Morning Sickness During Pregnancy

Morning sickness can be one of your first signs that you are pregnant.  This doesn’t always mean that you’ll get sick only in the morning. This can happen, morning, noon or night. It will normally occur in the first trimester or your pregnancy and end by the second, this isn’t the case in all pregnancies though. Some women will continue with it until the very end of term.

Nausea can happen immediately or you may get lucky and have no morning sickness at all. No one is for certain what causes morning sickness, it is a change in the body that happens during pregnancy. Many women seem to get sick after taking the prenatal pill, try taking it later in the day. Your doctor may even advise you to take some other form of vitamin instead of the pill. Always find out first with your doctor before taking anything new or taking yourself off medication, even prenatal pills.

There are a few ways to minimize the sickness, but they don’t work for everyone. Try keeping crackers on hand, I prefer saltines for some reason. Try drinking some ginger ale, it calms the stomach down.  Dry cereal is another good thing to eat, your stomach may just be a little bit hungry and trying to tell you. Remember to take small portions, this way you know if it is all going to come up or not. Sleeping is another good way to avoid it, however it will wake you up. Keep yourself hydrated, not only can this make your sickness come but you can become dehydrated and need to go to the emergency room if you aren’t careful.

Smells is another thing that seems to cause morning sickness. Imagine walking into a restaurant and the first thing you smell is grease. Yes, this can easily set it off. Bad smells and even certain tastes, get the feel for your body during the pregnancy and figure out just what sets it off. Knowing how to avoid it, can make a world of difference.

A few reasons you should go to your doctor would be if you begin losing weight because you are constantly sick. If you become dehydrated, faint, look pale, confused or throw up more than four times in a day. Your doctor may be able to prescribe something that will stop it.

Try slowing down a bit, sometimes your body is just exhausted from all the errands you are running and it tries to give you a break. Listen to your body, take a nap, relax and watch a television show…take some time off. If you are looking for remedies for your morning sickness, you may try buying some pregnancy pops. Or if you’d prefer to stay away from the sweets you can wear a bracelet designed to stop morning sickness, they are just like the motion sickness bracelets.  They don’t work for everyone but they could work for you.

Wives Tales and Pregnancy

It's all great to hear advice during your pregnancy, especially unwelcome advice. I'm sure you've been told by one person or another how to live. Am I right? It only gets worse the further along in your pregnancy you are. Someone will want to tell you that you shouldn't bend, or walk a certain way, not to pick up a baby in case you hurt the one in your stomach or put yourself in labor. As the pregnancy gets closer to the due date you'll be told many different home remedies of how to put yourself in labor. Got a headache?  Someone can tell you exactly what to drink to get rid of it without any medication, remember it is important to ask a doctor before trying to take something you've never tried before doing it.  But the most fun I have during the course of the 9-10 months stretch is hearing all the wives tales, also known as myths.

I'm pretty sure you aren't going to even care at this point what sex the baby is, all you want is for the morning sickness to stop. You may even be counting down the days until the first trimester is over.  Chances are if you morning sickness someone is bound to tell you what sex of the baby is.  One wives tale is if you are having severe morning sickness is a sign you are having a girl.

Here's a wives tale that is a lot of fun and you can test it on everyone in your household. Take a thin piece of string or your hair, slide your ring down it, hold it above your belly and let the ring dangle above it. If the rings spins in a circle it is a boy, but if it goes from one side to the other, it is a girl.  Once you've tried it out on your tummy, get someone in your house and do it above their hand. Does the ring spin in a circle above your husband's hand? Hmm, is it really and old wives tale or is there really something to it?

Many women claim to suffer from bouts of heartburn during the pregnancy, according to the old wives tell this would mean your baby will be born with a head full of hair.

Right before the end of your first trimester your doctor will listen to your baby's heart rate, this is to make sure the baby is doing alright.  The wives tale goes, if the heart rate is high it is a girl and a low one is a boy. 

Ever have someone tell you that you are carrying high or low and wonder what that really means? Basically if you are carrying your baby low it is closer to your abdomen, a high baby is closer to your chest.  Look at yourself in the mirror. How is your baby sitting?  The old tale says that if you are carrying high it is a girl, carrying low is a boy.

