Most expectant mothers find it hard to relax. The busy schedules, routine work, running chores around the house and stress at workplace can leave you quite frazzles especially when you’re pregnant. A pregnant woman needs time to relax her mind off all worries. The reality of being pregnant itself is something that makes women worrisome and they dwell on every single thing that they might have done that could harm the baby.

Other stressors include conflicts with partners, deadlines that have to be met at work and being stuck in a traffic jam during rush hour. Though stress can actually be good for your immune response as it prepares for any potential risk or possible accident, infection or injury but stressing out on every little thing can wear you down

Pregnant women should try to take as little stress as can be and rejuvenate and revitalize themselves to ensure their own and the baby’s health. Stress promotes high blood pressure and pregnant women having it are apt to have babies with increased heart rates. Research is also being conducted to investigate the link between stress and premature births. There are a few stress reducing techniques that slow down the body and relax the mind. These include:-

1. Guided Imagery,

2. Yoga,

3. Meditation,

4. Breathing Exercises &

5. Progressive Muscle Imagery

These establish mind-body connection and you can have a quieter and deeper insight on the events going on in life and things that are beyond your control.

You can release stress by adopting little habits and practices that can be a great help even when you’re not pregnant and particularly during pregnancy. Retreat to a quiet room and lay down comfortably. Close your eyes and take deep breaths in and out. Start with 10 breaths and count backwards from 10 to 1. You can also take mindful walks by walking at slower than normal pace. Feel the aroma and sensations around you. Your body will react to it, calming your senses and centering you in the moment. Stress reducing exercises can help you to shift from shallow chest breathing to deep abdominal breathing.

These reduce your heart rate and blood pressure and help the body to recover the anxiety response.

Sometimes stress level ratchets up a notch. During pregnancy you might be anxious about your baby’s health, the delivery marathon and motherhood. It is but normal for a pregnant woman to get an anxiety attack at some point. Obviously, a whole new being is forming inside of her and soon she’s going to give birth. Transcendental meditation requires you to sit in an upright position and adopt an unreceptive attitude and chant a simple word over and over for 15 to 20 minutes. Such meditation can reduce blood pressure. Massage and external stimulation are effective techniques to relax too. Avoid sauna at all times during pregnancy. The body temperature rises so high in saunas that it can directly harm the baby. Music can be relaxing especially when sound waves of different frequencies are used to obtain slower breathing rates. This technique of releasing stress is called music therapy.

As you start to focus inward to your unborn baby your other baby may start anticipating that you’ll be giving him a cold shoulder for the rest of the time. Now you’re in a fix. You’re already on a round-the-clock alert to the changes occurring in your body. Handling the pregnancy really well is no easy a task. Already many questions are flooding your mind, whether you’d carry the baby to full term? Whether the child will be healthy or not? Will you be able to survive the labor marathon?

You don’t know exactly what to do when you’re handling two babies at a time, the unborn child and the father. Out of the two, the father may be hard to handle. Leave the poor soul alone. Give him space to understand and experience pregnancy in his own unique way. There are legitimate reasons why these older babies are hard to handle during pregnancy.

1. You and your partner’s experiences are different

You might feel your partner is too detached from your pregnancy and is not as involved as you are. Understand that since your body is undergoing changes you are also experiencing rousing and overwhelming emotions. Your partner’s half job was to supply the sperm. He’s no longer a part of the pregnancy now except that he supports you through the term. Since he feels more left out now, try getting him involved talking things. Surprise him with a picnic or leave him a sexy note in the drawer. Dress up sexy till the baby in your belly starts to become more visible. The bulge does not start to show until after the sixth month.

2. Your partner worries even if he doesn’t tell you

Know what worries him? How to be a father figure! He has no clue especially when the baby is the very first. They may feel apprehensive about it. He wants to be a good father and needs your reassurance. You may feel that it takes more energy than you have to focus on both your partner and your baby. But you need to kick start your life as a family some day, so it’s good that you start training already. Your partner may be worried about expected pressures on him as a breadwinner. Reassure him that both of you would solve the problems together.

3. Your partner needs time to bond with the baby

He can touch your belly and talk and sing to the baby. Usually partners keep a good track knowing which week of pregnancy you’re in. This way they know exactly what week the baby starts to show signs of movement. He can experience the first kicks in random places too.

Once you focus your love and attention on each other you can focus it on your baby too. Plan a “home date” this week and see the difference.

