Saturday

Cool Baby Change Bags

The designer baby changing bags by StorkSak are increasingly popular due to their sheer style combined with an array of practical features. But how will you decide which StorkSak to own when there is such a lot of choice?

Your baby change bags will be carried everywhere with you while your baby’s small, so choose one you really love, and this means both in terms of style and practicality.

Elizabeth
The StorkSak Elizabeth bag is the top of the range bag, made of hardwearing leather with chunky metal rings, clasps and studs it looks and feels like a really good bag. It has a large array of pockets inside, as well as a removable insulated bottle holder; outside there are more pockets and a mobile phone holder.

The Stork Sak Elizabeth has classic looks, and is slimline enough to be carried easily over one shoulder with the leather handles, or across the body with the removable canvas handle. t can carry most laptops, and the internal bottle holders are removable to make more room. This is ideal to use for the office once you’ve finished carrying baby paraphenalia around.

Julie
The StorkSak Julie is a little cheaper than the Elizabeth, and has a cool look. With nylon satin, leather and metal hardware, this looks more like a luxury handbag than a baby bag. It has the usual comprehensive array of pockets, but is slightly shorter than the Elizabeth, so has a squarer, more compact feel. The Julie baby change bag has the same useful accessories (insulated bottle holder, change mat and mini bag) as the Elizabeth.

Mia
We have fallen in love with the StorkSak Mia bag, which has all the style of a chic handbag, with the usual StorkSak practicality. This bag has a long adjustable handle and a magnetic clasp to fasten.

Emily
The lovely StorkSak Emily bag is very popular. Similarly shaped to the Mia, the Emily baby changing bag has more pockets on the outside which are great for storing bits and bobs you want to access quickly. With its gold metal hardware, this is a very cool bag!

Jamie
Otherwise known as the Brad Pitt Bag (after he was photographed with it), this is a stunning unisex bag your partner won’t mind carrying (even my bag hating man likes it!). Large enough for most notebooks, and with the usual StorkSak practical features, you’ll find the StorkSak Jamie bag is practical for a long time. With subtle style features such as the stylish canvas strap, contrast stitching and inline pockets, friends will never guess it’s full of nappies.

Solve Your Maternity Evening Wear Problems!

The fab six way maternity dress, perfect for all those parties, wedding and other functions you have whilst pregnant and is perfect for maternity evening wear. It's a great investment buy for pregnancy enabling you to ring the changes unlike any other maternity dress we've seen. It can be worn as a variety of formal maternity fashion styles or as a maternity skirt throughout pregnancy; it also makes a great post-pregnancy piece.

During your pregnancy you will have a number of formal functions to attend. These will range from weddings, christenings, to formal dinner parties - imagine buying a new maternity dress every time you go to one of these events! The 6-way-maternity-dress enables you to have six different maternity evening outfits for the price of one!

Basically, it's a long black dress which can be worn in six different ways from a maternity skirt to a maternity fashion dress to glamorous maternity evening wear - perfect for all occasions.

The 6-Way Dress can be worn as a Strapless dress, a One shoulder dress, a Halterneck dress, Crossover, a Cap sleeve dress and a maternity skirt.

The 6 way dress is made up of a long skirt, a bandeau (which is worn around the bust or the tummy), and a wide, tapered piece of fabric attached just below the bandeau which forms the ties in many of the styles.

The fabric of the maternity dress is soft and drapey (not clingy), and has a stretch. The bandeau is snug fitting, providing support for the bust when worn as a maternity dress, and for around the tummy when worn as a maternity skirt.

It's difficult to believe that this maternity dress is as flexible as it seems, and as easy to wear. When we tried our maternity fashion sample we were really impressed!

Each six way maternity dress comes with a set of clear instructions. These show six main ways to wear the dress, with a few variations also explained. You'll even find more ways to wear it!

Benefits Of Exercise For Pregnant Women

Any form of exercise for pregnant women may have some benefit for them. There are several highly recommended exercises for pregnant women that may fit their needs and preferences. Some can be as common as walking while others may be as specific as yoga. The exercises for pregnant women that should be highlighted are those that have the maximum benefit with the least amount of stress. Stress can negatively affect pregnant women which is why stress should be avoided.

Preconditioning

Most exercises for pregnant women act to condition their bodies for the next several months which will be full of changes, both externally and internally. While not all exercises for pregnant women may seem able to penetrate the mind due to its being too physical, there is some effect which will benefit the mind. The knowledge that she is fit during pregnancy will help ease the mind of the individual. This will give her confidence to cope with what pregnancy may bring her during the next months of gestation.

It is not only the mind which is preconditioned to perform well during childbirth but also the muscles are trained to perform well.  Getting enough exercise for pregnant women will benefit them in the sense that they can have stronger and more resilient muscles as well as a body that can cope with childbirth, and even before and after it. 

Muscles And Endurance

Exercise during pregnancy will yield better toned muscles and bones which can help the woman deal with the enormity of childbirth and the vast physical changes that she may experience during the time. The many different forms of exercises for pregnant women can help tone and flex muscles. Endurance is also important especially during a prolonged labor which may tax the woman sorely. Some muscles may not be visible from but can be exercised in the inside such as the pelvic muscles. The Kiegel's exercise for pregnant women will give the, strong pelvic muscles that can cope with contractions and faster healing after giving birth. Stronger pelvic muscles can also help the woman push the infant out through the birth canal when the time of childbirth comes.

Concentrating on a particular exercise for pregnant women can be great but getting the different muscle groups to work well in a coordinated fashion will benefit you more. Having a choice of one or two exercises for pregnant women daily can suffice in making childbirth easier.

More about day by day pregnancy including FREE! chinese pregnancy calendar

Friday

Highly Recommended Exercise While Pregnant

Being pregnant is something that many women cherish and look forward to. It is a uniquely feminine phenomenon and it is something that bounds women to their child forever. It can also bind several layers of fats to your abdominal region which can be difficult to get rid of. Enter the merits of doing exercise while pregnant. Women who exercise while pregnant have a higher chance of getting rid of the excess fats that they may have accumulated during pregnancy.

Yoga

Yoga is something that women can use as a form of exercise while pregnant. In fact, there is a specific prenatal yoga exercises that pregnant women can do during their pregnancies. Yoga exercise while pregnant can benefits both the body and the mind since yoga is actually focused on enlightenment for the spirit and uplifting the mind. This exercise for pregnant women can even be continued after pregnancy and with the newborn. This will strengthen the bonds between the mother and child. Benefits of this exercise while pregnant is the strengthening of the back muscles to accommodate the additional weight and the opening of the hips and pelvis in preparation for childbirth.

Walking


Walking is a form of exercise that many people can benefit from whether they are pregnant or not. Doing this exercise while pregnant can help you maintain your weight and also build your endurance. Maintaining the weight is important because gaining too much during pregnancy can complicate the pregnancy and bring rise to many conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Building one's endurance will help when the women experiences rough labor. This exercise while pregnant needs to be done in moderation with regards to intensity especially during the last trimester.

Kiegels Exercise

This exercise is supposed to help during pregnancy and during labor. The point of this exercise while pregnant and even if not, is to strengthen the pelvic muscles, internally. Doing this exercise while pregnant improves the performance of the pelvic muscles. Most doctors will give an example of how to do this exercise by trying to stop the flow of urine when you are urinating. You do not necessarily need to be urinating to do this kind of exercise but this example is the best way to explain how it works.

Doing an exercise while pregnant will ultimately benefit the woman. The key to choosing an exercise while pregnant is to see what you can endure without feeling the slightest bit uncomfortable of threatened by it.

More about day by day pregnancy including FREE! chinese pregnancy calendar

The Role of Prenatal Fitness

Pregnancy is not an excuse to stop exercising if you are used to exercising and keeping fit. In fact, prenatal fitness is something that a pregnant woman should get, whether she is used to exercising or not. Prenatal fitness can be achieved with or without a personal fitness coach and there is actually no need to visit a gym daily to achieve this. There are many ways to achieve prenatal fitness and while you have done this you can maintain the fitness program or exercise after pregnancy.

Walking Your Way To Prenatal Fitness


Walking is one of the most recommended prenatal fitness exercises for women. This is because it is probably the least expensive of the entire exercise lot and you can do this almost anywhere. Walking your way to prenatal fitness is easy and one can even do this with some variations, like walking up a flight of stairs. This can be your exercise after pregnancy because it can be very easy to resolve walking around while trying to lose the fat that you might have accumulated for the past nine months.

Swimming To Prenatal Fitness

Swimming is another prenatal fitness exercise that one can take advantage of during pregnancy. This low impact sport and form of exercise can actually help you keep fit and some women even contemplate a water birth when they are comfortable enough with the idea. The aspect of swimming being a low impact sport is one of the main reasons why it is highly popular for pregnant women to indulge in it. Not only do they keep fit but they also keep cool in the water.

