The answer is more practical that you’d think!
Wonder where those extra pounds are distributed?
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends an average weight gain of 25 to 37 pounds during the course of your pregnancy. But if your baby is average size he will be about 7.5 pounds… where are the other 30 pounds going??
American Pregnancy.org lays it out:
You might also be interested in how weight gain can be expected to progress throughout pregnancy:
I have 5 more weeks to go… that means I could gain another 10 pounds… oooooh boy…
Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day
Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. You can veiw the official website at October15.com.
Remembering Our Babies was created to provide support, education and awareness for those who are suffering or may know someone who has suffered a miscarriage, an ectopic pregnancy, a still birth, or the loss of an infant. We hope that we can help you by giving you and all of the other parents, grandparents, siblings, relatives, and friends a special day of remembrance. This special day of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance is October 15th of every year.
You can find news articles, resources, ideas to help, and aticles dealing with grief and rememberance. Maternity.net feels sorrow and would like to extend our support to all those who have lost babies.
Unpredictable Ultrasounds
I went for an ultrasound about 2 1/2 weeks ago, and the doctor told me the baby was small… by a week. I thought, too small by a week, big deal. But the doctor sent me to get another ultrasound, just to make sure the baby was growing properly. I wanted to say, hello, do you see how large I am?? How could this baby NOT be growing? But I went and got another ultrasound yesterday. This time, the technician told me the baby was on the fatter side. Good lord, can’t these people make up their minds?
If you want to read up on how accurate an ultrasound is, exactly, you can get some info at BabyZone. It seems that the earlier an ultrasound is performed, the more accurately it can predict the baby’s age (and due date), based on the baby’s size. However, “measurements taken later on, when babies begin to grow at different rates among pregnancies, yield increasingly inaccurate dating of pregnancy.” So why, when I was 33 weeks along, were they making a big deal that the baby was a week small? I guess the doctor was just doing her job and making sure everything was going the way it should be… thankfully, everything seems to be in order!
The Maternity Clothes Debate
The Celebrity Baby Blog quotes Halle Berry as saying, “I refuse to wear maternity clothes. Maybe when I’m 9 months I’ll have to.” The Blog then poses the flollowing questions: Did you refuse to wear maternity clothes? If you did, did you eventually have to give in?
Well, Halle Berry is only 4 months pregnant. When all you’ve got is a slightly protruding belly, it’s easy to imagine you can go on wearing stretchy non-maternity clothes to accomodate your new shape. Let’s see how she feels in 4 more months, when the tiny tummy is a huge, attention-grabbing entity with a life of its own!
Some of the readers on the Celebrity Baby Blog say that they just wore non-maternity clothes in larger sizes. That is something I don’t understand!! Whereas maternity clothes are made to be flattering to the pregnant figure, I think that wearing regular clothes in larger sizes will just make you look fat and sloppy. Besides, if you’re going to go out and buy new clothes anyway, why not get maternity clothes? You can find cute, affordable, comfortable maternity clothes that beat wearing oversized non-maternity any day.
Another commenter says, “When I was pregnant I dreaded the idea of wearing maternity clothes! The thought of panels and empire waists made me want to cry… but then by the 7th month when I didnt have any other choice, I learned to LOVE them! She will change her mind!”
I don’t see where the I-refuse-to-wear-maternity attitude will get her… she might be forced to eat her words!
Fighting Fatigue in Pregnancy
One of the most common laments of the pregnant woman is the unceasing feeling of exhaustion, and for many women, the inability to get enough sleep. This is most prevalent in the first trimester when your body is first undergoing all the varied changes of hosting a new baby, and during the last trimester, when the extra weight can really slow you down and make simple movements difficult, like picking up the grape that dropped and rolled under the kitchen table (the unprecedented level of clumsiness is another story altogether).
According to sleep expert Mary O’Mally, there are a few reasons why you need extra sleep during pregnancy. Growing a healthy baby takes lots of energy. Your heart works four or five times harder than usual just to keep an adequate supply of blood flowing in your body and your baby’s. (That’s why your resting heart rate may be quite fast by the
third trimester.) Your kidneys are also working overtime to expel waste, and your muscles are straining to support your increasing girth.
A surge in the hormone progesterone also contributes to your
fatigue. An increase in this sleep-inducing hormone may be your body’s way of letting you know that you simply need more sleep than usual! So if you are feeling like you just aren’t getting the rest you need, here are a few helpful tips from BabyCenter:
1. Go to bed! Easier said than done, but the dishes can sit in the sink overnight while you sleep. Napping during the day, even a short power nap, can make a difference.
