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You have not been feeling well! Feeling so tired all the time and seems to have no energy to do anything. Your mood is so
off, everything irritates you. A light bulb!!!
Tell Someone
This is life-changing! Varying emotions flow within you in just a single time. Tell your significant other (husband, boyfriend)
It is so important and you need your support in matters like this. It is after all a jointed effort. And support is much-needed
in times like this.
Choose a healthcare professional
This is another important aspect. As a matter of fact, everything that involves your pregnancy in important. You cannot
diminish one from the other. Do a thorough review of the healthcare professional of your choice, both from
recommendations and reviews. You need someone that you can connect to. Someone that you feel so comfortable with,
and confident in the level of expertise.
Schedule your first Prenatal appointment
Check with your insurance in reference to your healthcare professional of choice, then schedule your appointment. You can
write down all questions you may have. You have to share any significant medical and family history, chronic issues,
allergies that you may have.
Here are some useful questions that you can ask during your first prenatal visit:
. * When is my baby due?
. * How often do I need to see you during my pregnancy?
. * Will I have scans throughout my pregnancy?
. * Who and where will my baby be delivered?
. * How much weight should I gain?
During the first trimester, common tests will likely include:
* Urine test– your urine test may be checked for protein, glucose (sugar), white blood cells, blood and bacteria
* Blood work – check the mother’s blood type, including Rh status. This is a protein on the red blood cells’ surface, and it is inherited. If you are Rh negative and the child’s father is Rh positive, the pregnancy may require added care.
Measure the mother’s hemoglobin. Patient with low hemoglobin levels or low levels of blood cells have anemia, and can also affect pregnancy
Check whether you are immune to some infections. Healthcare professional will check if you are immune to chicken pox (varicella) or rubella. If you have evidence of natural immunity or vaccination in the medical. history, you won’t need further tests.
* STD tests – check exposure to infections like gonorrhea or HIV. You may need to get blood tests to detect common infections such as chlamydia, syphilis, hepatitis B, and AIDS-causing HIV
Overview of Your Medical History
- Provide your healthcare professional with as much information such as your gynecological history, menstrual cycle, any pregnancies in the past.
- Family and personal medical history- discuss symptoms /medications
- Whether you have been exposed to toxins
- Whether you have recently traveled to areas where the Zika virus, tuberculosis, malaria, monkey pox or any diseases and infections are common
- Your lifestyle, whether you consume alcohol, recreational drugs, tobacco, or caffeine (including coffee and chocolate)
- You may also want o share information about possibly hurtful and sensitive problems like past drug use or domestic abuse.
Start taking prenatal vitamins
Your healthcare provider will want to know you and learn more about your lifestyle. Since prenatal vitamins and proper nutrition are vital for a healthy and complication-free pregnancy, your doctor will ask if you are taking any supplements, eating plenty of vegetables, and eating quality protein. Make sure to ask questions from your doctor.
Manage morning sickness
- Choose foods carefully. Select foods that are high in protein, low in fat and easy to digest
- Snack often – eat a small snack such as couple of crackers or dry biscuits, before rising
- Try ginger – ginger has long been found as a stomach soother and there has been studies that it help in morning sickness.
- Drink plenty of fluids
- Pay attention to nausea triggers – nausea and vomiting of pregnancy usually starts before 9 weeks of pregnancy. For most women it goes away by 14 weeks of pregnancy. For some women it lasts for several weeks or months. For a few women, it lasts throughout the pregnancy
- Paying attention to when your morning sickness occurs may help you identify a pattern, which in turn might point to a trigger you can then avoid to help avert the nausea.
- Take care of prenatal vitamins
- Carry a Morning Sickness Survival Kit
- Rinse yo
ur mouth
- Get adequate rest
- Wear an acupressure wristband -acupressure wristbands apply light pressure to spot located inside the wrist believed to be related to nausea and vomiting – whether induced by motion or morning sickness
- Consider taking medication – if morning sickness is severe and you are having difficulty keeping anything down, you may require medication.