Yoga For Prenatal Fitness

Yoga is another form of prenatal fitness that is highly popular with pregnant women. This is because many of the different poses can actually help in positioning the baby, strengthening the lower back and opening the pelvis and hips.

Prenatal fitness can actually aid women cope with the changes in their bodies during pregnancy as well as cope with childbirth. It also keeps them from gaining too much weight which can be difficult to take away after giving birth. Exercise after pregnancy as well as a diet can help women lose the weight they may have gotten during pregnancy. The benefits of prenatal fitness far outweighs pigging out on your favorite food with pregnancy as the excuse and then regretting doing so when you have a difficult time losing the weight that was gained.

More about day by day pregnancy including FREE! chinese pregnancy calendar

 

Poses For Prenatal Yoga

Prenatal yoga is something that can actually help condition the body for the upcoming changes that pregnancy will bring. The focus of most women when they do prenatal yoga is the stretching that helps with childbirth and the changes of pregnancy but there are also other benefits that prenatal yoga brings. Pregnancy fitness is one of the benefits of this kind of yoga and so is the mental calm that one gets from yoga. For those who wish for prenatal yoga to help with the bodily changes brought about by pregnancy, here are some poses for you.

Cow And Cat Poses

For these poses, one needs to start with the neutral spine position on all fours. These prenatal yoga poses are best done slowly, feeling each movement as you change from a neutral spine position to the cow position. The cow position has you starting the change from the toes, which you curl as you inhale. The next thing is to slowly lower your belly and then lift your head to gaze up to the ceiling. The movement of lifting your head should start from the tailbone and travel through your spine up to the neck which is when you lift your head. This should be the culmination of your prenatal yoga pose.

Upon your next exhale, you will do the cat pose which entails releasing your feet from their curled position. The tops of your feet should rest comfortably on the mat as you start the cat pose. From the feet, feel the movement travel through your spine as you raise your spine to a rounded position. The last movement for this prenatal yoga position is to drop the head to such a point that you try to see the region of your bellybutton.

Supine Pelvic Tilts

This prenatal yoga pose is done lying on your back, which is great for those in their first month up to, maybe the fourth or fifth months. Many women are not comfortable with this prenatal yoga pose when their belly has grown to the point where lying supine presses the baby onto the vital organs and may causes some difficulty breathing. If you feel this, do the pelvic tilts standing up with your back against a wall.

Start this prenatal yoga pose by lying flat on the floor with your knees bent with your the heels of your feet almost touching your hands. Your hands should be flat by your side and there should be a slight natural curve between your lower back and the floor. As you exhale, lift your hips a little upwards, without actually lifting your entire bottom from the floor. In essence, you flatten the curve or space between your lower back and the floor. Inhale and return to your original, neutral position.

These prenatal yoga poses are well worth doing because they help strengthen the lower back and the pelvis. The cat and cow prenatal yoga poses also help to optimize the baby's position.

The Benefits Of Pregnancy Exercise

Pregnancy is not as fragile as others may lead you to believe, although, there are many cases where the pregnant woman should take special care of herself and her condition to warrant bed rest. Pregnancy exercise is something that many pregnant women do even up to their eighth or ninth month, depending on how fit they are initially. There are some pregnancy exercises that are suitable for those who are not fit initially while other pregnancy exercises are for women who really exercise before they even got pregnant.

Kinds Of Pregnancy Exercises

There are several kinds of pregnancy exercises that are suitable for women with minimum to maximum levels of exercise ability. Prenatal yoga is a pregnancy exercise that many women do whether they are initially fit or not. The reason for this is that prenatal yoga does not stress the body too much (especially for beginners) and there are levels with this kind of yoga that can segregate who have had yoga before they got pregnant. Many also agree that prenatal yoga can help the body accommodate the changes it goes through during pregnancy which is why it is best to start this as early as possible.

Walking is yet another pregnancy exercise that many women do since this is probably the easiest and the least expensive of all. Jogging and running are possible but only in the earlier months and only if you have been doing this for more than several months before you got pregnant and with a medical practitioner's supervision and recommendation. In all, after the third month, running and jogging are not advisable at all, so walking will have to do as your pregnancy exercise. If you have not been walking regularly before your pregnancy, it is best to start with just a few hundred meters or so to make sure you can handle the feat.

Another pregnancy exercise is just to stretch. There are many different stretches for the body, the most effective for pregnant women are side bends, side stretches and calf raises. Stretching during pregnancy is similar to prenatal yoga which conditions your body for the upcoming changes. It is advised that pregnant women start slow and carefully when doing stretches or any other pregnancy exercise.

A pregnancy exercise should be done with care no matter how easy it may seem. Although, a pregnancy is not as fragile as many believe it to be, it is best to be safe than sorry.

Making Sure You Have A Healthy Nutrition Pregnancy

When it comes to your pregnancy there is nothing more important then making sure that you have a truly healthy nutrition pregnancy. A pregnancy without the proper nutrition and pregnancy exercise is something that can cause not only a lot of harm to your own body but also that of the child growing inside of you. It is very important that you are following all of your doctor's orders and having yourself a healthy nutrition pregnancy so that you can have a pregnancy with little complications, if any. Make sure that you are always keeping in mind that what you put into your body affects the child.

It is also not just what you do put into your body that affects the child but also what you do not put into your body. If you find that you are skipping out on your prenatal vitamins you are doing yourself and your unborn child a lot of harm. You have to make sure that you are always taking any vitamins that the doctor suggests to you and that you are getting enough overall nutrition into your body. By doing all of this you will be making sure that you have a healthy nutrition pregnancy and that you are on the right track.

Finding Other Tips And Hints

When it comes to a healthy nutrition pregnancy, a lot of people find that they are confused about what they should and should not be eating. There is a lot of good that can come from reading all of those pregnancy books because it is those books that can help you understand what you should be eating and drinking. Those books and magazines are generally full of all sorts of valuable information that you can use to protect the health and development of your baby growing inside of you.

It also would be a good idea to talk with other women who are pregnant to get their advice on what should and should not be done. They may have heard something from their doctor that is of value that you have not yet heard. By talking to as many people as possible you will be making sure that you have a healthy nutrition pregnancy. Never stop researching and looking for new information as there is just so much out there to learn and to consider. You may find that even after nine months of non-stop research that you still do not know it all. But as long as you learn enough then you and the baby will be okay.

Thursday

All About The Healthy Pregnancy Weight Gain

When it comes to having a healthy pregnancy weight gain there are so many factors to consider. Doctors want to make sure that you and your baby are both healthy and safe so that no one ends up in any medical distress because of not having a healthy nutrition pregnancy. This is more important then most mothers to be realize and it is important that more information is put out about having only a healthy pregnancy weight gain.  In order to make sure you are doing the absolute best for both you and your baby it is important to make sure that you are always following the orders of your doctor.

There are a lot of things that women who are pregnant have to be worried about and weight gain is something that can be somewhat of a touchy subject for these women. The body is going to gain weight no matter what and because of this, a lot of women have panic that sets in. But as long as you have a healthy pregnancy weight gain then you will be okay in terms of your overall health and the health of your unborn child. It is very important that you make sure that a healthy pregnancy weight gain is a top priority on your list so that everything runs as smooth as possible.

Tips For Staying Healthy

There are a lot of things that you can do to make sure that you have a healthy pregnancy weight gain such as watching what you eat and maintaining an active lifestyle. If you never did exercise before you became pregnant then you will not want to overdo because this could put too much pressure and strain on your body. Of course, this does not mean that you cannot exercise at all but you do have to be careful on how much you do. Talk with your doctor about your concerns for a healthy pregnancy weight gain and see what he or she can suggest you do as far as exercise is concerned.

You also want to try not to put too much focus on the scale because that is enough to drive anybody insane. Your doctor will be weighing you enough and will be more then happy to advise you if something seems out of place or if you are starting to fall away from a healthy pregnancy weight gain. If your doctor does end up expressing such a thing to you it is important that you do not take offense to it because he or she is simply trying to help and protect you and the baby. Follow their advice and do whatever you can to make sure that you have an overall healthy pregnancy weight gain.

Wednesday

Making Sure You Have A Healthy Pregnancy

From the first day you find out that you are pregnant it is your responsibility to make sure that you have a healthy pregnancy. To make sure of this, the first thing you want to do is research and discuss with your doctor about starting a healthy pregnancy diet. When it all comes down to it, you are the only one who can make sure that the baby growing inside you is healthy and maturing at a steady pace. There are simply too many mistakes being made by mothers who are not being proactive and these mistakes can lead to a baby exposed to great dangers.

A healthy pregnancy starts and ends with the mother being one hundred percent dedicated to making sure that a close eye is watching every single day of her pregnancy. There is nothing worse then letting your health slide during the nine months of pregnancy because when your health fails, so does the health of the child growing inside of you. To make sure that you are abiding by all of the healthy pregnancy guidelines you may want to involve the father of the baby, friends, and family so that they are not trying to tempt you with things that are not good for you or the baby.

