Sunday, November 4, 2012

PREGNANCY


Pregnancy is one of the greatest achievements in a woman's life. Different people take it in different ways, some feel ready and some don't, but today we're going to discuss about those special woman who grab a pregnancy with open arms and watch that beautiful life grow throughout pregnancy in to newborn and toddler, preschool child,teen and adult
PREGNANCY surely is one word but contains a lifetime of meaning. Ofcouse pregnancy differs from one person to another but almost everyone would have some or all of these symptoms during early or later pregnancy. Nausea, difficulty in walking or breathing, tender breasts,bloating, weight gain, fatigue, constipation, mood swings, morning sickness,  swelling of feet and many more symptoms. Therefore pregnancy is not something simple. Its a lot of effort, stress and determination put in one woman to become a mother. That is why we need complete support from our husbands or partners, families & friends during our 9months of pregnancy

Now, how would you know your pregnat?  There are many ways ofcourse but the easiest way is by noticing that you've missed your monthly period, but there is also a very complicating fact about being pregnant & not knowing it. Its very rare but real, there are people who go into labour not knowing they are pregnant. This is a serious case and is a great disadvantage to the baby growing inside. So, what causes someone to be pregnant and not know it,  lets find out...

Symptoms of pregnancy are hidden in some cases because:

1. In some very rare cases obesity can affect a woman's menstrual cycle (period) meaning a woman may not have a normal once a month period, when this happens constantly a woman would not know when she really missed her period, so she could be missing the fact that she maybe pregnant.

2.in very rare cases the plasenta could be located in front the uterus, in this case a woman would not feel her baby's movements strongly this would cause her to think that the light movements she feels is due to gas.

HOW TO HANDLE PREGNANCY WHEN IT'S UNEXPECTED? In most cases, a woman would not know she's pregnant till she misses her period. Most times th good news catches us by shock or surprise , so how do we cope with this sudden good news? How do we stay sane?

 I remember when I first found-out I was pregnant, I was happy and depressed, I didn't know what to do, where to start and where to head to. I did a home pregnancy test with a friend and discovered I was pregnant. At the time my husband & I were going through a financial crisis. My company was closing down, my husband had just found a new job that didn't pay so well,we were living in my mum's two bed room house, apparently sharing the house with my family, we were not ready, my husband don't know how to handle it & it just broke him down totally, my pregnancy was not easy coz I didn't get much support from anywhere. But I still held on and was determined to have my baby. Actually my husband panicked through out the pregnancy,I remember him having months and months of sleepless nights wondering how we're going to handle a baby when we can't even maintain ourselves. So this being the case my husband only took me for doctors visits during my last two months. Every other time I was accompanied by my aunt. I went through a lot of mental distress, I cried alot, panicked and had a very bad temper, coz people around me were just not helping me. My dad kept smoking around me, and when ever I felt sick or weak I had no one around me, I had to handle it on my own. I have few cravings and my friends helped me out the way they could by getting me stuff but that was during my last two months, so :) it was not easy. I remember I had no labor pains during my last month, I had very slight contractions but was asked to come in to hospital a week earlier than my due date, coz I seemed to have an allergy and itchy fingers. My baby was due on the 1st of August but I had baby through a c- section operation on the 30th July 2012. My husband was very tensed when he came to visit me and my daughter, he was even afraid to hold her, but once we went home gradually things fell in to place. Now my baby is 3 months old, a very jovial and healthy baby, she wakes up every single day with a smile on her face & I feel its a blessing . My point being, pregnancy is not always easy for everyone, some would be treated like a queen while others would be treated like they are not important, but what's important is not how the outer world treats you but how u treat yourself & whether your going to stand strong for the baby growing inside you or whether your going to give up on yourself

 Back to the point, how to handle pregnancy when its unexpected :
 1. Be sure of what you want for yourself & the baby. There'll be alot you don't know, alot to face in the months to come and alot of things that will need your attention. Figure out what you need to do in your mind, if that doesn't help, don't feel bad to write it down on a separate notepad or book which you will keep updating throughout your 9 months.

 2. If this is your first baby ask friends & family who've had baby's before what they did during their first days. Which doctors they consulted and what vitamins or supplements they took throughout their pregnancy. But DO NOT TAKE ANY MEDICATION EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE VITAMINS OR SUPPLEMENTS WITHOUT DOCTORS APPROVAL. What ever decision you make has to be for the best & benefit for your baby so don't rush into any medication without doctors prior approval.

 3. Sometimes you may prefer a baby of a particular gender, even if the baby is not the gender you expect, know that the baby is yours and he or she is already living and counting on you to keep him or her alive so accept any gender with love.

 4. Start preparing yourself mentally for the physical changes your body will go through (I dainty know what to expect or what was going to happen next, so when my breasts started stretching and sagging, I felt it was the end of the body I had been working out & maintaining, but that's just something you have to accept. You'll go through various changes, and through it all, when ever your feeling terrible just remind yourself of the little beauty living inside of you, these changes are things that almost every woman would go through during some time in life. So keep a positive mind)

 5. Buy yourself stuff you like, things that will help you relax your mind.

 6. If you play a musical instrument and it makes you happy, play it whenever you feel like or do something relaxing like paint or draw a picture, do some sewing or handwork

 7. If you can afford it, buy some interesting or rather attractive maternity clothes, your pregnant YES. but that doesn't mean you need to feel less good looking, make yourself happy on the inside and out.

 8. Do not let other people's emotions get in your way. Your husband may not be ready, your family may not be supportive, this was my case but I still kept going, you need to be patient towards your husband's emotions coz a wrong word from you & you may really not be ready to hear what he has to say. So be cool & positive.

 9.