Graphic created by New City Moving.
We help you make the right food choices for a healthy pregnancy, so you gain weight the healthy way.
Eat fish. Don’t eat fish. Have an ice cream. Don’t have an ice cream. You can get confused with the amount of advice that is thrown your way when you are pregnant. You begin to wonder what is safe to eat, how much to eat, how many times to eat…
Relax. Listen to your doctor’s advice and take our tips for food choices for a healthy pregnancy –
* Consume as many colours as you can.
Every nutritionist and doctor will tell you to eat as many colours as you can – this just means that you must get different coloured fruits and vegetables on your plate. It’s simple – most vegetables and fruits are green, while others may be orange, purple, red, etc. If you are a non-vegetarian, include seafood, egg and chicken in your diet as well. But stay away from raw, uncooked food as it increases your chances of getting infections.
* Give in to your cravings – within reason!
You will notice an uptick in your cravings when you are pregnant. You might crave pungent or spicy food, or gorge on pizza and cupcakes. Talk to your doctor about your cravings and which foods can be eaten. Your food choices for a healthy pregnancy may certainly indicate eating healthy food, but not giving in to your cravings can drive you up the wall! However, eat sweet and salty food in moderation, following it up with lots of water. Meanwhile, try and stay away from junk food rich in saturated trans fats – it can put your baby at risk.
* Don’t eat for two.
Friends and relatives will tell you to eat a lot because you are now ‘eating for two’. Banish this thought at the outset – eating much more than you used to will only make you gain weight and increase your chances of high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, joint pain, etc. Instead of eating larger portions, aim for 300 to 500 extra calories through high nutrient foods.
* Protein and calcium are your friends.
As the baby grows, your body will need higher doses of protein for stronger muscles and calcium to check bone density depletion. Your doctor might prescribe protein, vitamin and calcium supplements during your pregnancy. But your food choices for a healthy pregnancy should include dairy and milk products, leafy green vegetables, egg whites, steamed or boiled chicken and dried fruits like unsalted pistachios and almonds to meet your dietary needs.
* Pay attention to palate sensitivity.
You might gag at certain food smells and even vomit when eating some foods. Your palate becomes extra sensitive during pregnancy, and your nose might pick up smells that others can’t. Certain smells from food, perfumes, places and even other people can nauseate you and throw off your appetite. But if you notice frequent vomiting after meals, then you should consult your doctor.
Pregnancy is a beautiful time when you’re sharing your body with your growing child and transforming into an amazing vessel of creation. But what happens when the body that you’re sharing is pierced?
The short answer is that if your body piercings are fully healed at the time of conception, then you don’t have too much to worry about. Besides making adjustments for discomfort as your belly grows and your body changes, you shouldn’t experience complications due to your body piercings. However, there are some things you need to keep in mind as you prepare for the little bundle of joy to arrive.
Belly piercings
For the most part, your biggest belly ring challenge will be that you’ll probably have to change the jewelry as your belly grows since there is a good chance that your current jewelry will pop out. Piercers recommend using a plastic barbell or retainer during pregnancy since these are more flexible than metal jewelry and can be worn during ultrasounds.
Body jewelry in the belly region, including belly button rings, may or may not need to be taken out during childbirth. Of course, if you opt for or need a cesarean section, jewelry will need to be removed. For natural childbirth, this is up to the doctor, and often it poses no issues.
Nipple piercings
During pregnancy, nipple rings are little cause for concern. Your breasts will be more tender during this time, so you may choose to take out or change your jewelry for comfort, but healthwise, nipple piercings are perfectly fine.
If you choose to breastfeed, you will want to take out your nipple jewelry. The jewelry can get caught in your baby’s mouth, risking ripping the nipple, or more seriously, it can fall out in your baby’s mouth and become a choking hazard. Some women take out their jewelry for each breastfeed, but this can become tedious after a while, especially when breastfeeding in public.