How To Find Out What To Do

Some people may automatically assume that there is just so much to do in order to have a healthy pregnancy that they assume that they could just never handle it all. But the fact is that once you really start looking over everything that you should be doing and not doing, it will all just start to sound like common sense. If you are already following a pretty healthy lifestyle then there is not going to be too much to change about your daily habits in order to have a healthy pregnancy.

A good thing to do is to start talking with your doctor about all of the different things you should be doing and make a list of the things that you should be avoiding. Your doctor will be able to also refer you to books or websites that can give you more details on how to have a healthy pregnancy. It is also probably a good idea to sign up to some sort of chat community or message board that is geared towards new mothers as you can certainly learn a lot from one another.

Tuesday

All About Healthy Eating During Pregnancy

From the moment you find out you are pregnant you need to start making sure that you are watching what you eat. This is to make sure that your pregnancy runs smooth and that your baby develops at a good rate. There is nothing worse then hurting your unborn child because you simply have no control over the food and drinks that you put into your body. If you have had problems with food or drinks before now is the time to get help because you are completely accountable for your actions. Now that there is another life involved you must make sure that you are on the right path.

Understanding how to have a healthy pregnancy is key to making sure that you are doing everything needed to make it happen. Healthy eating during pregnancy is one of the biggest concerns for mothers because your unborn child is also consuming everything that you eat or drink. You must make sure that you are practicing healthy eating during pregnancy in order to give your baby the best chance at life. When you take accountability for your eating actions, you are less likely to make the wrong choices in the end.

Tips And Hints To Help You Out

You will want to start by talking with your doctor about your current diet to see what adjustments, if any, need to be made in order to practice healthy eating during pregnancy. Some people find that there are no changes that need to be made to their diets and others find that just about everything they eat has to change right away. This can be a hard adjustment period so it is a good idea to reach out to other pregnant women who are also focusing on healthy eating during pregnancy.

There are a lot of support forums and such that you could join in order to talk with other women in the same position as you. Healthy eating during pregnancy is something that is often discussed in places such as support forums and you can give each other a lot of tips and good advice. Also, when you are feeling weak and want to give up on your healthy eating during pregnancy diet, these other women can help you get back to being focused. So do the best you can and do not be afraid to reach out to other people when you are in need of help or support so that you do not fall off track.

More about day by day pregnancy including FREE! chinese pregnancy calendar

Sticking To A Healthy Pregnancy Diet

When it comes to healthy eating during pregnancy there is hardly anything out there that is more important. What you eat is what your baby is eating and that is something that you should be remembering every single time you take a bite of something. A healthy pregnancy diet is one where you are always watching what you eat so that nothing harmful comes into your system and into the system of your unborn child. You want to make sure that you also avoid the foods that are known to be dangerous to your growing child like seafood and caffeine.

A healthy pregnancy diet is one where you openly talk with your doctor about the things that you should and should not be eating. If you are unsure whether or not you are currently on a healthy pregnancy diet you should be making a journal of all of the things that you are eating throughout the day. Once you cover a few days or a week you can go over this diet journal with your doctor to see if any changes need to be made. You may be surprised to hear that you are already very close to a healthy pregnancy diet.

More Things To Consider

When it comes to a healthy pregnancy diet you certainly want to be careful with what you eat but there is never a reason to go completely overboard. It is okay to have a snack cake or candy bar every once in while as long as it is all done in moderation. A little bit of a treat here and there is the best way to keep you on track with your healthy pregnancy diet. If you never allowed yourself anything sweet then you may find yourself cracking at some point and binging on all sorts of food that is bad for your baby.

If you do slip up there is no reason to beat yourself up over it because tomorrow is a new day. The healthy pregnancy diet is not about what you do today but what you do for the entire nine months put together. While you always want to try to stick as close to the healthy pregnancy diet as possible, you do not want to let it control your life to the point that you no longer enjoy the pregnancy. Just do what you can and in the end you will find that it is all okay and it will all work itself out.

Monday

The Best Diet for Pregnancy: Super-foods that should be in any Pregnant Woman’s Diet

The key to any healthy pregnancy is a good diet.You probably know that the best diet for pregnancy is low in fat and includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and lean meats.  Vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that are very important for health during pregnancy and for your baby include but are not limited to iron, folic acid, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and fiber.  In order to get these nutrients, we can take a prenatal supplement but most importantly, we need to eat well.  The best diet for pregnancy should include the following nutrient-rich, super-foods. 

Red Meats that Make the List


While the benefits of low fat meats like fish and poultry are praised, red meats often get a bad rap because their fat content has been linked to various health problems.  Eating lean cuts of red meat a couple times a week during pregnancy is a good idea however because they provide B-complex vitamins and important minerals like iron and zinc.  The best diet for pregnancy includes lean cuts of red meat like sirloin steak and pork tenderloin.  

The Three Bs: Beans, Broccoli and Berries

The best diet for pregnancy includes beans, broccoli and berries and here’s why.  Beans like chickpeas, lentils, and soybeans are packed with nutrients like iron, fiber, protein, calcium, and zinc.Beans are a vegetarian pregnant woman’s best friend.  Berries supply a good dose of Vitamin C, potassium, fiber, and folate.You can eat them in place of unhealthy, fat-laden desserts and pastries in order to satisfy that persistent sweet tooth.  Broccoli is a versatile vegetable that contains a wide range of nutrients including folate, lutein, fiber, and calcium. 

It’s All About Omega-3

Omega-3 fatty acids are all the rage, especially for women who are expecting.  Studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids promote brain development and vision in babies.The best diet for pregnancy should include salmon, eggs with omega-3, and flax seeds, all of which will provide you with these famous fatty acids.Chewing on a palm full of flax seeds is not tasty and no fun so in order to incorporate flax seeds into your diet, crush them and put them on salads, cereals, and oatmeal. 

Believe me.  Once you start adding these foods to your diet, you will notice a change in your general sense of well being.  If you make the effort to eat pregnancy super-foods and follow the best diet for pregnancy, you will feel better, look better, and contribute to the healthy development and birth of your baby.

More about day by day pregnancy




Pre Pregnancy Diet: Why Food is Important When Trying to Have Children

If you plan on jumping on the healthy diet bandwagon only after finding out you are pregnant, you may be putting your unborn child at risk.Women of childbearing age should be eating a healthy diet that consists of lots of fruits and vegetables, even before they conceive.  This is especially important if you are actively trying to have a baby but unfortunately many pregnancies are unexpected and a large percentage of women do not have a healthy pre pregnancy diet.

Even if you get your act together and start following a healthy early pregnancy diet, it might be too late.Studies show that vulnerability to chronic disorders like diabetes is decided in the womb.An unhealthy pre pregnancy diet can also increase the risk of your baby having heart disease later in life. 

Getting the Nutrients you Need Pre Pregnancy

So you may be wondering what constitutes a healthy pre pregnancy diet.An extremely important vitamin in the pre pregnancy days is folic acid.  Consuming plenty of foods rich in folic acid will lessen the chances of neural tube defects like spina bifida.Leafy green and orange veggies like kale, spinach, pumpkin, and carrot are good sources of folic acid.  You can also take a prenatal vitamin to make sure you are getting enough folic acid as well as other important vitamins and minerals.

As hard as this may be at first, cutting fatty foods out of your pre pregnancy diet is a good idea.  That means cutting out red meats, fried foods, whole dairy products, desserts, you name it.This is a difficult sacrifice but if it makes you feel any better, you will be saving yourself a lot of misery in the early months of your pregnancy in addition to improving your overall health.  That’s right, pre pregnancy diets high in fat have been linked to more nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.  Stick to lean meats like poultry and fish in your pre pregnancy diet.Avoid saturated fats.  Add foods with healthy fats to your diet like nuts, seeds, olive oil, and avocado.

Pre pregnancy diets are pretty much like any other healthy diets.You have to eat balanced meals, less fat, and more vitamins and minerals.  There is no science to following a proper pre pregnancy diet but as science suggests, even what you eat while you are trying to conceive will have a huge effect on the health of your baby in the future.  Do yourself and your unborn baby a favor by making some essential changes and improvements to your pre pregnancy diet

Shed those Extra Pounds with a Post Pregnancy Diet!

Now that you have that bundle of joy in your arms and out of your belly, you might be wondering how you can get your belly looking like it used to.  A flabby, plump stomach is one of few unpleasant effects of childbearing but with a proper post pregnancy diet you can say goodbye to those unwanted pounds! 

Breastfeeding and Dieting


Just as in your pre pregnancy diet and pregnancy diet, you need to make sure you are eating balanced, nutritious meals.This especially applies if you breastfeed because you need to nourish your baby with your breast milk and if you don’t follow a healthy post pregnancy diet, it will lead to nutritional deficiencies in you or your baby. 

