Pregnancy – early symptoms,stages and labor signs

Archive for the ‘Getting pregnant’ Category

One of the most important things for you to do when you are pregnant is ensure that you have the best prenatal care in order to keep you and the baby healthy, as well as have a healthy delivery.  This is why you should always seek medical advice the moment you find out you’re pregnant.  With the right medical attention early on in the pregnancy, you will be able to detect any health issues that may be present, reduce your over all stress levels, and learn how to live a healthy lifestyle.

Just a few of the issues that can come up in pregnancy are group b strep, pre-eclampsia, Rh negative disease, gestational diabetes, bladder infections, and high blood pressure. The sooner you are able to get these medical problems diagnosed, the sooner you can begin treatment that may well save your life as well as your unborn baby’s life.  Some of these tests are merely there to monitor your blood pressure, weight, baby’s heartbeat, and pH levels.

Furthermore, you can look forward to such things as your first ultrasound to get a glimpse at your baby, and blood tests to check for any medical issues.  And always remember that your doctor is there to work for you and your baby, so make sure you choose one that will support your wants and needs during your pregnancy.
But good prenatal care is more than just visiting your doctor.

First let’s talk about your prenatal care in terms of a healthy diet.  Eating for two literally means that you need to remember that your body is also using your energy and nutrients for two people. This is why making sure you eat enough of the right things is so important.  For instance, if you eat too much greasy foods, and foods high in sugar while pregnant can cause you to gain too much weight too quickly, can cause more morning sickness than usual, and can highly contribute to gestational diabetes.

What your body needs instead are healthy snacks throughout the day when you feel hungry, balanced nutritional foods during meal times, and a prenatal vitamin should also be included in your prenatal plan.  With the right foods you will see that you have more energy even when most women will feel more fatigued during pregnancy.  What’s more, with a balanced diet you can help fight off issues like stress and depression.

Keeping your stress levels down during pregnancy is very important for you and your baby.  This however can be very difficult for those pregnant mothers that find they have to try to balance work with pregnancy.  If you are a working woman while going through pregnancy, try and balance out your schedule and cut out any unnecessary chores that can be passed on to others.  Further, try signing up for things that help you learn how to relax like taking yoga lessons for pregnant women, or simply join a support group that has other pregnant women.

What’s more, if you are a smoker, it is a good idea to think seriously about quitting, as well as cutting down on your caffeine intake.  Healthy lifestyle choices like this will go a long way in ensuring a healthy baby and delivery.

Finding out that you are pregnant can be the greatest joy for some people, but can also be very scary for others.  But what can be worse at times is going through the whole ordeal thinking you are pregnant only to find out that you are not.  This is why it is wise to learn about the pregnancy symptoms early on so that you know what to watch for.

These pregnancy symptoms can range from emotional signs to physical signs.  Below you will find a few tips on the symptoms that may present early on in a pregnancy so that you can gain the knowledge needed to get the right medical attention as soon as possible for you and your baby.

One of the common symptoms of pregnancy can actually feel like you are going to start your menstrual cycle.  What happens is that about 6-12 days after you have conceived, your embryo will become implanted in your uterine wall.  When this happens, some women may feel a bit of cramping and see some spotting or blood. But that is not the only menstruation issue that will arise while looking out for pregnancy symptoms.

You may be surprised to learn that not all pregnancies begin with a missed period.  There are some women who may just have a delayed menstrual cycle, or one that is just lighter and lasts for a shorter amount of time.  It is times like these that many women do not realize early signs of pregnancy and that they are pregnant until they are quite far along.  However, don’t fret yet, as even if your menstrual cycle does not give it away, there are many other pregnancy signs that will.

For instance, often times, one of the pregnancy symptoms women will experience is tender or swollen breasts early on in their pregnancy from the hormonal changes in their body.  And these same hormones can make them feel very fatigued as well.  In fact, feeling tired at the beginning of your pregnancy is very likely.  This happens because of the high doses of progesterone that will flow through your body making you feel very sleepy.  Furthermore, when you become pregnant you can often experience blower blood sugar levels, a low blood pressure, and even an increase in the blood that you produce, and all of those can cause fatigue.

And who can forget one of the most dreaded pregnancy symptoms: the ‘morning sickness’.  Although it is named that way, your nausea and vomiting can happen at any time of the day or night, and can begin as early as two weeks into your pregnancy.  The most common reason for this is because of the higher levels of estrogen that you will experience.  This hormone can make your sense of smell become stronger, and because of that, cause you to feel nauseous.  But luckily this tends to go away after the 12 week mark.

Another classic symptom of pregnancy is food cravings and even food aversions.  What used to make your mouth water with anticipation can turn it upside down, and what you would never have thought palpable can become your obsession.  And again, the reason behind these strange needs can be pinned on changes in your hormones, and especially when they are at their highest in your first trimester.  Furthermore, such hormones can cause headaches, constipation, faintness or dizziness, and raise your body temperature.

But one of the last classic symptoms of pregnancy is mood swings.  What used to be blamed on your menstrual cycle cannot be compared to the mood swings that you can experience while pregnant.  The reason why a woman has mood swings once a month is due to the hormones that regulate her menstrual cycle.  Well imagine those same hormones multiplied.  The result can cause you to cry one moment and get very angry the next.

