Although I never sought chiropractic care during pregnancy, I have come across many pregnant women who have asked about whether seeing a chiropractor could help them through their journey. I didn't have answers, but Maegan Istok did!

**Disclaimer** Information in this post is not a substitute for medical advice. Please consult your physician to discuss your options and find out what care is best for you.

Maegan Istok D.C., is a practicing chiropractor at Palmer Family Chiropratic in Milford. She sees everyone from infants and pregnant mothers to people into their 90s. Here she offers answers to some frequently asked questions about chiropractic care during pregnancy.

Did you miss last week's chat on infertility?

Here's another chance to get your questions answered by Boston IVF's Dr. Alison Zimon.

Join me and Dr. Alison Zimon, a reproductive endocrinologist at Boston IVF, this Thursday at 12p.m. EST as we discuss your questions related to infertility.

Dr. Zimon received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University and her medical degree at Yale. She came to Boston to train with Boston IVF through a residency in obstetrics & gynecology and a fellowship in reproductive endocrinology & infertility at Boston IVF/Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

She has an appointment at Harvard Medical School and is a member of both local and national reproductive endocrinology & infertility societies. Her major interest outside of reproductive medicine is art -- particularly painting and photography. She also loves sports and plants. Dr. Zimon sees most patients at the South Shore (Quincy) office, as well as Fall River and Yarmouth, MA for consultations.

Upon hearing that 46-year-old actress Halle Berry is about 12 weeks pregnant, I immediately thought about whether it was a good idea for her to announce her pregnancy so early on. If she was about, oh, say, 20 years younger, I wouldn't have thought this about her pregnancy. But the truth is, no matter how fit she looks, her risk of pregnancy problems – including miscarriage -- is extremely high. That fact is based solely on one number: 46.

Women who conceive between ages 35 to 45 have a 20 to 35 percent chance of miscarriage -- nearly double the risk compared to younger women, according to the American Pregnancy Association. That risk only increases with age.

If she did in fact conceive naturally, she surprisingly surpassed a less than 5 percent shot. Still, regardless of whether she made sure to take her prenatal vitamins while trying, Ms. Berry’s egg quality is the probably lowest it’s ever been before.

Medically speaking, Ms. Berry has passed her pregnancy prime.

But culturally speaking, her decision is no anomaly.

Many years ago I made peace with the fact that, besides also being Armenian, I’ll probably never be able to keep up with the Kardashians.

No one paid me to get married. I did not pull my own baby out of my nether lands (thank goodness for nurses). And I actually enjoy sleeping in the same bed as my male partner for life (scary thought, Kourtney. I know.)

But this morning while watching Kimye talk pregnancy on “Good Morning America,” I couldn't help but nod at the television screen.

For nearly 1 in 10 women in the U.S. struggling to conceive, the frustration can feel overwhelming. Fortunately, more than 4 percent of those women will go on to bear children. But the prolonged time it took to finally get pregnant may bring on additional worries for some women.

A new study now suggests that women who get pregnant after about four years of trying may have a 30 percent higher chance of having a child with neurodevelopmental problems compared to women who conceive earlier.

Join me at 1PM EST for a Google Hangout with Pregnancy Magazine! Today we'll discuss how to stay healthy and fit throughout your pregnancy.

Tweet your questions using the hashtags #KnockedUpFitness and #healthyliving

No amount of planning during pregnancy can prepare a woman for postpartum life. That’s the secret many new mothers won’t tell women sporting the bump – or maybe those of us in 40-week planning mode choose not to believe it.

Join me at 1PM EST for a Google Hangout with Pregnancy Magazine! Today we'll discuss how to stay healthy and fit during your final trimester.

If you have questions you want answered, Tweet out your questions on #KnockedUpFitnessand #healthyliving

UPDATE: If you tuned in live, great! If not, you're in luck because you can watch this chat as many times as you'd like.

Join me at 1PM EST for the first of Pregnancy Magazine's 4-part Google Hangout on Knocked-Up Fitness! Today we'll be discussing how to stay healthy and fit during your first trimester.

A roundup of this week’s pregnancy-related scientific research and news:

My first baby was born years before January this year. I’m talking about my furbaby – my cat. Over the last two years, she has consumed most of the photo space on my phone. And if my husband didn’t put the kibosh on my obsession, I would've probably been a cat lady. So when we announced to family members we were expecting our first “real” baby, I remember my mother asking us how we thought our cat was going to handle the new addition.It was like asking how our first born was going to react to getting a sister.

