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pregnancy health

Coping with a Flu During Pregnancy

by DP Nguyen 5 Comments

medication hyperemesis gravidarum

coping with flu during pregnancyGetting sick when you’re pregnant is scary business. Not only do you feel awful, but there’s also a worry that your developing baby is at risk – especially if you’re unable to keep any fluids or food down.

Pregnant women are at higher risk for illness during pregnancy because your immune system is weakened during those 40 weeks. Mother nature is a miraculous thing, and your body changes so much when you’re pregnant. When you’re expecting, your immune system becomes weakened to tolerate the unborn baby, since it is a “foreign substance.” To prevent your body from attacking your growing child, your immune system naturally takes a back seat and alters its immune responses. So you are more vulnerable to getting sick. [Read more…] about Coping with a Flu During Pregnancy

Filed Under: Pregnancy, Pregnancy Health Tagged With: Pregnancy and the Flu, flu during pregnancy, pregnancy health

Can You Get a Tattoo While Pregnant?

by DP Nguyen 2 Comments

Can You Get a Tattoo While Pregnant?

 Can You Get a Tattoo While Pregnant? Every pregnant woman likes to commemorate her pregnancy in different ways. Some women make pregnancy belly casts and paint them; others like the idea of getting inked. Tattoos are a creative outlet for some women, but just how safe is getting a tattoo when you’re pregnant? Can you get a tattoo while pregnant? What does the medical community say about this subject?

Doctors and reputable medical organizations, such as the March of Dimes, DO NOT recommend that you get a tattoo while pregnant. They strongly urge all women to wait until after their baby is born before getting inked.

[Read more…] about Can You Get a Tattoo While Pregnant?

Filed Under: Pregnancy, Pregnancy Health, Pregnancy Lifestyle Tagged With: Getting tattoo while pregnant, can I get a tattoo while pregnant, can you get a tattoo while pregnant, getting tattoos when pregnant, pregnancy health, tattoos and pregnancy, tattoos during pregnancy

Colds in Pregnancy – Natural Remedies and Safe Medication

by DP Nguyen 9 Comments

Ever since you became pregnant, you’ve probably asked your doctor about what’s safe and what’s not. From safe eating during pregnancy to tips for surviving morning sickness, you are naturally concerned and you want what’s best for your baby.

And when you get sick during pregnancy, you’ll be wondering what’s a safe medication for colds? What are natural remedies to treat the common cold during pregnancy?

[Read more…] about Colds in Pregnancy – Natural Remedies and Safe Medication

Filed Under: Pregnancy, Pregnancy Health Tagged With: colds, colds in pregnancy, pregnancy health, pregnancy illness

X-Ray Exposure in Pregnancy and Infants May Increase Cancer Risk

by DP Nguyen 18 Comments

For years, pregnant women have been told that a single x-ray won’t harm their baby. While this may be true – the radiation that you receive from one or two x-rays isn’t significant enough to cause adverse effects on your developing baby – new research suggests that a single x-ray during pregnancy may actually harm your child in the long run.

The new study suggests that children who were exposed to X-rays in the womb and those who had X-rays within the first three months of life are at an increased risk of cancer. [Read more…] about X-Ray Exposure in Pregnancy and Infants May Increase Cancer Risk

Filed Under: Pregnancy, In The News, Pregnancy Health Tagged With: pregnancy and x-rays, pregnancy health, radiation in pregnancy

Quickening – Feeling Your Baby Move in Pregnancy

by DP Nguyen 13 Comments

Feeling Baby Move When You're PregnantOne of the most exciting aspects of pregnancy is feeling your baby’s little kicks and flutters for the first time. Feeling your baby’s movements in utero gives you reassurance that he or she is developing, and it makes you feel closer and more connected to the baby growing inside you. Fetal movements (or feeling your baby move for the first time) is called quickening in pregnancy.

When Will You Feel Your Baby Move?

Though you didn’t feel your baby’s acrobats in the first trimester, he or she has been moving in the womb since 7 or 8 weeks of pregnancy. In the first trimester, your baby was too small and his or her fetal movements were too subtle for you to be aware of.

