Back Again

Life has sure been challenging since I last posted. The family has now grown to two members, now 1 and three. What I have been lacking is some focus. My career is well on track by time to put a focus on my over all wellness. I welcome you on my journey and hope that you can share your secrets about but family life and try to keep some sort of balance in your lives.

Sick

We are both sick and for me who cares but it is scary when you see your expecting wife sick (head cold, chest infection). It has been almost a week now and three visits to the doctor. Any suggestions?

Here is some information that I found about chest infections from Love Life Matters:

Chest Infection During Pregnancy?

Question

I'm 24 weeks pregnant and have a chest infection. Firstly, I'm worried that all my coughing will distress the baby – is this reasonable? Secondly, what medicines can I take that are safe to the baby, but will ease my cough and cold? I have been taking blackcurrant linctus 3-4 times a day.

Answer

Unfortunately there is no way to avoid infections in pregnancy. In fact, women are slightly more prone to infection in pregnancy than they would otherwise be.

It is normal to be concerned about the baby throughout pregnancy, and many women worry about the effects of excessive coughing. The baby is remarkably resilient and will not be affected by your cough and cold. I would not advise that you take any medicines apart from paracetamol for any fever or discomfort that you might have. Usually symptoms such as yours will last for a couple of weeks and will then begin to settle. If you are coughing up phlegm or your symptoms are not easing after this time, it would be a good idea to arrange to see your GP so that you can be examined. If there is evidence of bacterial infection a course of antibiotics may be needed, and there are several antibiotics that can be safely used in pregnancy. If this is not the case, drinking plenty of fluids and using some steam inhalation is likely to help, and over a period of weeks your symptoms will settle.

Yoga and Pregnancy

I am sure we have all heard about the importance about exercise and pregnancy. What have you heard about yoga and pregnancy? Below you will find a video that I found on YouTube about Yoga during the first Trimester. What do you think?

Decisions

When we first got pregnant we went to the doctor to make sure that everything was fine. He first got us to both do blood work. We did not hear anything back from the results of our blood work, so we assumed that everything was fine. Well, that was potentially a bad mistake. After we found out that our baby had no heart beat, after 13 weeks, we also found out that we had non-compatible blood types. We were told that this did not cause us to lose our baby but my wife was given WinRho right away as our blood types did not match. We did a lot of reading online and we were both scared that having two different blood types could have made her infertile. When we went back to the doctor he told us that everything is fine and that we should be able to get pregnant again. We are both hoping that his happens soon. Please make sure to share any stories similar to this with us.

Exhausted or Tired?

ZZZZZZ! The two of us are both exhausted and tired, and I am not even the pregnant one. Any suggestions other than getting more sleep?

Worth Thinking About

I got one of those chain emails today, the ones I normally get frustrated when receiving and delete with a click of the mouse. For some reason I decided to read it and it continued to put things into perspective for me. Earlier this week during our scare made me think about what I was doing in life. Things that seemed to be important did not seem so important. How many times in life are we told that it is the little things in life that mean so much. We need to settle down and enjoy every moment in life and not just look for the grass that is greener on the other side. I guess the list from the chain letter below was a reminder for me. I hope that this helps you out in your busy lives and puts things back into perspective. Any solutions for our busy lives?

• Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.
• Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.
• Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.
• Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck and I will buy you one if he comes by.
• Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.
• Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.
• Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.
• Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.
• Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.
• Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.
• Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.
• Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.

• And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask Him for nothing, except one more day.............

Pregnancy and Flying

In a couple of weeks my wife will be going on a trip and will be flying. We were visiting some family over the weekend and my wife started to talk about her upcoming trip. One person indicated that pregnant women should not be flying, neither one of us had heard of this before. This post will focus on information I can find on this topic.

Flying While Pregnant
Indicates that healthy pregnant women before the 36th week should be able to fly but should consult their doctor. It also points out that during the first trimester flying can make morning sickness worse.

Pregnancy and Flying
This is a set of questions and answers on fling and pregnancy.

BBC Parenting: Flying During Pregnancy
Information from Dr. Gill Jenkins about problems arising from flying during any stage of pregnancy.

What have you heard about flying and pregnancy?

Diet and Pregnancy

I have read, in a number of places, how important it is to have a good diet during pregnancy. We have not visited a dietitian by I am interested in what a good diet would entail. I noticed that we have an eating plan on the fridge, but have not been following it at all. Below you will find two online sources of information on this topic and I then leave you with a question.

Pregnancy Diet and Nutrition by Gloria Tsang R.D.

BBC Parenting Diet and Health

What type of diet do you suggest?

