Pregnancy and Birthing

Tami G asked:


I am just curious, because I swear that last night I felt the fetus move, but I am not sure, as it’s my first pregnancy. So, just wondering how far I’d have to be before I would be able to feel any movement.

Cory

Apurva Shree asked:


The best way to keep you updated with memories of your pregnancy is through a pregnancy journal. For those who are already enjoying their motherhood, sharing the personal benefits by keeping a pregnancy journal to others can prove to be extremely beneficial. Pregnancy journal or diary, allows oneself to analyze how pregnancy brought changes to their lives and what they learnt about themselves and also the environment in which they are living.

Pen Down Your Emotions:

Many would ask the question, why keep a journal at all? The reasons can be many. You can control your physical pain in a journal; you can give way to your creative talent in a journal and even have a record of your expenditures and so on. A pregnant mother can write so many things to her baby who has not seen the world yet in the pregnancy journal.

The best thing with pregnancy journal is that you can write anything, infact everything that has brought some changes in your life. You can write what you ate on a particular day or what you wore to flaunt your pregnancy. Everything that you think is important and forms an important aspect of your life can be penned down in a pregnancy journal. Pregnancy week by week reports can find an easy place in your pregnancy journal. There are so many changes taking place in your body. Feeling of dizziness in first week or cramps and back pins occurring frequently during trimester of pregnancy can be easily sited in your pregnancy journal.

For women who have a flair for writing maintaining a pregnancy journal will not be a big problem for them. Your first sign of pregnancy can really refresh your memories when you think of those wonderful days. Pregnancy is a wonderful experience and as a woman you should be proud of giving birth to a new life on earth. It is a fact that pregnancy is not a smooth journey. There are many unexpected happenings, joys, triumphs and days of continuous pain associated with pregnancy. Writing pregnancy health issues on a pregnancy journal can really help your emotions flow through the power of pen and onto the paper. Pregnancy journal can give you a much needed relief and outlets which even your near and dear ones sometimes cannot.

Pregnancy journal is the perfect outlet of emotions for every pregnant mother. Doctors will tell you to always remain happy during pregnancy. Your behavior can sometimes be very irrational and though not intentionally, hurt anyone near you. But with pregnancy journal, you can always trace down the cause of this irrational behavior later on. Remember, your interest to pen down everything on the pregnancy journal can be passed on to your children, as it a very interesting and healthy habit.



Melanie

Apurva Shree asked:


The first reaction to early sign of pregnancy is disbelief, joy followed by a feeling of uncertainty. A visit to the doctor and a blood test is the only way to confirm your pregnancy. Early pregnancy tests are very reliable and even show the accurate results of a 2-week-old embryo. Before the visit to a doctor for the confirmation of pregnancy, it is very important to watch out for pregnancy symptoms. The precautions taken during early sign of pregnancy is very important for embryo’s health and well being. Some of the most recognizable signs of pregnancy are as follows.

Classic pregnancy symptoms

These pregnancy symptoms appear soon after fertilization, within 8-10 days after conception. Some of the pregnancy symptoms stay with you for the entire period of gestation, while some pregnancy symptoms disappear as the pregnancy advances. They stop troubling you as your body starts getting used to change in hormones and settles to the imminent body changes. A few temporary early signs of pregnancy are:

Missed periods or less bleeding at the onset of periods. The absence of periods during the duration of pregnancy is because now the uterine lining need not be shed but used for implantation of the embryo.

Lower abdominal cramps, which begin soon after the implantation of embryo, disappear within a week or two. Headaches caused by rising levels of hormones in the first few days of pregnancy too disappear once the body accepts the change in hormonal levels.

The pregnancy symptoms that last the entire period of pregnancy are:

Nausea and vomiting are the early signs of pregnancy starting in the second week itself. The degree in which you feel sick varies from full fledged to none as the pregnancy advances. It is fairly controlled during the third trimester, making you feel more relaxed and happy.

Tender and swollen breasts appear soon after conception and stays with you till the entire period. It is the nature’s way to make the breast ready for baby’s breastfeeding. In the last trimester the breasts secrete a liquid called colostrums, which provides immunity to the baby.

Enlarging and darkening of areola is the first sign of pregnancy, and lasts throughout.

Frequent urination and constipation is early sign of pregnancy and increases with the advancing pregnancy due to the pressure of the growing embryo on the surrounding body organs.

Exhaustion and tiredness occurs from initial stages of pregnancy and stay the entire duration of the gestation.

Food cravings for a particular type of food are still an unsolved mystery. Some doctors feel this is the way the body acquires the adequate minerals required by the growing embryo. This pregnancy symptom is an early sign of pregnancy and stays on till the end.

Increased sense of smell and taste too varies in all stages of pregnancy.

If you experience these pregnancy symptoms then take care of your health. Avoid harmful products; start taking balanced diet and some extra folic acid for happy and healthy pregnancy.



Marilyn

Wendy B asked:


My sister had twins two years ago and is still having trouble getting her stomach flat again. She has done a ton of crunches, but it hasn’t made a difference. She says that it feels like the muscles stick too far out when she is exercising. We’ve heard that these muscles can stretch away from the abdominal wall after a pregnancy. Is there a way to get her abs flat again without plastic surgery?

