What I Need To Know About Being Pregnant

Early Changes To Breasts: Tingling Aching Growing

Breast changes can occur between weeks 4 and 6. Youre likely to develop tender and swollen breasts due to hormone changes. This will likely go away after a few weeks when your body has adjusted to the hormones.

Nipple and breast changes can also occur around week 11. Hormones continue to cause your breasts to grow. The areola the area around the nipple may change to a darker color and grow larger.

If youve had bouts with acne before your pregnancy, you may experience breakouts again.

Physical Activities Are A Must:

Your everyday exercise routine ensures the smooth functioning of your body. Remember, childbirth is a laborious process that demands a lot of energy. Only a healthy body can withstand the various stages of labor. Exercises also help in alleviating the usual discomforts one experiences in pregnancy. They strengthen your muscles to endure pregnancy pains. Results show, the right workout routine of a pregnant mom significantly supports the development of your babys entire system .

What Health Problems Could I Develop During Pregnancy Because Of My Diabetes

Pregnancy can worsen certain long-term diabetes problems, such as eye problems and kidney disease, especially if your blood glucose levels are too high.

You also have a greater chance of developing preeclampsia, sometimes called toxemia, which is when you develop high blood pressure and too much protein in your urine during the second half of pregnancy. Preeclampsia can cause serious or life-threatening problems for you and your baby. The only cure for preeclampsia is to give birth. If you have preeclampsia and have reached 37 weeks of pregnancy, your doctor may want to deliver your baby early. Before 37 weeks, you and your doctor may consider other options to help your baby develop as much as possible before he or she is born.

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When To Get Help During Pregnancy

There might be times when you need extra help and support to cope with some of the changes happening during your pregnancy. You might find it helpful to speak to a midwife, doctor or counsellor if youre:

• having trouble coping with your emotions
• having thoughts of harming yourself or your baby
• worried about how youll cope after the baby is born
• having serious problems in your relationship.

Finding Your Gestational Age:

Pregnancy is divided into three stages, each consisting of three months, called trimesters. With each passing stage, physiological changes occur in your body in the form of hormonal changes, blood pressure, breathing, and metabolism. One should monitor such changes from the beginning of pregnancy to understand the other stages and your progress through them. It is also necessary to know your delivery due date, which is mostly determined from the date of your last menstrual cycle. A normal delivery can happen anywhere between 37 and 40 weeks .

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Common Complaints In Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a time of many changes for your body. Talk to your health care provider about any concerns you have. Many pregnant women experience the following:

Adapted from The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists – How Your Fetus Grows During Pregnancy.

Morning Sickness And Other Pregnancy Health Problems

In the first 6-12 weeks of being pregnant, your body makes a lot of extra hormones. These hormones can cause nausea and vomiting, often called morning sickness.

Morning sickness is usually at its worst early in the day, but it can happen at any point during the day or night. It usually stops after the first 3-4 months. For some women, it goes on much longer than this.

If you get morning sickness, it can help to eat small amounts often. Carbohydrate-rich snacks like crackers, toast, cereal or fruit are ideal.

Being pregnant can bring some other uncomfortable physical symptoms for example, constipation, headaches and the need to urinate more often. Pregnancy health problems are usually mild, but its always a good idea to talk about them with your doctor or midwife.

There are some pregnancy health problems, like pre-eclampsia, that need more urgent medical attention.

If youre experiencing nausea and vomiting that doesnt stop or go away, and you cant eat or drink without vomiting, call your doctor, midwife or maternity hospital.

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Visits To Doctor For Prenatal Care Are Important:

Many couples visit a doctor even before planning a baby just to make sure that their first time pregnancy is healthy and devoid of complications. Once you confirm your pregnancy, it is important to visit your doctor regularly. Choose the best gynecologist and never skip monthly check-ups. This helps in gauging both the mothers and the babys health. Moreover, it is also necessary to curb any developmental disorders at an earlier stage itself .

Weight Gain During Early Pregnancy

Weight gain becomes more common toward the end of your first trimester. You may find yourself gaining about 1 to 4 pounds in the first few months.

Calorie recommendations for early pregnancy wont change much from your usual diet, but they will increase as pregnancy progresses.

