Information for women during pregnancy and postpartum. For an easy overview of things to think about, read Jane Lyttleton’s A Positive Pregnancy Test. Pregnancy & Birth – a lot of information. Baby.com provides information on everything about babies, including a baby name finder. American Pregnancy Association. Dr. Sears provides answers to many questions about pregnancy.

Prenatal
Tracking Your Pregnancy
Pregnancy Nutrition
Prenatal testing

Postnatal
Labor and Birth
Newborn and Infants
Breastfeeding

Tracking Your Pregnancy

***** Bleeding in the early first trimester, week 4-5-6, before you even go to the very first ultrasound, is very unlikely coming from the fetus itself but from hematomas, fibroid you may have but not caught by the previous ultrasound. Please do NOT panic. There is no need to go to the emergency room but I had one patient who got so panicked, ignored my response, and found she was having twins in the emergency room! *****

Pregnancy Calendar provides “week by week” what to expect information.

Baby Center provides a pregnancy calendar to help you track your baby’s development week by week.

       Each Trimester of pregnancy – What to Expect! This is a great site!

10-week-ultrasound
10 Weeks
MONOZYG
5 Weeks

     Ultrasound Images

Early pregnancy ultrasound at 5 to 6 weeks
Early pregnancy ultrasound at 8 to 10 weeks
Early pregnancy ultrasound at 12 weeks
8 weeks of pregnancy heartbeat video clip

You can see why some women experience morning sickness – so many changes in such a short time!

Pregnancy Nutrition august2

Now that you’re pregnant, thinking about what foods, vitamins, and supplements you put into your body can feel overwhelming! Here are some quick links and guidelines to help you! You can also visit our Fertility Diet page for some further info.

The Top Foods and Nutritional Needs
1st-trimester 2nd trimester 3rd trimester

Vitamins

  • Why did my doctor never mention this to me? I hear this question all the time. The reason is they were not taught this topic at the medical school. They got as many as 7 hours of nutrition during 8 years of medical training but ND, DO, DC and acupuncturists study A LOT!!!!! YouTube Video --> Take a look!
  • Pre-Natal Vitamins: synthetic vs whole-food-based (folic acid vs folate) and more.
  • Vitamin D – reduces the chance of getting HBS, HBP, and Pre-eclampsia in pregnancy
  • Probiotics “The infant microbiome from the womb to first-year” article
  • What Robert Thompson M.D. saying about vitamin intake during the pregnancy.
  • Vitamin – if you are taking synthetic vitamins, please watch for the overdose – here are signs and symptoms
  • Take Essential Fatty Acids Omega 3 every day. Fatty acid balance is critical for the developing brain and nervous system of your baby.
  • Folate-Rich foods for a healthy pregnancy and baby written by Dr. Ben Kim
  • Vitamin B12: About Vitamin B-12 during and post-pregnancy. Since vitamin B-12 builds immunity and promotes the growth of the nervous system and body in general, it is essential during pregnancy and nursing. To grasp the B12 requirements of a fetus, consider that the newborn, compared to the mother, has over twice as much B12 in its blood, and that the placenta contains more than three times as much of the vitamin. Yet vitamin B12 is one of the most commonly deficient vitamins during pregnancy and lactation. Pregnant and lactating vegetarians, in particular, need to be certain they are getting enough. Children born to mothers low in the vitamin run a high risk of retarded mental and physical development and weakened immunity.  Mothers who only occasionally consume B12 put their breastfeeding infants at risk of becoming deficient. The mother can recycle B12 stored in her body for her own purposes; she may feel healthy and so (falsely) assume that her milk is completely nourishing. Unfortunately, there are indications that only vitamin B12 ingested during the formation of milk will go into the mother’s milk; B12 stored in the mother’s body does not. This means that for a nursing infant to receive B12 in its milk regularly, the lactating mother must take in B12 regularly.” (Healing with whole foods written by Paul Pitchford, the third edition in 2002, page 140-)

EMF

Dental Care

Morning Sickness

Before Baby, Freeze some Food!
Life is going to get hectic when that baby arrives, so use the time you have now (start around 35 weeks) to make and freeze some meals ahead of time! While you’re at it, make some strong bone broth, for the days when you just don’t feel like eating. Good bone broth will fortify you and keep you going – drink it instead of coffee in the morning! (Tamie’s tip: try this silicone mold to freeze single portions!)

Constipation

Toothpaste

  • Check if SLS is listed under  “ingredients” in your shampoo, conditioner,
    and toothpaste. No Sodium Lauryl Sulphate !!!
  • This is another toothpaste I recommend.
  • Toothpaste & Toxin Load you are not aware of.

Tea

Link to be bookmarked

Pre-Natal Testing

Pre-natal screening can sometimes be a scary topic. Educating yourself about the benefits and risks,  before speaking with your doctors, can help alleviate some of the stress.

prenatal.screening

Nuchal translucency screening test (12-13 weeks)
AFP test Alpha-fetoprotein test
CVS (Chorionic Villus Sampling) Test information (1st trimester)
Amniocentesis Test information (2nd trimester)
Progesterone levels during the pregnancy
HCG level and LH surge numbers for both singleton and twins.

 Labor and Birth

Pregnancy and Labor: Jane Lyttleton’s advice (good to know during the pregnancy phase and what to expect before the labor): Pregnancy and Labor
Maternity Care: Childbirth Connection discusses ways to improve maternity care for mothers, and also families and offers tips to expectant mothers about maternity-care decisions.
Childbirth Educators: The Association of Labor Assistant and Childbirth Educators (ALACE) site can help you find a childbirth educator.
Birth Stories: Childbirth Solutions offers options for childbirth and empowering birth experience stories.
Baby’s Position: Information on Changing the baby’s position

Looking for Daula? Here’s an article about “birthing doula interview questions”.

Newborns and Infants:joseph

Your baby is home with you – congratulations! Here is a Q&A for newborn babies.

Vaccinations

  • Vaccine or no vaccine?
  • Vaccination – please take a look at this chart
  • Watch out “6-in-1 combo shot” called Vaxelis vaccine

Colicky Baby

Health Warnings

Integrations

Diper Rash

Breastfeeding, Baby Foods & Postnatal Careaiden-june-1-2011-060

Some wonderful breastfeeding tips for first-time moms by Dr. Ben Kim. Having a hard time breastfeeding? You are not alone! You may need to read this. Additionally, many people don’t realize the importance of not only taking probiotics while breastfeeding but also giving your baby probiotics.

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