The upside to breastfeeding is that you will lose all the extra weight without following a stringent post pregnancy diet.During pregnancy you are required to consume 300 extra calories per day while during breastfeeding, you need to consume 500 extra calories.Don’t try to starve yourself or eat less in an attempt to lose weight.With patience, all the weight will come off naturally. 

What Constitutes a Healthy Post Pregnancy Diet

Fruits and vegetables are an essential component of any effective post pregnancy diet.  You need to make sure that you eat a large variety of fruits and vegetables to get all the vitamins and minerals your body and baby require.Eat generous amounts of fruits and vegetables weekly, eating meat only once or twice a week.  Get your protein from other sources like beans and soy.When you do eat meat, stick to the lean meats like poultry and fish.Eat only fat-free or low-fat dairy products and avoid sweets and other junk foods as much as possible. 

Exercise is Essential

Along with watching what you eat, get out and get moving!Nothing will make you pack on the pounds more than sitting around the house all day.The first weeks following pregnancy are rough and exhausting but when you feel ready, put your baby in a baby carrier or stroller and go for power walks.Also try yoga and exercise DVDs that you can do at home with your baby. 

So what are you waiting for?  Start putting these tips to use and improve your post pregnancy diet and lifestyle so you can lose that extra baby weight.  Not only will you be taking a step towards improving your overall health, you will feel better and look better than you ever thought possible.



Foods that should not be a Part of your Pregnancy Diet Plan

The news of a baby is always accompanied by excitement, surprise, and a huge urge to plan.  One way to plan for the safe arrival of your bundle of joy is to create and follow a pregnancy diet plan.You have to kick bad habits and acquire new, good ones to make sure you are consuming healthy, nutritious food and avoiding dangerous substances and foods that could cause you or your unborn baby harm.

A Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol Pregnancy Diet Plan

As much as you may love desserts, fatty fried foods, and whole dairy products, it is important to lessen your fat intake during pregnancy.A healthy pregnancy diet plan consists of 30% fat or less of the daily total calorie intake.  Cholesterol is another thing we need to watch out for when following our pregnancy diet plans.  Make sure you consume no more than 300mg of cholesterol daily.

Dangerous Foods to Avoid

Soft cheeses like brie, camembert, and blue cheese should not be a part of your pregnancy diet plan.  These cheeses are often unpasteurized and can cause listeria infection.  Hard and processed cheeses as well as yogurt and cottage cheese are no problem.  It is important to incorporate plenty of dairy products into your diet to meet calcium requirements.  Just avoid these soft cheeses for your safety.

Certain types of fish like swordfish, shark, and white snapper are dangerous during pregnancy because of their high mercury levels.  Mercury can do damage to your unborn fetus so make sure they aren’t a part of your pregnancy diet plan.You will also have to give up your monthly dinners out at the sushi restaurant because raw fish is a no-no during pregnancy because it can cause toxoplasmosis. 
Substances that can be Harmful to Your Unborn Fetus

As if you needed someone to tell you this, do not drink alcohol during pregnancy!  There is no excuse not to follow this rule in your pregnancy diet plan.  The consumption of alcohol during pregnancy has been linked to mental retardation, premature delivery, and low-birth weight babies. 
As much as you feel like you need all those cups of joe in the morning, pregnancy means you need to cut back on caffeine intake.  Limit your caffeine intake to no more than 300mg per day.  That adds up to about 2 cups of coffee max.  This rule should also apply to your post-pregnancy diet if you breastfeed because the caffeine can pass through to your baby via breast milk.

When you sweeten that one cup of coffee you drink in the mornings, avoid using the artificial sweetener saccharin.Studies show it can cross through the placenta and remain in fetal tissues.  Try an all natural sweetener like xylitol. 
So there you have it.  While breaking your pregnancy diet plan might be tempting, the risks involved are simply not worth it.  Make sure you read more about what and what not to include in your pregnancy diet plan so you can have a healthy pregnancy, labor, and baby!

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Sunday

What You Need to Know About Early Pregnancy Diet and Morning Sickness

Does the thought of eating the foods that once were your once part of your diet before pregnancy make you want to vomit?You are not alone.  Morning sickness in the first trimester of pregnancy is not only a nuisance, it makes eating as unpleasant as it is nauseating.  For many pregnant women this is worrisome since we are required to eat well in order to have a healthy pregnancy

Fortunately, your early pregnancy diet can play a role in helping you overcome morning sickness or at least let it affect you a little less.  Don’t expect a magical disappearance of morning sickness symptoms following an early pregnancy diet but do at least expect that by making the effort, you will feel a little better.

Snacks are a Morning Sickness Sufferer’s Savior

What is the first thing you should do after waking up?  Snack.  Take your time when you get out of bed because rushing to start the day will only aggravate your nausea.  The key to an early pregnancy diet that combats nausea is constant snacking.  Don’t eat junk food however.  Leave stashes of saltine crackers by your bed, in your car, and anywhere else you frequently find yourself.  Other good snacks known to curb nausea are lemons, anything containing ginger (ginger ale, ginger tea, ginger snaps), pretzels, and popsicles.

Never Let Yourself Get Too Hungry or Too Full

An early pregnancy diet that will help you kick nausea to the curb consists of plenty of fluid intake.  Don’t drink water while you eat because it can make your nausea worse but do drink water a half hour prior to eating and a half hour afterwards.Make sure to stay hydrated all day by drinking plenty of water because this helps you from getting too hungry.Eat small meals throughout the day rather than scarfing down a plate of food at once.If you let yourself get too full, you will have more nausea.Also avoid napping after eating, as sick as you may feel.  It can worsen the symptoms of morning sickness.

Food to Avoid to prevent Morning Sickness

An early pregnancy diet should consist of healthy, balanced meals but to prevent yourself from feeling more nauseous than necessary, avoid foods that make you feel ill when you smell them or see them, no matter how healthy they are.  Don’t eat or cook foods that have a strong odor or flavor; the blander, the better.Try to avoid cooking if possible because during pregnancy you are very sensitive to smell and the smells in the kitchen can worsen your nausea.  Spicy and greasy foods can aggravate nausea as well. 
Morning sickness may be inevitable for many pregnant women but by following a good early pregnancy diet, you can lessen the symptoms and feel a little bit more like yourself.  By doing so, the early months of your pregnancy will be easier and pass by more quickly and before you know it, you will be well into your second trimester and feeling great.



How to have a Healthy Baby with the Proper Pregnancy Diet

Ever wonder what you should be eating and drinking during your pregnancy?  Now that you have a new life growing inside of you, that can of coke and plate of cheesy fries just aren’t going to cut it anymore.  A healthy pregnancy diet should consist of well-balanced meals with a wide range of nutrients.  Set some goals for yourself so you can stay on track.  

First try making a pregnancy diet plan.There are certain guidelines you need to follow.  You have to consume at least 300 calories more than you normally would but don’t make those empty calories.Choose nutrient-rich foods and eat from all the different food groups with a strong base of fresh fruits and vegetables.  

The Nutrients Imperative to a Healthy Pregnancy and Baby

Pregnant women need to make sure they are getting enough fiber, Vitamin C, Iron, Calcium, and Folic Acid, among other vitamins and minerals.  Ditch the white bread, rice, and pasta for whole-grain varieties.  Whole-grains are a rich source of fiber and carbohydrates.Also make sure to eat at least 4 servings of dairy products or other calcium-rich foods like leafy greens on a daily basis.  A pregnancy diet should consist of 1000-1300mg of calcium daily.  

To follow a healthy pregnancy diet, you need to consume at least 27mg of iron per day.  This is especially important to prevent anemia.  Iron-rich foods include red meat, liver, raisins, and spinach.  To get the required 70mg of Vitamin C per day, eat citrus fruits or vegetables like broccoli, green peppers, and tomatoes.  

Choose a variety of vegetables from the colorful and exotic to the commonplace.Eat at least one serving of orange vegetables like pumpkins and carrots to get your daily dose of Vitamin A.At least 400mcg of folic acid on a daily basis is needed to prevent neural tube defects like spina bifida.To get enough folic acid, eat green leafy veggies and beans.  To make sure you are getting enough of all these important vitamins and minerals, all pregnant women are recommended to take a prenatal vitamin in addition to following a healthy pregnancy diet.  

You may have realized that after finding about the news of your pregnancy, you needed to get yourself together and change your diet.  A proper pregnancy diet will help you have a healthier pregnancy, labor, and baby.  By following these simple guidelines, you will be one step closer to better health for you and your baby.  

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Going With The Digital Pregnancy Test

When it comes to taking home pregnancy tests, a lot of people have a fear that they will be unable to truly determine what the results from the test are. The reason people want to know right away is so that they can start their pregnancy diet and start getting the proper prenatal care. So that is why it is so important to go with a test that is sure to give you results that you can understand versus being just as confused as before you took the test.