Wives tales can be a lot of fun but keep in mind these aren’t fact. Don’t go preparing your child’s room just because one of these told you, you were going to have a girl.

Preparing the kids for Pregnancy

Image via WikipediaThe moment you find out your pregnant you want to tell everyone, including your kids. The way you tell your child depends on their age, an older child will understand what it means when you tell them you are pregnant or that they are going to be a brother or sister soon. However, a toddler is a little bit harder to explain this too.

Think about your child’s personality when it comes time to tell them. You know your child best. They may enjoy being sent little clues like you did with daddy, or they may just want you to tell them straight out.  You could get lucky and have them walk in the room while you are announcing it. This happened to me when I was expecting child number four. I had just walked out of the bathroom waving the wand in the air to show my husband. I had no clue that my kids had walked into the room until I heard them screeching I was pregnant. Oops.

Their Reactions
Don’t be shocked if at first your child acts distant, many children will respond to the news in their own way. One of your children may even start to pretend to be pregnant right along with you, mimicking everything you do. While another child may tell you they don’t want you to bring home a new baby. These are all common reactions to the news, the way you handle it will determine the outcome.

If your child seems reluctant to want another child in the home you may want to find out why. The only way to find out what’s bugging him/her is to ask.  Maybe they are just scared that you are going to stop loving them, or that everyone will forget about him/her when the baby is born.

Showing them They are Important too
A good way to do this is to make sure they get something the moment the baby is born, some have had the doctors give the sibling their own baby doll when their sibling was born. Try reading children’s books with them to show them that it’ll be a good thing. Dad can always spend some one on one time with them.  

Involving Your Child in the Pregnancy
This is their baby too, have your children accompany you to a few of the doctor visits. Let them hear the heartbeat of their little sister or brother. Watch their faces light up when they see the baby for the first time on the screen. There are many ways you can involve them, you can encourage them to help you decide on a name. Try letting them feel the baby kick for the first time by placing their hand on your swollen belly.

It’s easy to prepare the siblings for your new arrival as long as you involve them in the pregnancy along the way. They’ll be happy to be part of it and feel more of a connection to the baby when he/she is born.

Fun Ways to Announce Your Pregnancy

Whether you just found out you’re pregnant or you’ve known for a few months, announcing your pregnancy to family and friends can be a lot of fun. Some may want to wait until a certain time during their pregnancy, while others want to call everyone immediately after finding out themselves.

Telling The Father
Have a romantic dinner for two with candle lights, it may be your last time for a while, between morning sickness and raising your little one. Serve up baby carrots, baby back ribs and anything else you can think as baby. At the end, pour apple juice instead of wine and hand him a present. Inside you can have a tiny baby bib that says, “I heart My Daddy”  
or a pair of baby booties.

If you can’t tell the father right away because he’s away on business, or deployed try sending him a care package. Inside the box place a few baby items, everything in blue and pink and a baby naming book in the center. Place a note on top of the book with, “I need a name soon, I’ll be here by June.” Or whenever the baby is due.

You can also see how long it takes him to figure it out. Go to the dollar store and pick up a bunch of small baby items, a bib, rattle, bottle, booties, etc. For a week, leave an item laying around the house where he is bound to find them. At the end of the week if he hasn’t figured it out yet, prepare the big gift. Have a large teddy bear sitting at the dinner table in the seat beside him, make sure there is a bib wrapped around him and maybe a sign that says Hi Daddy. 

Telling Family and Friends
Show up to a family gathering wearing a shirt that announces your state. These days there are a ton of shirts out there with clever sayings, “Baby on Board,” “A Bun in the Oven,” or something related to the pregnancy. The moment you walk in or take off your jacket everyone will figure it out without you ever having to say a word. Now, get ready for the tears and excitement. You’ll be answering a ton of questions.

If you already have children you may want to call the grandparents up and tell them that the next Christmas they may want to add one more to the list.

If this is the first grandchild, you may want to get a bracelet link for your mom that reads, “#1 Grandma” or grandparent t-shirts. This will not only be a great present for them but something they will cherish and love forever.

No matter when you spread the news it can be a lot of fun, just think creative and let the pieces fall. You may even want to try catching all of it on video, so think ahead and prepare for the BIG moment, and I’m not meaning the birth.

