Pregnancy is hard enough with those weird cravings, bouts of nausea, stretching/burning abdominal skin, weight gain and months of uncomfortable sleeping. Without my twice-weekly water aerobics class during both pregnancies, I don't know how my body would have survived. After doing the silly, but effective Rocking Horse, Jumping Frog and a ton of basic water walking, I could move more freely, my legs didn't ache, I slept like the sleeping baby growing inside me. Except for my youngest ... she kicked nightly harder than Mr. Tae Bo, Billy Blanks.

Turns out exercise during pregnancy can also help a woman quit smoking. Two new studies reveal 25 percent of pregnant women who regularly exercised quit the habit before birth. A much healthier alternative than nicotine patches which could be a risk during pregnancy. Walking at a moderate pace was the main activity.

So if you're pregnant and desperately trying to snuff out the smokes, walk regularly. Don't forget about the pool either, it's absolute heaven.

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There have been several studies done about the negative impacts of smoking during pregnancy, but research coming out of Japan has a new twist on this particular area of study: Children of women who smoked while they were pregnant are three times more likely to become obese.

The study is the first of its kind to actually follow children until they were 10 years old. However, researchers could do no more than correlate smoking during pregnancy and obesity, so no one is really sure if smoking actually causes obesity, or if there are other lifestyle factors that contribute to the finding.

Several more critical health issues have already been linked with smoking during pregnancy. This one is interesting though. Could something be happening in the womb to predispose kids to gaining excessive weight? What do you think?

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