Posts Tagged ‘Right’

Starting off your with a healthy well balanced diet is the best thing you do for yourself and your baby. This way, you’ll only need to make a few adjustments during your pregnancy.

Your first trimester If you find it tough to maintain a balanced diet during your first trimester, you can rest assured that your not alone. Due to queasiness, some women will eat all of the time and gain a lot of weight in the process. Other women have trouble getting food down and subsequently lose weight. 

Preventing malnutrition and dehydration are your most important factors during first trimester. 

Calories When you are pregnant, you need to consume around 300 calories more than usual every day. The best way to go about doing this is listening to your body when you are hungry. You should try to eat as many foods as possible from the bottom of the food pyramid.

If you gain weight too slow, try eating small meals and slightly increase the fat in your diet. You should always eat when you are hungry, as you are now eating for 2 instead of one.

Calcium By the second trimester, you’ll need around 1,500 milligrams of calcium each day for your bones and your baby’, which is more than a quart of milk. Calcium is something that’s missing from many diets. Along with milk, other great sources for calcium include dairy products, calcium fortified juices, and even calcium tablets.

Fiber Fiber can help to prevent constipation, which is a common pregnancy problem. You can find fiber in whole grains, fruits, and even vegetables. Fiber supplements such as Metamucil and Citrucel are safe to take during pregnancy.

Protein Unless you happen to be a strict vegetarian, your protein intake is not normally a problem for women who eat a healthy diet.

Iron A lot of women will start their pregnancy off with a bit of iron deficiency. Good sources of iron include dark leafy green vegetables and meats. Iron supplements should be avoided, as they can cause internal symptoms such as cramping, constipation, or diarrhea. 

Vitamins Seeing as how you get a majority of the vitamins you need in your diet, you may want to discuss prenatal vitamins with your doctor. Folate is one of the most important, and if you are getting enough of it, you may be able to avoid vitamins all together – just ask your doctor to make sure.

You already know it is important to eat a well-balanced diet, but it is even more important when you are pregnant. Keep in mind now you are eating for two. Whatever you eat, the baby eats as well. In fact the baby actually takes your nourishments so you must eat enough for both of you. The healthier you eat the better it is for the pregnancy and you.

Never miss a meal while you are pregnant, especially breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and your baby has probably been waiting since he/she woke up in the middle of the night. You may learn that if you wait so long before eating you start to feel sick, this is your body telling you to eat. Do it!

Make sure you are getting enough of the food you need daily. It takes 4-6 servings of dairy a day for a healthy pregnancy, this can include some cheeses, milk, yogurt. This provides the baby with calcium which it’ll need to develop healthy growing bones. Adding extra calcium to your diet wouldn’t hurt you either, especially your teeth and bones. Don’t forget about your fruit and vegetable servings. Lots of green is always a good choice, so are sweet potatoes. Not only will you be giving your body what it needs but you’ll start to have more energy. Try laying off the sweets for a week and replace them with healthier items and see how alive you feel.

Foods to Avoid

Not all foods are safe during your pregnancy, there are a few things you should avoid eating:

- unpasteurized products- brie

- Certain fish- exotic, shark, swordfish, anything high in mercury

- Raw eggs

- Undercooked meats- lunch meats. If you are buying a deli sandwich you can ask for them to eat the meat up a little.

- Caffeine- soda, chocolate. If you find this difficult you can wean yourself off, but the less caffeine in your system the better it is for the baby.  If you are ever unsure of the foods you can eat you can ask your doctor for a list of items to avoid during pregnancy. They’ll be more than happy to share this with you.

You may also learn that your stomach won’t handle certain foods that it would before. Some of those foods may include foods that contain grease, fast foods, meat, and certain foods that have a strong odor. Eating healthy doesn’t mean you have to cut out all the fun in your life, you can still treat yourself from time to time. Go out and get a frozen yogurt or a smoothie.

While you are making sure you get enough to eat throughout the day, that doesn’t mean neglect your fluid intake. You’ll need lots of water and juices from here on out. The baby will thank you later. Who knows, you may discover that you really enjoy eating healthier and continue it even after the pregnancy.

Pregnancy can put pressure on the sciatic nerve that causes leg pain. Some chiropractors say they are able to resolve this problem. They also say there are techniques that will help ensure a safe and easy delivery.
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The actual goal with chiropractic care during pregnancy is to make the whole body operate better and not just the high-stress areas affected by pregnancy weight gain in the lower abdomen, hips and breasts. Chiropractors aim not necessarily to relieve the pain, but to make the body function better with adjustments. They also aim to ensure a safe and easy delivery.

Pregnancy and delivery of a child changes a woman’s hormones, which can trigger headaches and make stress on the body worse than was before the pregnancy. Pregnancy does affect the whole body’s functions. Chiropractors’ feels if the nervous system is functioning better, the body functions better, and also gives your baby a better chance of developing normally.

Chiropractic care during pregnancy has increased over the past 10 years. Members of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association are seeing a lot of pregnant women and children.

In fact, some chiropractors say pregnant patients are actually suppler because the body releases a hormone called “relaxin,” which helps to relax ligaments and other parts of the body.

Chiropractors are getting less resistance from obstetricians and gynecologists. Younger OB/GYNs seem to be more open to chiropractor care for their pregnant patients.

