Pregnancy

Reading To Your Baby

5/27/2015

* When should I start reading to my baby?

It's never too early. Babies recognize their mother's voice in the womb — so why not make reading aloud a habit while you're still pregnant?

And once your baby arrives, reading to your newborn is a must. Your baby won't understand your words, but hearing your voice stimulates an interest in sounds and helps him develop listening skills.

Plus, no matter what your baby's age, reading together is a great opportunity for cuddling and bonding. By developing a regular reading routine from the start, books become a natural part of your child's day — one that he'll associate with fun.

* Why is reading good for my baby?

Reading to your baby helps build vocabulary, stimulates imagination, and improves communication skills. The more you speak to your child from the get-go, the better it is for her growth and development.

A running commentary on the state of the neighborhood during a walk or naming your child's body parts as you bathe her are good ways to talk to her. Reading is another way to increase the verbal interactions you have with your child.

Reading to your baby introduces her to the concepts of stories, numbers, letters, colors, and shapes, and gives her information about the world around her. It also builds memory and vocabulary skills. By the time she's a year old, your baby has already learned all the sounds she needs to speak her native language. The more words she hears, the better she'll be able to talk.

To read more please click here: http://www.babycenter.com/0_reading-to-your-baby_368.bc#articlesection2

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Nausea During Pregnancy.

2/25/2015

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Nausea during pregnancy is typically one of the most experienced and complained about symptoms that women report. Up to 70 percent of expectant mothers experience nausea at some point during early pregnancy. Not only is it known to be one of the early signs of pregnancy, but it is a symptom which is common throughout the first trimester, and sometimes even longer. While nausea is definitely an uncomfortable feeling, the good news is that it is not harmful to you or your baby and it is often perceived as an indication of a healthy pregnancy. Nausea is a key part of the common concern referred to as morning sickness.

Causes of nausea during pregnancy The cause of nausea during pregnancy is not completely understood. However, it does appear to be linked to the production of the human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) hormone. Commonly referred to as the pregnancy hormone, this is the hormone which the body begins to produce once the fertilized egg attaches to the uterine lining. Again, how it contributes to nausea is unknown, but because they both peak around the same time, they’re assumed to have a clear connection.

There are other theories as to what causes nausea during pregnancy, as well. Some other contributing factors might be:

Estrogen, which is another hormone that rises during early pregnancy and could contribute to the queasiness.
A sensitive stomach, which could be made worse while trying to adapt to the changes of pregnancy.
Stress or fatigue, which is suggested to cause a physical reaction within the body, leading to nausea and vomiting.

When to expect nausea during pregnancy Nausea during pregnancy typically starts within four to eight weeks of gestation and is expected to subside between 13 and 14 weeks. However it can start earlier and can last longer. Not every woman will experience nausea the entire duration of the first trimester. It could last only a couple of weeks or come and go throughout the first few months. Many refer to nausea during pregnancy as morning sickness, leading women to believe they will only experience nausea in the mornings. In fact, research shows that “morning sickness” actually occurs more often throughout the entire day than just in the early hours.

To read more please click here: http://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancy-health/nausea-during-pregnancy/

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Nausea and Morning Sickness During Pregnancy.

1/22/2015

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Bonding With Your Baby

1/6/2015

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Bonding is the intense attachment that develops between parents and their baby. It makes parents want to shower their baby with love and affection and to protect and nourish their little one. Bonding gets parents up in the middle of the night to feed their hungry baby and makes them attentive to the baby's wide range of cries.

Scientists are still learning a lot about bonding. They know that the strong ties between parents and their child provide the baby's first model for intimate relationships and foster a sense of security and positive self-esteem. And parents' responsiveness to an infant's signals can affect the child's social and cognitive development.

