Archive for April, 2008

You can use various methods of birth control options like: Pregnancy prevention, family planning, fertility control, contraception, etc.

If you are a sexually active woman, you can choose from various number of methods in order to reduce the chances of becoming pregnant.

Any birth control method available today offers you ample protection against various sexually transmitted diseases.

You will find various hormonal birth control methods. The only difference that you can find is:

• The kind of hormone that you choose
• The amount of hormone level
• The method through which the hormone enters into your body

The hormone can be progesterone or estrogen. You can take these hormones orally, implanted into your body’s tissue, located in the vagina, injected into your skin, or the hormones can also be absorbed from a patch of the skin.

Different hormonal birth control methods:

Hormonal birth control method - Oral contraceptives

Oral contraceptives like pills are prepared from synthetic hormones. Pills are considered to be 97-99% effective. You will find two types of birth control pills, one is the combination pill and the other is the mini pill.

HCG injection can help women with fertility problems.

In order to increase the chances of becoming pregnant, HCG injection is given along with other fertility drugs.

HCG is the pregnancy hormone that maintains the corpus luteum producing progesterone when conception occurs.

The injection is administered in two ways based on your body’s condition and type. It can be given just under the skin i.e. subcuteously or in muscles i.e. intramuscularly. The timing of the HCG injection administration is very important.

But, before going to take the injection, it is very important to inform your healthcare provider if you have any of the following conditions:

• Asthma
• Kidney disease
• Ovarian cysts
• Ovarian cancer
• Heart disease
• Seizures
• Allergic reaction to HCG, any medicines, preservatives, foods, hormones, or dyes
• If you are already pregnant
• Breastfeeding
• Migraines

Usage of HCG injection:

Usually, HCG injection is given to thigh or buttock muscles. This injection can be given by your healthcare provider at a specified day of your fertility treatment cycle. You will be administered with this injection as one dose per cycle.

Ask your doctor about how to inject HCG on your own. He will explain the procedure.

Still you are not pregnant and of course there will be no pregnancy symptoms.

Now this is the period for you to participate in sexual intercourse. This is the period to maximize the chances of conceiving.

In 2nd week pregnancy, the uterus is ready to form a blood rich lining, which is called as endometrium.

Also, in this week, your cervix produces the cervical mucus; as a result of increased estrogen levels.

This helps to move the sperm easily into the fallopian tubes to meet the egg once after the fertilization.

What are the physical changes that occur during 2nd week pregnancy?

During this week, the lining of the uterus will be developed where your baby will nourish. A hormone secreted in your body called as follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) stimulates the egg to mature.

Your breasts are little swollen and tender and there is frequent urination during this time. These are the common early symptoms of your pregnancy. During this week, your body produces large amounts of Beta-hCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin). Now it is a good time to make an appointment with an Obstetrician for positive confirmation.

Care you need to take during 2nd week pregnancy:

Each pregnancy is a unique experience for every woman.

Some changes are common to all types of pregnancies.

So, getting proper understanding about the physical and emotional changes helps you to understand your pregnancy and get a positive experience.

Among those various emotional changes, mood swings during pregnancy is a common one.

Various hormonal changes affect the levels of neurotransmitters and also various feelings that you have regarding in your pregnancy.

You may be very much excited about your pregnancy, but sometimes you can also feel stressed and overwhelming. Sometimes these constant worries can contribute to mood swings.

Main cause behind mood swings during pregnancy:

• Mood swings during pregnancy are the main causes of fatigue, physical stress, metabolic changes, or changes in the hormones estrogen and progesterone.
• Considerable changes in the levels of hormones can affect your neurotransmitter levels, which are the brain chemicals that change your mood.
• You will encounter mood swings during the first trimester of pregnancy i.e. between 6-10 weeks.
• Also in third trimester, you will experience mood swings because your body is preparing for the birth.

Chorionic villus sampling is also referred to as CVS.

Mainly this prenatal diagnostic test is used for recognizing chromosome abnormalities and any other genetic conditions.

Your healthcare provider will suggest this diagnostic method if you and your partner have any history of medical disorders.

Mainly this test is performed 10-13 weeks after your last menstrual period and before amniocentesis.

Chorionic villus sampling can be used to identify:

All types of chromosomal abnormalities: These diseases include sex chromosome abnormalities, trisomy 18, trisomy 13 and Down syndrome. This method is more than 99% effective.

All types of genetic disorders: The disorders include: cystic fibrosis, Tay-sachs disease and sickle cell disease. Chorionic villus sampling is used to inform you whether your child has this disease or not.

Performing Chorionic villus sampling:

In Chorionic villus sampling, the doctor removes the cell by using tiny fingerlike projections on the placenta termed as chorionic villi and sends the cells to the laboratory for testing. The samples are collected by using two methods. These methods are based on the location of the placenta.

