Pregnancy Guide
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Pregnancy |
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Tips for the first
trimester
Choose a health-care provider.
Gynaecologists, nurses and family physicians help in
delivering and offer prenatal and postnatal care. Also
remember to confirm your benefits with your employer.
Decide where you want to give birth.
Women deliver babies at hospitals or at home. Tour
various hospitals, ask questions, check facilities
provided and talk to other mothers. As your pregnancy
progresses, if your initial choice doesn't feel right,
don't be afraid to change your plan.
Take an early pregnancy class.
Learn about good nutrition, exercise and body image.
Eat as well as you can.
You must also take your prenatal vitamins and drink
plenty of water and fluids.
Don't let morning sickness get you down.
This should be resolved by the end of the first
trimester.
Discuss prenatal testing with your gynaecologist.
Start a journal.
Jot down your thoughts, dreams and feelings. You'll
enjoy looking back at your diary once the baby arrives.
Fertility and Conception Tips
You hope to get pregnant soon?
Here's a list of all you should know about increasing
your chances of conceiving and starting off on a healthy
pregnancy.
Begin taking folic acid at least two to three months
before you start trying to conceive. It reduces the
chances of your having a baby with a neural tube defect.
Lie down for at least five minutes after you have
intercourse to allow the sperm to make their rendezvous
with the waiting egg. Don't make a beeline for the
bathroom soon after sex.
Your fertile period is the five days leading up to
ovulation. Make the most of it. Frequent lovemaking
during this time gives you a better chance of
conceiving.
Quit smoking (in case you still haven't). Even 10
cigarettes a day reduce your chances by 50%.
Coffee can be a culprit! Some studies show that
excessive consumption of caffeine may contribute to
fertility problems. The studies are still disputed
though.
How safe is your workplace? No, you are not going to try
for a baby there, but if you or your partner are exposed
to hazardous substances at your workplace, it might
affect the quality of sperm and the development of the
embryo.
Start keeping a menstrual calendar. Note the date that
your period starts, the number of days that it lasts and
anything else that your doctor might want to know about
it. The information will be invaluable in pinpointing
your due date and if you have problems in conceiving.
Exercise, but don't go overboard. Studies show that too
much of exercise can lead to fertility problems such as
irregular periods, anovulatory cycles (cycles in which
ovulation doesn't occur) and luteal phase deficiencies
(when the second half of your cycle is not long enough
to allow for the proper implantation of the fertilized
egg).
If you are taking any prescription or over-the-counter
drugs, consult your doctor to find out if it's safe to
continue taking them once you start trying to conceive.
For those who hate diets, baby-making could be a
pleasurable exercise. For it is an absolute no-no to
crash diets, starving, binging, purging or yo-yo diets.
Try sex in the living room or sex in the morning. The
point is to try and make sex fun and enjoyable.
Baby-making is a numbers game. Even if you do everything
'right', the chances of you conceiving are 25% to 30% in
each cycle.
Keep trying and enjoy
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