Why Is Bonding Important?
Bonding is essential for a baby. Studies of newborn monkeys who were given mannequin mothers at birth showed that, even when the mannequins were made of soft material and provided formula to the baby monkeys, the babies were better socialized when they had live mothers to interact with. The baby monkeys with mannequin mothers also were more likely to suffer from despair. Scientists suspect that lack of bonding in human babies can cause similar problems.

Most infants are ready to bond immediately. Parents, on the other hand, may have a mixture of feelings about it. Some parents feel an intense attachment within the first minutes or days after their baby's birth. For others — especially if the baby is adopted or has been placed in intensive care — it may take a bit longer.

But bonding is a process, not something that takes place within minutes and not something that has to be limited to happening within a certain time period after birth. For many parents, bonding is a byproduct of everyday care giving. You may not even know it's happening until you observe your baby's first smile and suddenly realize that you're filled with love and joy.

The Ways Babies Bond
When you're a new parent, it often takes a while to understand your newborn and all the ways you can interact:

Touch becomes an early language as babies respond to skin-to-skin contact. It's soothing for both you and your baby while promoting your baby's healthy growth and development.
Eye-to-eye contact provides meaningful communication at close range.
Babies can follow moving objects with their eyes.
Your baby tries — early on — to imitate your facial expressions and gestures.
Babies prefer human voices and enjoy vocalizing in their first efforts at communication. Babies often enjoy just listening to your conversations, as well as your descriptions of their activities and environments.

Making an Attachment Bonding with your baby is probably one of the most pleasurable aspects of infant care. You can begin by cradling your baby and gently stroking him or her in different patterns. If you and your partner both hold and touch your infant frequently, your little one will soon come to know the difference between your touches. Each of you should also take the opportunity to be "skin to skin" with your newborn by holding him or her against your own skin when feeding or cradling.

Babies, especially premature babies and those with medical problems, may respond to infant massage. Because babies aren't as strong as adults, you'll need to massage your baby very gently. Before trying out infant massage, be sure to educate yourself on proper techniques by checking out the many books, videos, and websites on the subject. You can also contact your local hospital to find out if there are classes in infant massage in your area.

Breastfeeding and bottle-feeding are both natural times for bonding. Infants respond to the smell and touch of their mothers, as well as the responsiveness of the parents to their needs. In an uncomplicated birth, caregivers try to take advantage of the infant's alert period immediately after birth and encourage feeding and holding of the baby. However, this isn't always possible and, though ideal, immediate contact isn't necessary for the future bonding of the child and parent.

Adoptive parents may be concerned about bonding with their baby. Although it might happen sooner for some than others, adopted babies and their parents can bond just as well as biological parents and their children.

To continue reading please click on the link: http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/communicating/bonding.html#

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Round ligament pain: Understanding this pregnancy complaint

12/19/2014

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By Mary M. Murry, R.N., C.N.M. September 10, 2014

So many changes occur in your body during pregnancy that it can be hard to keep up with all of them. Some changes are amazing, some are mildly irritating and others are downright painful. Round ligament pain can be one of those painful changes.

Women have a pair of ligaments in the pelvis — called round ligaments — that hold the uterus in place. As the uterus grows during pregnancy, these ligaments stretch to accommodate that growth. Before pregnancy, the uterus is about the size and shape of a pear and the round ligaments are thick and short. By delivery, it can feel like the uterus is as big as a beach ball and as heavy as a bowling ball. Like overstretched rubber bands, the round ligaments become long and taut.

Round ligaments can pull on nerve fibers and other structures in the pelvis. This causes sharp pain, which is short-lived and feels like a muscle spasm. (I remember almost going to my knees in a grocery store when a spasm hit.) Some women experience lingering soreness. The pain can occur on either side — though it's more common on the right side — and radiate into the groin. You might experience round ligament pain when you're turning over in bed, getting in and out of the car, exercising or simply getting up from a chair.

To continue reading please click here: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/pregnancy-week-by-week/expert-blog/round-ligament-pain/bgp-20111536

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High blood pressure during pregnancy

11/24/2014

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10 Tips for a Healthy Pregnancy.

