Go ahead and exercise during your pregnancy, but don’t expect it to increase your chances of having your “dream birth.” That is one conclusion drawn from a recent research study by Dr. Ruben Barakat and his colleagues, at Universidad Politecnica de Madrid in Spain. The study followed 142 women for the second and third trimesters. Half of them followed a moderate exercise plan and the other half exercised very little or not at all. While the study confirmed the health benefits commonly associated with exercise during pregnancy, it did not confirm the previously held assumption that women who exercise are more likely to have a vaginal delivery. In fact the cesarean rates between the two groups were identical. Exercising women had fifty-one vaginal deliveries compared to fifty and ten instrument deliveries compared to nine. In both groups, eleven women had cesareans. Both groups had similar rates for epidural usage. Their labors were also similar in duration.

The study did not indicate the affects of prenatal fitness on postpartum healing and recovery or weight loss. I am guessing that the benefits of exercise during pregnancy are more long term. From personal experience, I know it’s hard to get back into an exercise program after a nine-month break. Seeing as the women in the study who exercised were not found to suffer any adverse effects, it proves that exercise is perfectly safe during pregnancy. (Women in the study did resistance type exercises to strengthen and tone mainly their arms, legs, and pelvis.) In addition to prenatal fitness classes, there are many prenatal fitness DVDs out there to choose from. Check with your doctor if you are not sure whether a particular exercise program is appropriate for your pregnancy. Usually, most exercises are fair game as long as you do not strain yourself too much or jump up and down.

How would you like to win $50? You could do just that if you complete a study!

A study is being done to examine pregnant women’s critiques and responses to magazine content. The study can be completed online from a computer of your choosing. You may qualify if you are currently pregnant and are 18 years of age or over. To take the survey visit: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3MDC7C2

Participants will be entered into a raffle to win one of three $50 gift certificates good towards Amazon.com. For more information email Megan Hopper at KMHopper@mizzou.edu.

Occasionally it becomes necessary to medically induce labor. A women might appear to be “stuck” in latent labor, she may be too far past her estimated due date, her blood pressure might be too high (hypertension), or the baby might be experiencing fetal distress. Sometimes the reasons are not medical in nature. If a woman is full term and her preferred doctor is going to be out of town, she might be induced so her doctor is able to deliver the baby. I have also heard of pregnant women being induced so their husbands can attend the birth while they are on military leave.

Most often, the method of choice for induction is Pitocin, or synthetic oxytocin. This hormone causes uterine contractions, and when all goes well, will cause a woman to go into active labor. Occasionally it does not work. Pitocin is most successful when the body is already ready to go into labor.

Obviously one benefit of using Pitocin is it may allow you to avoid a cesarean if your labor has stalled and your water has already broken. Once your water breaks, you only have 24 hours to deliver before the risk of infection is too high. Sometimes Pitocin is all a woman needs to get her labor on track.

Pitocin does have some drawbacks. It works a little differently than natural oxytocin since it is delivered continuously through an IV. The result is stronger and longer contractions that may make labor pains unbearable without an epidural or other pain medication. Most women who have had both natural and induced labors will tell you that their induced labor was much more intense and painful than the natural one. Sometimes this intense progression of labor can cause fetal distress or other birth complications such as premature separation of the placenta or uterine rupture. For this reason, women on Pitocin are closely monitored during their labor. This continuous monitoring is another drawback, since the woman will not be able to freely move about her room or the delivery ward.

Despite the drawbacks, Pitocin may be the best choice for some women, and a great relief to those who have been in labor for days on end. Were you induced with Pitocin? What was your experience?

Perhaps you’ve heard the term “two week wait.” Who are we kidding, if you’ve ever tried to conceive, you lived (or died) for those two weeks. The phrase is a little misleading however, since it implies that most of us actually wait for two weeks after conception to take a pregnancy test. When I was trying to get pregnant, I joined a forum with some other women on the same ovulation schedule and some of us would start testing daily just seven days after ovulation. For the most part, testing so early and so often was a waste of money since most pregnancy tests can’t even detect hCG levels so low. Once in a while, someone would find out really early. It was assumed that the test was extra sensitive or her hCG levels were extra high, but this is certainly not the norm. Just as women are always looking for ways to find out sooner, be it through testing, intuition or charting symptoms and temperatures, manufacturers of pregnancy tests are also always looking for ways to detect that pesky little hormone sooner.

It looks like one company may have succeeded. It was just announced this morning that First Response has created a test that is more sensitive than any other home pregnancy test on the market. This test will be able to detect hCG up to six days before a woman’s expected period. The test uses something called PAT, or Polymeric Amplification Technology, which increases the overall sensitivity of the test. I guess the First Response people are determined to live up to their name. I’m sure their customers won’t complain. I can just hear all the women who are trying to get pregnant rejoicing over the internet.

