A quick reminder for bonding with your baby while you are pregnant:
Belly Massage:
If you're already using coconut oil or cocoa butter on your belly, use this time to bond with baby. A daily massage can give you the time to focus on your growing babe and will remind you to moisturise.
Talk to Your Baby
It may seem silly at first to talk to your own stomach, but talking to your baby is a great bonding experience. By 23 weeks gestation, your baby is big enough to respond to noises outside the womb! Some evidence even shows that your baby is calmed by your voice, which is indicated by a slight drop in their heart rate.
Respond to Baby’s Kicks
There is no better reminder (other than the giant ball in the front of your body) that your baby is there than when he kicks. A great way to bond is to rub where he's kicking and try to tickle his toes.
Make a Scrapbook
Making a scrapbook of your pregnancy is a good way to bond and keep connected with all the small things that are going on. It's a great way to remember what a special time it was when you're no longer pregnant.
Meditate with Baby
Meditation and exercise are both great ways to bond with baby too. Exercise helps de-stress your body and that will help baby relax and calm as well.
Give Your Baby a Name
If you have a name picked out for your baby, calling by new name is a good way to bond. If you're not yet set on a name or prefer to finalize when you see him, try out a nickname in place.
Play Music or Sing to Baby
I used to love to do this with my youngest child when I was pregnant with him. Every night before bed, I would turn on a classical tune and watch him "dance" in my belly.
Take Belly Photos
Taking daily or weekly photos of your growing belly can help put a small focus on your baby. You can look at the pictures and get a good visualization on how the baby is growing.
Before I became pregnant, I had no idea how important protein is for a developing fetus! Actually, I didn’t know a lot of things. Of course I thought it was crucial to eat well-balanced meals — and it is — but I really had no idea that consuming high amounts of protein is up there on the most-important-things-to-do-during-pregnancy list, right next to folic acid.
You should also know that….
- Pregnant women with frequents exposure to bleach-containing solvents and glycol ethers are at a higher risk of having babies with birth defects. These solvents are common in paint, cleaning products, and – yes – cosmetics.
- BPA is found in a wide array of products, including plastic bottles, the lining of canned foods and canned beverages, cash-register receipts, and many others. It has now been linked to improper thyroid function of both the mother and the baby.
- A study has discovered that men whose mothers suffered from high blood pressure during their pregnancies had poorer cognitive function later in life, scoring significantly lower on IQ tests and showing a greater decline in cognitive ability after age 20.
- Prenatal exercise can lessen the likelihood of high blood pressure, swelling diabetes and preeclampsia. Reducing pregnancy complications can help outcomes for mother and baby in the immediate sense, but also possibly — if premature birth is averted, for example — for years to come. Working out can also reduce the odds of gestational diabetes by as much as 27%, which in turn reduces your risk for developing type II diabetes later in life.
Know some facts…
- You can expect to feel your first baby kicks around 18-25 weeks.
- If you've had a baby before, you know what to look out for in terms of what a baby kick feels like. You may begin to notice those movements as early as 13 weeks.
- Fetal moment tends to slow down as your sugar drops and is typically seen between the hours of 9pm - 1am.
- Laying on your left side provides the best circulation to your baby and you may notice an increase in kicks and wiggles from the babe.
- For me, the first movements felt like little taps or "swooches". According to study, kicks are often described as feeling like "swishes, gas or hunger" in the beginning.
- Those first movements likely wouldn't be described as a "kick" but it's called "quickening".
- Certain foods and drinks can cause your baby to be more active than other times.
- If you feel a rhythmic pattern to your baby's jumps, you may be feeling the baby having hiccups. Usually starts to be noticeable to you around 24 weeks.
- At around 36-weeks gestation it's not unusual to feel a slight slow down in baby's movements as they grow and room is restricted.
At first it may be difficult to tell the difference between gas and your baby moving. You might not feel movement as early as you are expecting to feel it, but eventually you’ll notice a pattern. You will start to learn when the baby is most active and what seems to trigger activity. Some moms might worry that their baby is not moving enough.
