Archive for February, 2008

Want to know the sex of your baby? Most of the pregnant women are eager to know the sex of their baby.

Then ultrasound pregnancy test can be useful in determining the gender of your baby.

This test is not only used to determine your baby’s gender, but also used to evaluate the size, movement and position of your growing baby.

Usually during the early stages, your baby’s heart is visible, as months passes on, body starts moving and it becomes clearer.

You can see those movements and also you will come to know your baby’s gender through ultrasound. Some of you will get the doubt on ultrasound scan. Here is about ultrasound scan in detail:

What is an ultrasound scan?

Using the sound waves, the ultrasound scan works. A machine is used to send the sound waves which again reflected back and converts it into an image that you can see on the screen.

This is very helpful for the routine examination; usually this test is performed when you first attend the antenatal clinic and then after 18-22 weeks of pregnancy.

More than 20 percent of the women got habituated to smoking in the US. They continue smoking even though they become pregnant.

Smoking can lead to a major health problem, it can harm your health and smoking during pregnancy can lead to serious pregnancy complications and also severe health problems in your newborns.

Pregnancy is a great time for every woman, so it is essential to quit smoking at this time.

You will feel better and have more energy throughout your pregnancy. Also, you can reduce the risks of health problems in the future like, cancer, lung problems and heart diseases.

There are more than 2500 chemicals in cigarette smoke. It is not certain that which of these chemicals are harmful for your developing baby. Carbon monoxide in the cigar smoke and nicotine in the cigarette play a major role in causing adverse side effects.

Smoking during pregnancy - How it is harmful for your baby?

Low birth weight result from smoking during pregnancy: Smoking doubles the risk of having your baby to born with low weight. Low birth weight is the result of deprived growth before the birth, preterm delivery or combination of both.

Usually 20’s for a woman will bring great changes in her life such as - finishing studies, finding a life partner and getting settled in her career.

Women in their 20’s have a greater chance of becoming pregnant because of the larger number of eggs in their ovaries.

Number of the eggs are genetically normal for every woman. Usually, women produce the eggs during their lifetime. Pregnancy at 20’s had some definite advantages over other points in your life.

As they become older, the percentage of those eggs will be decreased. This is the reason for a woman to have increased miscarriage rates, decreased fertility rates and increased chance of birth defects such as Down syndrome.

The pregnancy rate in a woman of 20’s is about 20 to 25%. If the woman has been failed in trying to conceive after actively trying for 12 months, it is essential for her to take the help of fertility.

Usually, at the age of 20’s, women have regular periods, and most of them are ovulatory. An egg will be released every month. At this age, you are likely to be most fit than you will ever be.

Trying to conceive? Most of you have spent months or years in avoiding conception.

If you want to make your own family then start BBT charting to maximize your chances of becoming pregnant.

BBT is nothing but Basal Body Temperature and it is the temperature when your body is at rest.

Want to know how the BBT chart works?

Throughout your menstrual period, two hormones divide star billing. In your first half of the cycle, the star is estrogen. This hormone helps in the production of eggs from ovaries. This process takes place during ovulation.

In the second half of the menstrual cycle, progesterone is the star. This hormone will rule until it falls in the anticipation of your menstrual period.

With the help of this information, it is easy to know the theory behind BBT chart. Usually, estrogen is called as a cool hormone and progesterone is called as warm hormone.

Your body temperature is slightly cooler before ovulation when compared to after ovulation as estrogen is the dominant factor during this period.

When progesterone is the dominant factor, your body temperature will increase. With this information, the rise in Basal Body Temperature indicates you that you are ovulating.

Are your breasts soaring during your pregnancy? It is one of the common breast changes during pregnancy.

Hormonal changes in your pregnancy can cause improved blood flow and some changes in your breast tissues.

This causes swelling in your breasts, soaring, tingling and abnormally sensitive to touch.

Breast changes during pregnancy is one of the early symptoms of pregnancy. Usually it begins around 4-6 weeks and continues throughout the first pregnancy trimester.

Breast changes during pregnancy:

Your breasts start increasing in its size at about 8 weeks of your pregnancy and sometimes this continues to develop throughout your pregnancy. Most commonly, your cup size increases to one or two.

As the skin start stretching, you will feel itchiness and sometimes there is a possibility to develop stretch marks.

If you are first time pregnant, then you may feel itchiness at your breasts and you may notice that your nipple become darker and bigger. After passing few months, the pigmented circles around the nipples will become bigger and darker.

During your 3rd month pregnancy, the breast milk called colostrum start producing which your baby will receive once after the birth. In last months of your pregnancy, your breasts will leak a little amount of thick yellowish liquid.