10/16/2014

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Feel great while taking good care of yourself and your baby.
From American Baby

You can feel wonderful during your pregnancy if you take good care of yourself. Increase your odds of a healthy pregnancy by following these sensible steps to keep yourself in top condition:

1. Eat five or six well-balanced meals each day.

2. Take a prenatal vitamin each day as directed by your obstetrician or midwife.

3. Drink plenty of fluids -- at least eight to 10 glasses a day -- avoiding caffeine and artificial coloring.

4. Don't drink alcohol.

5. Don't smoke or allow yourself to be exposed to secondhand smoke.

6. Exercise -- it's important for your general health and also can help reduce stress. Take a pregnancy exercise class or walk at least fifteen to twenty minutes every day at a moderate pace. Walk in cool, shaded areas or indoors in order to prevent overheating.

7. Get adequate sleep -- at least eight hours a night. If you're suffering from sleep disturbances, take naps during the day and see your physician for advice.

8. Wear comfortable, nonrestricting shoes and put your feet up several times a day to prevent fatigue and swelling of the feet, legs, and ankles.

To keep reading please click on the link:
http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/my-body/nutrition/healthy-pregnancy-tips/

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Pregnancy Exercise Guidelines

9/12/2014

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Follow these basic exercise guidelines to make sure your pregnancy workout is working for you, not against you.

The days when pregnancy was considered a time to "take it easy" are over. Lucky for you (or unlucky, if you're a member of the couch potato club in good standing…or sitting), the official advice of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reads like a personal trainer's pep talk: Keep exercising during pregnancy, right up until delivery.

In fact, for women who like to exercise, there's never been a better time to be pregnant. Today, ACOG recognizes that working out is a vital part of staying healthy, and recommends that women with normal pregnancies get 30 minutes or more a day of moderate exercise on most (if not all) days.

What's the safest way to fill that prescription? By following these basic pregnancy exercise ground rules.

Stop at the doctor's, before the gym. Before you lace up your sneakers and hit the running trail, get the green light from your practitioner. Chances are excellent you'll get it — most women do. But if you have any medical or pregnancy complications, your practitioner may limit your exercise program, restrict it entirely, or — if you have gestational diabetes — even encourage you to be a little more active. Also make sure you're on the same page of the exercise glossary with your practitioner. It's important to explain your normal fitness routine and what moderate means to you: One woman's easy workout might feel like a marathon to another, and vice versa. If you're in good health, your practitioner will likely encourage you to stay with your regular routine as long as you feel up to it, with certain modifications (especially if your regular routine has included pregnancy-taboo sports, like ice hockey).

Pick a fun pregnancy exercise. How you exercise is almost beside the point: While no- or low-impact activities such as swimming or stationary cycling are ideal, most recreational activities can also be safe and effective. What's important is that you choose something you like doing, which will make it easier to stick with — particularly on days when you have no energy, feel the size of a Subaru, or both. Some women find it helpful to pick a workout with a social component, from a prenatal yoga class to a romantic after-dinner walk. If you enjoy the company (and even if you don't enjoy the exercise quite as much), you're more likely to keep it up.

Avoid rough pregnancy exercises. Because your growing abdomen will affect your sense of balance, ACOG suggests women avoid sports that come with a higher risk of falling or abdominal injury. These include gymnastics, downhill skiing, ice skating, vigorous racket sports (play doubles instead of singles), or horseback riding, as well as contact sports such as ice hockey, soccer, or basketball, and cycling in the latter part of your pregnancy.

Avoid high-altitude sports during pregnancy. Unless you're living at high altitudes, avoid any activity that takes you up more than 6,000 feet. On the flip(per) side, scuba diving, which poses a risk of decompression sickness for your baby, is also off-limits, so you'll have to wait until you're no longer carrying a passenger to take your next dive.

