Archive for May, 2008

By pregnancy week 7, your baby grows in length up to 13 mm.

At this week, your baby is now closer to the size of a small raspberry than a kernel of corn.

This week, you will observe various changes in you and your baby’s body.

What are the physical changes that occur in your body during pregnancy week 7?

During this week, still you experience morning sickness. You will also not gain much weight than few pounds.

During this week, the rapid increase of hormones like progesterone can cause your face to break out.

Therefore, it is better to wash your face twice in a day by using a gentle cleanser and drink lots of water. Some women luckily get clear complexion during pregnancy.

During this week, you can experience constipation and have occasional bouts of indigestion. Some of you can also feel somewhat dizzy or lightheadedness sometimes.

Pregnancy week 7 causes greater changes in your cervix. In this week, there is a development in mucus plug, which structures at the opening of the cervical canal and seals off the uterus for protection.

Care you need to take during this week:

Yes, it is necessary. You need to avoid various medications throughout your pregnancy, because taking various medicines during pregnancy can result in various health problems.

You should talk with your doctor about what type of prescription and over-the-counter drugs you can and cannot use throughout your pregnancy.

So, you need to bear some of the pregnancy-related symptoms like constipation and heartburn without using any medications.

The problems that can arise when you take the medicines during your pregnancy are, the medicines can easily cross the placenta and enter into your baby’s bloodstream.

Medicine particles are very tiny, so they can easily cross the placenta along the nutrients required for your baby development.

Possible risks on your baby with the use of medications:

First trimester is the most important period during your pregnancy. Some medications can cause very serious complications when you take them in the first trimester, but sometimes they are safe in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters.

First trimester is the stage in which your baby’s organs start to grow. So, when you take medicines at this time, it can seriously affect the growth of the organs. Sometimes, this can also lead to malformations and birth defects. If the defects become very serious, then it can lead to miscarriage.

The first few weeks of your pregnancy are most important for baby development.

You should be healthy and away from the type of activities at the conception time, which can harm your baby.

Those habits which you need to avoid from your daily routine for the safe growth of your baby include:

Alcohol consumption: Even a single sip of alcohol is not safe for your baby growth. So, you should avoid alcohol consumption [Fetal alcohol syndrome].

Caffeine: High levels of caffeine consumption can lead to delayed conception. Also, some studies proved that there is an increased risk of miscarriage in women who took more than 300 mg a day.

Smoking: According to the studies, smoking during pregnancy can lead to low-birth weight babies, preterm deliveries and infant deaths.

Herbs: There are no approved herbs by FDA. If you want to take any herb, it is better to discuss with your doctor about the safety of the drug.

Stress: Delayed or missed menstrual cycles are the results of stress. So, it will be very difficult for you to track the ovulation period and to become pregnant. So, you should limit the stress levels as much as you can.

During pregnancy week 6, your health care provider will measure your baby with ultrasound scan.

You will notice some major discomforts during this week.

What are the physical changes that occur in your body during pregnancy week 6?

During this week, you will observe some unpleasant symptoms. You can feel ill.

The common pregnancy symptoms will become more severe during this week. This week you can feel more nauseated.

In order to get relief from these symptoms,

• You need to buckle down and focus on changing your diet.
• You should not consume fatty foods.
• Prefer eating smaller meals rather than consuming larger ones.
• Drink plenty of fluids.
• Get plenty of rest.
• Take your regular prenatal vitamin.
• Avoid keeping your stomach completely empty or completely full, either of these keeps you more nauseated.

You will gain some weight by pregnancy week 6. Usually, most of the pregnant women will gain about 5 pounds in the whole first trimester. You will observe little change in your waist, it will become little thicker.

Are you planning for a baby? So, before going to conceive, it is essential for you to make a health checkup of your body.

Before going to conceive, here are the tests and procedures that you need to ensure by your doctor. This helps in giving birth to a healthy baby.

1. Medical history: You need to tell your doctor about the eating and exercising habits and also about the exposure to any environmental hazards. Inform your doctor if you have any conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes or any other genetic disorders.

Inform your doctor about the type of birth control option that you used. Also, inform about the conditions like menstrual problems, abortions, miscarriages or ectopic pregnancy.

2. Blood pressure checkup: High blood pressure during pregnancy can lead to preeclampsia and also cause placental problems. So, ask your doctor about a plan to control the blood pressure levels during your pregnancy.

