Pregnant Lady Quiz 3: Twins!

It's quiz time again! This month's prize is a jingle. No, seriously. I'm going to write a little ditty about this month's winner and put it up on YouTube, just for you. As always, we use the honor system around here. Just say no to Google. I'll go over the answers in a week. Leave your answers in the comments below.

Here are this month's True or False questions:

Yay or Nay?

1. Approximately one third of all twins are identical.
2. The longest span of time between the birth of twins in a single pregnancy is 5 days.
3. 70% of all conjoined twins are male.
4. It is possible for a woman to naturally conceive twins by two different men.
5. As many as 1 in 8 pregnancies start out as twins.

If you missed them, here are the links to the Pregnant Lady Quizzes of yestermonth:

Pregnant Lady Quiz 1
Pregnant Lady Quiz 2

And their answers:

5 Things You Didn't Know About Pregnancy
5 Things You Didn't Know About Pregnancy (II)

5 Things You Didn't Know About Pregnancy (II)

Here are the answers to Pregnant Lady Quiz 2!

1. Nosebleeds are a symptom of early pregnancy.

True. I never heard of this particular symptom until I became pregnant myself; my nose frequently bled during my more violent bouts of morning sickness. Since a woman's blood volume expands during pregnancy, this can increase the pressure in the blood vessels in her nose, resulting in more frequent nosebleeds.

2. Semen contains an enzyme that can cause early labor.

Maybe. There seems to be some disagreement on this one. Semen does contain hormones called prostaglandins, which cause the cervix to soften and ripen for delivery, but whether or not exposure to semen is sufficient to start labor in a woman who was not otherwise ready for labor is debatable. This study suggests that semen may trigger labor in women who are already at term. Frequently, women who are already at-risk for pre-term labor may be advised against sex. But there doesn't seem to be any indication that a woman in a normally progressing low-risk pregnancy has any reason to fear semen causing her to go into labor before the baby is ready.

3. The oldest woman to give birth was 61 years old at the time of delivery.

False. The world's oldest mother (so far) is Omkari Panwar, pictured below, who gave birth to twins at age 70 earlier this year. Omkari and her husband, who was 77 years old at the time, already had two adult daughters, but were determined to have a son. They turned to IVF, paying for it with their life savings, their land, and their livestock. The twins, one boy and one girl, were born a month early.

4. The worldwide average of weaning a child from the breast is four years old.

That statement appears to be false. When I posited this question, I honestly thought that it was true. I've heard time and time again that the average age of weaning is 4.2 years old, and that this number was originally provided by the World Health Organization. Indeed, a quick Google search brings up plenty of websites that make the same statement...but I couldn't find anything from either WHO or UNICEF backing up the claim, only a multitude of third parties. In fact, I couldn't find any authority on breastfeeding backing those numbers.

Eventually, I came across the page of another blogger who had noticed the same thing in the course of her research. I also found an article on the natural age at which a child may wean herself from the breast, which has this to say about the 4.2 stat (emphasis mine):

One often hears that the worldwide average age of weaning is 4.2 years, but this figure is neither accurate nor meaningful. A survey of 64 "traditional" studies done prior to the 1940s showed a median duration of breastfeeding of about 2.8 years, but with some societies breastfeeding for much shorter, and some for much longer. It is meaningless, statistically, to speak of an average age of weaning worldwide, as so many children never nurse at all, or their mothers give up in the first few days, or at six weeks when they go back to work. It is true that there are still many societies in the world where children are routinely breastfed until the age of four or five years or older, and even in the United States, some children are nursed for this long and longer. In societies where children are allowed to nurse "as long as they want" they usually self-wean, with no arguments or emotional trauma, between 3 and 4 years of age.

It would appear that the oft-repeated 4.2 is indeed bunk (but if any of my readers can point me to a page where WHO or UNICEF actually make the claim, I'd seriously appreciate it!), and my efforts to look up what IS the worldwide average age of weaning was entirely fruitless, as 99% of the results come back to third parties claiming that "WHO reports that the age is 4.2." I'd like to be proven wrong on this one, but so far it looks quite false.

5. After the first trimester, amniotic fluid consists mostly of fetal urine.

It's true! Pregnant women are full of warm baby pee. The fetus doesn't just LIVE in pee; he breathes and swallows it too. Amniotic fluid is not only essential for development of a healthy digestive system and lungs, but it serves as a cushion in case the wobbly mama-to-be happens to fall on her belly (or otherwise injure herself).

The winner of this month's quiz is Chole, who has won herself an invisible Great Dane, as well as this haiku:

Homeless puppies and
hurt kittens will remember
your warm, loving care.

And, because I feel generous, here's a bonus haiku!

Fingers fly over
plastic rainbow keys. You are
my Guitar Hero.

Thank you BerlinBear, Tigerwong, Kat, and the Broken Man for participating!