Follow your morphing body.  Expect your routines to change as your body does. You'll need to modify your pregnancy workouts as your sense of balance shifts, and you'll probably also have to slow down to avoid taking a spill (especially once you can no longer see your feet). Also expect workouts to seem different, even if you've been doing a particular routine for years. If you're a walker, for example, you'll feel more pressure on your hips and knees as your pregnancy progresses. Even if you're gaining a sensible amount of weight, your joints and ligaments are loosening, making your body act — and feel — different. You'll also have to accommodate your pregnant body by avoiding any exercise that requires you to lie flat on your back or stand without moving (like some yoga and tai chi poses do) after the first trimester. Both can restrict your blood flow.

Start slow…then focus on maintenance. If you're new at this, start slowly. And if you're already a gym rat, remember that while pregnancy is a great time to maintain your fitness level, it's not a time to increase it. Don't worry: You can get back to setting new personal bests once your baby arrives. Reach your goal without pushing too hard. The goal is to work your way up to 30 minutes a day, but how you get there is up to you. As far as your heart (and general health) is concerned, three ten-minute walks sprinkled throughout the day are just as beneficial as 30 minutes on the treadmill. (For that matter, even non-exercise activity — like 15 minutes of vacuuming and 15 minutes of light yard work — counts toward your daily goal.) And you're safe to work out for up to an hour, as long as you listen to your body: Moms-to-be fatigue sooner than they used to, and tired bodies are more apt to injure themselves. Plus, overexertion could lead to other problems (dehydration, for one, and lack of oxygen to the baby if you're short of breath for another).

To read more of this article please click on the link: http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/keeping-fit/fitness-matters/ground-rules.aspx

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Ovulation Calendar

8/25/2014

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Check out the FREE ovulation calendar from AmericanPregnancy.org

http://americanpregnancy.org/gettingpregnant/ovulationcalendar.html

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Advice For New Dads

7/24/2014

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04/08/2014 by Daddy Doyin

Just like most bloggers, I receive a lot of email. I do my best to read all of them and reply to the ones that I can, but doing so takes a lot longer than I expected. As I sit here now, I realize that many of the emails I received asked a common question:

What advice do you have for a new dad?

I can’t say that I have all of the answers, but I’ll gladly share what works for me in the hopes that it will work for you.

Keep in mind, none of what you’ll read here is earth-shattering or profound stuff, but it’s what I swear by as a Daddy Doin’ Work.

#1 – Be there when your wife/girlfriend gives birth: And when I say “be there,” I don’t mean being in the hospital’s waiting room. I mean, being there in the delivery room with your lady as she brings a baby into the world. This should be a no-brainer, but I keep hearing about dudes who are “grossed out” by the whole experience. Fair enough. I’ll be real with you here – nothing is beautiful about the act of childbirth. With bodily fluids and other things flowing everywhere it was probably one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime. However (yes, there’s a however), my wife never would’ve known that. The day your child is born is never about you and your feelings. It’s about your wife/girlfriend and baby, period. Be present, don’t give her any advice, let her curse you out (if that’s how she rolls), and do whatever she asks of you without complaint.

#2 – Step your game up: Contrary to what some NY radio hosts said last week, it’s important for a man to step his game up for his wife/girlfriend after delivering a baby. She spent hours pushing an 8-pound human through a small opening or she had her abdominal wall sliced open during a major surgical procedure. She’s exhausted, she’s in pain, and she needs time to heal. That’s when a man has to go above and beyond. As I said in last week’s post, he has to change diapers, give baths, make his wife food (or bring his wife food), and offer support without being asked to do so. Whatever a man was doing before his baby arrived just won’t cut it now. His wife and baby needs him more than ever, and he can’t let them down.

