“Leslie Moonves and Julie Chen welcome a baby boy - Charleston Daily Mail” plus 4 more

Leslie Moonves and Julie Chen welcome a baby boy - Charleston Daily Mail
Scan reveals rare double pregnancy for American woman - Times Online
Pregnancy improves athletic ability? - FOXSports.com
Ohio woman implanted with wrong embryo gives birth - Oakland Press
Embryo mix-up mum gives birth - Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Leslie Moonves and Julie Chen welcome a baby boy - Charleston Daily Mail

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 03:30 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) - It's a boy for CBS chief Leslie Moonves and his wife, "The Early Show" host Julie Chen.

CBS Corporation says Charlie Moonves was born Thursday morning and "mother and child are doing well."

Chen announced her pregnancy on the "The Early Show" in April. She also hosts "Big Brother."

Moonves and Chen were married in 2004. He has three children from a previous marriage.

___

CBS is a division of CBS Corp.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Scan reveals rare double pregnancy for American woman - Times Online

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 02:52 AM PDT

A woman who is expecting a baby has stunned doctors after a routine ultrasound visit revealed that she had become pregnant for a second time — a condition so rare that there only ten other recorded cases.

Julia Grovenburg, 31, had an appointment for an ultrasound check on an 11-week-old foetus, a baby girl she and her husband, Todd, have named Jillian — only to be told that she was carrying a separate baby, two weeks younger.

"We feel very blessed, but the truth is that I gagged, I started getting sick, that's not a joke," said Mrs Grovenburg, an American, of the moment that she found out she had become pregnant a second time. "My ultrasound [technician] Susan was in total, utter shock. My husband was laughing."

Unlike twins, which are conceived at the same time, Mrs Grovenburg has two foetuses because of a process known as "superfetation", where embryos are conceived at different times.

The second foetus is male, and the couple have called him Hudson. Jillian's due date is December 24 and her brother's is January 10. Doctors have warned, however, that both babies will probably be delivered at the same time, in early December.

"We tried for three years to have kids, and nothing ever happened," said Mrs Grovenburg, from Arkansas. "We even refused to do in vitro or fertility drugs because we didn't want multiples. I guess God was having the last laugh."

Dr Karen Boyle, of the Greater Baltimore Medical Centre, told ABC News that superfetation was extremely rare. "There is no prevalence or incidence in the literature. I could only find about ten reported cases," she said.

Superfetation is common in some species of animals, including rodents, horses, sheep and marsupials, but extremely rare in humans. Extraordinarily, two cases were recorded in Britain in 2007. Two couples conceived children three weeks apart.

Dr Boyle said that, depending on the time between the two conceptions, superfetation could be dangerous for the younger baby, who could be born prematurely. "It [the second conception] can happen up to 24 days later than the first conception, and then you're putting the second baby at risk for lung development problems."

In the Grovenburgs' case, Dr Boyle said that two weeks would not put the younger baby at much of a risk for health problems.

Mrs Grovenburg said: "It's fun — we feel blessed to have something so rare and at this point they are both totally healthy."

Mr Grovenburg said of the moment they were told of the second baby: "[We were] both in shock. We were trying to put the timelines together. We had known she had had a migraine and been at the hospital and actually had a pregnancy test at the time that one would've been conceived," he said, adding that the test was negative.

Patrick O'Brien, consulting obstetrician and spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: "It's a rare thing because when you conceive, your hormones change dramatically. Those changes stop you ovulating and they stop you conceiving."

In May 2007, in Benfleet, Essex, Harriet and Thomas Mullineux, conceived three weeks apart, were born to Amelia Spence and George Herrity.

"It is hard to get our heads around the fact that I was pregnant with two babies at the same time and they aren't twins," Ms Spence said at the time. "We looked at the screen and the doctor pointed out that one foetus still looked like a blob, whereas the other had four visible limbs. It was such a marked difference. It was really strange to see. The doctor said that he had only read about it in textbooks."

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Pregnancy improves athletic ability? - FOXSports.com

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 05:32 PM PDT

Her success has been seen as adding fresh credence to the theory that pregnancy can in fact enhance sporting prowess, at least among those who had some to start with.

Few doubt that the demands of motherhood focus the mind as priorities are juggled. But there is an increasing body of evidence that the biological changes of pregnancy may improve both physical and mental performance.

Pregnancy is itself a physical test.

Almost every organ of the mother's body works harder to accommodate the needs of the growing baby, and blood volume increases dramatically to carry oxygen to the womb.

Once the baby is born, the red blood cells created - rich in haemoglobin - remain in the woman's body for some time, potentially improving oxygen flow to the muscles.

This, in theory, could improve her stamina and the ability to train for longer.

At the same time, the hormone relaxin loosens the hips in preparation for childbirth, but may also give the athlete added flexibility, according to Dr James Pivarnik of Michigan University, who has studied pregnant athletes.

While the exact mechanisms and their impact are still the subject of investigation, the suggestion that pregnancy may have this effect is not new.

In 1988, the First Permanent World Conference on Anti-Doping in Sport included 'abortion doping' on its agenda.

This followed allegations - never substantiated - that East European athletes were being encouraged to get pregnant and abort their foetuses to improve their performance.

The ethics and anti-doping section of British sport has also raised the issue of pregnancy as a means to legally increase the level of performance-enhancing hormones.

There is also the suggestion that childbirth increases the pain threshold, boosting the mind's ability to cope amid intense physical adversity.

This sounds plausible, although the jury is still very much out in this area. Some research has found that while the threshold may increase dramatically during labour, it returns to original levels in the aftermath.

