Before getting pregnant there are some major changes that need to take place in order to get your body into shape for the baby. You have to ensure that you reach a healthy weight and that you are taking the proper vitamins. Fertility is a tricky thing, but it is easier if you are able to do a few simple tasks yourself.
Author Archives: Lisa
I Got Pregnant At Age 43
Who Is Lisa Olson?
Lisa Olson is the author and creator of The Pregnancy Miracle, a book containing holistic methods that is designed to help infertile couples get pregnant naturally and become parents. Lisa is a licensed nutritionist, health consultant and medical researcher, who herself, was a former infertility sufferer.
In her mid-30s, after struggling for more than a year to conceive a baby, she was diagnosed by doctors as being infertile. She then tried every infertility treatment and method known to modern medicine, without success. Frustrated with the lack of success from conventional medicine, Lisa started looking into alternative methods of treatment. Continue reading
What to Wear to a Maternity Photo Session maternity infographic outfit ideas, family photo shoot
Anxiety and Pregnancy
Women and babies have been interrelated since the very beginning. It is a natural phenomenon and there is nothing unusual about it. All young women want to bear a child or in other words become a mother. These days even for a career woman the desire to give birth to a child and become a mother is bound to catch up and no other joy can ever replace the joy of becoming a mother in the hustle bustle of everyday life.
There are several expectant mothers who suffer from severe stress and emotional turmoil and now the question arises that can pregnancy and the anxiety related to becoming a mother can bring her joy and contentment, equally?
The answer to this question varies from woman to woman. A part of the past life of the expecting mother is always to be brought to light especially when she is going to give birth to a new life.
What things might make it more stressful?
During pregnancy, a woman spends most of her time thinking and being drowned in her thoughts most of the times. The common thoughts during this time are will her new born be normal? will she fail as a mother? Will her baby have to go through the same problems as she had to go in her adolescence? etc etc.
This is quite expected as this is a preparatory stage for the mother to love the baby who is growing inside her womb and also her body is preparing to adapt to the changes to meet the demand of the new life which is growing inside of her.
It is seen in most cases that the anxiety during pregnancy triggers stress in the woman. The other factors that might lead to rigorous stress during pregnancy are:
- A current miscarriage: This shakes the woman’s confidence and the woman tends to wonder whether she will ever experience the joy of becoming a mother and see her baby cry for the first time.
- A uncertain income during the pregnancy
- An inconsistent relationship with the baby’s father
- No emotional and moral support
- Unexpected and unwanted pregnancy that might mess up other plans of life.
It is very essential to be mentally stable during pregnancy and settle all the worries and doubts with her close friends, family members and doctors. It is not impossible to deal with anxiety and pregnancy. Like other crisis of life, pregnancy and anxiety can be very easily dealt with. The pregnant woman is the right person to determine what is best for her baby. No matter what all expecting mothers want to emerge as the best mother and would always want to do the best for the welfare of her child.
However, note that anxiety and pregnancy do not bear good results for the child. Several studies reveal the fact that if the mother is stressful and over anxious during her pregnancy then her baby is bound to develop stressful behavior later in life. Between the 12th and 23rd weeks the baby in the mother’s womb is mostly likely to be affected by its mother’s stress and anxiety.
What good can come out of it?
Other than harboring some negative thoughts the expecting mother makes preparations to deal with anxiety and pregnancy. Several bodily changes take place during pregnancy.
One of the major concerns during this time is that whether their anxiety disorders will affect the unborn and worsen the pregnancy conditions and also after the baby is born whether they will be able to take care of the baby properly or not.
Obviously, a great concern is whether or not the symptoms of their anxiety disorder will worsen during the pregnancy, and if they will be able to care for the baby after it is born. Whether intake of different medicines will affect the baby or not is also a cause of concern. All these thoughts however can elevate the levels of stress in the expecting mother.
The following facts can offer some hope for anxiety and pregnancy:
During the pregnancy period and breast feeding period the medicines for anxiety disorders are quite safe for the baby.
About 40% of women experience a precise decrease of the anxiety pattern during pregnancy. However during postpartum the set of anxiety symptoms may return.
The intake of medicines for anxiety disorders by the expecting mother can actually help in preventing the development of anxiety disorders in the baby later in life. If the mother’s symptoms are not treated properly then however it may result in lower birth weight of the baby.
What can be done during pregnancy to deal with anxiety?
