the9months

• Research shows that 1 out of every 5 pregnancies (i.e. 20% of all pregnancies) ends in a miscarriage during the first 12 weeks. That is why it is wise to not to raise your expectations during the initial few weeks.
• Do not tell your family. In case something goes wrong with the pregnancy, you would have to hear a lot of unwanted things from your family along with coping the loss yourself. Miscarriages can happen even if you took and followed all the advice that your mother and aunts can give.
• Take Folic Acid tablets which are good for you and the baby.
• Take Panadol if you feel dizzy or feel aches and pains.
• Your hormones are going pretty crazy during the first 12 weeks so you will feel dizzy, moody, extremely tired sometimes. This can be coupled with abdominal cramps and nausea to make matters worse. All of this is perfectly normal in a pregnancy.
• While the Home Pregnancy Test can show the result to be positive quite early in the pregnancy, it is good to get the Ultrasound done at slightly above 6 weeks. You can hear the heartbeat at that stage!
• If you are a very anxious couple and want to know for sure that yours is a healthy pregnancy as early as when you are 4 weeks pregnant, you can do that by getting a blood test done and then getting it repeated after 2 days. The hormone ‘human chorionic gonadotropin‘ (also known as hCG) is produced during pregnancy and it doubles every 48-72 hours in most normal pregnancies. That is a way to test for the normalcy of a pregnancy but it is not always accurate. And maybe somethings are worth waiting for.
• Get an ultrasound scan done when you are at least 6-7 weeks pregnant.
• No need to eat a lot. Eat what you like to eat. No need to eat anything in particular during the initial few weeks.
• Smoking and drinking is strictly prohibited during pregnancy. Even if you are a social smoker or drinker, quite as soon as you can. If your spouse smokes, ask him to smoke out of the house so that you or the baby do not suffer from second hand smoking.
• Note that your tastes and sense of smell will change. Tea and coffee may not taste as good as they used to, in case you are hooked on to them. Appearances of others will tend to look different. You might seriously dislike the appearance of someone who you liked earlier. You would also enjoy things and spaces that are very clean and clutter-free. Your taste in colors will change as well. Some of the dresses you loved to wear, you would not enjoy as much because you do not like the particular color of the dress anymore!
• Your sex life might change as well. Some people do not feel like having sex in the early pregnancy as the anxiety levels are high. It’s fine really. No need to worry as you will be back to normal soon.
• Some women suffer from UTI during their pregnancy. You can avoid it by drinking a lot of water most of the time. Consult your doctor if you are suffering from UTI.
• You may suffer from some spotting. This may not be serious all the time. Sometimes it happens just because your egg is settling into the walls. But spotting is a serious issue if it is less. Consult a doctor if it continues to happen. It might unfortunately mean that you could be heading towards a miscarriage.

Tags: blood test, drinking, folic acid, hCG, pregnancy, smoking, Spotting, ultrasound, UTI

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 6th, 2009 at 3:19 AM and is filed under Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.