As you breastfeed with nipple piercings, be sure to clean the piercing area frequently. Even healed nipple piercings pose some risk of infection, so it’s important to be vigilant. It’s also important to note that nipple piercings can take up to a year or more to heal; if you received your piercing shortly before becoming pregnant, your piercing may not be fully healed by the time you start breastfeeding.
Genital piercings
Similar to belly piercings, you don’t need to worry too much about your genital piercings until you give birth. The doctor or midwife will ask you to remove your jewelry so that the jewelry doesn’t harm your child or rip during childbirth. Throughout your pregnancy, you may want to change or remove your jewelry due to discomfort.
New piercings
If you are trying to get pregnant, you need to keep in mind that many body piercings take a year or more to heal. In cases like nipple piercing, it may mean the difference between breastfeeding and using formula. Talk to your piercer about different healing times and whether your new piercing will affect your pregnancy.
As part of your body’s natural defense, your immune system views a new piercing as a compromise to your system, which is why proper piercing aftercare is important. It’s also why you need to be very careful when getting a new piercing while pregnant. Many piercers refuse to pierce pregnant women in the belly, nipples, or genital area because of the way your body will change during pregnancy. Although other areas, such as the face, present less of a risk, your body will be more susceptible to infection; after all, much of your body’s energy is being used to grow your new baby! Talk to you piercer about the risks, and keep in mind that you can always wait until your baby is born.
Body piercings are a wonderful expression of the beautiful human form, and bearing life is one of the most beautiful things that the human body can do. Luckily, body piercings and pregnancy don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Simply pay attention, talk to your piercer, and enjoy both your baby and your body jewelry.
Every mother’s wish is to stay healthy during their pregnancy. Staying healthy during pregnancy is essential for the growth of the baby inside the womb and it will also lead to a healthy baby during birth. But while pregnant, everybody is quick to give you advice on how to take care of yourself.
The following are some great tips from ivf Singapore, they are aware of the pregnancy journey and the importance of staying healthy during pregnancy. These tips will make you strong up to your D-day.
- Take Prenatal Vitamin
It is advisable to start taking prenatal vitamins when trying to conceive. The baby’s neural cord, which becomes the brain and spinal cord develop within the first three months of pregnancy, so it is very important for you to get the essential nutrients like folic acid, calcium, and iron as early as possible.
Prenatal drugs are available over the counters in most of the drug stores, or you can get them from your gynecologist. If taking them makes you feel like throwing up, you should try to take them at night or with a light snack.
- Exercise
Exercise does so many things in our lives; it’s very important for your overall health, it can help to reduce stress, it controls your weight, it improves blood circulation, it boosts your mood, and even improve your sleep.
During pregnancy, you should enroll for a moderate exercise class or walk at least 15-20 minutes every day. Activities such as yoga, swimming, and Pilates are fit for pregnant women. But consult with your doctor first before starting any exercise program.
- Write a Birth Plan
You should write down the birth method that you would like, whether doula or epidural and then give that copy to everyone that is involved with the delivery. According to the American Pregnancy Association, the following are some of the things to consider when writing your birth plan.
- Who you want present, including children or siblings of the baby
- Procedures you want to avoid
- What positions you refer for labor and delivery
- Special clothing you would like to wear
- Eat a balanced diet
Eating a balanced diet is key to a healthy pregnancy. You should eat whole grains for energy, protein for building a life, and vegetables and fruits for various vitamins. The most important nutrients for pregnant women include:
Iron; which improves the blood supply of the mother and the baby and can be found in red meat, egg, yolks, and leafy green vegetables.
Folic acid; which prevents birth defects and can be found in leafy green vegetables [collard greens, spinach], broccoli, citrus, and beans.
Calcium; it supports bone growth in the baby and prevents bone loss in the mother and it can be found in dairy products, broccoli, citrus, leafy green vegetables, beans, and tried herbs.
- Sleep! Sleep!