But really, it wasn't a question. By asking, my mother was telling. She might as well have come right out and said, “I think you’re going to have to give the cat away.”

A roundup of this week’s pregnancy-related scientific research and news:

I wish I had written this while I was still pregnant. The excitement of motherhood has in some ways had an amnesia effect on the last 9-plus months. I cannot believe that I had been pregnant for nearly a year, yet the whole experience seems a blur when I look at my newborn. It’s also eerily true what I've heard many mothers say – you forget the pains of labor and delivery once you see your baby.

By week 41, I was ready to no longer be pregnant. I missed my due date. Our world of family and friends was growing impatient to meet our daughter. Towards the end, my husband had a daily ritual of whispering to the belly, “get outta there.” His patience also wore thin. I, along with a few family members, started having vivid dreams of what she would look like. (I don’t think any of us got it right).

Somewhere between the incessant “did your water break yet” phone calls and discussions with the doctor about a potential induction, I remember lying in bed thinking, slow down. There’s a lot about being pregnant I will miss.

Welcome Dalia!

Born January 17, 2013, 21 inches tall and weighing 7lbs 15 oz.

Due dates are a hoax.

There. I said it.

It’s one of those pregnancy myths I wish were true. And I fell for it.

As a journalist, I innocently believed due date meant deadline. Meant you darn well better have something presentable by said date – even if it arrives kicking and screaming.

Even the dictionary says if you are due, you are proper. You are adequate. You are rightful. You are sufficient.

So why isn’t the little boomba here?

The flu has hit harder and earlier across the nation this season. Boston has already experienced 700 cases of the flu – up from 70 cases last season – prompting the city's mayor Thomas Menino to declare a flu health emergency. Massachusetts has had 18 flu-related deaths so far, according to the state's Department of Public Health.

Pregnant women are among the groups considered the most vulnerable for catching the flu. A weaker immune system puts pregnant women at higher risk for more severe illness as well as birth complications. But experts say there’s no need to panic since there are many ways to protect against the flu.

Gone are the days when expectant mothers are expected to stay home and focus 100 percent of their time and energy on their pregnancy.

Today, we’re movers and multi-taskers. Sometimes we hold multiple jobs, take on multiple projects, and care for multiple children, all with soon-to-be baby in tow. Chances are, even at times when we feel like we’re in over our heads, we won’t ask for help when we need it.

This is where our smart phones, laptops, iPads come in handy. They are the keeper of our schedules and can also be a convenient way to keep track of the pregnancy process. Here are some apps designed to help us get through.

2012 is winding down fast, which means I can count the number of days on both hands that baby is scheduled to arrive. Of course, hardly anything goes as scheduled, but it's exciting nonetheless.

Besides personal anticipation of a new addition (and the start of Ultra Sound Pregnancy!) this year brought plenty more memorable pregnancy-related news.

Here's a recap of pregnancy research and news stories that made us excited, think, and sometimes even cringe.

A growing number of pregnant and nursing women in the U.S. have iodine deficiencies, according to a group of experts who wrote an opinion paper published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association calling for potassium iodide to be included in all prenatal vitamins.

Iodine deficiency causes low thyroid hormone levels in mothers and can lead to brain development disorders in babies.

A roundup of this week’s pregnancy-related scientific research and news:

Tucked into page 267 of the birthing book that has found a place in my bottom bedside drawer is a packet of questions I received from my obstetrician on at my first visit.

Thirty-something weeks later, the answers are only half-filled.

I’ve strategically shoved this packet in an already read book so I wouldn’t feel obliged to crack it open any time soon. The overall placement is also strategic. It’s become challenging at this stage in my pregnancy to bend and reach the back of the lowest drawer -- a good enough excuse to fill it out some other day.

The dreaded packet is my birthing plan.

'Tis the season of holiday parties and the feeling that when it comes to healthy eating, all bets are off.

Okay, so overindulging on some types of foods at a few parties won’t be the end of me. I know that. But as I near the end of my pregnancy on a pretty good healthy eating streak, I’m hoping to finish strong.

I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ll be receiving more gifts for my bump than myself this season.

It’s one of the first things a woman is asked to do when she enters the exam room at a prenatal wellness visit -- step on the scale.

The number climbs slightly with every visit. It’s perhaps the one period in life where it should.

Still, in the back of my mind, I can’t help but think about life after pregnancy and
whether the 20-plus added pounds that have come on so far will ever come off.