In the later stages, pregnancy weight often shows up in the:

Hormones can cause the valve between your stomach and esophagus to relax. This allows stomach acid to leak, causing heartburn.

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What Are Clinical Trials And Are They Right For You

Clinical trials are part of clinical research and at the heart of all medical advances. Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease. Researchers also use clinical trials to look at other aspects of care, such as improving the quality of life for people with chronic illnesses. Find out if clinical trials are right for you.

Your Relationship With Your Partner During Pregnancy

If you have a partner, its a good idea to work on keeping your relationship healthy during pregnancy and to talk about the changes that your baby might bring to your lives.

Even if you feel like your relationship is strong, putting extra effort into talking openly, working out your roles and sharing expectations is good practice for parenting and staying connected.

Having sex might feel different during pregnancy. Some women feel less interested in sex than before, although some find pregnancy increases their sex drive. As your pregnancy advances, you might have to try different positions to find one thats comfortable for you both.

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More Important Things To Know About Pregnancy:

• Find a good doctor or midwife to make the delivery safe.

• Take proper naps.

• Boy or girl? Do not think much. Be prepared to welcome your baby.

• Wear properly fitting clothes. Do not worry about the bump, it looks beautiful, and you look cuter.

• You will start snoring, as your nose membranes could swell up.

• Avoid wearing underwire bras as they can restrict the breast changes. Use bras with thickened flat straps, which can cover your breasts completely.

• Fluid retention would be one big issue. Try sleeping with your feet elevated and make sure to drink more water.

• Do not worry if you observe vaginal discharge. Unless it turns thick, smelly, and green, or stained with blood, it is a regular thing during pregnancy.

• The pregnancy hormones speed up the metabolic processes causing you to flush and sweat more.

• Your skin stretches during pregnancy, which makes your tummy itchy.

• You would smell different. The chemical changes in your body will give you a new, alluring, and warm odor.

• Do not miss a single prenatal checkup. Every checkup is important as a few complications, if any, could show only at the later pregnancy stages. The sooner you find, the quicker you can go for treatment.

• Your libido would change significantly. It can be more or less. It is normal, and these changes are temporary.

• Your voice would be the best thing your baby hears when she/ he is in the womb. Tell stories and sing songs.

It Really Is An Estimated Due Date

Try not to be too hung up on your due date, it is unlikely that your baby will be born on this day . It can make you feel impatient and fed up if your baby doesnt get the memo about arriving on this day. Instead, see it as a rough window when he or she might make an appearance .

You might even want to give people a date a week or two later to avoid the inevitable any news? texts towards the end. This doesnt help when youre uncomfortable, overdue and feel like the baby will never come.

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How Can Diabetes Affect My Baby

A babys organs, such as the brain, heart, kidneys, and lungs, start forming during the first 8 weeks of pregnancy. High blood glucose levels can be harmful during this early stage and can increase the chance that your baby will have birth defects, such as heart defects or defects of the brain or spine.

High blood glucose levels during pregnancy can also increase the chance that your baby will be born too early, weigh too much, or have breathing problems or low blood glucose right after birth.

High blood glucose also can increase the chance that you will have a miscarriage or a stillborn baby.1 Stillborn means the baby dies in the womb during the second half of pregnancy.

Drink Plenty Of Fluids

Drinking lots of fluids when youre trying not to pee every five minutes can seem difficult and excessive, but you really need to drink fluids regularly. Try adding notifications on your phone to remind you to drink water throughout the day. Very few of us remember to drink enough water most of the time, let alone while youre trying to carry on with your life and grow a person. Its also a good idea to carry a reusable water bottle around with you. It will make remembering to drink water and staying hydrated much easier.

You dont have to stick exclusively to water but it should be your main source of fluid. Herbal teas are also great, especially for reducing nausea. They are also excellent alternatives for caffeinated beverages. Fruit juices are also healthy beverages but should be drunk in moderation. Try to drink fruit that is as fresh as possible and isnt from concentrate or flavored or colored with artificial additives. Its also best to avoid fruit juices with added sugars or sweeteners. They wont have a negative impact on your pregnancy but there are healthier alternatives available.