Pregnant Lady Quiz 2

It's quiz time again! This month, the prize is something [slightly] more substantial. In addition to an invisible puppy, the person who scores best will get a haiku written about them or their blog. I know some of you may not think that there's anything particularly glamorous about a stranger writing a poem about you, but I like to think that there is something attractive about earning the bragging rights to say, "I'm so kickass that the Internet wrote a poem about me."

As per usual, we use the honor system around here, but I like to think that nobody was really tempted to use Google in the first place.

Here are this month's True or False questions:

Yay or Nay?

1. Nosebleeds are a symptom of early pregnancy.
2. Semen contains an enzyme that can cause early labor.
3. The oldest woman to give birth was 61 years old at the time of delivery.
4. The worldwide average of weaning a child from the breast is four years old.
5. After the first trimester, amniotic fluid consists mostly of fetal urine.

I'll go over the answers in a few days. Leave your answers in the comments below!

Also, here's the link to Pregnant Lady Quiz 1 and the answers if you missed it.

5 Things You Didn't Know About Pregnancy

Here are the answers to Pregnant Lady Quiz 1!

1. Pregnant women are recommended to forgo eating hot dogs.

True, if the hot dog is uncooked or not hot enough to be steaming at the time of consumption. Not only are pregnant women recommended to avoid eating hot dogs, but they should also avoid deli meats, soft cheeses, meat spreads, raw or undercooked meat or fish, and refrigerated seafood. This is because of the risk of contracting Listeriosis, which is caused by eating food contaminated by the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes. Complications from exposure to Listeria may include miscarriage, early labor, or even neonatal death. Listeriosis is actually pretty rare, but pregnant women just happen to be particularly susceptible compared to their non-pregnant adult counterparts.

Fortunately, pregnant ladies don't have to completely cut their favorite deli meats out of their diets; nuking the meat until it's steaming hot is enough to kill off the bacteria, making it safe to eat. Personally, I think that sort of defeats the purpose of deli meat, but what do I know?

2. The youngest mother on record was five years old.

True, unfortunately. Her name was Lina Medina (warning: there is a naked pic of the pregnant child on the linked page) and she was born in Peru in 1933. She suffered from extreme precocious puberty; she started menstruating at the age of 3 and had breasts at the age of 4.

Lina gave birth to her son by C-section; the identity of the father has never been established. Her son has long since died, but she still lives in Peru.

3. Some women have experienced orgasm while giving birth.

True, although this has been contested. At the very least, there are women who claim to have experienced it. Katrina Caslake is one such woman, and she has made it her mission to spread the good news after her unexpected experience.

I'm prone to believe these women myself; not just because of wishful thinking, but because I could definitely see how the sensation of a baby sliding over one's G-spot as it is born could trigger some pretty intense sensations. Every woman's birth experience is different; and even if a pleasurable birth may not be altogether likely, I don't think that it is impossible.

For more information, there is a film called Orgasmic Birth, which chronicles the birth experiences of eleven lucky women.

4. A woman cannot get pregnant if she is breastfeeding.

False. The Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) is a valid and reliable method of birth control with a failure rate of only about 2%, but only if the new mom is breastfeeding exclusively at least 6-10 times in a twenty-four hour period (including several feedings throughout the night), has not had a period yet since delivery, and her infant is less than 6 months old. Once any of these criteria are no longer met, she must find another method of contraception.

Many casually breastfeeding moms can and do get pregnant, mostly due to the misunderstanding of LAM and its rather finicky criteria. For more information on LAM and other natural family planning methods, check out Taking Charge of Your Fertility, which is also an excellent resource for those of us that are trying to conceive.

5. Pregnant women should double their caloric intake.

False. Despite the popular myth of pregnant women needing to "eat for two," pregnant ladies only need to eat an additional 300 calories (on average) during the second and third trimester. You can get that many calories by eating just one low-fat cup of yogurt and an apple.

Congrats to Fiesty, who got all five answers correct. Enjoy your invisible puppy of an unspecified gender and breed, and may you have a happy and healthy pregnancy. And many thanks to Lexy, Nicole, Tigerwong, and chole for participating.

Pregnant Lady Quiz 1

Because I am a nerd and enjoy stuff like this, here's a simple true-or-false quiz. The prize for the person that scores highest is an invisible handshake from me (I know, I'm too kind).

Leave your answers in the comments section. You could cheat and use Google, but then you wouldn't want to taint your victory with the bitter taste of deception, would you?

Yay or Nay?

1. Pregnant women are recommended to forgo eating hot dogs.
2. The youngest mother on record was five years old.
3. Some women have experienced orgasm while giving birth.
4. A woman cannot get pregnant if she is breastfeeding.
5. Pregnant women should double their caloric intake.

I'll go over the answers in a few days. In the meantime, enjoy!