You should sleep as much as you can. In the early stages of pregnancy, sleeping is usually a bit easy, but as the months progress, it increasingly becomes difficult. Proper sleep helps to sustain your energy levels and increase your blood supply.
If you think you are pregnant, you may want to take a quick, free pregnancy test online that can help guide you along to determine if you are really pregnant. A free pregnancy test can help you calculate the probability of you being pregnant. This type of test will usually consist of several questions that can help determine if you are with child or not. Some of the free tools consist of a pregnancy calculator and an ovulation calculator. The pregnancy calculator can even help you determine your due date. All you need to do is put in a few pieces of information about your cycle.
The ovulation calculator on the other hand will help determine your ovulation date. This is very useful information as it can tell you the most likely day for you to conceive. Now the accuracy of a free pregnancy test which is taken online varies and the result should not be taken as the official result. It is always recommended to consult a doctor if the result remains positive after several attempts. The normal process for checking to see if a woman is pregnant involves testing the urine to see if the pregnant hormonefree pregnancy test HCG is present. If it is, you are pregnant. If it isn’t, then you are not.
Since you are unable to test the urine via an online test, there is no way to tell if they are indeed accurate. Like I mentioned earlier, I always suggest using the free pregnancy tests as just a guide. They can help you determine whether or not you should go see your doctor. The sooner you know if you are pregnant the better off you will be. To get a more accurate reading you can always head to your local drugstore and grab a First Response or Clear Blue pregnancy test kit.
These are the best two products on the market. Both use advanced technology that will allow you to know if you are pregnant or not very early on. If the test comes back positive it is very important that you pay a visit to your doctor as soon as possible. The first few weeks of pregnancy are very important. In most cases that is the most critical time and you want to make sure that your little bundle of joy is well and healthy. You want to make sure that there are no complications that may hinder the delivery of the baby. And the only way to do that is to test early and to test with the right tools.
In conclusion, I see absolutely nothing wrong with taking a free pregnancy test online. Just make sure you follow that up with a more accurate test so you can be sure.
it is one of the most beautiful moments when the doctor says – “You are pregnant”… You spin around with joy and wish you could share this with your partner and family as soon as possible. But hold on. There are some creative ways to announce pregnancy to family and your better half. If you are wondering how then read the article further because this is exactly what I am going to tell you today.
12 Creative Ways To Announce Pregnancy To Family
Telling your partner, family and close friends about your pregnancy is certainly going to be a very memorable & happy moment. Yes, of course you could just go to them & tell about it but where is the fun? To make it even more memorable, why not take some efforts? Here are some ways to do it.
ROAD SIGNS
When it comes to family, your partner is the top most priority. Keeping this in mind, I have listed this idea first. All you have to do is make some road signs with the help of poster boards, thumbtacks and markers. Find some electric poles and trees, which are on the way from where your husband regularly drives back home from work. Now, announce your pregnancy with signs. Make sure to call your spouse (prior he comes home) & ask him to see those sign boards for an upcoming sale & to take its number for you. This is to ensure that he sees those signs.
YELL OUT – “I AM PREGNANT”
This is one of the most creative ways to announce pregnancy to family. During a friends or family gathering, just have everyone come close together for that perfect happy group picture. When you are about to click the button for a snap shot, rather saying ‘Cheese’, just yell out, “I Am Pregnant” and see how they react. And yes, just take the picture of the moment when you say this.
A PICTURE IS WORTH 1000 WORDS
Rather announcing your pregnancy in words, why not get creative here? For this, buy a nice photo frame & have it custom-made with your delivery date, followed by month & year. Also add a nice poem and few pictures of your pregnancy test. Once you deliver your baby, send pictures of your baby to your family members so that they can replace it.
EMAIL BLAST
This is one of the best baby announcement ideas. Do this if you live far from your family and often keep in touch electronically. Send emails to your closed ones saying that you are pregnant. Also, attach few of your sonogram pictures. You could even visit a good e-card website to create that amazing “We-Are-Expecting” card. Once done, you can send it to the entire group.
