I am pregnant, and completely blown away by the myriad of difficulties associated with being a jazz singer while pregnant.

First, there are virtually NO maternity dresses for jazz singers. Of course, I could wear a beautiful orange Lanvin dress like Beyonce, but the cost of that one dress exceeds my performance fee so I think that would be quite a bad business move.

In general, I notice that when I search for formal maternity dresses, I get results for tight little black dresses. I know there is a growing lack of understanding of dress codes in the States, but I figured that most designers know that mini skirts are not formal wear. Granted, I do have a few slinky dresses that have enough stretch to make it over my burgeoning belly, but what works for Heidi Klum on the red carpet does nothing for me on stage while singing for an hour or two. Who wants to stare at my belly encased in bright red spandex for that long?

After an exhaustive search I discovered it was easier to search for "empire waist dresses" in plus sizes and avoid maternity dresses for stage wear. For example, Target has a great chiffon maxi dress that can be dressed up with accessories. I also cut the elastic waist band out of a sparkly black plus-size dress and tied the ribbon under my bust.

Second, watch the repertoire. "Santa Baby" is already risque. Add to that a big fat pregnant belly to that, and the song is downright nasty. Songs about drinking. ditto. Someone yelled out a request for "The Chair Song." I told them that they had to be crazy. Someone who had asked for "(My Man is Such a) Handy Man" during my "Nina Simone Tribute" shows in the summer tried to collect on my "next time" promise was met with a sturdy "NO!" Seriously... does anyone want to see a heavily pregnant woman singing about "greasing my griddle" and "stroking my fiddle?"

And if you answer "yes," then I especially don’t want to sing it for you.

Third, the hormone changes thicken your vocal chords and the baby takes up half of your diaphragm space. The support is just not there. There is nothing to bear down against. It is absolutely crazy. I think back to when Alexa Weber Morales was singing at Pearl’s while pregnant, and really I have no idea how she did it. My keys needed to be brought down a whole step. Certain tunes I had to reconfigure altogether. For example, I love starting in lower key and eventually doing a "shout chorus" an octave higher. In the middle of "Cold Duck," I flipped it up an octave and then suddenly realized I didn’t really have the range to stay up there. I literally went for a high note and nothing came out! I had to work my way down to a more manageable range without losing the build I had just created. At times I am so out-of-breath that the thought of wasting air and depriving myself (and the baby) of oxygen just to hold a note feels sadistic!

Fourth, as Fats Waller sang, "your feets is too big." This is a problem when you have to stand for hours. Sitting doesn’t really help because that decreases my diaphragm space. And sitting does not keep your feet from swelling unless you put your feet up. Putting your feet up on stage is unacceptable in my book unless I am lying on a piano (like I used to do at Martuni's) or I just sprained it on the break (running to feed the meter at a Mal Sharpe Big Money gig at the No Name Bar in Sausalito).

I have no idea how April the floor manager at Pearl’s managed to run up and down those steps and stand all night while pregnant. My hat is off to all those ladies that do it. Maybe it is because they are younger. Maybe they discovered the medical compression stocking trick more quickly than I did. Or maybe they do less air travel. Flying across country and then going straight to a rehearsal or show is normal for musicians, but when your legs are swelled up like sausages by the time you land it can really throw a wrench into things.

Fifth, heightened sense of smell can really be a pain. What do people do when they go out? Often times they put on cologne, sometimes they smoke, but most of the time they drink. People already love to get too close to me. It is one of the things you have to accept about the business. After staring at you and listening to you for hours, people feels as if they know you so they just come right up to you, hug you, grab your belly or at least hold your hand for too long. I have gotten use to the manhandling with little complaints. After all in some cultures it is good luck to rub a pregnant belly. But my already nauseous stomach cannot deal with booze breath. Or perfume. Or smoke (I don’t care what kind it is). Or even just sweat. I can barely stand my own smell these days much less getting bombarded by an entire audience's smell. Back in the day I could tell the club not to put smokers in the front rows, but it is hard to dictate an entire fragrance-free front row.

All in all, I am overwhelmed how accepting people are of my condition. I have had a couple of raised eyebrows, but not many. A big thanks to the Rrazz Room for not batting an eye and doing crazy things like running to grab crackers for me seconds before I get on stage. Thanks to MIA for paving the way by stepping on to the stage at the Grammy Awards 9 months pregnant. Thanks to Houston Person for shouldering some of the entertainment burden.

And more than anytbody else, I thank my husband for his support, because although it is nice to know that I won’t be discriminated from making a living while pregnant, it is even better knowing that I can financially afford to stay home. Musicians don’t get sick days or maternity leave. We book dates six months to year out and it doesn’t matter if you get the word before the show that "your favorite uncle died at dawn," as Irving Berlin once famously noted, you still go on.

You can’t really schedule a baby and when you are making a living doing a headliner-driven concerts (as opposed to title-driven shows such as musicals or event-driven concerts such as street fairs) the venue, the audience and your supporting musicians rely on you to come through.

And I am really happy I got through an intense holiday concert schedule!

Between going to grad school and being a graduate student instructor, my voice has suffered. Usually, my voice does exactly what I want it to. Whatever I can hear I can execute after a try or two. The challenge for me has always been to hear more! Meaning to really get inside the changes.

Now, that has all changed. I sing concerts less frequently and I talk less frequently. Disuse, hormones, and asthma have my vocal chords feeling heavy, thick and unresponsive. It was time to go back to the shed, but I really lacked the time to sit at the piano and run minor scales. Then I discovered Voice Tutor.

Voice Tutor is a phone app. I purchased it for my Google phone (android) but it is also available for iPhones. Voice Tutor goes through all the basics terminology such as "connected voice," "head voice," "chest voice," etc. It runs you though trouble spots such as tension, breathiness, cracking, and staying connected. There is even a function that helps you figure out what your vocal range is.

I am not keen on having a phone app tweak my sound. I already have developed my style/sound and whether my pronunciation is technically "correct" it is my sound, people like it, and I intended to keep it.

I will give you an example of an "incorrect" thing I do. Singers are supposed to sing on vowels. I love to sing on consonants. Give me a good "M" over and "A" any day! So if the word to be song is "MAKE," I will hold the "MMMM" rather than the "AY."

Since I am happy with my style/sound and I know my range, I essentially use two features on the Voice Tutor app: "Riff and Run" and "Give My Voice a Workout." This not only runs basic intervals, it also runs all types of scales such as pentatonic. I didn't grow up in a gospel church so the gospel/R&B runs that are prevalent in music today are difficult for me. What is more, I made the discovery that singing the runs on vowels is difficult, yet I can scat the most difficult runs and scales with ease. I guess I am just hard-wired that way!

One of the most valuable pieces of advice I ever received as a vocal student was to warm up on my own. Don't waste you money and the teacher's wisdom by having her or him run scales with you to warm you up. Do your shedding before the lesson.

Voice Tutor is more than just a keyboard playing behind you; it also has a pitch meter and the ability to slow down and to record your voice, which makes Voice Tutor a steal at $4.99. You can get it online at the Apple iTunes Store.

Of course, nothing beats the extra ear and finger training you get playing piano yourself while running your scales, but I am grateful for Voice Tutor's ability to take an hour-long commute in the car and turn it into productive vocal shedding time. I plug my phone into my car's auxiliary jack and then I can turn Voice Tutor and my voice up more loudly than I would ever feel comfortable with at home.

So stop singing along with the radio and build up your chops with this nifty app!