Unless your OB/GYN tells you otherwise, exercise during pregnancy is a wise choice. Exercise can reduce your risk of conditions such as gestational diabetes and can even ease labor and delivery. But when you're nearing your due date and even putting on your pants every morning is a chore, exercise doesn't seem terribly realistic.

Fit Pregnancy magazine has some tips for finding ways to exercise, even with all the obstacles pregnancy presents:

• Nausea. If you once were a morning exerciser but that's when your pregnancy-related nausea is at its worst, rearrange your schedule to make room for exercise in the evenings.
• Backache or hip pain. Try a low-impact activity such as swimming or water walking.
  
• Frequent need to pee. Work out at home or at the gym so there is a bathroom nearby. If you prefer walking outdoors, move your workout to a downtown area where you can stop at a coffee house or other business when the urge arises.
• Swollen feet. Find an exercise that puts less stress on your ankles -- swimming and using a recumbent bike are two great options.
  
• Exhaustion. Exercise will actually help you with fatigue, so don't skip it. If you're too tired to get through a longer workout, try being active in short 10-15 minute bursts.
  
  

Be sure to check with your doctor if you're experiencing any unexpected symptoms like sharp pains or vaginal bleeding. And do discuss exercise options with your doctor -- he/she may have some specific suggestions for you.

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My grandma was a sucker for vinegar. She used it for everything, even had a listing of how to fix just about any ailment with a touch of the stuff.

While modern medicine may not endorse my grandma's practices, vinegar does have a long history of alleged healing. Believed to help cholera, urinary infections, heartburn, brittle nails, and more, vinegar has quite a reputation.
Among its powers, it can potentially reach those stubborn aches and pains. Here's how.

Backaches: A tub full of hot water, two cups of vinegar, and 30 minutes is all you need to relieve a minor backache. It will soothe sore muscles too.
Headaches: Lie down, apply a compress dipped in a mixture of half warm water and half vinegar to the temples, and feel that headache slip away.

Leg Cramps: A soft cloth soaked in full-strength vinegar and used as a compress can ease the pain of a leg cramp.

Muscle Sprain: A paste of white wine, vinegar, and bran can help a recent sprain.

Of course, if any such health issues persist beyond your vinegar treatments, please see your physician. If they do not persist, however, perhaps vinegar is all it's cracked up to be.

For more vinegar cures, click here.

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If you suffer from chronic backaches, cognitive behavior therapy -- the talk therapy that helps change thoughts and behavior -- may be what finally helps you feel better, says a new analysis of 22 studies in the journal Health Psychology.

The problem with this: Most people will have the same reaction as my father. He almost fell off his chair when I suggested that he go TALK to someone about his back pain. The claim though, is that cognitive behavior therapy targets how you think about your pain, so you develop a sense of control and recognize what activities or stressors aggravate your problem.

Also on the list of helpful strategies: Biofeedback, hypnosis and self-relaxation training. These techniques help relieve muscle tension, so you feel your pain less.

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