(Photo courtesy of Edelman – Healthcare Media Relations)

The sooner you know you are pregnant, the sooner you can get good prenatal care, but I would encourage all women who are trying to get pregnant to really take care of their bodies as though they are pregnant all of the time. It can’t hurt, and it may even increase your chances of getting pregnant. The healthier you are, the healthier your baby will be as well.

I probably sneezed over a thousand times during my pregnancy. Beginning at around six weeks, I started experiencing mild cold symptoms that lasted for the duration of my entire pregnancy. It was really annoying, and I found myself constantly telling others, “I’m not sick, I promise!” Nearly a third of pregnant women develop a condition called pregnancy rhinitis. It happens when the nasal passages become inflamed due to the increased levels of estrogen and increased blood volume in the body.

There is no cure, except giving birth, of course, but there are some things you can do to minimize the symptoms of pregnancy rhinitis. Drinking plenty of water, using a humidifier at bedtime, elevating your head with an extra pillow or a hot shower (but not too hot) can all bring some relief. One thing you do not want to do is take an over the counter nasal decongestant. You will also want to avoid cigarette smoke or areas where the air is heavily polluted, since these can aggravate your symptoms and make them worse.

If your stuffy nose is accompanied by other symptoms, it may not be pregnancy rhinitis, but rather a virus. In that case, you will want to talk to your midwife or doctor. Besides illness, allergies could also explain your symptoms. Pregnancy is known to make even the most minor allergies much worse. If symptoms are the worst during the night and when you wake up, your bedroom might be the culprit. Wash all of your bedding in extremely hot water to kill dust mites, thoroughly dust your bedroom, including the window treatments. If you use curtains, wash them according the label instructions. Pay attention to ceiling fan blades and vent covers, which can collect quite a bit of dust. Vacuum carpet or mop non-carpeted floors. You may also want to consider replacing your pillow. Continue to keep your doctor or midwife updated on your symptoms.

With one final push you look up to see your brand new baby, waving his arms around and crying wildly. And then you glance down to see what used to be a tight, very round belly, now draped across your abdomen like a pillow. It feels like a half-drained water bed mattress. It moves like a bowl of gelatin. When you stand up, it falls against your body in the shape of a rain drop: one the size of a cantaloupe. And although it makes a perfect cushion for your nursing newborn, you can’t help but look forward to the day it’s gone. It will shrink significantly over the next few days, but you will have to give yourself at least nine months before you can expect to see something resembling your old stomach. After all, it did take nine months to get that way in the first place!

I am so glad that Kourtney Kardashian called out Life & Style for altering the photos of her and her newborn to make it look like she had already gotten back down to her old size just one week after giving birth. That’s impossible for any woman, even a celebrity, and photos like that are what make women cringe over something that is completely natural and normal. Skin and muscle stretch quite a bit to accommodate a baby. Even if a woman does manage to lose all her baby weight, she will still have to wait (no pun intended) for her skin and abdominal muscles to return to their natural size and tightness. Despite the fact that I weigh less now than I did before I got pregnant, my belly button is forever frowning. To be quite honest, for most women, the postpartum body never looks quite like the pre-pregnancy body. That’s not to say it looks bad. It doesn’t! It just looks different. How could we expect anything else? I think the blessings that come out of pregnancy and childbirth greatly outweigh any body “issues” that result. I would never trade in my sweet baby boy for a six pack!

Could determining the gender of a pregnant woman’s baby as early as seven weeks cause more harm than good? Researchers in the Netherlands have developed a blood test that detects two genes on the Y sex chromosome, allowing doctors to accurately determine gender about 94% of the time in a sample of just over two hundred women. The other 6% of results were not inaccurate, but inconclusive. While determining fetal sex early on could improve treatment for genetic disorders that are tied to gender, some worry that if the test becomes widely available, some couples may choose to terminate based on test results.

While such a speculation sounds outlandish at first glance, it wouldn’t be the first time in history such a heartless practice has taken place. And if you believe that life begins at conception, it’s happening right now in fertility centers around the country. Doctors are able to screen embryos for gender (as well as genetic defects) and only implant the embryos that are the gender the parents want. Remaining embryos are either “discarded” or frozen.

The medical benefit of screening for gender so early in the pregnancy will only impact those couples who are at risk for transmitting a genetic disorder to begin with. If a woman is known to carry the gene for a disorder that only affects males, for example, finding out that she is carrying a girl will prevent weeks or months of unnecessary treatment. It also decreases the number of invasive procedures that typically have been done in these cases. Perhaps if early gender screening is limited to those who are at risk for passing on gender-specific genetic disorders, the risk of this test being abused will be limited.