For most women, they won’t feel the baby’s first movements until the second trimester – sometime between 16 and 22 weeks pregnant. If this is your first pregnancy, you may not feel your baby’s subtle fetal movements (called quickening in pregnancy) until 22 weeks pregnant.

Women who have been pregnant before tend to feel their baby’s movements earlier than first-time moms. It’s possible that second-time moms are more able to distinguish their baby’s flutters from other belly rumblings – such as gas and hunger pains.

Overweight Women Feel Baby’s Kicks Later

Your body shape may also play a role in when you’ll feel quickening in pregnancy — i.e. your baby’s first movements. Skinner women can usually feel their baby’s kicks and somersaults earlier and more frequently than overweight or obese women. If you’re overweight or obese, you may not feel the first fetal movements until later in the second trimester.

Quickening & The Position of the Placenta

The position of your placenta can also affect when you’ll feel quickening in pregnancy. For example, if you have an anterior placenta – your placenta is located on the front wall of your uterus – this will cushion your baby’s movements, and you may feel your baby’s movements slightly later.

Don’t worry if you haven’t felt your baby move for the first time yet. As your belly gets larger, you will soon get to feel these fetal movements.

What Does Quickening (Baby’s First Movements) Feel Like?

Quickening in pregnancy is a different sensation for everyone. The sensation of your baby’s movements may be similar to butterflies fluttering in your stomach, fish swimming around, popcorn popping, or a tumbling motion.

At first, you may confuse your baby’s gentle kicks with hunger pains and gas. As your second trimester progresses, you will feel your baby’s movements more frequently, and it will be easier to recognize the difference between quickening and other belly rumblings. (By the third trimester, your baby’s kicks, jabs, and elbows will be very distinct.)

How Often Should You Feel the Baby Move?

Try not to worry about how often your baby moves. It differs from baby to baby. Every baby has his own level of normal fetal activity.

At first, the fetal movements that you experience will be sporadic. You might feel several gentle taps or flutters one day, and one the next. Although your unborn baby continues to move around in your womb, his movements may not be strong enough for you to feel. By the end of the second trimester, his or her kicks should be quite strong.

In the third trimester, you’ll be able to distinguish a regular sleep-wake pattern. You may find that your baby is most active and awake during the nighttime hours, when you’re trying to fall asleep, and he or she may little movements during the daytime. (Did you know that babies dream? They do experience REM sleep, just like you!)

After you’ve felt your baby kick and move for a while, you should be able to pick up the regularity of his movements. If you suddenly feel that there is a decrease of any kind in his or her fetal movements, contact your doctor right away. This can be a sign of a serious problem. If there is no decrease in your baby’s normal kicks and movements, then you shouldn’t worry. He or she is just fine!

When To Keep Track of Baby’s Kicks

Once your baby starts to move regularly – this usually occurs by pregnancy week 28 – you may consider keeping track of your baby’s movements on a daily basis. There are a variety of methods of doing “kick counts,” so you’ll want to ask your doctor or healthcare provider for his or her recommendations.

You can buy a baby kick recorder, or you can count your baby’s kicks yourself. To count your baby’s kicks, you should pick a time of day that your baby is most active. Use a watch and time how long it takes for you to feel ten distinct fetal movements. If you don’t feel ten movements within two hours, call your doctor right away.

When Should You Worry about Fetal Movements

You will  want to contact your healthcare provider if you’ve noticed that your baby’s movements have slowed down significantly. For example, if your baby was quite active, but then he suddenly stops kicking. This may be a sign of a problem. Your doctor can perform a non-stress test, which will check your baby’s heart rate and movements.

You May Also Enjoy Reading…

Pregnancy Tea: Should You Drink Tea When Pregnant?
Kegel Exercises 101: A Guide for Pregnant Women
Spotting in Pregnancy: Should You Worry?
Fish in Pregnancy: What’s Safe and What’s Not

Filed Under: Pregnancy, Pregnancy Health Tagged With: babies health, baby, baby kicks, baby move, feel baby move, fetal movement, kick counts, pregnancy, pregnancy health, quickening, second trimester of pregnancy

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