There’s a rumor floating around the internet that 17-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant…again. Her newborn, Maddie Briann, is just three months old. This rumor originated from the National Enquirer so I think we need to wait for a more reputable publication before we start calling this rumor a fact.

However, I wanted to bring this up because the article states Jamie Lynn didn’t realize she needed to use protection since she is breastfeeding. Apparently she thought you couldn’t get pregnant while you are breastfeeding. This made me realized there are a lot of these pregnancy myths out there that teenagers believe. And we need to debunk them right now.

1. Myth: You can’t get pregnant the first time you have sex.
   Fact: If you are ovulating it doesn’t matter if it’s the first time or the 100th time you’ve had sex, you can still get pregnant. You get pregnant when the sperm fertilizes the egg. Neither the sperm nor the egg care how many times you’ve had sex previously.
2. Myth: You can’t get pregnant if you’ve never had a period.
   Fact: You may ovulate 14 days before your first period so it is possible to get pregnant even if you haven’t had a period yet.
3. Myth: You can’t get pregnant if you are too young.
   Fact: Even if your body is too young for the stress of a pregnancy it’s still possible to get pregnant. If you have ovulated, you can get pregnant. As I said, some girls ovulate a couple of weeks before their very first period. Even girls as young as 10 or 11 have become pregnant.
4. Myth: You can’t get pregnant while breastfeeding.
   Fact: While breastfeeding may delay ovulation and your period, you can still get pregnant. As I stated above, you won’t get your first period post-baby until two weeks after you ovulate. So you will release an egg before you get your first period.
5. Myth: You won’t get pregnant if penetration only occurs for a few seconds.
   Fact: Any time there is direct contact between a penis and your vaginal area there is a chance of pregnancy even if your partner did not ejaculate. Either abstain from contact or use protection every single time.
6. Myth: You won’t get pregnant if you don’t have an orgasm.
   Fact: An orgasm has no impact on pregnancy. If your partner released sperm, it can travel to the egg and fertilize it…regardless of whether or not you had an orgasm.
7. Myth: If the guy ejaculates several times before sex you won’t get pregnant.
   Fact: The number of times a man ejaculates does not decrease your chance of pregnancy. Each ejaculation contains about 300 million sperm, and only one is needed to fertilize an egg.
8. Myth: You won’t get pregnant if the guy pulls out.
   Fact: This is referred to as the withdrawal method and it is NOT a very effective form of birth control. Even if your partner pulls out he may still leave some pre-ejaculation. Most guys have no control over it and don’t feel it coming out. Pre-ejaculation does have sperm in it and can result in pregnancy.
9. Myth: You only get pregnant on the 14th day of your cycle (the 14th day after your period starts).
   Fact: You do not ovulate on the 14th day AFTER your period starts. You ovulate 14 days BEFORE your next period starts. If you have a 28 day cycle then you will ovulate around day 14. However if you have a 35-day cycle then you will ovulate around day 21. And if you have a 23-day cycle you will ovulate around day 9. Most women do not have perfect cycles and cannot predict with exact certainty when they will ovulate. Plus sperm can live in a woman’s body for 3-5 days.
10. Myth: You won’t get pregnant if you have sex while you have your period.
    Fact: It is still possible to get pregnant if you have your period. Sperm can live for almost a week and if you have a short cycle that month you could ovulate early and indeed get pregnant.
11. Myth: You won’t get pregnant if you douche after sex.
    Fact: Sperm are very fast swimmers and can reach the egg before you get the chance to “clean up.” Plus using a douche may actually thrust the sperm into your cervix quicker. Do NOT rely on douching or washing up as your form of birth control.
12. Myth: You won’t get pregnant if you go to the bathroom immediately following sex.
    Fact: Your body works naturally to suck the sperm up into the cervix and to the egg, so going to the bathroom with not “flush” it out. (Sorry, bad pun had to be used.)
13. Myth: You can’t get pregnant if you have sex standing up.
    Fact: It doesn’t matter what position you’re in. The sperm can swim in any position and your body naturally pulls the sperm to the egg. You can still get pregnant if the sperm meets the egg.
14. Myth: You won’t get pregnant if you have sex in water.
    Fact: While you won’t get pregnant by just swimming in a pool that somebody ejaculated in (eww), you can still get pregnant if you have sex in the pool (or hot tub or bathtub or whatever). If there is penetration and ejaculation (or pre-ejaculation) where the sperm “swims” to the egg you may get pregnant.

