that from happening. It made me approach it like it was something I had to deal with right away so I could figure out what my options were.”

After realizing she was carrying the genetic mutation, Kara said, “I started trying to get pregnant at 38. I did a lot of things: I had surgery for endometriosis. I had polyps removed. When I was on Idol I actually got pregnant, then miscarried. We tried IVF.”  Her doctor told her that the surgery could reduce her chances of getting cancer by a significant amount. At first, Kara wasn’t going to have the surgery right away. She recalls that she and her husband wanted to do one more round of IVF to see if she could get pregnant. When she didn’t, she realized that to go on like this — to keep trying and trying and trying — was only pushing her luck. She admits knowing she had the BRCA2 gene and putting chemicals into her body was only prolonging what would eventually need to happen. She said the choice to have the surgery was a “calculated risk.”

Kara recalls hiring an adoption attorney before ever considering a surrogate. “Then… I knew this woman, a friend and on a whim I asked somebody to bring [gestational surrogacy] up and get her thoughts on it and she seemed open to it. She came over with her husband, talked it through and we negotiated it together,” she said of opening the door to gestational surrogacy. She went on to say, “Over the course of three years, [my husband and I] had done seven embryo transfers. The eighth one was transferred into our surrogate and it took!”

Of her decision to have the surgery and use a surrogate, Kara says she has “absolutely no regrets! I felt it was my obligation to do something about it, kind of to honor my mother in that way. What would a mother want for her daughter?” she said, “To take the test and take it seriously. And live — live the life she couldn’t live.”

Were you touched by Kara’s journey to conception?

Plus, more from The Bump:

Remission and Getting Pregnant?

Ovarian Stimulation for IVF May Increase the Risk for Ovarian Tumors

Cervical Cancer During Pregnancy?

When you’re giving yourself a shot of estrogen in a Starbucks restroom or couch-bound for two days straight after being put under anesthesia to have 20 eggs harvested, it’s hard not to feel like you are the only woman alive living through the pain of infertility.

To make it worse, sometimes it feels like each and every woman you pass by has the most perfect baby bump and everyone is pregnant. There are pregnant women standing under street lights and perched near lamp posts, pregnant women hailing a cab on the corner, pregnant woman strolling into and out of every baby shop on the street; hell, even the stop sign seems to be telling you, “STOP trying and it will happen.”

It’s such a 21st century cliché to cry, “Everyone else is pregnant except me!” But in the thick of treatment, there is no persuading yourself otherwise. I remember at one point in our own infertility journey texting my husband a list of about 14 girls I knew on a very close basis who were all pregnant, punctuating the message with a self-pitying “WHY NOT ME?” (I’m sure my plummeting self confidence and a deep sense of despair were incredible turn-ons.)

But once you allow yourself to open up, you find that you’re not at all as alone as you felt. For me, the moment I begin speaking about our struggle, women leap out of the woodwork, revealing their own battles to me. Perhaps it’s an age thing: More of us are waiting to have children, or maybe it’s a result of chronic environmental insults: Crop-enhancing pesticides, air and water teeming with pollution, canned tomato sauce brimming with fertility-sapping BPA. As one of my acupuncturists once opined, “You think hick girls living on the family farm in Arkansas are having trouble getting pregnant? Of course not.”

This week is National Infertility Awareness Week. Whether you are in the midst of a #CLOMIDFAIL, en route to @injectable_drugs or about to post a pic of your IVF baby’s 12-week ultrasound to Facebook, please know that you are not alone. For every woman who conceives on her honeymoon, another needs gobs of help to make it to her babymoon or is hunkered down on an adoption waiting list, eager to meet her beautiful child.

Despite the fact that you have received three baby shower invites in the past week and the cover of People features a 64-year-old actress and her newborn twins, remember that there are hundreds of thousands of other women lurk in the shadows, quietly chugging FertiliTea while en route to their morning ultrasound to see how thick their uterine lining has bloomed overnight.

Don’t be afraid to talk about it — like an HCG test, there is strength in numbers.

Did you share your journey to conceive with others?

Plus, more from The Bump:

Infertility Warning Signs

How to Deal When Everyone Else Is Pregnant (and You’re Still Trying)

How Much Fertility Treatments Cost