There are certain ways you can spend quality time with your unborn baby:

1. Most mothers journal to keep record of their various experiences during pregnancies and save them as keepsakes for their children to read later in life. Form the very first butterfly feeling in the tummy to the most latest of kicks, from the first throw-up to the never ending flatulence, they write it all. They keep all the record and the ultrasound images of the baby and preserve them in various manners.

2. Many expectant mothers usually sing and caress their tummy. By the end of the third month of pregnancy a baby can hear you. Babies can get a sense of music during early developmental stages. He/she can figure out the tones of the parents’ voice especially the mothers’. They can begin to learn language in the womb and so you can order your lifestyle in such a way that he/she tries to pick the language the way you want. Caressing can give a sense of reassurance and security to the baby. It arouses a sense of protection and a feeling that he/she is loves and cared for. A baby can make out a fathers’ touch from a mothers’.

3. Meditation can help too in a spiritual way. You may try singing hymns to your babies. It is researched that babies respond to familiar sounds, rhymes and songs. Yoga can release that extra added due to a hectic working routine around the house or at your work place or due to some unforeseen event in the family. Try to keep your cam in every way possible. Relax your mind off all the worries and stresses. After all there is another life inside of you that is soon to come into this world. Try massaging your feet with oil and avoid sauna.

4. Eat healthy and consciously ……….. You may have heard it often that a pregnant woman should have a hearty meal and have snacks in-between meals too because she is eating for two. Bearing kids is no easy a job. Most pregnant women don’t eat much in case they gain which they know is an odd deal to shed-off later. But, eating healthy for two can save you all the trouble. Try making smart choices. Take lean meat and get that extra fat chopped off while shopping for meat. Avoid too much red meat, eat lentils and eggs instead. Fresh leafy green vegetables are a good choice because they contain enough vitamin C fiber and water content recommended during pregnancy. Avoid alcohol and drugs during all times through pregnancies. You don’t want to risk your pregnancy with complications. Most of the birth defects are due to careless intake of unnecessary medication which is not prescribed by a physician.

5. Try making your partner getting to draw close to the baby because he might be hesitating to get near you fearing he might be hesitating to get near you fearing he might harm the baby. Let him feel the baby also, taking out sounds and caressing all the while. Baby tends to know that the touch is different from the mothers’ and get to know daddy gradually. His bonding with the baby is equally necessary.

Carrying baby to term is every mother’s dream for the survival and health of a developing fetus.

Diagnostic and non-diagnostic ultrasounds are performed by licensed sonographers, doctors and obstetricians. These are usually scheduled with regular prenatal tests or otherwise.2 Dimension, 3 Dimension and 4 Dimension pregnancy scans are a part and parcel of modern day obstetrics. These are used to determine sex, size and gestational age of the fetus.

Through 2 Dimension and 3 Dimension pregnancy scans pictures of the fetus are taken at different angles.

4 Dimension scans show live-in-action movements of the fetus. It is just like having a video being played.
An Echocardiography may be done alongside the ultrasound scan. It is a highly specialized examination showing off cardiac stages in fetal development. Any abnormality in the heart rate may be monitored and checked for. Ultrasounds transmit high frequency sound waves. They bounce off the fetus and the signals are registered as an image on the screen. Ultrasounds are also taken to check fetal position at various stages of pregnancy. There are general misconceptions about ultrasounds being unsafe for the unborn. Sex determination is considered an ethically wrong practice nowadays. Many a medical centres and hospitals make it a point not to announce sex of the fetus unless particularly necessary.

Having an early image of the baby is an overwhelming experience leaving the whole family beaming with joy at the sight. There are rousing emotions of all sorts. Soon the priorities are going to change, routines reshuffled and life changed altogether. Preparing and welcoming the new baby’s coming may be a totally different experience for the soon-to-become parents, yet it may be a different thing for the kids. Watch out for signs of early sibling rivalry. Obviously, they are living in two separate worlds Discover that most of the attention will be showered on the coming baby. Kids can ask a whole wide range of questions regarding the baby and pregnancy. Rebellious attitude may be justified if the parents ignore the other kid or talk too much about the incoming baby. There may be varied reactions since the day you announce that a baby is underway to come home and mommy being gone for a while to get the baby home. Things can be explained without giving exact details in a wrap around manner. Like most people don’t tell how the babies come, they just say “the storks bring ‘em”.