There are a lot of tests on the market that offer results given in little pink lines. While sometimes the lines can come through extremely clear, this is not always the case. Sometimes the result can be extremely hard to read and this is why most people would rather just avoid those types of tests all together. If you are like that then you may to consider picking up a digital pregnancy test so that there is no confusion that will take place. The digital pregnancy test will give you a clear yes or no answer so that you do not have to do any guessing.

Where To Buy The Tests

Now that you have decided to go ahead and go with the digital pregnancy test there are a lot of places that you can find them. A lot of department stores are now carrying the digital pregnancy test and of course you can always find them in your local drug stores. The digital pregnancy test will be with all of the other types of pregnancy tests so they should not be all that hard to locate. There is a chance though that you will not be able to find it so easy in certain stores.

The only thing is though that some stores are no longer keeping the digital pregnancy test on the shelves. It seems that there are a lot of people out there trying to steal their pregnancy tests. This means that if the digital pregnancy test cannot be found on the store shelf that you are going to have to ask for assistance from someone behind the counter. While it may be embarrassing it is something that you are just going to have to go through in order to get the test that you need. Simply ask for the test and be done with it because you will be happy once you are able to take the test and get the clear results from it.

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Understanding The Pregnancy Test Result

When it comes to taking a home pregnancy test, there are often a lot of questions that surround the issue of how to read it. This is why a lot of people love the idea of the digital pregnancy test because it is a clear yes or no as the pregnancy test result. But for the other tests out there, the pregnancy test result is not as clear always. When the test has the consumer trying to read little lines to determine if they are pregnant there is a lot of confusion that can take place. Sometimes the lines are not as clear as they should be and this can leave the woman with a lot of questions as to whether or not she is pregnant.

Generally this leaves people just as lost as they were before the tried getting a pregnancy test result. When it comes to wanting to get clear and accurate pregnancy test results you need to make sure that you get a test that can give you exactly what you are looking for. This is the best way to make sure that you do not end up wasting a lot of money, time, and getting yourself all frustrated and worked up. Especially if you are pregnant you are going to want to avoid as much stress as possible.

What You Can Trust

If you feel uneasy about trusting the pregnancy test result that comes from the over the counter tests that you can purchase on your own then there are other options for you. If you set up an appointment with your current doctor or a nearby clinic, then you will be able to get tested there. And that test would give you a pregnancy test result that you can trust and count on. There is no sense in worrying about the pregnancy test result that a store bought test is going to give you when you can make an appointment with your doctor and get more trust worthy results.

There are two basic ways that your doctor will pick form in order to get an accurate pregnancy test result for you. There are the urine samples that can be taken and used in order to determine if you are indeed pregnant. These tests are similar to what you would take at home but it is done under the supervision of the doctor and the staff there. There is also a blood test that can be done and these tests are the best when it comes to getting a quality pregnancy test result.

 

Saturday

Getting The Best Pregnancy Test Available

When it comes to wanting to find out if you are pregnant you are going to want to get the best pregnancy test possible. This is so that you are more likely to get an accurate result so you can start to take action if it turns out that you are indeed pregnant. This is why you should make sure that you do enough research to get yourself the best pregnancy test out there. To see which one of the several tests out there is in fact the best, you will want to do a little research. By wasting your time on tests that do not give you a good and clear pregnancy test result you will be wasting a lot of money.

Besides reading the individual boxes to determine which is the best pregnancy test, you should do a lot of reading on the Internet. By reading up on the different products and tests you will be able to learn a lot of information. The best pregnancy test is one that is known for giving the most accurate results. Tests that are known to have a huge error rate are really not the tests that you want to waste your time and money on. Of course nothing is absolutely perfect but you can get as close as possible.

Other Ways To Get The Best

If you really are not comfortable with trusting an over the counter pregnancy test, it is a good idea to consult your doctor. You doctor is able to give you a pregnancy test that they will administer which is probably going to be the best pregnancy test compared to what you would get over the counter. Generally, these tests are covered by your medical insurance so you should not have to pay anything extra to get these down. If you are still not comfortable with a urine test as your test procedure there is one other way.

Getting blood work done is by far the best pregnancy test option out of all of the things out there. By getting blood work done you are basically guaranteed to get accurate results, as blood does not lie. Blood work done at the doctor's office or at the local hospital should be covered by your insurance coverage so it will not cost you anything to get it done. It may be a pain to go and get blood work done but it is certainly the best pregnancy test that you can get for yourself.

How To Get A Free Pregnancy Test

When it comes to wanting a pregnancy test most people assume that they have to spend the money to pick one up at their local drug store. While this is generally not a problem for a lot of people, it can be an issue for someone if they do not have the money to spend. Even though the best pregnancy test out there can run only about twelve dollars or so, this can be a lot of money for someone who just does not have it to spare. Because of situations such as that, there are places that a female can go to in order to have a free pregnancy test done.

Getting a free pregnancy test is sometimes a good route to go anyways because the clinics that you would go to would probably also offer you a free screening for sexually transmitted diseases. Even if you feel that the extra test is something that you do not need, it is always better to double check and be safe rather then sorry, especially if you think you may be pregnant. The idea of the free pregnancy test is to help you get everything figured out without costing you too much money.

Where To Get The Free Tests Done

If you start looking through your local phone book you will more in likely come across several places that can you a free pregnancy test. These places may or may not want to discuss your income situation in order to determine if you are able to qualify for a free pregnancy test. More times then not though you income will not matter and they will allow you to take on of their free pregnancy tests. Once you get the test done you should have no problem getting results the same day.

If you are having problems locating a clinic near you through the phone book then you may want to pay attention to the television commercials. There are often times television commercials advising people where they can go to get a free pregnancy test. This is because they want more and more people to get tested soon in their pregnancy so that they can get the right prenatal care. Prenatal is extremely important so that is why you should really take action and set yourself up an appointment to get a free pregnancy test done. It is better to get it done and over with then waiting and not getting the proper care that you need.

Some Teen Pregnancy Facts To Teach Your Child

The best way to prevent your teen from getting pregnant or from getting anyone else pregnant is to educate him or her on some teen pregnancy facts. Such facts include teen pregnancy prevention, the consequences, how his or her life will drastically change and more. The idea is to paint a very clear picture to your child that teen pregnancy is no joke. It’s a very real possibility each and every time they have sex. If you’re afraid to talk to your teen about teen pregnancy facts, you need to realize that they are going to be exposed to sex and sex talk. You just have to decide if you want that talk to come from you or from their peers where they may get skewed or wrong information. Have that talk with your teen and teach him or her teen pregnancy facts so they can hold onto their youth and grow into responsible adults.

Preventing Pregnancy

Before you start with teen pregnancy facts, you need to discuss sex with your teen. This talk may be uncomfortable for all involved, for both the teens and the adults, but it is necessary. You can start off by telling your teen that one day they are going to be in a situation where sex may come up or where there’s a chance to have sex. It’s at this point that you want to tell your teen to stop and tell you what he or she would do. How would your teen prevent pregnancy even when faced with the desire and temptation of sex?

How It Happens


You will never know if your teen knows all the teen pregnancy facts, such as how a woman gets pregnant, unless you ask. Knowing what your teen knows and filling his or her head with the correct information regarding teen pregnancy facts will help prevent teenage pregnancy in the future.

How Life Will Change

Once you’ve described teen pregnancy facts from a first person perspective, you should also ask your teen what he or she would do if teenage pregnancy did happen. Teen pregnancy facts should include topics such as how their lives will change drastically, how their youth will essentially be stolen from them, and how they will be caring for a new life. This means a constant, lifetime commitment to that child.

If you present teen pregnancy facts to your teen and you ingrain in their minds the fact that teenage pregnancy is a life changing event, hopefully they’ll make good decisions in the future and they’ll save pregnancy for sometime when they get older.

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Friday

Understanding The Home Pregnancy Test

When it comes to the thought of being pregnant, most women have one of two reactions about the entire situation. Whether you are someone that wants to become pregnant at this point in time or you are someone who would rather wait, there is nothing more important then taking action and getting yourself a home pregnancy test. When it comes to knowing whether or not they are indeed pregnant, there are some people who just cannot wait. If you take a home pregnancy test too soon though you may find that you get false results.

These false results, if believed, could either excite you or disappoint you so you want to make sure that you are doing everything possible to follow the complete instructions on the home pregnancy test. The worst thing you could do is not follow the directions properly and then end up having a test result that is wrong. The reason this could be so dangerous is because it you believe that you are not pregnant when you truly are, you could end up smoking or drinking which can cause a lot of harm to the child that you are carrying. Read over all directions and suggestions that come with the home pregnancy test so that you are well prepared to take it.

Where To Buy The Test


When it comes to the purchase of the home pregnancy test there is not much to it. You do not have to be any certain age and there is no need for a prescription or permission from a doctor. A lot of stores carry the home pregnancy test right on the shelf so you have plenty of time to look over all of your different options. In some cases though, the home pregnancy test has to be requested from someone who works in the store. This is because some stores are not putting the home pregnancy test on the shelves.