Plus, as if that wasn’t enough, Snopes has some additional myths I had never heard. Aspirin? Sneezing? Where do people come up with these things?

I highly encourage teens to abstain from sex. But if they decide to have sex they need to use protection EVERY SINGLE TIME. It is possible to get pregnant if you have sex no matter how many times you’ve had sex, what position you are in or what you do following sex.

And since we are on the subject, teens should also be using condoms to avoid STDs. The pill will not protect you from herpes or gonorrhea or many other STDs.

Now go make sure your teen is informed.

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Yesterday we talked about being desperate to communicate with our teens, but how can we communicate when some days the only interaction we get is an evil eye roll?

1. Give her your undivided attention. We’re parents. We’re busy. But we need to make time for our kids. Sometimes it feels like they’ve gotten so independent they don’t need us anymore. But they do. Put the Blackberry away. Shut down your laptop and just concentrate on your teen.
2. Don’t force him. Ask “Do you want to talk?” and if the answer is “no” then respect that. Sometimes teens (and sometimes parents) just want to be left alone. But let him now you are there if and when he is ready to talk.
3. Fight fair. Don’t bring up the past. Don’t say, “You always do this. Remember in the 2nd grade when I couldn’t get you to…” That’s not going to help anything. Stick to the issue at hand. Present your case. And then really listen to your teen’s rebuttal. Try to be understanding, but still be firm.
4. Share your day. We all know what the answer to “how as school today?” So instead of asking that question, tell your teen about your day. When you open up, it may get him to open up. Tell him about a funny conversation you had with a co-worker. Or about somebody that really ticked you off that day and see if he has any advice. Get him talking.
5. Be part of her world. Ask her if she heard the new Katie Perry song. Or how her friend’s surgery went. Or if the history test was hard. Know what’s going on in her life and show your interest.
6. Be sympathetic. If her boyfriend breaks her heart don’t say, “I told you that boy was no good.” Instead give her a shoulder to cry on. Let her talk about her feelings. Ask her what you can do to make her feel better. Pull out the ice cream and two spoons (you can count calories tomorrow).
7. Reach him the way he likes to be reached. Send him an email with the itinerary for the weekend family plans. Text him “I love you” so he knows you’re thinking about him. Create your own World of Warcraft character and try to figure out how to play that dang game. Send him a funny message on Facebook.
8. Ease up a little. Or as we like to say, “pick your battles.” Teenagers don’t respond to constant nagging. Stay firm on the big issues and let the little issues fly. Let your teen face the consequences of their decision and be there with a tissue if they fail.
9. Ask her opinion. Don’t just tell her what to do. Give her options. Ask her to choose the family activity for the weekend or ask her what chores she thinks she should do or what she thinks her punishment should be. Give her some input and honestly listen to what she has to say.

Also, there are three books I have read and highly recommend when it comes to communicating with your teen; How To Talk So Teens Will Listen and Listen So Teens Will Talk, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Parenting a Teenager, and Yes, Your Teen is Crazy!: Loving Your Kid Without Losing Your Mind. All three books offer great advice to understanding and reaching your crazy (and I mean that as a term of endearment) teen.

So what are your tips? How do you communicate with your teens?

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I’m a desperate housewife. Well, I mean, I’m a fan of the ABC television show Desperate Housewives. I even make my husband watch it (although I doubt he’ll admit that). I particularly relate to Lynette Scavo with her large family of mostly boys. I think the show creator, Marc Cherry, does a good job of balancing Lynette’s positives with her faults. I love how Lynette is trying her hardest to be a good mom, but still willing to admit to and learn from her mistakes. ‘Cause let’s face it ladies (and men), we all make mistakes in this long parenting journey.