Try making the older kid a part of the experience. Children usually handle images better. So give their imagination a wild halt and try giving him/her the real picture. Once part of it, they give the babies wide variety of names. Some kids get possessive about their unborn siblings; they even help crafting the nursery. The response of the news that a new brother or sister is soon to come may be varied in toddlers, pre-schoolers and kindergarteners. You may like to take them along sometime when you visit your health care provider or gynecologist during your regularly scheduled pre-natal visits to the medical centre or hospital. First imaging may be as joyful for the expectant mother who already is running high on emotions as well as the kid who wants to get a glimpse of his/he sibling. The first ultrasound is usually not scheduled until after the first trimester. To avoid long queue, make an appointment with the sonographer way early if the kid is accompanying you because the visit may turn out to be too tiresome for him/her. Mom-to-be is asked to have plenty of fluids before the ultrasound so that the imaging of the fetus is clear. There may be black and white or coloured photos. The imaging though may not be very precise.

If the viewer is a kid, it gives the picture of what really is going on inside. Get your kid to know that the machinery is totally safe. Ease soothe him/her before the ultrasound, the kid might get intimidated by the hospital staff and environment. It should be kept in mind that the viewer is a kid and the visual experience will draw him/her closer to the unborn sibling, otherwise he/she might think of the baby as a separate being.
The first view of the new addition to the family is always welcome.You can always frame the ultrasound image for everyone in the family to know that a change is coming around.

The first Trimester is the (0 – 12 weeks) in which the body undergoes many changes, many of these changes may be uncomfortable, these lessen as pregnancy progresses. To ensure a healthy pregnancy prenatal care is of utmost importance, through it the health of both mother and baby can be monitored throughout pregnancy.
The first visit should be scheduled as soon as pregnancy is confirmed; ample time should be set aside for the first visit because the family physician, obstetrician or nurse mid-wife, whoever is the health care provider will have lots of things to discuss. Both partners should be present at the first visit.
The basic things that will be discussed during the first visit are as follows:

Medical History

The health care provider will ascertain the following medical aspects which could influence the pregnancy.
• Details about the menstrual cycle.
• Use of Contraceptives.
• Allergies or other medical conditions.
• Past pregnancies.
• Prescription or Over-the-counter medicines that have been used or are being used.
• Details about family history of congenital abnormalities.
• Family history of genetic diseases.
All this important information should be accurate, so that the health care provider can provide the best care.
If there are any things that are not to be shared with the partner, the health care provider should be informed privately.

Due date

The babies’ growth can be accurately monitored if the health care provider has been provided with the exact date, if there is any doubt it can be ascertained through ultra sound.

Physical Exam

The health care provider will check the height, weight and blood pressure, check the heart and assess the overall health. The vagina and cervix will be examined for any defects and abnormalities. A Pap test may be conducted for cervical cancer. The size of the uterus and shape of cervix also determines the stage of pregnancy.

Lab Tests

Blood Tests and Urinanalysis

• Blood tests will be conducted for the determination of blood group including Rh factor. Blood tests can also reveal whether a person has had measles, syphilis, rubella or Hepatitis B.A test for HIV, the virus that causes AIDs and a test for chicken pox and Toxoplasmosis immunity may also be done.
• Urinanalysis will be conducted to ensure there is no bladder or kidney infection. It can also determine if diabetes or kidney disease is present.

Lifestyle issues

The health care provider will discuss the importance of nutrition, prenatal vitamins, exercise and other lifestyle issues. The work environment will also be discussed. The health care provider should suggest ways to quit smoking.

Screening Tests for Fetal Abnormalities

The health provider may offer ultra sound tests, blood tests or other screening tests to detect fetal abnormalities.

Subsequent visits in the First Trimester

After the first visit in the first trimester, subsequent visits are scheduled after every four or six weeks, these are shorter and the health care provider examines weight and blood pressure, any signs or symptoms are also discussed with the health care provider, any questions or concerns are also discussed. The health care provider should be available even between appointments, so that peace of mind which is of utmost importance is not disturbed.

Fish are full of healthy nutrients and are an important part of a balanced diet, particularly for pregnant women. They contain omega-3 fatty acids, which are vital for the development of the brain and the nervous system of an unborn baby. Many fish contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids and are safe for pregnant women, research suggests that omega- 3 fatty acids are more readily absorbed in the natural form rather than through dietary supplements, fish are also high in proteins and low in saturated fats.