A study from Bath University found women were wimpier than men when it came to pain. Females felt it sooner, and were able to withstand it for a shorter period.

Indeed, it has even been suggested that it may be motherhood itself which makes women more attuned to pain, acutely conscious of any impending problem which could compromise their ability to care for their children.

But on a similar note, it has been suggested that motherhood sharpens mental agility, making a woman more vigilant and alert - key skills on the court.

'Baby brain' or 'preg head' may be a convenient excuse for forgetting names and numbers, but in fact, the hormone fluctuations during birth and breastfeeding appear to increase the size of cells in some areas of the brain.

For some new mothers feeling fatigued and fat, the suggestion that their bodies are now supercharged may seem risible.

A major review of studies published this summer found - at least when it came to losing weight - that sensible eating rather than regular jogging was the key to getting back into shape.

But the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation says it hopes all mothers can draw some inspiration from Clijsters.

'Our research shows that it's time pressures that stop women taking the exercise they want to,' said Ms Harriet Foxwell from the Foundation.

'At one level, we need More Sports facilities to provide child care. But we also need to find more activities to do with our children - swimming, for instance, is a good example.

'What was particularly moving was seeing Kim on court with her daughter. Exercise is something we should be able to do together.'

BBC News

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Ohio woman implanted with wrong embryo gives birth - Oakland Press

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 10:04 PM PDT

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A woman who had the wrong embryo implanted by a fertility clinic has given birth to a boy, her family said Friday.

Sean and Carolyn Savage released a statement Friday night saying a "healthy baby boy," whom they plan to give up to his biological parents, was delivered Thursday at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center in Toledo. No information about the baby or the circumstances surrounding the delivery was immediately released.

The Savages, of Sylvania, outside Toldeo, had said earlier this week the baby was to be born in the next two weeks via cesarean section.

In the statement, the Savages offered congratulations to the baby's biological parents, Paul and Shannon Morell, of suburban Detroit.

"At this time, we would like to offer our heartfelt congratulations to the Morell family on the birth of their son," the Savages' statement said. "We wish Paul, Shannon, their twin girls and their new baby boy the best, as they move forward with their lives together."

The Savages asked for privacy in the days ahead, saying "Our family is going through a very difficult time."

The Morell family didn't immediately respond Friday to an e-mail seeking comment.

The Savages extended thanks to people around the world for their support and prayers. They thanked medical professionals for their care and treatment throughout the pregnancy and delivery.

The Savages say a fertility clinic outside Ohio transferred the wrong frozen embryo in February. Ten days later, they got a call from a doctor at the clinic saying she was pregnant with someone else's child.

The Savages said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday they never considered terminating the pregnancy or trying to fight for custody.

They have hired attorneys who say they are working to make sure the fertility clinic accepts responsibility.

The Morells, who live in Troy, Mich., found out about the fertility clinic mistake a day after the Savages.

The two couples knew nothing about each other. Shannon Morell feared that the pregnant woman would choose abortion, ending their chance to give their 2-year-old twin girls a sibling.

A few days passed before they learned that the Savages were not only willing to continue with the pregnancy but also to hand over the baby without hesitation.

"This was someone else's child," 40-year-old Carolyn Savage told the AP on Wednesday. "We didn't know who it was. We didn't know if they didn't have children or if this was their last chance for a child."

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Embryo mix-up mum gives birth - Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Posted: 26 Sep 2009 08:38 PM PDT

Posted September 27, 2009 07:13:00
Updated September 27, 2009 13:35:00

An Ohio woman who was implanted with the wrong embryo has given birth to a baby boy and given him up to his biological parents, her family said in a statement.

Carolyn Savage, 40, and her husband Sean offered their congratulations to Paul and Shannon Morell, the boy's biological parents.

The child was delivered at St Vincent Mercy Medical Centre in Toledo, Ohio on Thursday (local time).

"We wish Paul, Shannon, their twin girls and their new baby boy the best, as they move forward with their lives together," the Savage family said.

They also asked for privacy, saying their family was going through a very difficult time and requested privacy in the days ahead.

Ms Savage learned of the mistaken medical procedure about two months into her pregnancy, but decided to give birth to the child anyway and hand over the baby to the Morells after delivery.

Such mistakes are rare but have often ended with the birth mother going through an abortion or putting the child up for adoption.

Ms Savage decided to go ahead with the pregnancy due to her Catholic religious beliefs.

She went public with her decision in the final weeks of her pregnancy, telling NBC television the decision would be a difficult one.

"Of course, we will wonder about this child every day for the rest of our life," she said.

"The hardest part is going to be the delivery," she said at the time.

"I remember communicating with the mother of this child as to what I was envisioning and hoping for.

"I said, 'We want a moment to say hello, and goodbye'."

Mr Savage told the Toledo Free Press the family did not have to discuss the situation.

"We came to an instantaneous conclusion; this was the path that we had to go down," he said.

The couple already has three children.

They resorted to in-vitro fertilisation after reproductive problems and a series of miscarriages.

"Our family is deeply grateful for the support and prayers of so many people from around the world," the statement said.

The two couples initially contacted each other anonymously through lawyers but eventually met face-to-face in what Ms Savage has said was a cordial relationship.

Attorneys are working out the legal details, with the Savages' lawyers saying they want the fertility clinic that conducted the procedure to accept responsibility for the mistake.

Reuters

Tags: health, medical-procedures, reproduction-and-contraception, pregnancy-and-childbirth, reproductive-technology, united-states