“On the topic of pregnancy, does any one here know the mekor for the minhag some have not to go to zoos or other such places during pregnancy? more info on this would be appreciated”
I do NOT know of an hlachic makor, however, it makes a great deal of sense to me that there is probably a reason for the old-wives’ notion that what a woman sees in pregnancy can affect her unborn child. Perhaps that idea stems from the story of Yaakov Avinu and Lavan’s flocks of sheep that he gave to Yaakov in “payment” under very strict guidelines. They began giving birth to speckled, striped, etc. lambs when Yaakov put rods on which he cut spotted and striped patterns, in their watering troughs. When they saw these sticks they were startled and the rams approached them, and then they gave birth to lambs with the same designs on their bodies as those rods, thus ensuring that Lavan could not cheat Yaakov out of his fair pay. This would seem to be a credible source for the idea that what a female sees can affect the children she will have.