The reason for the added security is not to embarrass the customer or to restrict people from purchasing the test but so that people do not think they can get a free pregnancy test. It is simply so that they can control theft in the store because there are a lot of people who tend to want to steal themselves a home pregnancy test rather then to just outright buy one. While it may be embarrassing to have to ask to see a home pregnancy test it is much better you go through with it then to not get one and be without knowing whether or not you are indeed pregnant.

All About The Early Pregnancy Test

There have just been way too many cases where women who thought she was pregnant took a home pregnancy test only to have to come back negative. While that may be all fine in some cases, if the result was a false negative then you could have a problem. This is why more and more women prefer to go with the early pregnancy test so that they can have better faith in the results that they receive. The early pregnancy test was designed to be able to detect pregnancy hormones at a much better level then that of the other over the counter pregnancy tests.

The early pregnancy test can still be found over the counter though and is something that will be found right along side of all of the other tests. The early pregnancy test will also cost about the same amount of money as the other tests as well. So why is it then that women even waste their time with the other types of tests? It may be because they are simply uninformed of the difference between the early pregnancy test and the other types of tests. Also, it could be that they simply did not take the time to read all the tests over and just grabbed the first one they saw.

More Ways To Get Tested

When it comes to wanting an early pregnancy test, there is nothing better then going through your doctor. While some doctors will still just use a test that is basically the same thing that is in the stores, if you express your distrust in those, you will find that there is another option. The early pregnancy test that is done by taking a sample of your blood is the best way to determine whether or not you are indeed pregnant. The sample may be taken right there in the doctor's office or you may need to go to your local hospital to have the test done.

Either way, as long as you get that early pregnancy test you can have a head start on making the most out of your pregnancy. Never underestimate the power and impact that knowing soon about a pregnancy can have on the entire situation. Never get stressed or upset if the over the counter tests fail you because you can always turn to your doctor for an early pregnancy test that is sure to give you accurate results that you can trust and rely on.

All About The Pregnancy Test

When it comes to wanting to know whether or not you are truly pregnant, you may find yourself reaching for the over the counter pregnancy test. The thing about this is that if you are extremely early in your pregnancy, you may end up getting a false negative. This is because most tests are set up to where there has to be a certain amount of hormones in order to detect pregnancy. But for those people who are overly excited or must know right away, there is the early pregnancy test, which is designed to detect pregnancy sooner, then all of the other tests.

Either way it is important for you to understand that a pregnancy test that is purchased over the counter is not one hundred percent accurate all of the time. So whether you get a negative or a positive response from the pregnancy test, if you are unsure you should be consulting your doctor. A pregnancy test done by a doctor may give you a much better idea of whether or not you are truly pregnant. A lot of times though the home pregnancy test can be trusted if there were truly enough hormones available and you completely followed the directions.

Another Way To Test

If you have taken several over the counter pregnancy tests and you are still getting a negative response but are still feeling as though you are pregnant then there is something you can have done. There is a pregnancy test that involved drawing blood from your system and by doing this; the doctor or hospital will be able to determine whether or not you are indeed pregnant. The needle is nothing to be afraid of and they do not need an overload of blood to run that type of pregnancy test and the results are given almost right away.

Even though it may sound scary to some people, this type of pregnancy test is the best way to determine whether or not you are really pregnant. There is nothing wrong with being worried but what you should be more concerned about is being pregnant and not realizing it. If you are pregnant and do not know it then you may find yourself making mistakes and bad choices that could affect the growth and development of the baby. Plus you would not be taking the right vitamins so and that is another reason why a good pregnancy test is so important.

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Teen Pregnancy Statistics Continue To Rise

Despite sex education in schools and all the ads for birth control pills and condoms, teenage pregnancies continue to be a problem. In fact, teen pregnancy statistics are rising more than they ever have before. Is there a way to stop these teen pregnancy statistics from rising? Can we reverse our societal trend of babies having babies? We can but first we’re going to have to realize that teens are under a lot of pressure. Suddenly their bodies are changing, their hormones are raging and cliques and image become so very important. Sex, too, is important. It’s likely that every teen knows which one of his classmates have had sex and which ones haven’t. Some of these may be made up stories but sex is very much a discussion topic among many teens. Without education, however, these teens will continue to experiment with sex and the teen pregnancy statistics will continue to escalate out of control.

Peer Pressure

Many parents are afraid to talk to their teens about sex and birth control and about the rising trend in teen pregnancy statistics. They figure if they hold off on the talk as long as possible, there’s a chance the teen won’t even think about sex. You should know, however, that teens think about sex…a lot. With or without the talk, your teen is going to be exposed to sex via the TV, movies, magazines, books, and even their peers. In fact, the teen pregnancy statistics may be affected largely by peer pressure. If you’re not having sex in some teen social circles, you’re seen as weird or out of the ordinary. Therefore, teens have sex to appease their peers and to cross some sort of imaginary threshold that puts them into the ‘not a virgin anymore’ category. Unfortunately birth control is rarely a part of this teenage initiation practice.

Temptation

When two people, teenage or adult, are engaged in activities that lead up to sex, the desire and temptation become very great. If there is no birth control available, it can be very tempting to just go ahead without it. There’s something about sex on the brain that clouds rational and logical thinking. However, sometimes birth control is available and the people still have sex without it either because they think it feels better or they don’t want to kill the moment by preparing said birth control method.

Education

By examining the rise in teenage pregnancy statistics, and knowing that they are constantly exposed to peer pressure and temptation, having birth control available to them may not be enough to curb the rise in teen pregnancy. Education is the only way. As a society, we need to teach our teens that pregnancy is a very permanent thing. A baby is a huge commitment and not one to be taken lightly. By educating our teens and teaching them to make smart and wise decisions, hopefully we can curb this trend of rising teen pregnancy statistics.

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Thursday

Unplanned Teen Pregnancy Can Put A Thwart In Any Future Plans

When you have a child, you imagine that child growing into a responsible adult with a successful career with a family, or something to that effect. You never think that your teenage daughter may have an unplanned teen pregnancy because they experimented with sex without using protection. It’s likely that you won’t know your child is having sex unless you happen to see condoms or a pregnancy test in the trash can or in their room. However, you can get a good idea of what your child knows about sex, and about how to prevent unplanned teen pregnancies by talking to them and educating them. Let them know that all their future plans will be put on hold if they do happen to have an unplanned teen pregnancy. That means their dreams will be put on hold, their career, and probably their high school diploma. An unplanned teen pregnancy can change a young girl’s life drastically and permanently. Even young men’s lives can change as they will then be financially responsible for the child they brought into the world through mere experimentation. Educate your child and teach him or her that unplanned teen pregnancy is preventable and that it should be avoided at all costs.

Birth Control

There are many options out there when it comes to birth control, which can prevent unplanned teen pregnancy. There are birth control pills, there’s the shot, there’s the IUD, there are condoms and there’s even the morning after pill. With so many options, you would think that unplanned teen pregnancy wouldn’t be such an issue. Yet the unplanned teen pregnancy epidemic is growing exponentially. More and more young women are getting pregnant and it’s mostly from lack of education. Teach your child about these birth control methods, teach them how to use them and make sure they’re always available just in case.

Smart Decisions

Teach your child that if they are ever faced with a situation in which they are about to have sex, they should stop and assess the situation. This is not going to be easy as sexual desire can easily cloud the mind as far as rational thinking goes. But it can be done. Teach your child that they are about to engage in an activity that could result in an unplanned teen pregnancy. Don’t teach your child that sex is wrong, quite the contrary, but teach them that they should be smart about the sex they do have. Teens are going to have sex. That’s a fact. The more you educate your teen, however, and the more you discuss with them how much their lives will change with an unplanned teen pregnancy, the less likely you’ll be faced with raising a baby having a baby.

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Does Your Teen Know Where To Go For Teen Pregnancy Help?

Teens are going to experiment with sex; it’s a fact of life. As their body’s change and their hormones change, sex becomes a very important subject. Oftentimes, a teen is not capable of handling sex on a mature and rational level. This leads to all kinds of things, one of those being unplanned teen pregnancy. You should always let your child know that there is teen pregnancy help whenever they need it. There are various ways to go about getting teen pregnancy help. It may be tempting to shield your child from this knowledge so that they don’t get the idea in their heads that it’s ok to have sex, especially risky sex. However, by teaching them where to go about getting teen pregnancy help, you can help them make the right decisions and you can teach them to be responsible and to take responsibility for their actions.

The Parents

Your child should never be afraid to come to you, the parents, for teen pregnancy help. If your child can’t come to you for teen pregnancy help, they may turn to another source which may not be as understanding or caring of your teen’s needs. Always let your teens know that you are always available for anything, whether they need help with peer pressure, bullying, drugs, alcohol and even teen pregnancy help.

