If you can laugh, you’re less likely to cry. - Heidi Murkoff

It’s a tummy soother. Breast milk is not only easier going down, it’s easier staying down … and easier going out. Breastfed babies are less likely to have tummy troubles (including excessive gas or spitting up) and almost never become constipated (formula can sometimes clog up the works). And although their poops are normally quite soft, nursers rarely have diarrhea. In fact, breast milk appears to reduce the risk of digestive upset both by keeping harmful microorganisms in check and by encouraging the growth of beneficial ones. You know the much-touted pre-

For Dads
Helping Ease Her Quease Morning sickness is one pregnancy symptom that definitely doesn’t live up to its name. It’s a 24/7 experience that can send your spouse running to the bathroom morning, noon, and night — and hugging the toilet far more than she’ll be hugging you. So take steps to help her feel better — or at least not worse. Lose the aftershave that she suddenly finds repulsive, and get your onion ring fix out of her sniffing range (thanks to her hormones, her sense of smell is supersized). Fill her gas tank so she doesn’t have to come nose-to-nozzle with the fumes at the pump. Fetch her foods that quell her queasies and don’t provoke another run to the toilet. Good choices include ginger ale, soothing smoothies, and crackers (but ask first — what spells r-e-l-i-e-f for one queasy woman spells v-o-m-i-t for another). Encourage her to eat small meals throughout the day instead of 3 large ones (spreading out the load and keeping her tummy filled may ease her nausea), but don’t chide her for her food choices (now’s not the time to nag her about eating her broccoli). Be there for support when she’s throwing up — hold back her hair, bring her some ice water, rub her back. And remember, no jokes. If you were throwing up for weeks, you wouldn’t find it amusing. Not surprisingly, neither does she.

You know all that stuff they say about becoming a grandmother? How amazing it is … how much you’ll love it … how it’s all the best parts of being a parent — without the sleep deprivation? Well, they don’t tell you the half it. Becoming a grandmother, as I did on February 12, 2013, when Lennox entered the world, and minutes later, my welcoming arms, was life-changing, mind-blowing, heart-swelling … thrilling to the core. The heavens opened up. The earth moved. The love that washed over me as I held that sweet bundle for the first time was instantaneous, it was intense, it was unabashed … it hit me like a ton of bricks, and practically knocked me off my feet. I was smitten.