Jacqueline

Groshan Fabiola asked:


As joyful as the news that your are pregnant may be, this is not a very easy time at all. During the nine, or seven months when the woman is expecting, many things may go wrong. This period of a woman’ s life is not easy. A main concern in a pregnant woman’ s life should be is there is bleeding involved. Although many women say that they still have their period while pregnant, spotting oreven bleeding is seen at the soon to be mother, there is reason for concern.

First of all I would like to say that, even though a small range of women bleed at the begining of their pregnancy, this is not the same as with getting your period. When pregnant, the brain sends signals to the uterus not to menstruate.It sometimes happens that a woman may loose small amounts of blood at the begining of the pregnancy. This is not a risk to the baby, but if the flow increses, a doctor must be consulted at once.

At least one in five women have bleedings in the first trimester of pregnancy. This does not mean you still have your period. This bleeding is caused by other factors. What happens is that when the egg is trying to implantate itself in the woman’s uterusblood may flow. This situation only happens for a few days and the blood stream is very low.

One should not worry if bleeding starts at the begining of the pregnancy. If it is low and only lasts a few days, there should be no concern. This actually happens because the cervix is going through different changes to accommodate the baby. The increased blood flowprovided by the brain to your cervix may be one cause, especially if the cervix is inflamated. Be careful though, if bleeding is high and lasts longer, see a doctor.

As i have said before, bleeding in the first trimester is normal at some level. But it may also indicate problems with the fetus, ending in miscarriages. This unfortunate event could take place in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy.Mischarges are often acompanied by ghills, cramps and fever, besides bleeding. A doctor should be seen right away if this symptoms happen. If powerful bleeding ocurs, you may have another serious problem that could endanger you as well as your baby. This is the case ofectopic pregnancies that have a happening rate of one in 60 and are extremely dangerous.

Bleeding can also happen in the late stages of pregnancy, and again this is not your period. The cause for this bleeding are may be a mischarge of even a stillborn. Even as a women advances in her pregnancy, the risk of loosing her baby or giving birth to a dead child still exist.The bleeding may also be acompanied by cramps or contractions. It is imperative that you see a doctor, especially if you are bleeding heavily.

Things are not always that bad, though. You might have an inflated cervix as well. That can be treated. So if bleeding happens in the second or third trimester, better see a doctor and try to remain as calm as possible.

For more inforamtion about teenage pregnancy please visit http://www.pregnancy-1st-guide.com/teenage-pregnancy.htm or http://www.pregnancy-1st-guide.com/



Trent

Apurva Shree asked:


Life is very fast nowadays, and we hardly have any time to sit, relax and brood over a mug of coffee. The constantly pending list of appointments is ready to goad us into action at all times. We do not have time to ponder over our important decisions. This is where we need to be careful and unplanned pregnancy may complicate your life to a great extent. Unplanned or unwanted pregnancy leaves you with very few choices. Either you decide to keep the baby or you decide to terminate your pregnancy. A third choice is that you put up the baby for adoption. After keeping the baby for nine months in your tummy, it is a very difficult choice to part with it.

Pre-Pregnancy Planning Is A Must

Unwanted pregnancy can be very harmful for the mother, as she has to undergo a lot of pressure from family and her partner if pregnancy planning was not done at the pre conception stage. On the other hand, it is possible that you yourself do not want to be pregnant due to career choices or financial constraints. From having a carefree life, you are suddenly faced with the consequences of being casual about pregnancy. Pregnancy is a shared responsibility, and you and your partner, both have to be physically and mentally prepared, to deal with it. It should create joy for both.

Means For Birth Control

You can delay pregnancy or avoid pregnancy by many ways and means. You can take birth control pills, use prophylactics etc. to make sure you stay clear of unwanted pregnancy. However, there have been cases in which a woman became pregnant even while using birth control methods. However, these are only accidental cases and negligible. It is essential that you do not get pregnant when you are in the pre pregnancy stage. When you decide to delay your pregnancy by birth control methods, you should start consulting your family physician on which birth control method is best suitable for you. No accidental pregnancy is welcome. It is a forced situation and it is not in the best interest of the mother or the baby.

Unplanned Pregnancy May Complicate Life To A Great Extent

Unplanned pregnancy can be a great pain in the neck. Just imagine a situation when you are taking strong medication or chemotherapy or you are a drug addict and you have unwanted pregnancy. All these situations are disastrous for the fetus. You will have to terminate the pregnancy and you will have to undergo a great physical turmoil as well.

There is a very common unplanned pregnancy situation, which keeps cropping up in every pregnancy clinic. When the woman of the house gets pregnant, the man of the house suddenly has to stick to celibacy for 4-6 months. Soon after the baby’s delivery, both parents wait anxiously for the mother to recover completely, to resume their sexual activities. In their anxiousness, they usually cross the border and the woman becomes pregnant once again in 3-4 months. In such a situation, usually couples decide to terminate pregnancy. You should be very careful to go for abortion by operation. It can have adverse effects on the body of the woman. Even abortion without operation is an unhealthy way to clear unplanned pregnancy.

Pregnancy tools like Chinese calendar are very helpful in preparing the parents for delivering a healthy baby. A child is a precious gift of nature. It should get all the love from the parents that it really deserves. So save yourself from the trouble of an unplanned pregnancy and plan your baby from the pre conceiving stage.



Joanne

Steph asked:


I had a healthy pregnancy and gave birth to a healthy baby in January 06 than miscarried at 8 weeks in June 07. I havent heard of many people having normal pregnancies and then a miscarriage. Has anyone experianced this and if so did you go on to have another normal pregnancy?

Chad