However, there was resistance after the development of the Webster In-Utero Constraint Technique in 1978 was introduced. Some OB/GYNs thought the technique involved shifting the fetus.

Chiropractors say the baby is not contacted at any time during the Webster In-Utero Constraint Technique and that an easier birth is the goal of this technique. They also argue that when a baby is constrained and does not move normally the result can be a breech birth or require Cesarean delivery. The Webster In-Utero Constraint Technique is supposed to help the baby move normally.

The chiropractors who have used the Utero Constraint Technique say it was successful in allowing the fetus to adjust to a head-first position.

You can learn more about the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association or locate a member chiropractor at http://www.icpa4kids.org.

You should of course always consult your health care provider about your interest or intent for considering chiropractic care during pregnancy as many health care providers still resist chiropractic care during pregnancy.

Source: The Messenger-Inquirer

Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The information in this article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. All health concerns should be addressed by a qualified health care professional.

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Most of the abdominal exercises are very fine when you are pregnant and in the initial months. This however, needs to be reduced as you feel the baby strikes becoming obvious. During this time you can avoid crunches, sit-ups, leg-lifts and other exercises. This is because and you lay back, the weight of the baby would block the vena cava, i.e., the blood vessel providing oxygen and blood to the uterus. As you find the oxygen and blood being restricted, you would find it very uncomfortable to carry on with the abdominal exercises when you are pregnant. During pregnancy there would be uneasiness when you scrunch up the abdomen.

During delivery or even pregnancy, abdominal muscle could occasionally separate. Postpartum mothers need to check the abdominal muscles before they begin with any abdominal exercises while they are carrying or even after their delivery. This is because, if there is separation of abdominal muscle, the damage could worsen. You could test as you press your fingers between the muscles with an abdominal crunch attempt. If more than two fingers get places between the muscles then it would hint separation. This would require you to change your crunches. You could place your feet in a similar manner by crossing your arms across your abdomen and then squeezing muscles together while you exhale contracting the abdominal muscles and lifting only the head and no shoulders. A length of cloth such as a old sheeting could be wrapped around the tummy and pulled tightly across to give a similar effect.

Strong abdominal muscles would support the baby very well and prove to be quite beneficial. They assist in labor and delivery during the baby’s birth and also ease if there is any strain on muscles behind. getting used to abdominal exercises when you are pregnant would give fewer chances of abdominal muscle separation.

Conventionally, a midwife would suggest learning belly dancing during pregnancy as means towards abdominal exercise. The muscles around the abdominal area would remain in shape when belly dancing is implemented. It would also keep the muscles in tact even after the baby is delivered.

Few examples of safe abdominal crunches while you are pregnant is as follows:

Get on your knees and forearms and exhale while you tighten your abdominal muscles, pulling in the belly button, towards the backbone and subsequently inhaling as it is released. You could work on oblique abdominal muscles when you are side-lying and in a position where the knees are bent. As you are lifting the rib cage to the hipbone, you need to exhale by squeezing the waist line in and inhaling as the rib cage is lowered down. This needs to be implemented at 45 degree angle. You could combine these exercises with Kegel exercises or pelvic foot muscle exercises so that maximum benefit is gained from the same.

It is necessary to keep a check on pregnancy weight gain week by week, for preventing Excess Weight Gain during pregnancy. If your weight is too much, you will invite pregnancy complications, diabetes, and other problems in the labor room. If your weight is too less, you will suffer from malnutrition and will deliver an unhealthy baby.

In addition to this, studies have revealed that, uncontrolled Weight Gain during pregnancy paves the way for obesity in the end after delivery. The interesting thing is that, each country or culture has its own recommendations for it.

Varying Weight Gain Figures

In some countries, doctors recommend a put on of 2.2 pounds (1kg) every pregnancy month. This amounts to a total of 22 pounds (9-10 kg) for the entire pregnancy. However, this is a vague figure. You need a more precise figure of weight gain, so that you are assured that your put on week by week is appropriate, and not too less or too much for your body.

Whichever country you belong to, the appropriate put on can be determined based on your pre-pregnancy weight as well as height.

Calculating Weight Gain During Pregnancy

Here is a simple formula for calculation: divide your normal weight in kg by your height in square meters.

You get a number that serves as a guide for gaining weight during pregnancy.

If you get less than 18, you are skinny and need to add up to 44 pounds (20 kg)
If you get 18-20, you are thin and need to add to 28.6-37.4 pounds (13-17 kg)
If you get 20-23, you are within the normal weight range and need to gain up to 26.4 pounds (12kg)
If you get more than 23, you are on the fatty side and need to increase just 17.6-24.2 pounds (8-11 kg)
If you get more than 30, you are obese and need to put on lesser.

Pregnancy Weight Gain Week By Week Chart

Trimester: Weight Gain:

Trimester 1 (months 1-3) No more than 5 pounds

Trimester 2 (months 4-6) 12-19 pounds

Trimester 3 (months 7-9) 8-11 pounds

Total: 25-35 pounds

Note: You need to gain around 2/3 of a pound every week, until your 20th week of pregnancy and after that, just one pound every week.

For more information on pregnancy weight gain week by week, continue to read articles and books and keep in touch with your doctor.