The School

Your teen’s school should have a counselor on hand who specializes in dealing with teens and the various problems they face. That means a counselor will be trained to provide teen pregnancy help. The school counselor may feel obligated to contact you, the parents, if your teen comes to them for teen pregnancy help so again, you should be open to the idea of providing help for your teen no matter what it’s for.

Doctors And Planned Parenthood

Teach your child that if they ever need teen pregnancy help and they don’t want to go to you or a counselor, they can always go to a doctor or one of the parenthood facilities such as Planned Parenthood. A doctor or a Planned Parenthood counselor can provide birth control, teen pregnancy help in the form of knowledge and they can also provide options that your teen may not feel comfortable talking about with someone they know, such as a counselor or their own parents.

Just as long as your teen knows that there are many places to get teen pregnancy help, you should be able to prevent your teen from getting pregnant or from getting anyone else pregnant.

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Understanding The Importance of a Healthy Diet before Pregnancy

If you are like most women trying to have a baby, you probably think that you can change your unhealthy diet and ways once you actually get pregnant.The truth is that your diet before pregnancy needs to be just as healthy as your diet during pregnancy.  The best diet for pregnancy includes lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and dairy and your diet before pregnancy should be no different.

The days immediately following conception are a very important time and what you eat and drink then will affect your baby’s future development.  Studies have linked unhealthy diets before pregnancy to an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease in the future lives of unborn fetuses.Diets before pregnancy that lack folic acid can cause neural tube defects like spina bifida.

What to Include in Your Diet before Pregnancy

As previously mentioned, make sure to include a large variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in your diet before pregnancy.  Eat plenty of vegetables rich in folic acid like dark leafy greens.  The neural tube develops early in pregnancy, often before you even realize you are pregnant and for that reason consuming plenty of fruits and vegetables when you are trying to get pregnant is essential.  Ideally, all women of childbearing age would eat healthy diets rich in folic acid in order to prevent birth defects if they get pregnant even by accident.
Pregnant women need a lot of iron to prevent anemia so while you are trying to get pregnant, it is a good idea to build up your iron stores by eating a lot of iron-rich foods.Iron-rich foods include raisins, red meat, green vegetables, and prunes.  A prenatal vitamin in addition to a healthy diet before pregnancy can further help your body get ready for pregnancy.  Prenatal vitamins contain the vitamins and minerals required in large amounts during pregnancy.

What Not to Include in Your Diet before Pregnancy

Avoid foods that can make you ill and harm your baby if you end up getting pregnant. Unpasteurized dairy products and soft cheeses like blue cheese, brie, and camembert should not be a part of your diet before pregnancy because they can cause listeria infection.Also try to cut back on your tuna intake.Tuna contains relatively high levels of mercury.  Swordfish, marlin, and tilefish should also be avoided for that reason.  Raw or undercooked eggs can cause salmonella poisoning while raw fish can cause toxoplasmosis so stay away from anything raw to be on the safe side.

In addition to following a healthy diet before pregnancy and avoiding foods that can make you or your unborn baby ill, stay away from alcohol and quit smoking if you are trying to conceive.Not only can smoking and alcohol consumption decrease fertility, they can cause developmental problems for your baby if you get pregnant.
Now that you are armed with this information, make sure that your diet before pregnancy is just as healthy as your diet after conception.  In order to have a safe and healthy pregnancy, birth, and baby, eating right and avoiding dangerous foods and substances is absolutely necessary.  


Teaching Your Child About Teen Pregnancy Prevention

Being a teen is hard work. Your body’s changing, your hormones are raging, you may be having an identity crisis and it’s no accident that these years are called the ‘awkward years’. Another difficult thing that teens go through is peer pressure and temptation, especially about sex. Teens are going to experiment with sex and they are even going to have sex and there’s nothing parents or teachers can do about it. If they want to do it, they’re going to do it. However, if they are going to have sex they can at least practice some teen pregnancy prevention. This is where teachers and parents can make a difference. It’s all about education and letting your teen know that you, as a parent, can always be turned to for teen pregnancy help.

Not Alone

Teens can oftentimes feel as though they’re alone in the world. They may feel that nobody understands them or that there’s nobody else going through the same things; but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Let your teen know that they’re not alone. There are others in the world who are going through the same things and you, as the parent, have probably gone through much of it yourself. Teen pregnancy prevention begins by letting your child that what they’re feeling is normal. Everyone goes through it: The feeling of helplessness, of low self esteem, of facing decisions they’re not mature enough to handle, such as sex.

Birth Control

If your teen is having sex or thinking about having sex, you may never, ever know it. Your teen isn’t likely to come to you to ask about teen pregnancy prevention or to tell you about what’s going to happen on prom night at the hotel your teen has booked. Teens have sex, they experiment with sex, and this is all natural. As a parent, however, you need to teach your child teen pregnancy prevention such as how to use birth control, which birth control methods work better than others and you need to implant the idea in their heads that if they don’t have birth control they shouldn’t have sex.

Teen pregnancy prevention takes a lot of love, a lot of understanding and a lot of teaching from you, the parent. If you don’t take the time to talk to your child about teen pregnancy prevention, you may end up raising two children: your teen and the baby she’s about to have.

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Teach Your Child That Teenage Pregnancies Are Life Changing Events

Any teen going through the public or private school system has likely been exposed in some way or another to sex education. During this sex education, the teens will hopefully learn about teen pregnancy facts. It’s unfortunate that teenage pregnancies are growing in occurrence. More teens are getting pregnant than at any other time in history. Teens are maturing faster, they’re reaching puberty faster, the media is saturated with sexual themes and that’s not even mentioning peer pressure and temptation that often leads to teens having sex. Teenage pregnancies do not have to happen, however. The teens of this era need to be educated. They need to be taught that teenage pregnancies are life changing events.

Teaching Your Teen


You can spend all day talking about birth control pills, condoms, abstinence and the birds in the bees until you’re blue in the face and it’s likely not going to do any good. Oh sure, your teen will learn a lot and that education can help him or her prevent teenage pregnancies; but will they actually use what you teach them? When it comes down to sex, sometimes the temptation is so great that birth control is the furthest thing from their minds. Even if birth control is available, it’s hard to stop to put on a condom or to think rationally that teenage pregnancies result from such unsafe behavior. Instead of talking about birth control and condoms and safe sex and abstinence, teach your child just how much his or her life will change if they happen to experience teenage pregnancy first hand.

Life On Hold

A woman who experiences teenage pregnancy will have to endure nine months of her body changing more than it already is due to puberty. Mood swings will be worse than they already are and that can make going to school very difficult. While other teens are out with their friends having fun, your teen will have to stay home to nurse her sore feet or back and she’ll have to spend time preparing for the baby’s arrival. Once the baby arrives because of the teenage pregnancy, your teen’s life is going to change drastically. Taking care of an infant is a full time job. It’s not like a dog where you can just stick it in a cage while you go to school or work. There’s day care, babysitting, feeding, waking up in the middle of the night and much more. Sure, it’s a very rewarding experience and childbirth is a miracle but teenage pregnancies essentially rob a young person of his or her youth.

Taking Responsibility

If the teen is male, teenage pregnancies will affect his life as well. He will have to take financial responsibility for the child. If he doesn’t, he can be taken to court and he can have his wages garnished.

If you put the teenage pregnancy issue to your teen like that, your teen will be less likely to get pregnant or get someone else pregnant.

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Wednesday

Tips to Ensure a Healthy Pregnancy

You took the home test and the tip of the stick turned pink right on schedule. Congratulations! Now that you know you are pregnant, you are shouldered with the very important task of ensuring that both you and your baby stay in top health for the next nine months. If this sounds easier said than done, relax. There are some simple tips that you can follow from that very first pregnancy symptom to keep you and your baby healthy and happy until the big due date arrives.

You are What You Eat

This may be true throughout life, but it is especially true during the months of pregnancy. Many women find that eating five or six small meals a day is much easier on an already stressed digestive system. Make sure you are loading up your plate with plenty of fresh produce and whole grains for the biggest bang for your nutritional buck. It is also important to take the prenatal vitamin that your doctor prescribes without fail, since the nutrients found in this simple pill will make all the difference in a healthy pregnancy. Don't take any type of additional supplements, medications or herbal remedies without checking with your doctor first to ensure their safety.

The List of Don’ts

Yes, there are a few things you should refrain from during those important nine months, both for your health and the safety of your baby. Smoking, drinking alcohol and taking street drugs are all prescriptions for disaster during pregnancy, since overuse of some of these substances can result in birth defects or a less than healthy newborn. It is also important that you never ride in or drive a car without your safety belt, since accidents can and do happen! It is also important not to overdo physical activity during this time; when your body tells you to stop and rest, listen to it by all means. It is a lot of work growing a baby inside your body, and the resources that it needs to do this job properly may not leave you with as much stamina for other things.

Take Care

If there was ever a time to indulge in a little extra pampering and care, this is the time. Don't skimp on your sleep during pregnancy, since your body needs sufficient rest to care for that little life inside. Take time to exercise, even if it is a moderately paced walk around the neighborhood at night. This will help to keep your body in shape during pregnancy and prepare it for the work of labor and delivery that lies ahead.