Did you see last night’s episode? This season the story has zoomed ahead five years so Lynette’s children are no longer trouble-making grade schoolers. Now they are trouble-making teenagers. On last night’s episode Lynette was worried her son Porter was still friends with a kid who had recently been arrested for drugs. To find out she created a fake profile on a social networking site (much like MySpace) and “friended” her son. While on the site she discovered Porter was truthful when he said he was no longer friend’s with the teen involved in drugs and she also found out Porter wrote poetry. She was thrilled to learn something new about her son; something he would never talk to her about since teenagers don’t talk to their parents. But it took a turn for the worse when she discovered Porter had a crush on her (or umm…her online persona) and she had to break it off. But when she broke it off she accidentally signed it “love mom” and completely blew her cover.

There was a great scene where she apologized to Porter and told him she really misses talking to him and being a part of his life. It was obvious Porter was a little touched by that even though he was angry that his mom had spied on him.

It’s hard to stay connected to our teens. When they get to this age we suddenly become the enemy. They no longer confide in us. Instead they are confiding in their friends. Somewhere along the line we became these old people who don’t know anything and certainly don’t understand what our teenager could possibly be going through.

But we’ve got to keep trying. We’ve got to keep communicating with them even if they won’t communicate back. I wouldn’t suggest lying or sneaking around behind their back. When you get caught it just makes it worse. But don’t give up on your teen either. At this age teens are very egocentric and thinking of the now rather than the future. But they still need their mommy (and daddy).

This is a Blogtoberfest Sponsored Post. If you would like to enter for a chance to win the surprise gift behind this blog post, please leave a comment. Prize and Winner will be announced within a week. Check back to see if youre the lucky winner and what youve won!

You also have lots of chances to win great Blogtoberfest prizes! Today, October 6th, your chances (and prizes) are hiding at the following blogs: A Child Chosen, Babylune, Baking Delights, Blog Fabulous, Chocolate Bytes, Declutter It, Inside Motherhood, Keeping the Castle, Mom Gadget, Noodles and Rice, Simply Home Remedies, and Tangled Thread. Visit them all and leave a comment you may win even more!

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October is traditionally an exciting month for b5medias Lifestyles Channel and their readers. Summer is over and the Holidays have not yet begun, so it is the perfect time for us to thank our readers for their continued loyalty.

To do this, the Lifestyles Channel joins forces with hundreds of sponsors to create a two week extravaganza of giveaways, jump-starting the holiday season and allowing our readers to win gifts, both for themselves and for giving.

This years Blogtoberfest is better than ever before. We have simplified the process and the sponsors have been extremely generous in the gifts that they are offering and as the result, well be passing on in excess of $7,000 worth of prizes.

Dont miss a minute of the fun!

Blogtoberfest officially kicks off TODAY Monday, October 6, 2008

There are lots of great prizes to be given away. Prizes are available to U.S. and Canada residents unless otherwise noted.

All you have to do is:

1. Browse the channel or visit your favorite blogs
2. Watch for sponsored prize winning posts wearing the official Blogtoberfest button shown above.
3. Leave a comment on that exact post. Your comment IS your entry.
4. Check back with that blog within a week and see what the prize is and if youre the lucky winner.

Consider subscribing to the various blog feeds to make sure you dont miss out on any exciting opportunities. Many blogs will be conducting between 2 and 7 giveaways and just win those will be appearing is a secret and half the fun!

Each prize winning post will share links to other prize winning blogs for that same day. This makes hunting easier and improves your chances of winning!

Thats it!

Participating blogs found at the bottom of our channel hub:

www.b5media.com/channels_lifestyles.html

A special thanks to Randa Clay Design for our beautiful Blogtoberfest Button!

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For the past 18 months I have been sharing my journey as a weary parent with you. Most of you know, I am also a web designer who has a stable of my own blogs as well. Between the increased demand for my design services and the success of some of my other sites, I just can’t give WearyParent the passion and energy it deserves.

Christine has be co-blogging with me for just about a year and has been doing an amazing job! I am going to turn the keys over to her and she will continue to share her trials, tribulations, joys, and insight into raising teens and tweens.

I will miss you all, but you are welcome to visit me in my other homes on the web.

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