Transabdominal: In this method, a long thin needle is inserted through the abdomen in your placenta. Then the needle collects a sample of tissue and then it is taken out. This is same as amniocentesis.

1st Week in a pregnant woman is extremely mystifying and exciting time.

You can start calculating your pregnancy week-by-week as soon as you decide to conceive.

In the first week of pregnancy, you can start counting from your last menstrual period.

Most of the women do not know about the exact day when they have conceived. During the first week of your pregnancy, you may not even be certain that you are pregnant.

Most of the woman can aware of the day their period started. So, you can easily know about your baby’s due date. It will be a bit confusing for everybody to remember to start counting from the day your period starts. But in reality, you will not become pregnant 2 weeks after the day your period starts.

For example, if your doctor says you are 12 weeks pregnant, then the period of conception is approximately 10 weeks ago. Week 1 is mostly devoted to the method of ovulation and fertilization.

What are the physical changes that occur during 1st week pregnancy?

If you are 1 week pregnant, your body will develop estrogen and progesterone in varying quantities to prepare the body for ovulation, when your ovaries release an egg.

Have you ever heard about pregnancy pillow?

There are amazing benefits of using pregnancy pillows.

If you or someone you know is pregnant, then you will find that the pillow provides multiple functions and also helps you to sleep comfortably.

Sleep problems are very problematic during pregnancy. Most of your find trouble in falling asleep or staying asleep during pregnancy.

Pregnancy pillow is something that improves your life over night when your body is changing and experiencing the stress of pregnancy. The pillow works by supporting and cradling your back and belly thus allowing the pains and aches in these places to be handled more efficiently.

Pregnancy pillow offers you quality sleep thus allowing you to free from stress, improves your general health and also keep you and your baby healthy.

The pillows come along with something to snuggle up to and you can use this when you are breastfeeding to provide correct position. With this, you like to continue your sleep with the pillows even after the pregnancy also.

Want to attain lean body that you had before your pregnancy?

For this you need to follow postpartum fitness program.

Before starting the program, you need to get proper understanding of your body.

Giving birth to a baby means a lot of things like: losing sleep, learning to manage your tiny little one, and dealing with the weight that you gained during your pregnancy.

Every pregnant woman can gain an average of 30 pounds during pregnancy period, but most of you can gain even more. Usually, you will lose 18-20 pounds within a month after the delivery.

Being active during this period is even more important because it increases your metabolism, removes those extra pounds, offers you much needed energy and also helps to reduce the stress and tension.

But, you will get a doubt that how much and when to start the postpartum exercise routine. You knew that including exercise routine back into your daily lifestyle is a gradual process.

How much and when to start postpartum exercise routine?

Pregnancy is the period that you encounter a large number of changes in your body. So, it takes time to get back. If you exercised throughout the pregnancy and had normal vaginal delivery, then you can safely practice the postpartum workouts, like walking, stretching and modified push-ups, within few days after giving birth [Pregnancy exercises].

Toxemia is a severe medical condition that affects after 20 weeks of gestational age.

This condition is also known as pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH).

This condition is the result of sudden raise in blood pressure, hyper reflexia (extremely fast reflex response) and excess amounts of protein in the urine.

About 7% of pregnant women can develop the condition of mild toxemia.

Sometimes, serious toxemia can lead to serious condition called as pre-eclampsia, which again can lead to the condition of eclampsia, which is followed by a severe condition called as HELLP syndrome.

Toxemia begins its development when the placenta starts to develop. There is a high chance of developing this condition in a first-time pregnant woman. The causes of this condition are still unknown.

The most common risks that lead to toxemia include:

• A woman for first-time pregnant
• Having multiple pregnancies
• Teen pregnancy
• Pregnancy above the age of 35
• Having a family history of the disease
• Having kidney disease or high blood pressure before the pregnancy

Mild toxemia leads to water retention, high blood pressure and proteins in the urine.

Basically turner syndrome is a chromosomal condition.

This results when an X chromosome among the two sex chromosomes is missing or incomplete.

This condition only affects females and it happens only 1 in every 2,500 live female births, but this is more common among pregnancies that won’t survive to term.

The main cause behind turner syndrome:

The absence of one X chromosome among the two in a woman results in the condition of turner syndrome.

But, there is no known cause for the whole or partial deficiency of one of the two X chromosomes and this situation appears to happen randomly.

Diagnosing turner syndrome:

The diagnosis of turner syndrome is done by using a blood test called as karyotype. This test helps in analyzing the chromosomal composition of the individual woman and finds whether there is any absence of any X chromosome.

Characteristics of a woman with turner syndrome:

A woman who is suffering with turner syndrome may experience any of the following characteristics:

• Webbed neck – Extra folds of the neck extending from the tops of shoulders to the sides of the neck
• Sagging of your eyelids