3. Pap smear: Pap smear is an essential part of pelvic examination. Usually, it is conducted twice a year or whenever required. Inform your doctor if you have any sexually transmitted diseases like Chlamydia, HIV/AIDS or herpes. Having successful screening and treating your disease before you conceive will considerably improve the chances of successful pregnancies.

According to the new research, women who are stressed during pregnancy are more likely to have babies with immune-related problems such as allergies and asthma.

Animal studies have already shown that the immune system of offspring is more sensitive to allergens when mothers are stressed when pregnant.

In this study on human subjects, the researchers said their results suggested the same is probably true of humans: the stress experienced by a pregnant mother may translate into long term health problems for her child.

The researchers found that the mothers who were under the most stress (measured in terms of the number of problem domains reported) while pregnant gave birth to babies with high levels of IgE in their cord blood, even though the level of dust mites in their home environment was low.

The stress of the mother was contributing to the higher IgE sensitivity of the baby. Stress itself acted like a social pollutant that influenced the body’s immune response. Stress in childhood may modify developmental trajectories and have a long-term effect on disease risk.

Source: Medical News Today

Obesity is one of the most frequent causes for complications during the pregnancy.

If the BMI of the mother during her pregnancy is greater than 25 units, then the mother is considered as obese.

According to the studies, obesity doubles your chances of having a baby with neural tube defects.

Even if you take enough amounts of folic acid; it does not protect you against the increase in risk.

Obese women can experience greater number of complications when compared to the women who are normal weight. Most of the times, the babies born to obese women are more likely to be admitted to neonatal (newborn) intensive care units.

Factors which lead to obesity during pregnancy include:

• Weight of the mother at the beginning of the pregnancy
• Genetic factors
• The placenta size
• Amount of amniotic fluid
• Mothers’ liquid retention
• High calorie intake during pregnancy
• Avoiding physical activity
• Weight of the baby

If you are an obese woman, then you have greater tendency to get affected with two very serious diseases. They include: arterial hypertension and the other is diabetes mellitus.

By this week, your pregnancy is confirmed. If you are in pregnancy week 5, you will experience the same symptoms as last week.

There are various changes that takes place in your body and your baby’s development.

What are the physical changes that occur in your body during pregnancy week 5?

Still, your body is adjusting to the hormones that are released during your pregnancy. Probably you will experience the same symptoms as last week.

Some can experience greater change in their areolas, which become dark.Don’t worry about this condition, it is perfectly normal. This is the result of hormonal changes in your body.

Your body works for 9 months in order to develop a special new life. You can experience tiredness and unusual irritability. This is the result of improved metabolism and developing uterus. Sleeping in a good sporting bra can help to feel good. Don’t worry about the developing breasts, they stop growing within the next 3 weeks.

You will frequently experience morning sickness during pregnancy week 5. Actually this is a misnomer. Some women can experience it throughout their pregnancy period, but most of the time you will be free from morning sickness by the end of first trimester. This condition becomes worse when you feel empty stomach.

Basically pregnancy tests look for a hormone in your blood or urine that only exists when you are pregnant.

This hormone is called as human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), also it is called as pregnancy hormone.

This hormone is developed in your body when the fertilized egg implants in your uterus.

This only occurs 5-6 days after conception. But, according to the studies, implantation of embryo will not take place until later in some women.

Most of the home pregnancy tests declare that they can confirm if you are pregnant immediately on the day you suppose the periods.

But, according to the recent studies, the home pregnancy tests will not give accurate results that much earlier in pregnancy. They only confirm accurately only after one week of your missed periods.

Usually, home pregnancy tests can be quite accurate. The accuracy of these tests will depend on various things. They include: How you use, when you use, who uses, and the brand of test.

• When you are using the test kit, make sure you follow the directions correctly. Also, check the expiration date before using the kit.

According to an analysis of data from a Danish study, exposure to certain maternal infections in the womb increases the odds of epilepsy in childhood.

Among the infections cited were vaginal yeast infection, cystitis, and pyelonephritis (inflammation of the kidney and upper urinary tract).

Of the maternal conditions evaluated, pyelonephritis, cystitis, diarrhea, coughs lasing longer than one week, and vaginal yeast infection were all linked to epilepsy.

In preterm infants, the relative risks ranged from 1.23 for diarrhea to 2.56 for vaginal yeast infections.

Exposure to cough during pregnancy increased the risk of epilepsy only during the first year of life.

The Researches reported that herpes, genital herpes and venereal warts did not significantly increase the odds of epilepsy.

According to the researchers; long term studies can shed more light on link between maternal infections and epilepsy risk.

Source: Reuters