Emotions and Stress

Trying to become pregnant can be stressful.
 Yes, Worrying about whether or when you will conceive, what being pregnant will mean to you and your relationship, and all the steps you will want to take to increase the chance of a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby, can sometimes create stress and anxiety. 

 
Avoid stress when trying to get pregnant

There is no hard evidence to suggest that stress can prevent you from becoming pregnant. However, stress can depress your immune system, raise your blood pressure and alter your hormonal function. Also, it can prevent you and your partner from enjoying this time of anticipation and pleasure. 

Learn to reduce stress while trying to get pregnant

• Identify the causes of stress in your life: your long commute, your finances, family relationships
• Simplify your life: reduce contact with people and cut out activities that sap your energy and time
• Clarify your priorities: learn to say "no", decide what is really important and what can be addressed later 
• Ask for help: turn to family, friends, or a counselor

To help you cope with the stresses in your life that you can't avoid, we recommend:

• Exercising has been proven to be a true reliever of stress. It helps to release tension and lift your mood. Physical activities such as nature walks or yoga can calm and relax you.
• Meditating triggers a relaxation response as it decreases your respiratory rate, heart rate, and blood pressure, and relieves muscle tension. It has also been shown to cause a drop in the stress hormones in your blood. Some women feel that meditation is as restful as a nap. 
• Journaling, the act of writing out your thoughts and concerns, can help prevent you from dwelling on anxieties. 
• Creating a calm atmosphere by using essential oils for aromatherapy, listening to quiet music, and dimming the lights can help you feel very peaceful. 
• Getting adequate sleep keeps you from becoming tired and less able to deal with the fast-pace of modern life. Try to avoid turning to food or caffeine to fight fatigue. You will need your rest more than ever when you are pregnant and after the baby comes, so now is the time to develop good sleep patterns.

Body Awareness

Experts recommend that women start preparing for pregnancy one to three months before trying to conceive (get pregnant). Learn about preparing your body for pregnancy, getting off birth control, how you'll know if you are pregnant, special issues for women over 35, and more here.

The more you know about how your body works, the better you will understand what to expect when you become pregnant and as the pregnancy progresses. If you have any health issues, the best time to identify and address them is before trying to or actually becoming pregnant.

Before you become pregnant, you'll want to know:

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  If you have any existing medical conditions that might affect your ability to conceive, have a healthy pregnancy, and/or give birth to a healthy baby
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  The health of your reproductive organs and breasts
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  Your fertility status
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  Your genetic history/heritage
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  Your metabolism rate
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  The condition of your heart, blood, lungs, urine, and hormones
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  If you need any adult immunizations/vaccinations
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  How current lifestyle choices could affect your pregnancy or your baby

If you are on birth control

When to go off your birth control method to get pregnant depends on the kind of birth control you've been using.

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  If you have been using barrier methods of contraception such as condoms and diaphragms, theoretically, you can get pregnant as soon as you stop using them.
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  If you have been using hormone-based methods such as the Pill, implants, or injections, it may take a few months before your periods become regular and you can plan your pregnancy. For example, for women using Depo-Provera, the average length of time from going off the drug to conception is 9 months.
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  If you have been using an IUD, you will need to have it removed before trying to get pregnant.
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  If you have been using natural family planning, theoretically, you can get pregnant as soon as you change the timing of your sexual activity.

It is important to remember that you may not get pregnant immediately after going off birth control.  In fact, only about 20% of women who wanted to become pregnant in a given month, actually conceive.

If you have trouble in getting pregnant

If a couple is having sex regularly, most women will conceive within 6 months and almost all women will become pregnant in one year. If you do not become pregnant after a year, then it may be time to consult your caregiver. Only after a year of trying to conceive would a medical doctor consider your situation as having trouble getting pregnant. 

Having trouble getting pregnant may be due to timing, stress, age, premature withdrawal or pulling out by the partner, reduced vaginal lubrication, or more complicated medical factors, such as male and/or female infertility issues.

A pre-pregnancy checkup can help you identify which, if any, of these factors might influence your ability to get pregnant. This could save you and your partner a great deal of unnecessary stress.

Timing: Knowing your body, particularly when you ovulate, helps you plan conception. Are you making love immediately before, during, or immediately after ovulation? These are the best times to conceive. Once you know you're ovulating, you have a 24-48 hour window of opportunity to become pregnant. Remember, sperm can live 24-72 hours in the woman's reproductive system, so conception can happen if you make love a day or two before or after ovulation.

There are four ways to tell when you're ovulating - when your hormones and your egg are ready for fertilization. Some you'll feel comfortable with and some may not appeal to you at all.

(1) Some women feel mittleschmertz - a slight mid cycle cramping - usually midway between their periods.

(2) Some women track their basal body temperature (BBT) by taking their temperature every morning when they wake up - even before they get out of bed; charting your BBT will reveal your temperature patterns, and in particular, the sudden rise at ovulation.