2. Adjust and prioritize: Don’t start any new projects if they can wait. Get a babysitter to take the kids out to the park for the afternoon. Have your friend pick up coffee and meet at your place, instead of shelpping out to meet her at the coffee shop. Anything that makes your life easier is a good thing!
3. Fill up on healthy foods!Although your body needs about 300 extra calories to feed that growing baby, don’t fill up on junk food. Sugar and fats will sap your energy. You know what to do… whole grains, fruits, veges, protein… and stay hydrated with lots of water.
4. Take a hike… Or better yet, just a short walk around the block. Moderate exercise will energize you and keep you in shape. Although it takes a extra burst of energy to get off your chair, once you’ve stretched a bit you’ll feel much better!
Eat more fish during pregnancy
First they warned of eating too much fish that contains mercury. Now they’re saying pregnant women are not eating enough of it. The fatty acids found in fish such as tuna, salmon and sardines, are crucial for your baby’s developing brain and nervous system.
“A lot of the concern about mercury is unfounded…not a single case of fetal toxicity linked to mercury in fish intake,” said Dr. Ashley Roman.
Intense excercise leads to Miscarriage
The highest risk is during the first trimester, for women who play high impact sports or exercise strenuously for at least seven hours a week. After the 18th week of pregnancy, this specific risk to the baby seems to disappear.
The findings are not meant to discourage expecting women from excercizing, but do insist on caution and “argue in favour of a review of exercise guidelines for pregnant women.” Read more here.
Bright ray of hope for Pregnant women with Cancer
I’m thinking about the Grey’s Anatomy episode where a pregnant woman is admitted to the hospital with cancer. She is given the dreadful choice that has been given to most pregnant cancer patients: Delay treatment until delivery, which means risking the mother’s life, or start treatment during pregnant and most likely harm the baby. If I remember correctly, the woman on the show decided abort, but then changed her mind and decided to sacrifice herself for the sake of carrying her baby to term.
But according to this incredible article, there is a third choice. The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, has pioneered the once controversial treatment of pregnant breast cancer patients since 1989. Last year they “formed the basis of the first national guidelines for the treatment of pregnant women with breast cancer… [which says that] chemotherapy can be safely administered beginning in the second trimester. Radiation shouldn’t be given until after birth.”
There is obviously a fear that chemotherapy will harm a developing fetus, and the main concern of mothers who come to M.D. Anderson’s is for their babies, rather than themselves. Cancer drugs have caused abnormalities in babies exposed during the first trimester, before doctor and patient knew of the pregnancy, the most formative period for organ development.
“But there wasn’t much difference in the rate of abnormalities in babies exposed to chemotherapy during the second trimester and the rate in babies never exposed. The risk was just under 20 percent when chemotherapy was given in the first trimester, but less than 1.5 percent when given in the second trimester and when not given at all.”
In the past 18 years, 68 breast cancer patients at M.D. Anderson have given birth, and all the babies are developing normally except for one born with Down syndrome, a condition doctors say was unrelated to the chemotherapy program.
“Of course, it’s too early to pronounce the treatment of pregnant cancer patients completely risk-free… But so far, with the eldest child born in the program now 18, the news is only good.” Says Dr. Theriault, the leader of M.D. Anderson’s program, “It’s like having a lot of grandchildren. There’s a happy feeling you get, knowing you were able to help the moms have normal kids.”
How accurate are at-home Pregnancy Tests?
That is what I was wondering after I read that Halle Berry took 35 pregnancy tests before one of them showed up positive! She says she believed she was pregnant, but the tests kept on coming up negative.
According to WebMD, “The home tests have similar results to the pregnancy tests done on urine in most health professionals’ offices if they are used exactly as instructed.” BabyHopes says they are about 97% accurate. Home pregnancy kits work by detecting levels of hCG, a hormone that is produced during pregnancy and released in the urine.
In the first few weeks of pregnancy, the amount of hCG in the urine rises very quickly, doubling every 2 to 3 days. This is why most tests are the most accurate after the first week of pregnancy. Before then, the levels of hCG might not be high enough to influence the test results. You can buy super-senstive tests that detect these levels right away, but be aware that 25% of pregnancies end in miscarriage, often very early.
For tips on how to get the best results from you at-home pregnancy test, read this article at BabyHopes.