#3 – Hold your child often: As many of you know by now, I’m big on baby-wearing. As a matter of fact, other than the days when I was traveling out of town for some reason, there hasn’t been a day when I haven’t worn my daughters in the Ergo. Your child can learn your smell, your voice, your mannerisms, and everything about you. Not to mention, doing so will create a happier, healthier, and more confident child – and what’s better than that? An extra perk is your lady will probably think that a baby-wearing daddy is damn sexy.

#4 – Have zero-technology hours: Once a baby comes into the picture, life becomes extremely fast-paced and it almost seems as if you have zero time to yourself anymore. It’s not rare to feed your baby a bottle with one hand while you send an important email with the other. Multitasking is unavoidable when you become a parent. Take a moment to slow down. Find a time during each day when you put the iPhone or computer away – and don’t check Twitter, Facebook, or email. During that time, give your child 100% of your attention. In doing so, you’ll find that it will be the best time during the entire day.

#5 – Don’t bring baggage home with you: You had a shitty day at the office. Your boss chewed you out. You got stuck in horrific traffic. You repeated your lunch order to the restaurant cashier THREE TIMES and he still fucked it up. The bottom line is you’re pissed off. I’ll offer this piece of advice to any new parent: do whatever the hell you need to do to get over it before you walk through the front door. Go to the gym, sit in your car for 20 minutes, call your best friend, meditate, whatever. Just don’t bring that negative energy with you inside. Your baby doesn’t understand what adult life is like. He/she only wants daddy to be present and attentive.

#6 – Don’t collect things. Create memories: I see a lot of new parents focusing on buying the most expensive clothes, toys, and gadgets for their kids. That’s completely fine by me, and if they can afford it, go for it. I operate a little differently. When my family spends big money on things for our kids, it will always be things that create memories. For example, we went to Hawaii in February and anyone who vacations there understands how ridiculously expensive it is. For months we saved our money and cut back on a lot of stuff just so our trip would be epic. And it was. Although my Daughters Doin’ Work are 3-years old and 9-months old respectively, they will have literally thousands of pictures and videos to go through from that vacation and other excursions when they’re older. In 20 years from now, will they (or anyone else) give a shit that I bought their shoes at Payless instead of Bloomingdales? Of course not.

If you’re going to spend big money on any material item, be sure it’s for a damn good camera.

#7 – Take lots of pictures: Speaking of pictures, here’s something I did with both of my daughters. Many of my old-school SDW (Subscribers Doin’ Work) have heard this before, but I’ll share it again. DDW1 was born on a Sunday and every Sunday for the first year of her life I took a photo of her and placed it into a folder called “Sunday Pictures.” I also labeled the weeks accordingly (week 1, week 2, week 3, etc.) to ensure I kept everything organized. When her first birthday arrived, I played a 52-picture slideshow illustrating the week-to-week transformation of my daughter and it was absolutely breathtaking. I cannot stress this enough – if you’re expecting a baby, do this. You will not be sorry. DDW2 was born on a Tuesday and I already have a “Tuesday Pictures” folder set up for her. When you’re dead and gone, pictures and videos will be the primary way your kids will remember you. Take photos until your hands fall off.

#8 – Have Daddy-baby time: Don’t get me wrong here – spending time together as a complete family is really important, but it’s also important to create a Daddy-baby ritual with your kids. For me, I would spend at least an hour a day with my baby in the Ergo. That was our time for bonding. With my 3-year old, we go to swim lessons together every Sunday – just the two of us. It’s something we both look forward to and enjoy. Whatever it is (story time, bath time, feedings, etc.) find something that only you and your baby do together. It will only intensify your bond.

- See more at: http://daddydoinwork.com/newdads/#sthash.GUq9GUi2.dpuf

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Reading To Your Baby

Nausea During Pregnancy.

Nausea and Morning Sickness During Pregnancy.

Bonding With Your Baby

Round ligament pain: Understanding this pregnancy complaint

High blood pressure during pregnancy

10 Tips for a Healthy Pregnancy.

Pregnancy Exercise Guidelines

Ovulation Calendar

Advice For New Dads

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