BUILD A WEBSITE & ANNOUNCE YOUR PREGNANCY ONLINE
These days online websites to announce pregnancies are in great demand. If you or your partner is good at technology, consider creating a surprise website for announcing pregnancy. Once it is done, just tell your friends and family that you have found a new cool website on the internet. Don’t forget to write it on website saying that “_____ IS PREGNANT”. Also, add a scanned sonogram picture
A Family Tree
Though there are many birth announcement ideas, a family tree can’t be missed. In fact, updating your family tree with a new addition is one of the most fun ways to tell your family that you are carrying a baby. There are lots of sources wherein you can download or buy a family tree. Leave the space under yours & your partner’s name blank. Or even better, write down your delivery date using a pencil.
USE T-SHIRTS
T-shirts are one of the fun ways to announce pregnancy to family. It is especially great for closed ones like grandpa, grandma, uncle and aunt-to-be. This concept is perfect to do when you are all together like a family vacation or during Christmas. Wrap gift nice t-shirts, which say “PROUD GRANDMA” or “PROUD UNCLE”. Please have your camera ready when they open their gift.
GAME NIGHT
This is another fun way to announce your pregnancy to your family. If you regularly play games with your family or on get-together, consider switching one of those game pieces for announcing about your pregnancy. Say for instance, tape a note over Monopoly’s Community Chest Cards that reads, “Amanda is carrying a baby, give $20 to every player”.
DINNER WITH A PRESENT
As the saying goes – “The Way To A Man’s Heart Is By Food”. You are going to apply the same here. Wrap your pregnancy test (positive) like a gift. Give it your partner during his dinner. If your husband is someone, who prefers eating out, then take to him to his favorite restaurant while you do few things in advance. Request the staff or server to bring the present you have wrapped up once you are done with the dinner. Once your hubby opens and sees it, he is sure going to jump with joy. If you feel your husband prefers a more cherished setting, consider cooking his favorite dish. And have the table neatly decorated.
PROPOSE FATHERHOOD
Now, why not remake how your spouse proposed you for marriage. But here, you got to propose fatherhood. Just take him to the same place where he proposed you. Rather that ring box, give him a nice bracelet with the pregnancy test inside a box and ask him – “Will you be a dad?”
BUN IN THE OVEN
Wake up early in the morning, probably the day where you want to tell everyone or probably your spouse in particular that you are pregnant. Place some cinnamon buns inside the oven to bake. If you cannot do it from scratch, consider the pre-prepared ones from a store. When your spouse wakes up & smells this irresistible aroma – immediately announce him that, “Darling, we have got a cute little bun in the oven”.
SWEET TOOTH
Is your husband fond of sweets and bakes? If yes, then there is a nice way to tell your pregnancy.Cater his carvings with a very special message. Swap out that fortune cookie note and replace it with your message, saying, “You will be a dad on so-and-so date”. Just watch his happy reaction – tears rolling out of eyes with joy.
If left untreated, a tubal pregnancy can be life threatening. Many people are not sure what are the tubal pregnancy symptoms so please allow me to explain. A tubal pregnancy, also known as an ectopic pregnancy, occurs when the fertilized eggs get implanted inside the fallopian tube instead of the uterus. It’s not uncommon for sperm to fertilize an egg while still in the fallopian tube. However, the egg should continue to make its way to the uterus where it will implant into the wall of the uterine.
tubal pregnancy symptoms It is said that about 2 out of every 100 pregnancies will be a tubal pregnancy. Most of the time there is no clear explanation of why this happens. However, there are things that make a tubal pregnancy more likely. Some of these things include a previous experience with PID (Pelvic Inflammatory Disease), an abdominal surgery, having tubal ligation or having tubal ligation reversal. Your age can also increase your chance of having a tubal pregnancy. Women who are between the ages of 35 and 44 have a higher risk and it is critical that they are well aware of tubal pregnancy symptoms.
