High blood pressure, or hypertension, has a lot of different names in pregnancy, depending on whether it is accompanied by protein in the urine of the pregnant woman and other factors. Your doctor may call it pre-eclampsia, pregnancy-induced hypertension or chronic hypertension with superimposed pre-eclampsia.
Fertility-Awareness Method of Birth Control
The fertility-awareness method (FAM) is a more scientific version of the rhythm method. Women who rely on fertility awareness use a combination of thermometers, calendars, cervical mucus observation, and sometimes other tests to determine exactly when they are ovulating. Continue reading →
How Long Does It Take to Get Pregnant. Part 2
The textbook definition of infertility is the inability to conceive after one year of regular, unprotected intercourse. Problems can be caused by a variety of things. For example, sometimes the mature egg never makes it out of the fallopian tube and into the uterus because the tube is damaged or blocked with scar tissue from a previous infection. Continue reading →
How Long Does It Take to Get Pregnant. Part 1
Quite frankly, most women spend so much of their lives trying not to get pregnant, we’re often a little surprised when it takes some time to conceive a planned pregnancy.
Surprisingly, the average woman’s chance of getting pregnant within one menstrual cycle is only about 25 percent. Continue reading →
Pregnancy Test Addiction
August 23, 1992, was the day my husband and I decided to transform ourselves from a mere married couple into a Family. (Please notice the capital F. We were very serious.) We were so excited to begin building our Family, we started working on it that day.
Prematurity and its Siblings
Multiple pregnancies are much more likely to result in premature deliveries than are singleton pregnancies. Infants born before 37 weeks are considered premature. Twins are often born between 34 and 38 weeks and triplets between 32 and 36 weeks.
Vitamins During Pregnancy?
Q. What vitamins should I take while pregnant? Anything to avoid? Any multivitamin formulated especially for pregnancy and recommended by your obstetrician is fine. The key thing you’re looking for in a prenatal vitamin is extra iron and at least 400 micrograms of folic acid, which is a B vitamin. Continue reading →
Working It Out
These days, more employers are adopting mother- and baby-friendly attitudes that make breastfeeding and working easier. Since experts agree that “breastmilk is the best milk” for baby’s health, breastfeeding is on the rise. Some employers now offer in-house lactation rooms complete with chairs, pumps and even lactation consultants. Continue reading →
Can Dietary Supplements Cause Birth Defects?
I’m hoping to get pregnant soon, so I was disturbed to hear the FDA saying that pregnant women shouldn’t use supplements. Is this correct? What do you think about using herbs and other supplements during pregnancy?
I don’t blame you for being confused. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has gone back and forth on whether or not supplement manufacturers can market products directly to women for treatment of pregnancy-related symptoms such as morning sickness and swollen legs.
I’m 35 and I Don’t Know Yet…
I currently teeter on the short side of 35 years, an age known for the way it changes a woman’s perspective.
Just the other day, for example, I found myself “lunching” with an old friend, discussing the phenomenon of turning 35, or “mammogram age” as my friend so aptly put it. My imagination, unruly by nature and fueled by factual details introduced by my medical-resident husband, moved into overdrive as I secretly considered the unspeakable: 35 years is mammogram age for a woman WITH children…what about the slew of procedures and battery of tests that surround… gasp… A LATER PREGNANCY?