Sometimes technology can be both a blessing and a curse. Do you anticipate any problems that could come with gender screening so early in pregnancy? If you could find out what you were having two months early, would you?

Depression can affect just as many pregnant women as it does postpartum women, if not more. Fourteen to twenty-three percent of pregnant women suffer from depression while five to twenty-five percent of women will have postpartum depression. Typically your obstetrician and your pediatrician will give you a short questionnaire on multiple occasions after your baby is born that will screen for signs of postpartum depression. The questionnaire might contain statements like “I cry more than usual” and ask you to rate that statement on a scale of one to five. Postpartum depression is not something you should try to hide on this questionnaire or be ashamed of. Your doctors simply want to make sure you feel the best and you are able to enjoy your newborn.

Depression during pregnancy can raise the risk of preterm birth and other complications. After the birth, it can affect how the mother interacts with her newborn, which can impact the baby’s development. Many factors can play into whether a woman develops depression. The sudden increase in hormones can set off a chemical imbalance. The mother may already have a history of depression in herself or in her family. Relationship difficulties, previous pregnancy loss, fertility treatments, pregnancy complications, stress, or an unplanned pregnancy can also make a pregnant woman more susceptible to depression.

If a women does develop depression during or after pregnancy, that doesn’t necessarily mean she will automatically be put on medication. On the contrary, she will be able to work with her doctor to find a natural solution if at all possible. Changing her diet, activity level and sleeping patterns might be all that is needed to make her feel better. Eating healthy foods, exercising and getting plenty of sleep, work wonders for any person. Her doctor will continue to monitor her for signs of depression to be sure the treatment is working, and if the depression becomes severe, as a last resort, he or she might prescribe medication.

Are you looking for ideas for Baby Shower favors? You’ve come to the right place! Party favors are a nice touch to every shower. They can be anything from a small gift to a food item. They can also be the perfect complement to a centerpiece for table decorations. They offer the guests something to take home to enjoy and remember the shower by. Often, favors will include a small note or inscription with the occasion and the date.

Soy Candles
To make these favors you will need to collect enough baby food jars to cover the whole guest list. After cleaning each jar, glue a wick to the bottom and fill with melted soy wax. You can add color or scent to your preference. Create custom labels for the miniature jar candles using your printer or stamping materials. For more information on creating your own soy candles, visit SoyWaxCandles.org.

Cookies
Depending on the theme of the baby shower, you may be able to find a cookie cutter to match. Make one cookie for each guest, frosting them to match the theme and wrap them in cellophane or treat bags. If you use treat bags, you can tie them closed with a string and include a custom tag.

Origami Boxes
There are many different designs available online and in Origami books at your local library. Most patterns call for 6″ square paper. You can choose simple card stock or scrapbooking paper at your local craft store. If you choose to use scrapbook paper, you can buy 12″ square sheets and cut them into four pieces, which saves you money. Fill them with the candy of your choice.

Custom Candy Bars
Create your own labels to wrap around miniature candy bars for a treat that every guest will love (to eat). Print them out on your computer, use different layers of colored or patterned paper to create a unique design, or use stamps to decorate the card stock of your choice. This type of favor is ideal for a personalized message, since you can incorporate it right into the label. Stick with plain dark or milk chocolate in case of a peanut allergy.

IVF can help couples conceive when they experience problems such as endometriosis, low sperm counts, ovulation problems, problems with the uterus, or antibodies attacking the eggs or sperm, as well as other fertility problems that may not be diagnosed. During IVF, sperm meets egg outside the womb and the embryo is left to grow in a culture dish until it is ready for implantation in the mother’s uterus. In the body, however, things aren’t so still. Aside from the fact that women don’t lie perfectly still for days following conception, fertilized eggs also get jostled around as they travel towards the uterus to implant. Now researchers are attempting to mimic this movement and are finding great success. The theory is that the closer doctors can mimic the human body’s natural conditions, the better, and that theory seems to be true.

Instead of putting fertilized eggs in a stationary culture dish, the embryos are placed in a new device that gently rocks them while they grow. They have been testing the device on mice embryos and the pregnancy rates in mice have increased by 22 percent. The embryos are healthier and have more cells, compared to those grown in the static dish. With this new device, IVF success rates approach those of natural conception.

If this technology works for human embryos, it will save couples who are using IVF to conceive a lot of money, stress and heartbreak. Fewer embryos will need to be transferred, decreasing the chances of multiples and each cycle will have a better chance of resulting in a successful pregnancy. Fewer cycles means lower costs, since IVF treatments are not covered by most insurance plans. IVF is extremely expensive. When treatments don’t work, it can be heartbreaking for the family, especially if they cannot afford to do another cycle.