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.

Threatened Miscarriage

If you've read my previous post, you'll know that I had a subchorionic hemorrhage very early on in my pregnancy. I was advised to stay on bed rest, although I didn't very strictly adhere to it because I was still attending school. I realized soon enough that I should have heeded my doctor's instructions.

Warning: The following text may be TMI (too much information). If you're eating while reading this (or if you just have a weak stomach), you can stop reading now. It's okay. I won't be offended, I promise. =p

Why You Should NOT Breastfeed

I hope the title doesn't get you thinking that I am anti-breastfeeding. =) I am a breastfeeding advocate, and I myself have breastfed my daughter for more than a year now. As long as both you and your infant are healthy and well, then by all means, you can breastfeed safely.

But there are some moms out there who have certain medical conditions that make breastfeeding a contraindication. Here are a few of them:

• If the mother is positive for HIV. The human immunodeficiency virus can pass through the breastmilk. If the baby hasn't been infected congenitally during pregnancy, then breastfeeding might cause the transmission of the viruses to the baby.
• If the mother has HTLV-1, or the human T-cell leukemia virus, type 1. Same as HIV, this virus can be passed through the breastmilk.
• If the mother is on antimetabolite drugs or on radiation therapy or chemotherapy for cancer. The radioactivity stays in the body for quite some time, and may be passed on to the baby and wreak havoc on his little body. If you've just finished therapy and would like to breastfeed, you can have a sample of your breastmilk examined, just to be sure all the harmful stuff has already been eliminated.
• If the mother is ingesting drugs of abuse, such as marijuana and cocaine.
• If the mother has untreated tuberculosis. If the mother is already taking TB meds, then it is considered no longer contagious. Only then would she be able to breastfeed.

Benefits of Breastfeeding

The International Breastfeeding Logo

You can probably find tons of information about the benefits of breastfeeding all over the internet, but during my days as a student nurse, I came across this handy mnemonic. It uses the word BREASTFEEDING as an acronym. Here it is:

Best for babies
Reduces incidence of allergies
Economical
Antibodies
Stool-inoffensive
Temperature always correct and constant
Fresh
Emotional bonding
Easy once established
Digested easily
Immediately available
Nutritionally balanced
Gastroenteritis greatly reduced

Morning Sickness

If you conduct a survey among pregnant women about the nastiest symptom of pregnancy, this would probably be in the top 3. I would even bet that morning sickness would come out the winning answer.

From my own experience, I was having nausea a lot, but fortunately, not a whole lot of actual vomiting. I remember eating a lot of tocino back then. Specifically, tocino that was cooked in a way that the covering became sort of caramelized, almost burnt. Tocino that wasn't cooked like that made me nauseous (Yeah, weird.)

Another weird thing is that morning sickness doesn't only occur in the mornings. It can be present at any time of the day, whether you've just waken up or preparing to go to sleep. But many women report that their symptoms are a lot worse during the day.

Home Pregnancy Tests

Home pregnancy tests work by measuring the level of hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, in your bloodstream. This is the hormone produced by the developing placenta in the early stages of pregnancy, and is the hormone responsible for the feeling of nausea that we so often refer to as "morning sickness." HCG levels start showing up in the blood shortly after implantation occurs.

There are several different types of home pregnancy tests - the strip, the cassette, and the dipstick (or midstream). Every brand and type contains instructions on how to use the product, but generally, here's how they work:

• Pregnancy test strip - You collect your urine in a clean container, and simply hold the strip vertically and immerse it in the sample. There's usually a line indicating how deep you should dip the test strip in. After a period of time (which is specified in the manufacturer's instructions - but usually after 3-5 minutes) you read the results.
• Pregnancy test cassette - Similar to the pregnancy test strip, you collect your urine first in a clean container. Use the dropper provided in the kit to withdraw a small amount of urine, and then put about 2-4 drops of the sample into the designated area on the cassette. You can then read the results after 3-5 minutes, according to the product instructions.
• Pregnancy test dipstick - This is probably the most hassle-free type of pregnancy test to use. You simply position the product such that the absorbent strip will be in contact with your urine when you pee. Wait for 6-10 seconds so that the strip will absorb a significant amount of sample. You can also choose to use this as you would with a pregnancy test strip - to collect the sample urine first in a clean container before dipping the tip into it. Then, after 3-5 minutes, you can read the results.

On Subchorionic Hemorrhage, Friends, and Family

On my first visit to the obstetrician, she advised me to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound in order to make a conclusive diagnosis of pregnancy. And so I went to the ultrasound clinic (still hoping, by the way, that the test would give me some hope that I wasn't actually pregnant.)

It was an extremely uncomfortable experience. I think it was partly because I didn't know what to expect of the procedure since I haven't gone through it before. The transvaginal ultrasound involves inserting a probe, technically called a transducer, into your vagina so it can sort of visualize your reproductive tract. At the early stages of pregnancy, this type of ultrasonography is more favorable compared to the abdominal one, although the latter is definitely more comfortable. The transvaginal approach allows the probe to be closer to the embryo, so it can yield better images.

The doctor described to me what she was seeing as she was looking around. I heard her say "gestational sac" and "positive sign of pregnancy" and "about 6 weeks pregnant", but what struck me most were the words "subchorionic hemorrhage." I was like, "What? A hemorrhage? Are we going to be okay?" She told me that we should talk more about it in her clinic, and so she let me dress up and I sat on a chair in front of her.

Are You Pregnant?

How did you know you were pregnant? What symptoms did you first experience that led you to think that you might be carrying a child? Did you accept it right away or did it take some time to sink in?

As for me, when my menstruation did not come when it was expected, I didn't suspect pregnancy right away. At that time, I was also slowly gaining weight from eating too much fastfoods and leading an almost sedentary lifestyle. I was also under a lot of stress, studying day in and day out for Medicine. At first, I just thought that my hormoned simply could have been jammed and I might have been delayed or simply skipped a cycle.

But when two months passed without a single drop of menstruation, I bought myself a pregancy test. I knew I had unprotected contact a couple of months ago, but I was too confident then that my periods would always be predictable. I had used the calendar method for quite a long time already, and it hadn't failed me - yet.

Failure of the Calendar Method

I've had regular, monthly, fairly predictable menstruation cycles for what seemed like forever, and I'll admit that for a long time, I've relied a lot on the calendar method for contraception. This method, also called the rhythm method, assumes that you will be able to predict your "fertile days" based on the average length of your cycles. So, if I could have predicted when I was due to ovulate, then why did I get pregnant and why am I now suddenly a mother? What went wrong, or you might say, right?

Welcome!

Hello everyone! I'd like to welcome you to my new blog. You can find just about anything related to motherhood here - from pregnancy, labor, newborn care - practically anything and everything that I've encountered as a first-time parent.

I hope to share the knowledge I've gained from personal experience, from advice from doctors and fellow mothers, and from reading books and online articles about parenthood. I hope you'll learn something here, too, or even just to give you hope that you're not the most ignorant parent in the world (I have had my share of mommy bloopers, too), that would already mean so much to me.

So, shortly, I shall be putting up posts on anything from morning sickness to vaccinations. You are welcome to ask questions or request that a specific topic be tackled. I encourage everyone, from teenage mothers to those with "geriatric" pregnancies, mothers of every race and culture, even daddies who want to learn more about parenting, to participate in this blog. Thank you for reading, and I hope you'll stay tuned!