Archive for November, 2007

Are you concerned that you may be a pregnant? There are several early pregnancy signs to identify your conception.

Generally, these signs develop only after one week of conception, where the hormone levels changes and your body starts reacting to them.

Remember that the early signs of pregnancy vary from woman to woman.

In fact, your signs of one pregnancy differ from another. These may also vary in intensity, frequency and time.

Irregular menstrual cycle is the first and the most common early pregnancy sign in a woman of reproductive age, when you have regular menstrual periods. It is always good to confirm your pregnancy through tests because missed menstrual period doesn’t always signify a pregnancy.

Light spotting is another early sign of pregnancy that usually develops when implantation of fertilized egg takes place in the uterus. This type of bleeding is called implantation bleeding. It usually occurs very light and pinkish or brownish in color.

The most common early sign of pregnancy is breast tenderness. You can also experience swelling of the breasts.

Besides, breast tenderness, you may also experience soreness of the nipples, as the body starts producing milk for breastfeeding. In some cases, you may also notice the darkening of the areola, the skin around the nipple.

When you become pregnant, several changes take place in your body. Vaginal discharge is one among those changes.

Although the discharge is usually not dangerous, it provides you some kind of inconvenience.

Vaginal discharge during pregnancy is usually referred to as leucorrhoea, a mild smelling milky discharge.

The vaginal discharge during pregnancy occurs due to an increased estrogen production and a greater blood flow to the vaginal area.

Vaginal discharge refers to the fluid or mucus that emits out of vagina.

The secretions from the cervix and vagina, old cells on the lining of the vagina, and normal bacterial flora from the vagina lead to excess discharge.

However, the mucus plug creates a protective barrier. It is a collection of secretions that form within the opening of the cervical canal. There will be even more vaginal discharge when you get closer to labor, during your pregnancy.

This extra vaginal discharge is a good indication that it is just a part of being pregnant and your body is maintaining the vagina clean and healthy. However when your cervix starts to dilute and widen, it will emit this mucus plug in the form of gelatinous drop that looks like egg white.

Are you a 20 week pregnant? Congratulations! You are in the middle of your pregnancy and your uterus is almost even with your navel now.

Your belly will come out and continues the same as your uterus grows.

If you have multiples in your uterus, the uterus will be two or more inches higher.

In your 20 week pregnant, your baby will have same sleep and wake up times as new born has.

In this week, you can feel “fluttering” or “quickening” of your baby. Indeed, by your baby’s movement, you can tell if your baby is sleeping or awake.

During this week, your baby weighs approximately ten ounces or close to one pound and about seven inches long from crown to rump.

Even though the lungs are not matured enough yet, your baby starts practicing breathing motions.

During your 20 week pregnant, your baby’s ears are completely functional and start hearing voices – your voice as well as voices outside the uterus. Sometimes, if there is a loud noise near you, the baby may even startle and jump.

Being pregnant is so great for every woman.

However, there can be several pregnancy questions that rise among pregnant woman, especially during first time pregnancy.

It is essential for you to clarify all your pregnancy questions in order to maintain healthy environment for the baby.

The pregnancy question can be related to planned or unplanned pregnancy. So, to clear your pregnancy questions, here are some answers.

I am Planning To Terminate My Pregnancy. What Are The Possible Alternatives For Me?

This pregnancy question commonly develops when you have unplanned pregnancy. The termination of pregnancy is possible through non-surgical or surgical methods, when you are below nine weeks pregnant from the date of your last menstrual period.

The non-surgical method to terminate your pregnancy includes two methods of combination pills: Methotrexate/Misoprostol and Mifepristone/Misoprostol. These are oral medications that can terminate your pregnancy within four hours.

It is 95% effective when used before nine weeks of pregnancy. Consult the doctor before using drugs to terminate your pregnancy.

However, the surgical methods for abortion are vacuum aspiration, dilation and curettage, dilation and evacuation. The doctor performs all these methods and 99% effective in terminating pregnancy. It is better to choose the surgical procedure that makes you feel most comfortable.

Pregnancy is divided into three trimesters. Each pregnancy trimester includes three months. The first trimester ranges from 0-12 weeks.

The second trimester starts from 12 weeks and completes at 24 weeks where as the third trimester ranges from 24 weeks to till the completion of pregnancy.

Each pregnancy trimester has its importance with major developmental changes.

The first trimester is the most flimsy stage where all major body organs and systems form. Even most of the birth defects and miscarriages happen in the first trimester of pregnancy.

During the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, the fetus organs and structures forms completely and the fetus grows speedily.

The crucial part of pregnancy is to stay healthy by taking special care at each pregnancy trimester, as it helps provide healthy baby and safe delivery.