About 10% of women develop anxiety symptoms during pregnancy. Following the steps below will definitely help them to deal with the situation in a better way.
Seek advice from your doctor about your plans to either become pregnant, or that you already are. The doctor’s instructions and medications will help you to deal with your anxiety and pregnancy strategically.
Bond with your partner in a more strong and intimate way. This would ensure support and love which would help in dealing with the situations in a better way.
Relax. Pursue hobbies according to your liking. Talk to your friends, go for walks, practice gardening, practice yoga. All these activities will divert you mind and keep your stress under control.
Open up to your husband or partner and close friends and discuss your causes of stress. This will definitely help.
A New Family Planning Alternative
Deciding when their family is the right size-or how to make sure it stays that size-is a personal decision that many women may find easier to make in the years to come.
For women who have decided that they do not want any more children and feel ready for a permanent form of birth control, “getting your tubes tied,” or tubal ligation, is no longer the only option.
A new office-based procedure known as the Essure procedure is quickly replacing the old operation and is covered by most insurance plans.
Continue reading
Superfoods for Healthy and Natural Conception
In both the female and male body, the balance of hormones has to be just right for conception to occur and for pregnancy to proceed. Nutrients that are in excess or that are in depletion can throw off balance and disrupt the pregnancy process. When we can choose whole foods for our diet, we are increasing our chances of obtaining the most nutrients we need.
Whole foods include fruits, fresh vegetables, unrefined grains, beans, nuts, seeds, eggs, and small whole fish. It’s important to make sure you’re choosing healthy whole superfoods that have an abundant supply of each of the following vitamins and minerals. Continue reading
Baby Shower: The Welcoming Committe on Board
Finding out your pregnant is the best news of all. Well, second to hearing the grand proposal of a lifetime. After a successful wedding ceremony, hearing that your love has borne fruit is the icing on the cake. For first time expecting mothers, it is a difficult and herculean task to search and look for all the right stuff and equipment the baby will need.
Moms-to-be need to list down all the things the baby would need at the soonest possible time so that little by little, each item can already be purchased and readied for the baby’s arrival. But there is another easy way to almost have it all, without getting too much headache over it.
The solution is to hold a baby shower party! The only headache mom-to-be would have is the menu she would have to prepare on that day and that is easier for her.
Now the burden of searching and looking for baby stuff is passed on to the invitees. But another concern is raised. How will the baby shower go about? The best answer there is, is to have a theme that would guide the flow of the baby shower. There are several ways of choosing and deciding on a theme. Do you want it to be based on color?
In case you already know the gender of the baby, pink or blue is used to universally represent a baby girl or a baby boy. Or baby items such as a pacifier or a baby bottle? How about character-themed baby shower such as the Sesame Street, Power Puff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory or the Looney Tunes? It could also be a time-of-the-day baby shower whereby each invitee is tasked to bring something the baby would need or use during that time of the day.
From Pinterest, it suggests wonderful baby shower gift ideas such as a baby gift basket, a layette gift set, vital baby equipment, beautiful baby linen, a baby massage set, or a baby gift certificate. Each gift idea is unique. For the baby gift basket, some ideas they suggest is to create your own baby gift basket or go for the classical clothing baby gift basket where you can never go wrong.
Also you can use Printable Baby Showers Games, from easy to difficult…..from funny to educational – you can make your Party FUN and MEMORABLE! There’s no limit to the number of games you can print. Print one game or print them all.
You can also go for monogrammed baby gift baskets, fun baby basket, mother and baby basket, gift basket for twins, or a pampering baby gift basket. They also have different suggestions for baby girl and baby boys. For the complete descriptions for each item, just visit their website and read on to find fantastic baby gift ideas.
Once the baby shower is finished, take stock of what is already there and not. For those items still missing from your list, make the necessary arrangements to have it readily available once the baby arrives.
Just some last few tips for a successful baby shower: hold it four to six weeks before the due date, establish a theme, write down the guest list, set the tone and size of the baby shower, plan the games, plan the menu, create baby shower party favors, and last but not the least, set the time and location, if it will not be held in your residence. Remember, baby showers are a fun way to welcome the baby that would be coming soon enough.