Get a pregnancy book
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Look into online classes
Online Classes For First Time Moms
Start documenting your bump
There are so many ways to document pregnancy. The best thing about this is that they will help you look back at this exciting time. You wanted to be able to look back and see your baby bump, and be able to soak yourself in those moments.
Fun ways to Document Your Pregnancy
* Journaling about your pregnancy – Keep a journal or some kind of written account of your pregnancy. You may even want to do a scrapbook of your pregnancy experience.
Journal
* Do a pregnancy interview – at several points in your pregnancy, simply document your answers:
1) What were your first symptons of pregnancy?
2) How was your first experience with your healthcare provider?
3) What’s your weight gain each month?
4) When did you first notice stretch marks? What did you do about it?
5) Your worse moment of the week?
6) Best moment of the week
7) What’s your favorite food to eat?
8) When did you experience the first baby kicks?
9) At what week has the first bump became noticeable?
10) How are your emotions/moods every week?
11) What’s your favorite scent?
12) Favorite food to eat?
13) Do you have cravings?
Are some of the examples you can write in your journal of pregnancy. You can even write letters to your baby .
Take a photo of your positive pregnancy test
Take a baby bump photos week by week or month by month
Take a pre-baby photo and post baby photo
Apps For Documenting Pregnancy
Sign up for Amazon’s Baby registry to get your free welcome box
Decide if you want to know your baby’s sex
An ultrasound creates an image of your baby. It can also reveal the sex of your baby. Most doctors schedule an ultrasound at around 18 to 21 weeks, but the sex may be determined by ultrasound as early as 14 weeks.
If you are asking yourself. “Should I find out the gender of my baby?”There’s no right or wrong answer.
Here are the pros when you know what’s your baby’s gender :
1) You can prepare your nursery – It is easier what to put together when designing a nursery when you know what the sex of your baby is.
2) You can pick a name
3)You can feel more connected to the baby
4) You get things monogrammed
Here are the pros of not finding out your baby’s gender
* 1) Embracing the natural, another way to get back to how things were done a long time ago without technological intervention
2) You get to experience the mystery of life. Many times, things that are precious are truly a mystery, and it’s worth a wait.
3) It. can be fun trying to guess the gender. Family members can have a good time guessing and making bets
Get the pulse of childcare in your area
Factors that should be considered when selecting a child care facilit
1) Hours of Operation
2) Children’s Health and Safety
3) Physical environment
4) Snacks and Meals
5) Staffing arrangements
6) Training, Licensing and Credentials
7) Collaborative partnership with families and communities
Cut out alcohol, smoking and substance abuse
Alcohol
Drinking alcohol during pregrancy increases the risk of miscarriage, premature birth, and low birthweight babies.It also
affects the baby after they are born. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause your baby to develop a serious condition
called “Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Alcohol use in the first three months of pregnancy can cause the baby to
have abnormal facial features.
Smoking
Smoking during pregnancy passes nicotine, carbon monoxide, and other harmful chemicals to your baby. This could cause
many problems for your unborn baby’s physical and mental development. It raises the risks of your baby born to be of low
birth weight, too early, or with birth defects. There is alsoa higher risk of dying from sudden infant death syndrome.
Substance Abuse
The use of illegal drugssuch as cocaine and methamphetamines may cause low birth weight babies, prematurity, birth
defects or withdrawal symptoms. If you are taking prescription medications, follow your healthcare provider’s instructions
very carefully. Misusing opioids can cause birth defects, withdrawal in the baby or even loss of the baby.
I want you to feel that you can reach out to me if ever you have questions or want to share ideas that you have related to the care of babies, growing premature babies, and the overall health issues pertaining to the care of babies OR just drop me a comment to just say “Hello” or “what’s up”.
All The Best,
Maria Teresa
BabiesBuddies.com