Problems During Pregnancy

So as I have said before we are both new to the realm of being expecting parents. We had a little bit of a scare yesterday but the doctor told her she would be fine (she sure felt better when she heard a heartbeat). We were told that my wife needs to get some rest. She needs this as she has been working really hard the last while. I told here that the rest is well worth the wait. What types of complications can there be during pregnancy and what signs should we be looking for?

Balance

I was reflecting on my day today and started to think about balance. Both my wife and myself work long hours and have many commitments outside of work. We are extremely excited about starting a family but I am a little nervous about the pace of our current lives and know we will need to make changes.

I have noticed already that I need to do a lot more around the house, as my beautiful wife is tired when she gets home. For those of you that are parents now, how did you balance your life after being blessed with a baby?

Here are a few articles on this topic I found on the Internet.

40 Mom-Tested Tips for Balancing Work and Family

Juggling work and family: 7 coping strategies

Finding Balance: Parenting and Working: Geeky Mom Blog

Pregnancy Community Chat

I am currently talking to a group of people online. I sure think it is a big support to talk to others about things we are going through. I have asked the people that I am talking to, to add a comment about the things they are going through (ie. tired, sore, hungry). I guess I will see how this works.

Pregnancy and Bathing

We have been discussing whether it is OK for my wife to have a bath during pregnancy. We were not sure if it was OK and have heard that the temperature can cause problems. It is important to find out as my wife has been extremely cold, especially at night. So today I decided to turn to looking to see if this was a health concern or not. This is what I found out.

About

This articles states that baths are very good for pregnant women but the temperature can cause problems. The temperature of the bath should not be more that 100 degrees F (roughly 38 degrees C).

Aetna InteliHealth
An article at this link 'Twelve Myths About Pregnancy' by Robert H. Shmerling (MD) agrees with the information about watching the temperature of a bath. He also gives advice about:

Controlling and Predicting Gender
Morning Sickness and Gender
Umbilical-Cord Problems
Heartburn and Hair
Sleeping Position
Sex and Exercise
Cats
X-Rays, Microwaves and Computers
Bathing
Weather and Labor
Spicy Foods and Labor
Bumps

FitPregnancy
An article at this link 'Bathing Bliss' by Marla Neuman agrees with the last two sites. She states that bathing is safe as long as the temperature is equal to your body temperature and that you limit the soaks to ten minutes. It also gives suggestions to when bathing that include setting the mood, drawing the bath, bubble bath, massages and body lotion.

Do you have any other suggestions or information on the subject of bathing and pregnancy?

Holiday Expectations

The holidays can be a great time to get together with family and friends but it can also be a very stressful time, especially for the expecting mother. What others forget is that pregnancy affects women in different ways. Family members must remember that they need to be supportive and do what they can do to reduce the stress in the expecting mothers life.

Barbara P. Homeier, MD has an article that can be found online at Kids Health. It is entitled 10 Things that Might Surprise You About Being Pregnant. These ten things include the following (make sure to check out the article for more information):

Altered States

• The Nesting Instinct (organize, clean, decorate)
  
• Inability to Concentrate
  
• Mood Swings

Unexpected Effects of Pregnancy

• Bra Size (Breast Fairy)
  
• Skin
• Hair and Nails (Grow Faster)
  
• Shoe Size
• Joint Mobility
• Varicose Veins, Hemorrhoids, and Constipation

Birth Day Surprises

• Things That Will Come Out of Your Body

With all of these changes it is important for family, friends and especially the husband to be supportive.

Nutrition and Pregnancy Week by Week

I got the feedback below about a similar situation that I talked about yesterday.

"Be cautious when dealing with food and pregnancy. The best advice is to assume nothing and nod agreeably to your lovely spouse. Remember sudden movement can be perceived as insincerity. I remember buying my pregnant wife food...thinking I was sensitive to her needs. It turned out by the 9th month of pregnancy in reality she did not appreciate the food I was buying. Let's just say I had a lot of making up...sucking up to do."

Sincerely,
I feel your struggle

I think that I know where this is coming from, even though the post was anonymous. We need to go out for those Thai Fresh Rolls.

I found a great website today that shows what is happening each month of pregnancy developed by WebMed. The area of the website is Pregnancy Week by Week. This is sure interesting for a rookie like me.

Exercise and Pregnancy

I have heard how important exercise during pregnancy is and am currently doing some research on this. I found some great information about this at Childbirth.org. They give the following guidelines (I hope this information is handy).

As, for myself, I have found that I am doing a lot more house work. My wife is extremely tired leaving me with added responsibilities around the house. Between staying caught up at work, a class I am taking and housework there does not seem to be enough time in the day. I need to make sure to take time to exercise. Any suggestions for finding this balance?