Best Tips On Getting Pregnant
The best tips on getting pregnant include understanding your reproductive cycle, understanding conception positions and paying attention to your overall health. Getting pregnant and pregnancy is a wonderful event that is complex, satisfying and exciting. Here are seven best tips on getting pregnant:
1. Know your most fertile time – generally, ovulation occurs about 14 days before your next period begins. So if your cycle is a 28-day one, that could make day #14 your most fertile (day #1 is the first day that your last period began). If yours is a 30-day cycle, day #16 could be the time to go for it.
2. Track your basal body temperature – you’ll need an inexpensive basal thermometer to chart the slight elevations in your body temperature upon awakening each day that signal your fertile time.
3. Watch for cervical mucus – this can be one of the best tips on getting pregnant since ovulation causes a change in the appearance and consistency of cervical mucus. By checking yourself each day, you’ll be able to see the ‘egg-white-like’ vaginal discharge that indicates ovulation and fertile time.
4. Have sex using the missionary position – the time-proven ‘man-on-top’ position works with gravity to encourage semen flow toward the uterus to maximize the chance of a sperm uniting with the egg and causing conception. One of the related best tips on getting pregnant is — after ejaculation, the woman can remain on her back with her legs bent a few minutes to further maximize semen flow toward the uterus.
5. Eliminate smoking and alcohol – not only will doing so benefit your health, when you do become pregnant, you’ll not expose the developing fetus to the harmful effects of smoking and alcohol.
6. Take the best vitamin/mineral/nutritional supplement you can find – taking one of the cheap one-a-day vitamins is probably a waste of time and money. Vitamins and minerals are just the beginning. Taking a high-quality, broad-spectrum nutritional supplement helps fill in the dietary gaps that everyone will have. The body needs and will use nutrients such as amino acids, antioxidants, bioflavanoids, neuronutrients, enzymes and other nutrients such as L-Carnosine, alpha lipoic acid, acetyl L-Carnitine and so on.
7. Adopt a healthy lifestyle – this is one of the most important best tips on getting pregnant. Healthy living includes having a sensible diet with nutritional supplements, adequate quality sleep, managing stress, reasonable exercise and weight management.
And finally, just relax and enjoy your partner. Trying too hard is not one of the recommended best tips on getting pregnant.
Your desire to become pregnant and having that special child will have even more significance to you if it means you’ll be taking better care of yourself and your partner. Not only does that mean a more healthy you, it also means you’ll increase the chances of having a healthier baby.
Get more information on pregnancy here.
Caffeine and Pregnancy: How much is too much
One of the first things most of us women prepare to say goodbye to once we see those two pink lines on our pregnancy tests is caffeine. Many women will stop their caffeine habit cold turkey out of the sheer fear of doing some sort of damage to the new life growing inside of them.
These women will swear off anything that has caffeine in it from coffee, and soda to even chocolate. Then there are some of us who will still drink caffeine but cut back. Instead of drinking five cups of coffee a day, we might cut back to at least one cup of coffee to get us through the day.
Our mothers and grandmothers will probably tell us that they drank the same amount of caffeine pregnant as they did when they were not pregnant and their children turned out fine. However a lot more research has been done since their time and studies are showing that too much caffeine can cause some complications such as preterm labor and/or low birth weight.
So how much caffeine is too much caffeine?
Doctors are telling their patients that a moderate amount of caffeine will not harm their babies. Even though caffeine does cross the placenta, anything less than 300 milligrams a day (an 8 ounce cup of strong coffee) will not do any harm. Anything over 300 milligrams puts your baby at risk and studies have also shown that women who drink more than 300 milligrams of caffeine a day during their first trimester have a slightly higher risk of a miscarriage.
Studies have also shown that women who had over 500 milligrams of caffeine a day had babies who had faster heart rates and faster breathing rates. These babies also spent more time awake in their first few days of life rather than peacefully sleeping after their long journey.
There are a number of other reasons why we women might want to cut back on the amount of caffeine we drink during pregnancy. For starters, it has no nutritional value. If there is ever a time for us to be aware of our nutritional needs it is when we are pregnant.
Second, caffeine is a stimulant which will increase your heart rate and can cause insomnia and headaches which can put some stress on your growing little one. Third, caffeine can cause heartburn. If you have been pregnant before you know that heartburn can be a burden to begin with, and caffeine just makes it worse. Lastly it is a diuretic which means it can cause you to lose fluids which can put you at a risk of becoming dehydrated.
