Lose Weight After Pregnancy

All About Your Pregnancy, Losing Weight And More!

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Archive for April, 2009

Pregnancy Help

Generally speaking, once you have had fertility treatment, you will have to wait at least 14 days before the clinic will carry out the test but if you can’t wait to learn then home pregnancy tests are reasonably accurate and readily available. Often women overlook the fact that oftentimes when home pregnancy tests are held too quickly after treatment, they can often suggest a false positive answer.

There are however, other signs of pregnancy that you will discover, for example: frequent mood changes, sensitive breasts and the desire to use the toilet more frequently, sickness, missing your menstrual cycle, tiredness and heightened sense of smell and taste.

More often than not, the fertility clinic will keep in contact in the first few weeks when you get pregnant to go through ultrasound scans to monitor the development of your foetus. Do not be too worried if you have one of those clinics that do not keep on with support after their work is done so alternative arrangements will have to be sorted out to look after your pregnancy and delivery.

Some people take a little while to acclimatize to the fact that they are having a baby after a course of fertility treatment so don’t concern yourself if, in the beginning, you are not as excited about as you thought you would be. Accept this as perfectly natural, but the fundamental thing is to learn to live with your emotions whatever they are, and to take into consideration that virtually all mums-to-be go through a mixture of emotions on learning they are pregnant whether they have been through fertility treatment or not.

There should not be any real physical difference between someone who has become pregnant naturally to someone who has accepted fertility treatment, except they may find it more emotionally challenging. At times however, it may be essential for them to have extra scans at the hospital. Often this is because they have had previous problems with a miscarriage, stillbirth or health problems for example. One essential factor will be the mother-to-be’s age because the older you grow the more likely complications may occur.

Since it’s discovery there have been over a million babies have been born employing treatments such as In Vitro Fertilization for example, and there is every chance that you to will give birth to a healthy baby. Even with the safety record, you can never say there won’t be any problems experienced in a pregnancy, whether it was assisted or not because they all have some danger but the majority of the time these are only insignificant.It might be easier said and done but try to slow down during the pregnancy and enjoy the time as much as possible.

Unfortunately the amount of stillbirths that occur after employing IVF is above those for natural conception. Ordinarily there are only a couple of situations that can cause this: the first being that many women that get fertility treatment have a pregnancy test quite early in the pregnancy. Alternatively, a woman who conceived naturally may receive what she thinks is a late period when in fact an embryo has been created, but didn’t to implant.The second reason is because women who have fertility treatment are generally more mature than those who don’t, and the risks of miscarrying go up as the woman ages. If there is anything you are unsure of, you would be advised to speak to a doctor from the fertility clinic.

If you find the information above educational and useful, read more about pregnancy and birth at pregnancy guide.

Travelling While Pregnant

Pregnant women need to plan their holidays and air travel with some extra care. Whilst the second trimester is generally considered the best time to travel, it is important to check with your doctor that there are no medical reasons not to fly before booking your tickets. An example of particular medical conditions could be additional swelling especially of the ankles plus raised blood pressure or bleeding and in these circumstances a pregnant woman may well be advised against any type of air travel.

Whilst it is almost universally accepted that it is safe for expectant mothers to fly up until the thirty sixth week of pregnancy, it is best to check this detail with the airline involved. Carrying a medical certificate if the pregnancy is more than 24 weeks pregnant is recommended.

Pregnant women should check in early, as they can request a bulkhead seat, which may have more leg room, depending on the airline, or ask for an aisle seat so that it is easier to get in and out. If the destination is in Africa or Asia then a vaccination against hepatitis A and B would normally be recommended but pregnant women are warned against typhoid inoculations even though there isn’t any medical evidence that it can harm the unborn child so the best advice is for the woman to speak with the doctor first.

Pregnant women are also advised against traveling to any country where malaria is prevalent. In Australia, typhoid and hepatitis A vaccinations aren’t advised for children under six but it is recommended that children are up-to-date with their other immunizations.

To be on the safe side it is advisable to check with a medical professional before any travel is arranged when a woman is pregnant. If in a country with hepatitis A or typhoid then the use of bottled water for drinking or even brushing teeth is an absolute necessity and ice should only be used from water that has been purified.

It is also inadvisable to eat fruit and raw vegetables and before eating wash your hands with an antibacterial hand wash. Nowadays it is easy to carry travel size bottles of gel hand wash that can sterilize without the need for special facilities as it dries in the air almost immediately.

Air travel also increases the risk of deep vein thrombosis which is statistically more likely in pregnant women so to guard against this it is recommended that expectant women wear the special flight socks or tight that are now available. To keep maintain a good circulation, it is advisable that walking about or other exercises be carried out whilst in flight whenever possible.

Travel insurance policies will cover costs relating t the pregnancy up to twenty six weeks but even policies that cover travel related claims after that period will not include those for the pregnancy itself.

To read more about pregnancy and baby, visit pregnancy101.org and while you are it, you can learn more about very early symptoms of pregnancy.

 

Weight Loss After Birth

Weight loss after pregnancy is not generally a problem but just how much weight you can lose depends on many things. Most women will lose anywhere from 10-14 pounds within the first 2 weeks of delivery which may be attributed primarily to the loss of excess fluid in the body, the baby’s weight, the placenta and amniotic fluid.

As hormone levels in the woman’s body return a level of normality she will begin to lose more pounds but you have to remember that around an extra 7 pounds of fat are put on during her pregnancy. Energy is stored in this excess fat ready for breast feeding the baby but how quickly each woman loses weight is dependent on factors like genetics, the mother’s health, how much exercise they get and the type of food they eat.

After all, it did take nine moths to put the weight on and you cannot expect to lose it all overnight but having said that some women are fortunate enough to lose almost all of this weight within a matter of months after the birth. Nature decides how quickly each person will lose the weight and some mothers hang on to the last few pounds until they have finished breastfeeding.

The good news is that with a solid nutritional program and with moderate exercise, you can expect to lose the weight you gained during pregnancy within a reasonable time frame. In fact if women follow the exercise and diet plan carefully, there is no reason why they won’t be back to their original size in the same amount of time it took to have the baby. Although some women seem to defy this average and have their normal shape back within as little as three months.

Becoming pregnant and subsequently giving birth changes a woman’s body and makeweight loss after pregnancy a more challenging prospect than putting it on. This is one good reason if you want to achieve weight loss after pregnancy then you must take things steady and not try to rush, especially if you wish to stay healthy.

Anyway, your doctor might well advise you to wait a while before you start your weight loss after pregnancy so you will have sufficient energy and resources to feed your baby as at the start it will be an ongoing twenty four hours a day job.A feeding mother may take upwards of six months for the hormone and metabolic rate to return to normal but for some people the changes they experience end up being permanent.

Don’t forget, the average weight gain during pregnancy is between 25-35 lbs and during birth you can expect to lose about 12-14 lbs. With perhaps another twenty pounds or more to lose the mother should follow the previous steps and attempt to lose the weight slowly but steadily within the following six to eight months.

For more information about pregnancy and health topics, visit pregnancy101.org and also check out food for pregnant woman.