During the first pregnancy trimester, your body undergoes several changes due to hormonal imbalance and you may experience various pregnancy symptoms such as morning sickness, frequent urination, constipation, dizziness, fatigue, sore breasts, and many more. So, it is essential to take proper care starting from the first trimester.

Is your pregnancy confirmed? Congratulations.

Now, you will be excited to know your delivery date, the date where your baby will arrive.

It can be done using pregnancy due date calculator.

On the other hand, to estimate the pregnancy due date, your doctor will simply add nine months and seven days to the date of your last menstrual period.

For example, the date of your last menstrual period was October 9, 2007. Then add nine months to that date and you get the date as July 9, 2007.

Now add seven days to the resultant date and you get the date as July 16, 2007. So, the expected pregnancy due date would be July 16, 2007.

Normally, the length of pregnancy will be 40 weeks (280 days) from the first day of your last menstrual period, which is about 266 days from conception, approximately two weeks before the next menstrual period.

You can determine the delivery date using pregnancy due date calculator. It is an effective tool that helps identify the date of delivery, conception date as well as the fetal age (the status of pregnancy).

When you are 18 week pregnant, your baby is almost half a pound and now the baby has human appearance and your baby measures 5-6 inches crown to rump. During this week, your baby will grow very rapidly.

At 18 week pregnant, the skin of your baby still remains transparent and pink. The baby can make facial expressions such as yawning and stretching and can also frown.

The retinas of the eyes are becoming sensitive to light. The ears start to stick out from the head.

During this week, your baby can differentiate the tastes between sweet and bitter as the taste buds are developing.

The baby during this week can swallow, suck the thumb, and even get hiccups. If you notice to have jerky movements in your belly, do not worry. Feel that your baby may have hiccups.

The baby’s first bowel movement called meconium will collect within the bowel. Your baby can pump up to 25-30 quarts of blood per day now. If you have baby boy in the uterus, the prostate gland starts to develop in this week.

As an expecting mother, you should clearly understand how and in what matters you should take care of yourself and your baby.

You should know what you have to do to ensure the health and welfare of both and how delivery will be safe and normal.

Care of the expecting mother:

Medical check-up: As an expecting mother, you should register yourself in reputable clinic.

You should visit regularly according to the chosen time and inform the doctors about the progress of your pregnancy, health condition and all other details.

Rest and sleep: Expecting mother gets tired easily compared to normal women. As your delivery date comes nearer, you need longer periods of rest. As an expectant mother, you should sleep in such a way that your feet should be slightly higher than the rest of the body.

Clothing and footwear: As an expecting mother, you should wear clothes that allow you to move freely without inconvenience. You should give well support to your breasts. The foot wear you wear should be flat otherwise it will be difficult to balance.

It is very common that every pregnant dreams for a healthy baby.

However, there are some serious health conditions that can develop and harm your baby during pregnancy.

Fortunately, you have a wide range of prenatal testing methods to identify and treat the health conditions that could cause danger to you and your unborn baby.

Prenatal testing is generally performed to detect the disorders in the unborn fetus.

In order to maintain a healthy baby, gain knowledge about the prenatal testing methods to detect them early for right treatment.

With prenatal testing, it is possible to detect the mother’s treatable health conditions that can affect the baby. It also helps detect the characteristics such as age, sex, size, and the position of the baby.

Also determine the risk of developing congenital, genetic, or chromosomal problems in the developing baby. You can also detect abnormalities in the fetus such as heart problems.

The prenatal testing methods vary from one pregnancy trimester to another. Pregnancy is divided into three trimesters where each trimester includes three months.

The prenatal testing usually starts from your first prenatal visit where your doctor performs a pelvic examination to assess the condition of your pregnancy.

Planning pregnancy ensures that your baby is getting a healthy environment and also prevents birth defects and other related problems.

In order to have proper planning pregnancy, you need to adopt a healthy lifestyle and avoid things that can damage the growth of the baby.

Selecting a clinician who is specialized in pregnancy health and deliveries is most essential when you are planning pregnancy.

It is always good to select an OB/GYN, a doctor who practices gynecology and obstetrics.

For planning pregnancy, you need to follow a healthy and balanced diet. So, plan your diet by consulting a nutritionist, as it helps provide guidelines to maintain a proper diet during your pregnancy.

Your diet should contain all fruits and vegetables along with starch-based foods (such as potatoes, cereals, bread, rice, and pasta) and protein foods like meat, chicken, fish.

Also, include foods that are rich-in folic acid, iron, and calcium, as these are all essential nutrients for a developing baby starting from conception.

For this, you need to increase the folic acid content in the body even though you are strong and healthy because it is a B vitamin that helps avoid birth defects such as spina bifida.