As I stated before, tubal pregnancies are very dangerous and can be life threatening. Rarely do they make it to term. Usually, the embryo will develop and it will become too large for the fallopian tube. If it continues to grow, the fallopian tube could rupture. This will cause severe internal bleeding which could result in the death of the mother if not treated. Because of this, it is highly recommended that an ectopic pregnancy be terminated.
Early symptoms of a tubal pregnancy are sometimes very easy to miss. For the most part, you will go through the process of a normal pregnancy. But there are some signs such as pain or cramping in the pelvis or lower abdomen that should be checked out immediately. If you have vaginal bleeding this might also be another sign a tubal pregnancy occurring. Another sign is feeling pain in just one side of the abdomen. Again, this is very serious. So if any of the symptoms occur, proceed to see your doctor ASAP.
If the tube happens to rupture, things can get very serious very fast. This is a medical emergency that must be treated. Most women make it to the hospital in time before things get too bad. 9% of all pregnancy related deaths in the United States are due to undetected tubal pregnancy symptoms which resulted in tubal pregnancies. So learn the signs and make sure you go to the hospital if you have any of them.
Hey – I’m not about to fill your head with scary pregnancy facts that might cloud what is one of the most wonderful experiences in the lives of so many women.Hey – I’m not about to fill your head with scary pregnancy facts that might cloud what is one of the most wonderful experiences in the lives of so many women.
Obviously, there can be the fear of the unknown especially if it’s your first time being pregnant but the excitement of meeting a little baby who will be the most wonderful and important individual you’ve ever seen in your life to date (including your partner!) is bound to outweigh any forebodings you may have.
On this website, all I want to do is present some important pregnancy facts and figures that are intended to put you at ease but also to act as gentle warnings maybe – definitely not to make you worried or apprehensive.When you’ve got the facts and had time to think about them, I’m sure you’ll get into an easy routine of doing what’s best for your baby and avoiding thing which may not be so good.
Staying Healthy During Pregnancy: Facts About Perils In Your Own Home
You can get our Free Report on how to avoid many of the perils which possibly could damage both you and your unborn Baby’s health during pregnancy by simply filling in the form.I ‘m not a qualified medic, but I have good science degree and I’m able to assess research data competently so there’s little doubt in my mind that the findings definitely come down very heavily against smoking.But, on this subject, it may not be so obvious that you don’t have to be a smoker yourself to have health problems with cigarette smoke! Passive smoking can as bad or even worse perhaps for both of you.The perils of smoking are probably the most potentially dangerous of the all pregnancy facts that I know of! Therefore, although it may be one of the most unwelcome pregnancy facts for smokers, it is genuinely just so important that you really should give up before you even become pregnant, assuming that the event was planned! Please Send My FREE Report on How to Protect My Unborn Baby from the Hazards of the Modern World First Name
Email We guarantee that your details are completely SAFE with us! Click Here For Your Free ReportOK, I know how difficult it is – I had all the hard times myself but in the end I finally kicked the habit. But I’m sure it would havebeen so much easier for me to bear all the ‘hardship’ if we’d been planning on starting a family at the time because I would have had our baby’s wellbeing right in the forefront of my mind.
Sorry, I know I’ve gone on a bit so let’s move on to some pregnancy facts that should be easier to cope with!
How does taking some nice periods of rest and avoiding stress sound? Sounds pretty good to me, but quitting smoking can be stressful so the sooner you start the better! Then you can enjoy lots of lovely stress-free rest!
One important aspect that I really enjoyed was eating plenty of yummy high fibre foods including lots of vegetables and fruits and taking low-fat milk, yogurt and other dairy foods in sufficient quantities to keep calcium levels good without over-doing it.
