Pregnancy and Exercise

Pregnancy and Exercise

The third trimester is probably the most exciting, yet at the same time boring, stage of pregnancy. Unless you've experienced being this far into pregnancy, I'm sure you're racking your brains right now - how could it be boring and exciting at the same time?

Exciting because you know you're just weeks away from giving birth and finally seeing your baby. But boring because honestly, you get tired of seeing yourself this big and wondering how much bigger you could get. You feel like a balloon that could pop at any time.

Plus, many moms choose to go for maternity leave several weeks before they're due. After all the baby shopping and getting things prepared for your big day, you feel like there's nothing left to do but wait.

You probably forgot that you need to exercise as well.

Things to Prepare for Delivery

We all want to be totally ready for the big day that our little ones come into the world. But sometimes, preparing things to bring for your delivery can be quite confusing. Questions like, "Should I bring this?" or "Am I bringing enough?" frequently arise, and more often than not, you'll find that you've packed a bag good for a one-month vacation.

Things for Delivery

Well, it's definitely better to be over-prepared than under-, and it's certainly no good (not to mention impractical) being under-prepared especially if you live far away from the hospital. But just to help you out a little, here's my list for the things I (had my husband) prepare(d) for our big day!

Bathing an Infant

Holding your newborn in your arms for the first time is an exciting, yet extremely terrifying experience. Neonates just seem very fragile, and you feel as if one wrong move or position could hurt them tremendously.

As if carrying them is not enough of a feat, you find out that you have to bathe them too - and this entails taking off their clothes putting soap and water all over their tiny bodies, which makes them really slippery. I cannot stress the word SLIPPERY enough. It's like holding jelly in your hands. Very slippery.

Bath time!

Premature Labor

As I had mentioned before, I had been on strict bed rest for pretty much the whole duration of my pregnancy. But even if did try my hardest to stick to it as faithfully as I could, it still did not stop me from experiencing premature uterine contractions.

When I was about 25-26 weeks pregnant, I experienced contractions accompanied by vaginal spotting. They came pretty frequently, but they were all painless.

I debated whether to consult my doctor for this because I knew they could only be harmless Braxton-Hicks contractions. But the vaginal spotting convinced me to go to the ER.

Good call, I suppose, because they brought me into the Labor and Delivery Department right away. They hooked me up to a monitor and it showed that, indeed, I had moderately strong, regular uterine contractions. They had my husband prepare money for reservation of a thermal blanket, in case my baby really wanted to come out that day.

Milk Blisters

What are Milk Blisters?

Over one year of breastfeeding, and only recently have I experienced this problem. Milk blisters might sound really weird, but they are simply what they sound like - a blister containing milk inside. It happens when skin grows over the opening of the milk duct on your nipple. It appears as a white spot on the surface of the nipple, much like a pimple. If you want to see how it looks like, you can click here.

Fibroadenomas

What are Fibroadenomas?

Fibroadenomas are masses or tumors of the breast tissue. They are moveable, painless, and usually have very well-defined borders. They can be detected by doing breast self-examinations, ultrasounds, or as in my case, incidentally by annual school or work health examinations. Now, all these might sound scary, but fibroadenomas are actually benign or non-cancerous growths.

Can I Breastfeed Even if I Have Fibroadenomas?

Coping with Complete Bed Rest

The Burden of Complete Bed Rest

You probably feel that to stay on complete bed rest is the best instruction any doctor could ever give to his patients. Some people think that it's almost like a mini-vacation - not having to do anything and just lying back and taking a rest. And it is, for the first week or so. Then you realize that you can't stay still any longer and it's becoming more and more of a burden each day.

You miss going out with your friends and socializing. You miss your schoolmates and your workmates, your colleagues, even your boss. But the worst part ever is missing your independence - your ability to get yourself some food when you're hungry, to go to the toilet when you need to, and even doing self-care activities by yourself.

You're constantly depending on someone else to cook your food for you and help you get cleaned up. And you hate it so much because you're supposed to be able to do all these things by yourself. Worse, you know you're being a burden to your significant others, because you know they have better things to do than being at your every beck and call.

But then you have to make a choice between these two things - maintaining your self-reliance, or giving your unborn baby the best chance of survival. In a heartbeat, I would choose the latter, and I'm quite sure you would, too. But it's really difficult to keep your spirits up, especially when you're already on prolonged bed rest and really really sick and tired of it.

Dealing with Bed Rest

It would help if you have some diversional activities that you could do. If you have a hobby that doesn't involve moving around too much, say cross-stitch or crocheting, then you could keep yourself occupied. If not, it would also be a good idea to learn now. Keep novels and magazines by your bedside, aside from the basic food and water. Have the remote controls within reach.

You could also make use of your time by working online. There are many freelancing sites out there, such as oDesk or Freelancer. You can find just about any type of work there - from data entry, to article writing, to programming and web design.

Another thing you could do to while your time away is to go online baby shopping, or to read up on pregnancy and motherhood books. This way, you're actually hitting two birds with one stone. You're getting yourself prepared for the upcoming labor and delivery and for the new baby, and you're also making time go seemingly faster by keeping yourself busy.

Just take it day by day, and eventually, the days will turn into weeks, and weeks into months. Before you know it, you'll be taken off strict bed rest or you've reached full-term with your pregnancy. Just remember, there's always light at the end of the tunnel.