According to an upcoming report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).Babies born to mothers, who eat fish while they are pregnant have a head start over other kids. The same report finds that consumption of fish particularly oily fish lowers the risk of coronary heart disease mortality. So fish isn’t only “brain food,” it is also “Heart Healthy”

Scientific research is clear about how the omega-3’s can reduce the risks of heart attacks, strokes, Alzheimer’s disease, certain cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, low birth weight, post partum depression and pre-term delivery.

All fish are also a significant source of vitamin D and contribute valuable mineral nutrients to the diet such as selenium, iodine, magnesium, copper and iron.

Health Hazards of Fish

Fish is good but not all fish is the same; some fish may contain large amounts of methyl mercury, Biotoxins and Parasites.

If fish that has high mercury content is taken regularly by a pregnant woman the mercury can accumulate in the bloodstream and damage the baby’s developing brain and nervous system. All fish contain some level of mercury, as it is present naturally in the aquatic environment.

Tips for eating fish safely

Fish contains too many health nutrients which are essential for growth and development of the unborn baby; therefore it should under no circumstances be cut out completely from the diet during pregnancy.

• Women planning to become pregnant and those who already are pregnant should limit their consumption of fish which are known to accumulate mercury. Since the mercury in fish cannot be reduced by any processing  or cooking techniques such as canning, cooking, freezing, frying, poaching or grilling, because it is bound to proteins in a fish’s muscle.
• “Mom’s to be” should avoid eating shark, swordfish, mackerel king; these fish devour other fish and thus accumulate their mercury too. They also tend to live longer and accumulate more mercury over the passage of time. Only 1 serving (150g) of such a fish should be taken in a fortnight during pregnancy.
• 1 serving (150g) of fish which are relatively lower in mercury for e.g. catfish or orange roughy (Deep Sea Perch) can be enjoyed once a week during pregnancy.
• Women  who are more concerned about the risks must benefit from fish that contain very low levels of mercury such as shellfish(for example oysters, clams, scallops, mussels) salmon, crab, shrimp, trout, herring haddock, sole, flounder, lobster. Only 12 ounces or 2 servings (1 serving is150 g) of fish in a week should be taken by an expectant mother who is low in mercury. Eating fish low in mercury and in moderation by an expectant mother, will give maximum benefit to the unborn child and the mother to be, because the benefits of eating fish during pregnancy far outweigh the risks.

Gone are the days when you had to chase around your children making sure they don’t cause too much trouble. Vacations at times get stressful when you don’t have much to keep your children busy, but when vacations is over, it is time you should give yourself a break. Stress is normal for pregnant mothers because stuff about her baby’s health, tests results, scans and preparing for the birth itself is a great transition period. Even though you may have gone through the whole life-changing experience, pregnancy definitely demands a lot of your attention.

What you can do to feel better?

Whenever you feel tired or stressed then there are some common practices that you should follow all the time so you can think of other things. If you will give time to your unborn baby, your baby will thank you!

• Take lots of rest

Now that you can take out time for yourself, what you need the most is some rest. Your body can take care of all the delicate areas when you stay relaxed. If there is any need for nutrition, you will know very well when to fetch for food. Cut down on house chores and ask your children to help out, and they will eagerly take good responsibility when you will appreciate them. Only come out of the bed for priority work and a change of mood.

• Talk to people

Share your feelings with other pregnant women you know among your extended family or your neighborhood. Some heart-to-heart conversation really helps!

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• Look out for complimentary assistance

There are some good community based services that are only aimed towards the comfort of expectant mothers. Pay them a visit and you will already save a lot of your shopping. These places are always very welcoming and have a lot of sincere people who want to make your life more comfortable.

Spend some time with your unborn baby

Does this sound surprising? But it is true! You can spend the best quality time you need with your husband by seeing your unborn baby live. Unfortunately, clinics are far too busy to allow you to observe your baby for leisure. Every expectant mother wishes to know more about her unborn child and bond with her baby as much as possible.

Consider visiting an ultrasound clinic that has a studio for very small groups. Their systems are far better than any other ultrasound you will see in a clinic because they are designed to give you the best visual appearance of what is happening inside your womb. The best part is that they know exactly how much you will enjoy this important moment, so you can spend as much time you need. Their packages will allow you to thoroughly enjoy this moment and get to know your baby already.