A real problem with pregnancy facts and figures is that they are often mixed up with lots of old wives tales such as the old saying “you’re eating for two now”.This is seriously bad advice nowadays when many of us (me included) are already doing our best to eat for others anyway without being able to use pregnancy as an excuse! In my opinion one of the most important pregnancy facts is that over-eating is not only bad for you, it’s also potentially bad for your baby in the longer term.Recent research published only a few months ago (January 2011) has shown that being overweight during pregnancy can lead to changes in the unborn baby’s DNA which could result in the child being much more likely to become obese in later life.
From my personal point of view, one of the most potentially disappointing pregnancy facts I’ve discovered relates to the consumption of alcohol.Although the figures aren’t as clear cut as they are with smoking and over-eating, the general weight of medical opinion is that it is safest to avoid drinking alcohol altogether during pregnancy, which would have been serious disappointment to me personally had this been the recommendation when we were ‘building’ our family of three.
I’ve never been a heavy drinker and I genuinely thought that a modest tipple was not only a nice treat but also couldn’t possibly do any harm. This view is probably true in the vast majority of cases but the problem is that it is not our ability to tolerate alcohol that’s the issue, it’s what effect it could have our unborn baby that we have to be wary of.
As I said at the beginning, it’s not my intention to alarm anyone unnecessarily and I readily acknowledge that the problem with pregnancy facts and figures is that some of them may lead to recommendations that only apply to a small percentage of mothers-to-be.What I am trying to do on this website is the present the facts relating to pregnancy as accurately as I can so that you can form your own opinions and obtain medical advice which is based on an assessment of your own personal physical and mental circumstances and history. But to help you ask your doctor the ‘right’ questions, please grab our Free Report on a how to avoid the threats that ‘innocent’ everyday stuff (such as cosmetics and even cooking utensils) can present to your unborn baby and you.
Some of the pregnancy facts and figures that I’ve uncovered during my research surprised me greatly despite the fact that my whole career has been in the chemical and biochemical industries.
Despite my lack of knowledge when we were planning for a family, two of my three children were absolutely fine but knowing what I know now, I occasionally wonder if the problems our first-born had for the first two weeks of his life could have been avoided.We’ll never know, but it was a worrying time which maybe could have been prevented if I’d been armed with the right pregnancy facts!
These days everything is about convenience. And finding out if you are pregnant is no different. Many people opt to take online pregnancy tests to avoid having to go to the store to pick up a home pregnancy test kit or to avoid seeing a Gynecologist. The problem with the online pregnancy test is that it is probably not too accurate. Now I have personally visited a few of the sites that offer this type of test. One of them claims to use some sort of non-invasive wave that is emitted from your computer monitor. Just how crazy is that?
Anyway, I tried it out and guess what? It said congratulations you are with child. First of all the test is completely wrong. I am no where close to being pregnant. And second, what type of wave can come through my monitor and detect whether I am pregnant or not? Does it not sound scary? It definitely sounds like something from the twilight zone.
The other tests I ran across all asked questions such as your age, when were your last period, how long is your period, what symptoms are you experiencing and a few other questions. These tests will probably be little more accurate then other online pregnancy tests. Although these tests can give you a good idea of whether you are with child or not, they should never be taken as the official results.
Always, and I do mean always, go check with your gy
necologist if there are signs that you might be expecting. Some of those signs include missed periods, nausea, vomiting, weight gain, frequent urination and weird sensations in your abdomen just to name a few. If you are not quite ready to head to the doctors office I would suggest going to your local Wal-Mart and picking up a pregnancy test kit. Though not 100% accurate, the results will be a better indicator then most of the online pregnancy tests.
Many sites also claim to be able to tell you the due date and the sex of the child. So again the big thing is to always proceed with caution. As I said before do not take the result from theonline pregnancy tests as official. Let it be more of a guide that sort of confirms what you might be thinking. But at the end of the day you will have to go see a gynecologist to ensure you get the proper care and advice if you are indeed with child.