So if you are experiencing one or many of these pregnancy symptoms, it is best to either go and purchase a test or visit your local gynecologist or family doctor.  If you are pregnant then they can point you in the right direction as to what to do next. But remember, that although these can point to pregnancy, they can also just mean that you are suffering from some other ailment, which is another reason why it is best to just be safe and get it check out.

Although thousands of unplanned babies are born every year, there are still those that come into the world because of careful planning pregnancy.  And if you are fortunate enough to be able to plan out your pregnancy, then you will want to make sure that you have the right obstetrician for you.  Having the right obstetrician can mean the difference between a good experience in planning a pregnancy and birth, and a bad experience. Therefore, make sure that you know what you want out of your planning pregnancy so that you can know what to ask when choosing the right doctor for you.

Choosing the right pre pregnancy plan

Every woman should have the chance to experience a wonderful pregnancy and delivering a baby as non-stressful as possible. One of the best ways to ensure this is by having an obstetrician that will work with you on what you want, and that will meet your particular medical needs.  When you find the perfect one, he or she will understand your fears and beliefs concerning childbirth, will take the time to talk with you about every aspect of your pregnancy, and will also fully explain any special needs that you may have during planning pregnancy.

But how do you find that special doctor in a sea of so many?  The best place to start your search is through the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.  They will be able to provide you with a list of the obstetricians in your area. However, before you begin your search, you will want to be able to answer a few questions.

•    Does your health care plan make you stick on one particular list of obstetricians?
•    Will you be able to get to and from your appointments?

First of all, if you have a health care plan that is very narrow, then it is best to look at this list first.  As for transportation, traveling too and from may seam easy during the early months of pregnancy, but towards the end you may wish you found someone closer.  And once you have answered these questions, you will be able to start a good list to work from.

Another piece of good advice for planning pregnancy is to not jump at the first doctor you speak with unless feeling completely comfortable with that person.  It is best to take your time and make appointments to meet with them to ask questions about their credentials, points of view on planning pregnancy and childbirth processes, as well as whether or not they will be available around your due date.  And if you find that neither the doctors nor their nurses have time to talk to you, then perhaps you need to move onto the next person on your list.

planning pregnancy

As mentioned above, keeping your body healthy is very important in upping your chances of conceiving.  If you have a poor diet, are overweight, or are under a lot of stress, baby conception or fertility can become hindered.  Therefore, making sure that you eat right and keep to a regular exercise schedule, you will have much better odds at getting that bundle of joy that you so very much want.  What’s more, if you really want to start down the path of parenthood, make sure that you go and see your gynecologist to increase chances of conceiving.

Your gynecologist is an important part of the conception process as it is he or she that will be able to determine if your body is ready for a child and how successful are the chances of conceiving.  Also, your doctor will be able to give you some great advice like taking extra vitamins and folic acid so that you can increase your chances of a healthy conceiving as well as help your baby develop in those first few crucial months.  In addition, if you are a smoker or a drinker you will want to make sure to stop both, as well as limit how much caffeine you drink.

Once you have determined when you have determined when you ovulate and have gotten your diet and exercise under control, then you can begin trying to conceive.  However, this process takes two people, and your partner will also need to do his part in ensuring that good healthy sperm reach the healthy eggs to increase chances of conceiving.  For this it is also best if your partner can stop smoking, lower his intake of caffeine, as well as alcohol consumption.

All of these precautions will help in ensuring that the sperm will be healthy enough to fertilize the egg.  Once said, it is important to remember that you should have sex once every day starting just before you ovulate, and then begin to have sex at least twice a day during ovulation to increase chances of conceiving, and then back to once a day for the few days after ovulation has ended.  However, it is important to remember that too much sexual stimulation can reduce your partners’ sperm count so going overboard is not good either.  And above all else, just remember to relax and enjoy what you are about to accomplish.

The baby bug has finally hit you and you have decided that you are ready to have a baby.  But conceiving a baby is not always easy for everyone.  If you are among the many women that have trouble with conception pregnancy, there are a few things that you can do to increase your chances.  Let’s take a look at a few things that you can do to help this along.

The most important things during conception pregnancy you need to remember when conceiving a baby are to take care of your body, keep track of when you are ovulating by tracking your menstrual cycle, and by this you will learn when the best time to conceive is.  However, you must remember that if you have been taking any form of birth control, it may take up to six to twelve months before you will be able to conceive.

By keeping track of your menstrual cycle you will also be able to easier track when you are ovulating.  This is important to know when your eggs are released for conception pregnancy. And the best way to help you keep track of this is by using a calendar.  Once you have the calendar, make sure to track your menstrual cycle, the days that you are ovulating and any changes in your body during the month.  Ovulation generally occurs about 12-14 days from the start of your period.  However, this is not always the case for every woman.

Some women do not ovulate when their body should, and some women do not keep to a 28 day menstrual cycle.  This is why it is good to keep a calendar for a few months to learn your cycle.  And the changes you feel in your body will help point towards when you are ovulating. Once you have a good idea of when your period ends, you can further help matters by recording your body temperature.

You will notice that right before you start to ovulate your base temperature will go down from.5 to 1 whole degree.  And the opposite end of that is when you see your temperature elevate to 0.5 to 1 whole degree right after ovulation.  The best way to determine this is to start taking your temperature the day your period ends.  You will want to do this by inserting the thermometer into your vagina as soon as you wake up in the morning and when you get ready to go to bed in the evening.  The result of this as well as seeing an increase or change in secretions will point to when you are ovulating, and thus when it is the best time to try for conception pregnancy.