Pregnancy is a wonderful and exciting time, but it should also be a healthy time. By following these important tips, you can do plenty to help ensure that both you and your baby remain happy and healthy until the big birth day arrives.

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Tuesday

Unusual Pregnancy Symptoms: Should I Call my Doctor?

While pregnancy is a happy, exciting time for most women, there is also a degree of anxiety that permeates the experience from the first sign of pregnancy. This anxious feeling can be compounded by the fact that pregnancy symptoms begin even before the pregnancy test comes up positive, and many women have trouble distinguishing between what's normal and what are unusual pregnancy symptoms. While some pregnancy signs may be less common than others, not all of these unusual pregnancy symptoms are an indication that something is wrong. Still, if you are ever concerned about any of the symptoms that you encounter during your pregnancy, a call to your doctor is always a good idea.

When to Call your Doctor

Some unusual pregnancy symptoms will warrant a call to your doctor, and usually sooner rather than later. These might include bleeding, cramping or pain at any time during the nine months. Once you begin feeling the movement of your baby, your doctor will offer guidelines as to when to call if the movement is not felt within a period of time. The general rule of thumb is to call if you are more than 28 weeks along and you don't feel at least ten movements in two hours or less.

Other unusual pregnancy symptoms that are worth a call to your doctor include pre-term labor signs like contractions that begin to occur at regular intervals, pressure in the lower abdomen or fluid leaking. Other unusual pregnancy symptoms that might be seen in the second and third trimesters include swelling of the hands, face or feet, blurred vision, fever or sever gastrointestinal problems.

Other Symptoms to Watch For

Some unusual pregnancy symptoms may not be the sign of a problem but do need to be checked by your doctor. If you gain weight at a more rapid pace than is typical, it could indicate gestational diabetes or it could mean that you are carrying more than one baby. Other signs that you are carrying twins might include increased pregnancy symptoms like morning sickness and fatigue. A distinct heartbeat may be heard earlier than is typical and the uterus may grow much quicker. While these unusual pregnancy symptoms are not an indication of a problem, it is a good idea to see your doctor about them so your prenatal care is tailored to your unique situation.

Pregnancy is a time of excitement and apprehension, especially when unusual pregnancy symptoms crop up during the term. While many unusual pregnancy symptoms will not indicate that anything is wrong with the baby, it is always a good idea to contact your doctor for reassurance and an accurate assessment of your pregnancy.

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Understanding your Pregnancy Symptoms Week by Week

Pregnancy is an exciting time for many women, but it can also be a time that is wrought with anxiety and uncertainty. One way to feel more comfortable with your pregnancy is to educate yourself about the changes that both you and your baby will experience in the upcoming months. By tracking pregnancy symptoms week by week, you can stay up to date on what is typical throughout your pregnancy and when to worry about particular symptoms that may crop up.

The First Trimester

The first trimester will see a lot of changes to your body due to the fluctuating hormones that will prepare you for the job of caring for that growing baby inside. Because of this, pregnancy symptoms week by week will come fast and furious, from nausea and fatigue to swollen breasts and an aching back. This is a good time to stay abreast of the changes that might take place and if any unusual pregnancy symptoms appear, you can call your doctor. The pregnancy symptoms week by week during this time will vary slightly from woman to woman, with some experiencing the symptoms at slightly different times and others not seeing some of the pregnancy signs at all.

The Middle Trimester

Most women find these three months to be the most comfortable and enjoyable of the entire pregnancy term. Your abdomen is growing sufficiently so you can flaunt your pregnant status with pride, but the week by week pregnancy symptoms that appeared during the first trimester often ease up or even disappear during this time. This is a good point to get as much rest as you possibly can, since the next phase of pregnancy will see the reappearance of many physical symptoms as well as the surfacing of brand new ones.

The Last Trimester

Once again the pregnancy symptoms week by week will begin to fluctuate, as your abdomen grows to a challenging size and the hormones kick in once again to prepare your body for the work of labor and delivery. Fatigue becomes a problem as sleep is an elusive prospect during this time; partly because an extended belly makes comfort almost impossible, and partly because the anxiety and excitement over what is to come is making it hard to relax. Increased urination comes back as well, this time because of the enlarged abdomen instead of simple hormone fluctuations. All of the pregnancy symptoms week by week are getting the body ready for the safe and healthy delivery of your healthy baby very soon.

Pregnancy is a time of many changes for your body. By keeping track of pregnancy symptoms week by week and alerting your doctor to any unusual pregnancy symptoms, you can survive your pregnancy months with as much confidence and peace of mind as possible.

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Monday

Teen Pregnancy Is A Growing Problem

Why are teen pregnancy statistics going through the roof? Why are more teens having babies, which is essentially described as babies having babies? There are a few theories as to why teen pregnancy is so out of control. Some blame the media, TV and movies, where young girls, and young men, are constantly exposed to sex and sexually charged subjects. Some people blame the lack of values in today’s youth. Some blame the parents for not having the birds and the bees talk, as they used to call it, to educate their young ones about the dangers of getting pregnant so young. Whatever the reason, teen pregnancy is out of control but the trend can be reversed.

Parents And Teachers


Young people need to be taught about sex and about pregnancy so that they are well educated on the subject. The more teens know about sex and pregnancy, the more likely they are to use protection or to abstain from sex to prevent teen pregnancy. Now, there are always going to be those parents and teachers who don’t want to talk about sex with their teens and they definitely don’t want to talk to them about birth control because that’s basically giving them a license to have sex in their eyes. These parents and teachers need to realize that teenagers are inherently curious, especially about their changing bodies and hormones, and young men and women are going to experiment. One of the main things they will experiment with is sex.

The Teenage Years

Any parent who has raised a teenager knows that teaching them anything is not an easy thing to do. The teenage years become the time when you want to separate yourself from your parents as much as possible. Your body’s changing, your hormones are raging and suddenly your appearance and your image become everything. Some teens rebel, and this can also account for much of the teen pregnancy these days, but some are able to keep themselves together and remain responsible. The responsible ones all have something in common: They all have great relationships with their families and they all respect themselves.

If you can instill this responsibility and self respect in your teen, whether you’re a parent, a teacher or just a friend of the family, that teen will be less likely to be affected by teen pregnancy. Pregnancy is a beautiful thing, it’s a miracle, but it’s something that should wait until adulthood, when the person knows who they are and where they’re going. This is both for the sake of the parents and for the innocent child.

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Sunday

How to Identify a Sign of Pregnancy

The most appropriate approach to establish if we have been profound is by a conceiving physically exam finished during home or in a doctor’s office. However, there have been ways to commend a pointer of conceiving physically which competence start prior to a duration is longed for or a exam is taken. In a box of teenager pregnancy, these signs competence not be famous or they competence be abandoned due to stress. Many teenagers which find themselves in this incident have a tough time coping as good as will opt to repudiate a probability until most after in a conceiving physically term.

It is additionally probable which what is deliberate to be a pointer of conceiving physically in most cases is unequivocally only a pointer of highlight or increasing wake up level. For example, immature women who have been underneath critical aria caused by a final of propagandize or friends competence knowledge revulsion as good as changes in appetite. It is additionally loyal which critical precision for a competition can means a lady to skip periods. However, exclusive surprising circumstances, theses signs of conceiving physically competence during slightest be a vigilance to have an appointment with your alloy or perform a conceiving physically exam during home. The earlier a conceiving physically is diagnosed, a earlier a teenager as good as her family can weight a options accessible to her.

Symptoms of Teen Pregnancy

The symptoms of conceiving physically in a teenager have been identical to those which an adult will experience. The initial pointer of conceiving physically is a longed for period, nonetheless this can start for alternative reasons as well. Other symptoms competence embody nausea, tired as good as distended breasts. Parents competence notice changes in eating day to day as food aversions or cravings flog in, mostly during a initial trimester. Increased urination is an additional pointer of conceiving physically which can start in a early weeks.

Some teenagers competence omit a early pointer of pregnancy, as good as will afterwards be forced to understanding with a incident when a after symptoms proceed to appear. These competence embody an lengthened stomach as a baby grows, weight benefit or detriment in a little cases as good as headaches as good as backaches. The transformation of a baby competence proceed to be some-more obvious, as tiny movements as good as whipping well known as “quickening” will develop in to full fledges kicks as good as punches from inside. A conceiving physically “mask” competence crop up upon a face as a hormones start a melanin in a skin as good as food cravings competence increase.

If we think which we have been pregnant, it is critical not to omit a pointer of conceiving physically which is occurring. A conceiving physically exam can simply endorse your guess so which we can proceed weighing your options as good as have decisions which have been right for we as good as your baby. Seek out assistance from relatives as good as await groups which can assistance we assimilate your options as good as give we a await as good as superintendence we need to get by this formidable time.

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