“Feeling your baby flutter is a truly thrilling sensation.”
Here’s how to keep track of kick counts:
Track kick counts each day, measuring them at about the same time each day, when your baby is active.
Track kick counts shortly after you’ve eaten a meal, as your baby will probably be most active then.
Sitting or lying on your side, place your hands on your belly and monitor baby’s movement.
Each time you feel a roll, kick, thump or turn, mark it down on a piece of paper. Don’t count baby’s hiccups.
Keep counting until you’ve felt 10 movements from baby. If baby doesn’t move 10 times within one hour, try again later that day. You should call your doctor if your baby’s movement seems abnormal or you’ve tried more than once that day and can’t feel baby move 10 times or more during one hour.
Morning sickness:Morning sickness usually starts around the 6-week point, 2 weeks after your missed period. It normally peaks around weeks 7 or 8 and subsides around weeks 12 to 14 of pregnancy. In rare cases, women like will have to deal with daily nausea and vomiting right up until the time they give birth.
Pregnancy is not easy. Women’s bodies constantly change during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester. All of these physical and chemical changes put stress on the body, which in turn can cause or add to your morning sickness symptoms. It is important to stay ahead of the curve and prevent morning sickness from occurring. Like I said, B6 is highly effective at lessening the nausea and vomiting associated with pregnancy. Unfortunately, it can take up to five days for B6 to start working. As soon as you find out you are pregnant start taking daily supplements of vitamin B6. You can safely take 25mg three to four times a day. This can actually prevent morning sickness symptoms from occurring. This coupled with ginger is a great combination for keeping morning sickness at bay. Many GYNs and their patients like this approach because it works, and even better, it is natural!
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” ― Albert Einstein
When you're pregnant, your body produces and retains more fluid, and after your baby's born, that fluid needs somewhere to go. That's why, in the days and weeks after their babies are born, many women experience serious night-sweats, in addition to peeing a lot more frequently.
Mountains of research have shown the positive psychological effects of exercise at all stages of life, from childhood to old age. Pregnancy is no exception; studies show that prenatal exercise improves your mood,helps with sleep, reduces prenatal depression and boost self esteem.Working out can also reduce stress. Extreme stress in pregnancy has been linked to postpartum depression in mothers and health problems for kids of those moms. Moms who experience normal levels of stress during pregnancy, however, can pass along lasting physical and emotional benefits to their kids. There are many triggers for stress — some can't be resolved just by working out — but a prenatal fitness regimen does appear to have some lasting mental health benefits for all involved.
Important: For one, there’s the role-modeling reason. One of the best ways to get kids to be healthy is to show them what a healthy lifestyle looks like. Then there’s the energy factor–raising kids takes a truckload of energy! And you will have much more of that if you take care of yourself. Then, there’s the investment in your future. I love my kids, but I am devoting some pretty prime years to them…and, quite frankly, there’s stuff I want to do after they’ve flown the nest. When that happens, I would prefer to be a) alive, and b) healthy & vibrant enough to take the trip, climb the mountain…or whatever strikes my fancy.
Here’s the thing. It’s not all about the kids. Moms deserve to take care of mom, too.
Whenever I’m on a mommy blog or website and I see something posted about health, it invariably seems to be about kids’ health. Now don’t get me wrong. Of course I want my kids (and everyone else’s) to be healthy. Kids need help with eating nutritious food, and moms need to know how to treat a fever, and all that. But…what about moms? We need to be healthy too.
Take care of your unborn baby.
Disclaimer
The sole purpose of these blogs is to provide information about the tradition of ayurveda. This information is not intended for use in the diagnosis, prevention or cure of any disease. If you have any serious, acute or chronic health concern, please consult a trained doctor/health professional who can fully assess your needs and address them effectively. If you are seeking the medical advice of a trained Ayurvedic expert, call us or e mail.
Dr Unnati Chavda
(Promoting pregnancy wellness)
www.ayurvedapanchkarma.in
No comments:
Post a Comment