While it is not necessary for you to give up all caffeine through out the duration of your pregnancy, you should learn how to drink it in moderation or don’t drink it at all. If you can not handle having only one cup of coffee a day, then you might be better off drinking no coffee at all. Stick with caffeine free sodas and even decaf coffee.
Remember though that decaf coffee still contains small traces of caffeine so make sure you take that into consideration.
Get more information on caffeine and pregnancy here.
Anxiety and Pregnancy
Women and babies have been interrelated since the very beginning. It is a natural phenomenon and there is nothing unusual about it. All young women want to bear a child or in other words become a mother.
These days even for a career woman the desire to give birth to a child and become a mother is bound to catch up and no other joy can ever replace the joy of becoming a mother in the hustle bustle of everyday life. There are several expectant mothers who suffer from severe stress and emotional turmoil and now the question arises that can pregnancy and the anxiety related to becoming a mother can bring her joy and contentment, equally?
The answer to this question varies from woman to woman. A part of the past life of the expecting mother is always to be brought to light especially when she is going to give birth to a new life.
What things might make it more stressful?
During pregnancy, a woman spends most of her time thinking and being drowned in her thoughts most of the times. The common thoughts during this time are will her new born be normal? will she fail as a mother? Will her baby have to go through the same problems as she had to go in her adolescence? etc etc.
This is quite expected as this is a preparatory stage for the mother to love the baby who is growing inside her womb and also her body is preparing to adapt to the changes to meet the demand of the new life which is growing inside of her.
It is seen in most cases that the anxiety during pregnancy triggers stress in the woman. The other factors that might lead to rigorous stress during pregnancy are:
- A current miscarriage: This shakes the woman confidence and the woman tends to wonder whether she will ever experience the joy of becoming a mother and see her baby cry for the first time.
- A uncertain income during the pregnancy
- An inconsistent relationship with the babyís father
- No emotional and moral support
- Unexpected and unwanted pregnancy that might mess up other plans of life.
It is very essential to be mentally stable during pregnancy and settle all the worries and doubts with her close friends, family members and doctors. It is not impossible to deal with anxiety and pregnancy. Like other crisis of life, pregnancy and anxiety can be very easily dealt with. The pregnant woman is the right person to determine what is best for her baby. No matter what all expecting mothers want to emerge as the best mother and would always want to do the best for the welfare of her child.
However, note that anxiety and pregnancy do not bear good results for the child. Several studies reveal the fact that if the mother is stressful and over anxious during her pregnancy then her baby is bound to develop stressful behavior later in life. Between the 12th and 23rd weeks the baby in the mothers womb is mostly likely to be affected by its mothers stress and anxiety.
What good can come out of it?
Other than harboring some negative thoughts the expecting mother makes preparations to deal with anxiety and pregnancy. Several bodily changes take place during pregnancy.
One of the major concerns during this time is that whether their anxiety disorders will affect the unborn and worsen the pregnancy conditions and also after the baby is born whether they will be able to take care of the baby properly or not. Obviously, a great concern is whether or not the symptoms of their anxiety disorder will worsen during the pregnancy, and if they will be able to care for the baby after it is born. Whether intake of different medicines will affect the baby or not is also a cause of concern. All these thoughts however can elevate the levels of stress in the expecting mother.
The following facts can offer some hope for anxiety and pregnancy:
- During the pregnancy period and breast feeding period the medicines for anxiety disorders are quite safe for the baby.
- About 40% of women experience a precise decrease of the anxiety pattern during pregnancy. However during postpartum the set of anxiety symptoms may return.
- The intake of medicines for anxiety disorders by the expecting mother can actually help in preventing the development of anxiety disorders in the baby later in life. If the mothers symptoms are not treated properly then however it may result in lower birth weight of the baby.
What can be done during pregnancy to deal with anxiety?
About 10% of women develop anxiety symptoms during pregnancy. Following the steps below will definitely help them to deal with the situation in a better way.
- Seek advice from your doctor about your plans to either become pregnant, or that you already are. The doctors instructions and medications will help you to deal with your anxiety and pregnancy strategically.
- Bond with your partner in a more strong and intimate way. This would ensure support and love which would help in dealing with the situations in a better way.
- Relax. Pursue hobbies according to your liking. Talk to your friends, go for walks, practice gardening. All these activities will divert you mind and keep your stress under control.
- Open up to your husband or partner and close friends and discuss your causes of stress. This will definitely help.