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You Might Not Spend Months With Your Head Down The Toilet With Apparently Never

Theres just no way of knowing how youll feel during pregnancyuntil youre pregnant. Everyone is different and every pregnancy is different. You might not suffer heartburn, exhaustion, swollen feet, dizziness, sore boobs, back pain, headaches, itchy skin, mood swings, forgetfulness, insomnia or any of the other lovely symptoms of pregnancy either .

Even if your best friend had terrible sickness, you might escape. And, even if you felt utterly drained in your first pregnancy, you might not in your second. Try not to assume the worst.

The same goes if your pregnancy symptoms suddenly change or disappear. Speak to your midwife for reassurance but try not to jump to the conclusion that something bad has happened. Remember, youre carrying extra weight, your blood volume has expanded and your ligaments have softened . All of this could affect the way youll feel.

If you are suffering with any of the pregnancy ailments above, care for yourself with lots of rest, soft drinks and small digestible meals .

About Caring For Your Baby:

43. If you keep your baby awake too long, he will never go to sleep easily. Dont overestimate how much awake time a newborn can handle between naptimes.

44. Dont worry about changing your baby every time he spits up. You already have too much laundry to do. Just rub it in ha!

45. Never judge your babys clothes by the numbers on the tag. If you think that cutest-ever outfit for your baby is too big to pull out, do it anyway. Its easier than you know to miss the right size window.

46. When traveling on an airplane, dont only pack a spare set of clothes for your baby pack a spare shirt for yourself too. Just go ahead and trust me on this one.

47. Im totally against the use of baby TV time , but go ahead and use the TV to your advantage when cutting your babys fingernails.

48. Dont wake your sleeping baby unless you absolutely have too. Feeding schedules, shmeeding schedules. Let the baby sleep.

49. When your baby is a newborn, take extra care to burp him after a feed. Its worth the extra few minutes to avoid gassy baby melt-downs.

50. If your baby is having a melt-down, drop everything and walk outside. It really does work every time so dont waste your time trying to find something else more convenient.

51. Four months is not too early to begin teething. If in doubt, just keep sticking your finger in there to check.

52. Decide on a lullaby song for your baby so that every time you sing it they know to expect that its naptime/bedtime.

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Allocate Time For Everything:

A study published in the Journal Of Labor Economics mentions that pregnant women who worked until their eighth month had babies half a pound lighter than those who stopped working earlier. Pregnancy could be a huge stress on your body, and therefore, you cannot stress yourself more with a job. If you cannot afford to take a break from work, take frequent breaks in between.

Get Help For Violence

Violence can lead to injury and death among women at any stage of life, including during pregnancy. The number of violent deaths experienced by women tells only part of the story. Many more survive violence and are left with lifelong physical and emotional scars.

If someone is violent toward you or you are violent toward your loved onesget help. Violence destroys relationships and families.

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How Much Weight Gain Is Normal

Most women are worried about weight gain during their pregnancy for the first time and are eager to lose it at the earliest post-pregnancy. Your weight gain depends on your BMI before pregnancy. If you are overweight when you conceive, then you are advised to put on fewer calories than someone who is of normal weight. The basic idea is that the fetus should get necessary nutrients to grow and have a healthy development. So eating the right meal and understanding the needs of the baby are a priority .

Things That Will Be Exactly The Same If You Have Your Baby Abroad

And then, of course, there will be a few things that will be different and very challenging as you embark on this baby joy ride.

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Feeling Nauseous And Potentially Vomiting

This is one of the most well-known symptoms of pregnancy. It is always the way a woman in a movie or TV show discovers they are pregnant as they begin to experience morning sickness. Unfortunately, nausea and vomiting are not actually restricted to the mornings. Some people, experience a constant feeling of nausea throughout the first trimester of pregnancy but dont actually ever vomit. For others, they vomit a few times in the first few weeks, and then the feeling fades.

When you become pregnant, your body is flooded with hormones which causes the feeling of nausea. This is understandable as suddenly having another living being in your body can be very disruptive. Nausea is to be expected and will usually go away after the first trimester. There are ways to relieve nausea, the most popular of which is drinking ginger tea.