(3) Some women monitor the consistency of their vaginal cervical mucus; usually minimal and clear, the closer to ovulation, the stickier and waterier it becomes. Ultimately it resembles uncooked egg whites. The further you can stretch it between you thumb and your index finger, the closer you are to ovulation.

(4) Some women buy ovulation predictor kits which measure how much luteinizing hormone is in your urine; there is a surge right before ovulation.

The most common symptoms or signs of pregnancy

A late period or missed period may or may not mean you are pregnant.
About three weeks after conceiving, you will begin to notice these other signs:

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  tender, swollen breasts
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  fatigue
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  the urge to urinate more often than usual
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  nausea, sometimes made worse by certain smells and tastes
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  becoming emotional, even teary
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  increased vaginal discharge

Getting sure

Pregnancy tests include:

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  A blood test at a doctor's office, 5-7days after conception.
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  A home pregnancy test, 10 days after you think you may have become pregnant.

Home pregnancy kits detect a hormone - human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) - that is produced by the primitive but functional placenta along the uterine wall. It can be detected as early as the second or third week after fertilization. Home pregnancy kits are not 100% accurate. To increase their accuracy, use the first urine of the day (hCG is most easily detected then), follow the instructions carefully, and recheck your test results the next morning and again in a week (unless your period has started).

The more sensitive the kit, the lower the amount of hCG it can detect. Waiting the full ten minutes for the results also increases the accuracy of the result. Some tests, however, don't detect the hCG and can mislead you into believing you are not pregnant when, in fact, you are. If you tested negative and your next period is late, retest. Your hCG levels double every two or three days and some women won't have a positive result until the first day of a missed period.

If you have been taking a fertility medication that contains hCG such as Novarel, Profasi or Pregnyl, be sure to ask your health care provider when you should test for pregnancy. You may need to wait 10-14 days after last taking your medication, since, otherwise, it might give a positive result when you're not pregnant.

Once you think you're pregnant, schedule an appointment with your health care provider as soon as possible.

If you are above 35

Most women over 35 have successful pregnancies, minimal pregnancy complications, and healthy babies. However, there are some changes and risks of which you should be aware:

Fertility (the ability to conceive) - naturally changes with age but at what age and at what rate varies. As you approach age 35 and more decidedly after age 40, the number of eggs in your ovaries and those eggs' ability to become fertilized and grow into embryos declines.

The older you are when you become pregnant, the greater your risk of having a miscarriage (pregnancy ends during the first five months), complications during pregnancy such as gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, and placenta abruption (when the placenta detaches from the uterine wall), or a baby with chromosomal problems resulting in birth defects.

If you are concerned about these or other possible pregnancy complications, see your health care provider as soon as possible. There are increased risks if you are in your mid-30s or older, but age doesn't have to prevent you from trying to get pregnant.

Planning Stage

Planning before you get pregnant is very important. Simply put, the healthier you are as you are planning your pregnancy, the more likely you are to have a healthy baby. I hope you'll start planning for pregnancy as soon as you begin to have thoughts about having a baby.

A baby's organs begin to form in the first few weeks of pregnancy, before you may know that you are pregnant. As this is a critical phase of development, the more planning you do, the greater the pay off can be in terms of the health of your baby. Unfortunately, there are no foolproof methods for having a healthy baby, but there are many things you can do that may improve your chances of a good outcome.

Planning your pregnancy may help you to:

• Conceive more easily
• Have a healthier pregnancy
• Avoid or minimize pregnancy complications
• Give birth to a healthier baby
• Recover more quickly and easily after giving birth
• Have a more pleasant postpartum (post birthing) experience
• Minimize your child's risk of future adult health problems.
• Take care of your expenditure during pregnancy and there after

By planning your pregnancy, you will know that during this important early stage you were taking the best possible care of yourself and your baby.

We will discuss Planning by dividing it into following topics.:

1. Body awareness
2. Emotions and stress
3. Environment: Home & Work
4. Exercise & Fitness
5. Finances & Insurance
6. Genetic Counseling & Testing
7. Healthy Lifestyle Habits
8. Medications
9. Nutrition
10. Pre-Pregnancy Checkup
11. Relationships
12. Weight
13. Care givers and birth setting
14. Dental Care
15. Drug alcohol and Tobacco

Getting started.

Lets start the journey called parent hood. I will like to start right from the beginning. Lets define the stages of Pregnancy and then start from the same. First and foremost let me define the stages. Pregnancy can be divided into following stages:

1.) Planning Stage
2.) First Trimester Stage
3.) Second Trimester Stage
4.) Third Trimester Stage
5.) Giving birth stage
6.) Postpartum Stage
More write up one by one as we go along the journey. Hope you will find it useful and helpful.

The purpose!

The purpose of this website is to guide for all the married couples who want to be parents or are going to be parents soon. This website will guide the couple through the whole process of being parents. We request you and all to contribute to this blog and leave your remarks and comments.
Please do note that this website is just for guidance and is in no way replacement for doctor or midwifes or maternity facilitators. In case of any enquiry you have please feel free to send me email on my email on my email ID singh_bk@hotmail.com.