All Hands on Baby

Everyone wants to touch the baby, especially during the pregnancy but no one every asks.  If you haven't noticed yet, the minute you start to show a tummy everyone else will gladly show you.  The tummy becomes this magnet for hands and everyone wants to handle it. It doesn’t matter if you are walking around in a store, sitting down in a restaurant or walking on your own street, someone is bound to start rubbing all over it.

You aren’t the only one that is being driven nuts by this either, take a look at your husband. Sure he seems like a trooper but deep inside he’s probably ready to put someone’s lights out.  Talk with your husband and see how he feels. Even if you don’t mind, he might not like other men’s hands on you. He may not care if it is a female touching your body but he can mind about a man. Think about how you would feel if you saw some woman rubbing her hands all over your husband’s chest. Maybe the two of you can come to an agreement, after all do you have to let everyone touch the baby?

Your belly, clothed or not is a personal space, sure there is someone intruding inside you but that person in welcome. But to actually touch someone else’s belly one should ask before they do it and respect your answer. If you don’t want them to touch it, tell them. While some women don’t mind all the attention, there are other women that don’t want their belly’s touched, let alone them to be showing for the whole world to see. Maybe they’ve gained 10 pounds and feel conscious enough about it, or they could be a very private person. 

Children may also want to touch the belly, normally it is because they know someone that has had a baby and they were able to do it. If you don’t like it, let them know. If you don’t mind, you may want to place their hand on your belly. Children tend to get excited and actually smack the belly when they are trying to reach for it.

Forget about the rubbing the belly for a moment, be careful that you don’t get the person that likes to poke at it. That hurts more than anything and half the time they don’t get it. Try explaining to them as nicely as you can that it hurts. They may only be doing it because they want to see the baby move and when you jump they just think it is part of the pregnancy reaction. They may think twice before doing it again to you or anyone else.

If nothing else seems to work and you’ve been polite in letting people know that your belly is off limits, feel free to sick your husband on them or start swatting. You’ve already given fair warning.  Don’t feel bad if you smack a person that lifts up your shirt in broad daylight either. This is a normal reaction and people should really think twice before doing it. They wouldn’t do it if you weren’t pregnant. 

Planning a Baby Shower

Image via WikipediaBaby showers are a lot of fun, especially for pregnant mom-to-be. Not only is this something for the baby, but now she doesn‘t have to go out and buy. Before you throw a baby shower for someone there are a few things you should do to prepare. The first thing is figure out if this will be a surprise shower or not. There are benefits to both, the first one being if she knows she can help  you with a list of people that she would like to be there. However, if it is a surprise she’ll be touched that you cared enough to throw her a baby shower, but be careful you don’t want to give her too much of surprise and put her in labor.

Making the Guest List
When it comes to making the guest list things can get a little tricky. Find out if there is anyone that would be upset if they weren't invited. Never leave out close family or friends, at least give them the option of showing up.  

Games
Planning games for a shower can be a bit difficult when you have so many fun games and have a few gifts to pass out as prizes.  Baby shower games are a lot of fun, here is a quick list.

Mommy’s belly- The mom-to-be  stand in the center of the room and each guests get to decide how big her belly is using a string or a toilet paper sheets. Find out who guessed the closest.

Guess the nursery rhyme-  Give each guest a sheet of nursery rhymes and have them guess the nursery rhyme or finish it. This will help everyone remember them and see who reads those bedtime stories.

Did you say Baby Game?- Each guest is giving small clothespins to wear around their neck on a necklace or on their shirt. Every time someone says “Baby” if someone catches them they get to take one pin. At the end of the party the guest with the most pins wins a prize.

Memory- Using a plastic tin of some sort place a bunch of baby items in it such as, bib, thermometer, baby spoon, diaper rash crème, etc. Anything you’d use on a baby. Let each guest get a chance to look in the bin for a few seconds and take it away. Once everyone is finished have them write down everything that was in the box. The person with the most correct answers wins.

Baby Food Tasting - Have a variety of baby food in jars, take off the outside wrapper and place a number at the bottom of the jar, on a separate piece of paper write the name of each jar. Each guest is dished out a spoonful of baby food to try. Have them write down what they think each one is. The one with the most correct answers wins a prize.

Have a great baby shower and don’t forget to bring a gift.