Inserting some type of material into the vagina for blocking the sperm and preventing from pregnancy is the most common method that people are using for many years. Barrier birth control method consists of many materials for blocking the sperm.

Working of barrier birth control methods is very simple. These methods block the sperm from transforming to the uterus and hence you can prevent your pregnancy. Among those methods, the most common ones are given below.

• Female condom
• Diaphragm & Cervical cap
• Contraceptive sponge
• Spermicides
• Lea’s contraceptive

Female condom:

It is a pre-lubricated, non prescription and a pouch-like device that lines the walls of the vagina. Basically female condom is made of polyurethane and it consists of soft rings at both the ends.

The ring at the closed end is placed against the cervix. Open end resides outer side of the vagina and seized in position by the external ring.

Female condom behaves as a barrier for preventing the sperm to meet with the egg. You can insert the condom 6 hours before having sexual intercourse so that it doesn’t decrease impulsiveness.

Toxoplasmosis is an infection that is caused due to a microscopic parasite called as Toxoplasma gondii.

For people who have healthy immune system, this disease is a mild and without any symptoms.

If you are affected with this condition then it can sometimes infect your placenta and also baby’s body.

There are relatively small number of people who are born with Toxoplasmosis, but this infection can be a devastating one. This can cause stillbirths and long-term damage.

Chances of affecting by toxoplasmosis:

About 15 percent of the pregnant women are immune to toxoplasmosis. But most of the times, the babies of pregnant women who get infected with this disease can not be infected.

There is only 15% chance of transmitting Toxoplasmosis to your baby if you get this during your first pregnancy trimester. If you get Toxoplasmosis during the second trimester then there is 30% chance of transmitting it to your baby and 60% in the third trimester.

If you conceive before three months, then there is small risk of affecting your baby. But, if you get infected with Toxoplasmosis then it is better to wait for six months before trying to conceive.

Want to increase the odds of getting pregnancy sooner? Conceiving a baby is one of the most difficult things after facing events in most of the couples’ life.

For some women, getting pregnancy is relatively easy, but for some others conception is an elusive process.

In your each menstrual cycle, there is only 20% chance of getting pregnancy.

The most important key for conceiving is following proper timings. The first step in getting pregnancy is to know about your menstrual cycle.

Here are the fertility tips to help you in getting pregnancy quickly:

Take the helps of ovulation prediction kit:

Utilize an ovulation calculation kit. This helps you to know before 24-48 hours about your ovulation. So, you can plan time for trying to conceive. If the test result is positive then you can participates in the intercourse on the same day and the day after. [Ovulation Calendar]

Having sex at the right time:

Having sex every alternating day during your fertile days will help you in getting pregnancy quickly. The most important thing you need to remember is having sex at the right time.

Have you ever heard about blighted ovum? It is a common type of miscarriage.

Sometime you will be shocked by hearing the news of ultrasound test, when there is no visible developing embryo.

Probably you will feel sad and confused. It takes some time to understand what the blighted ovum is.

Don’t forget that you are not the one who is suffering from this pregnancy complication.

Blighted ovum - What it exactly means?

Blighted ovum is the condition that occurs when the fertilized egg connects itself to the uterine walls, but you won’t notice any development of embryo. Usually, this condition occurs in the first pregnancy trimester before you came to know that you are pregnant.

In this condition, cells will be developed and forms the amniotic sac, but they won’t develop the embryo. Higher the chromosome abnormality, the greater is the chance to occur natural miscarriages.

Nowadays, instead of calling the term blighted ovum, most of the practitioners use the term as early pregnancy failure.

How to aware of the condition whether you have or haven’t the blighted ovum?

• You will experience pregnancy signs and symptoms like missed or late menstrual period and also positive pregnancy test.

Epidural is an anesthetic used for relief from pains during pregnancy. Most of the pregnant women prefer to take epidural instead of any other to free from labor pains.

When you are preparing for Labor Day, you need to learn more about the pain relief choices so that you are prepared to make choices during the birth experience.

Epidural anesthesia - What it exactly means?

It is an anesthetic that obstructs the pain in the specific region of your body. The main aim of the epidural is to offer pain relief or analgesia than complete anesthesia. Anesthesia is completely lack of sensation.

Nerve impulses blocking from inferior spinal segments results in reduced sense in the inferior part of your body. The class of medications which comes under epidurals includes: chloroprocaine, bupivacaine or lidocaine.

Often these are given in combination with narcotics or opioids, like sufentanil and fentanyl in order to lessen the necessary dose of anesthesia. In this way, you can relieve from pain with minimal side effects.

How to administer the epidural?

Before the starting of labor process, your body starts producing the intravenous fluids. During the labor and delivery, 1-2 liters of this fluid will be released.