Planning a Healthy Pregnancy
Planning a Healthy Pregnancy
Looking for healthy lifestyle pregnancy information? Here are some steps for planning a pregnancy with your healthy lifestyle in mind.The most important step in planning for a healthy pregnancy is getting you healthy. This means quitting use of tobacco products, illegal drugs and alcohol. Most doctors also advise limiting caffeine intake. A pre-pregnancy physical exam is also vitally important. Your health issues and medical history, as well as family history, will all have a bearing on the health of your baby, so discuss these issues with your doctor before conception. Your doctor may suggest a blood test to screen for some types of genetic disorders, and a review of conditions that may require special care during a pregnancy, like diabetes, should be reviewed.You should begin watching what you eat, remember, your diet will be nourishing your baby too! Eat a balanced diet and begin taking prenatal vitamins, especially folic acid, before you conceive to make sure that the developing baby will be getting all the nutrition it needs. Your doctor can prescribe these vitamins during your pre-pregnancy exam. In addition to eating well, you should exercise regularly and get plenty of rest. Although pregnancy is usually a time of weight gain, try to manage your weight to avoid complications like high blood pressure and diabetes during the pregnancy. Making healthy eating a habit prior to conception will help to control your weight gain.Finally, it is important to evaluate your surroundings for harmful substances. While pregnant and planning to be pregnant, you should avoid lead, pesticides, x-rays and other forms of radiation.By planning for a healthy pregnancy, you can help your baby be healthy too!Maria writes for Pregnancy Due Date, a site that tries to information for expectant mothers. For more great pregnancy articles, visit our Pregnancy articles archive.
Is Pregnancy Changes You?
Is Pregnancy Changes You?
People say pregnancy is a fun and exciting time. Probably they are right, but don't you think that behind the fun and excitement, you also feel the changes in your body. Any woman who has ever been pregnant knows that changes come with the nine months as the "Baby Carrier."What Are Those Changes?Naturally, our bodies change. Our boobs get bigger, our tummies expand and our taste buds become fickle, taking us on a whirlwind from one craving to the next. A once slender woman can morph into what seems like a monster.Of course, morning sickness, which can happen at anytime during the day, is also a new change for expectant moms. Foods and even smells we once loved can send us into a hurl on a second's notice. On top of that, we get to enjoy sweating like piglets, pimple outbreaks, exhaustion and sore feet and backs.And then there are the emotional and mental changes. You've got to start getting into the Mom Mindset, so you tend to become more protective of others. See your husband using a knife that looks too sharp? Better run over and cut that tomato yourself! Or, have you noticed a stray dog in the neighborhood? No time like now to practice up on your care-giving skills - you should definitely make a trip to the grocery store for some Purina.Indeed, we women take our roles as mothers seriously - sometimes too seriously. And we can find ourselves snapping at our loved ones for little infractions and even working ourselves into tearful outbursts over anything from a sad movie to a dirty rug during our pregnancies.But doesn't anybody dare tell a pregnant woman that she's being irrational. Mood swings - sometimes within minutes - are totally normal. A pregnant woman's body is going through hormonal changes, and spouses and others are well-advised to not taking anything personally.About the Author: Sara Jameson set out on a mission to find out how to have a healthy baby but also a happy and healthy pregnancy. She succeeded and writes her experiences in "The Very Happy Pregnancy: Avoiding Stress and Depression." Read her secrets and truths about having a happy, healthy pregnancy in her Website http://www.pregnancywithoutstress.com
Weight Gain During Pregnancy: Choosing The Right Foods
Weight Gain During Pregnancy: Choosing The Right Foods
So you need to gain weight but don't want to gain too much weight during your pregnancy right?There are many things that you can do to improve your diet and ensure that you gain a minimal but healthy amount of weight during pregnancy.Choosing the right foods is important because you will be able to loose weight more quickly after delivery if you manage your diet during pregnancy.So here is what you need to do during pregnancy to ensure weight loss success after:Tip #1
Choose whole foods. Whole foods are foods that are dense in nutrients. Think wild rice, whole grains, and unprocessed foods. Whole foods don't include waffles and pancakes!Tip #2
Add calories during the second trimester. Eating for two doesn't literally mean eating for two. In fact during your first trimester your baby is about the size of a small bean! Most women don't actually need to start adding 300 calories a day to their diet until the second and third trimesters.Tip #3
Be sure you get a serving of protein, carbohydrate and fat at every meal. It will help you if you break your meals into six mini meals per day. This will help rev up your metabolism. Next be sure that you eat some protein, carbohydrate and fat at each mini meal session. This will help nourish your body more completely and help prevent cravings later in the day.Tip #4
Choose foods high in fiber. High fiber foods will help fill you up when you are ravenous during pregnancy, and they will also help relieve constipation and help you feel great! A high fiber diet is good for anyone, whether or not they
are pregnant.Tip #5
Drink extra water. You'll be thirstier than normal anyway during pregnancy. Drinking water helps flush toxins from your system and helps prevent excessive edema. Believe it or not you can actually fight weight gain associated with edema if you drink more water!Remember that pregnancy is a short period of time in the long journey that is your life. You should enjoy every moment of it. By following the tips above, you can gain the right amount of weight and feel great throughout your pregnancy.Article by Beverley Brooke, visit http://www.pregnancy-weight-loss.com for more on pregnancy weight gain