Endometriosis Diet

January 28, 2012

Understanding Endometriosis before Starting Endometriosis Diet

Like other feminine reproductive problems such as fibroids, ovarian cysts or inability to conceive, endometriosis are found to be the result of imbalance estrogen level in the body.

Endometriosis is often like a horror story for many women (impact 5.5 million women in North America) with some symptoms like:

1. Severe belly cramping

2. Fatigue

3. Heavy backaches

4. Excessive menstrual flow

5. Heavy headache

What is happening to your body when you have this endometriosis problem? When you’re going to start your menstrual cycle and the material lining your uterus gets ready to exit, some problematic tissues (also know as endometrial tissues) act the same way; expanding and spasming for menses preparation. The problem is that they’re kept in around (such as in fallopian tubes or ovaries) with nowhere to go. That’s why you experience the painful periods due to the triggered soreness.

Endometriosis is caused by prostaglandin synthesis in the body. Prostaglandin itself is a natural form of fatty acids which derived from the intake food through a maze of different body process. The correct endometriosis diet helps block bad prostaglandin, which causes uterine contractions and resulting excessive pain during menstrual cycle.

Now, I have the good news and bad news. The good news is, you can simply deal and control endometriosis by eating better, which usually called Endometriosis Diet.

The basis of endometriosis diet is the reduction of certain foods that promote Prostaglandin production. The bad news is we’ve involved too far with unhealthy diet such as chips, sodas, french fries and animal meat with only few amount of (or sometimes not at all) green leafy vegetables, so having endometriosis diet will not be as simple as that.

Endometriosis diet might change the eating pattern. For some people, it may not be easy to be done. However, it has to be started, unless we may not be able to stop the painful condition or even worsen it. Now, as you’re ready to start, check the following section of what food to avoid and food to take while having endometriosis diet.

Endometriosis Diet – Foods to Avoid

1. Red meat, dairy products and lard. This kind of food must not be your part of endometriosis diet while they create excessive amounts of acid which affect digestive as well as reproductive systems, causing imbalances acidity within the vagina.

2. Fatty or fried foods, canned foods or frozen foods. For the purpose of endometriosis diet or not, everybody knows that these foods contain fewer nutrition which provide unnecessary calories. These can also overwhelm the body with toxins.

3. Sugar. All forms of sugar, either refined and natural may responsible for the development of more acidic situation which resulting the inflammatory pain associated with endometriosis.

4. Caffeine and soda. Both of them are known to raise estrogen levels which can prompt endometriosis flare ups. Consuming two cups of coffee per day has been known to rise the estrogen level up.

5. Chocolate which has high level of sugar and milk.

6. Wheat and soy products. Wheat contains gluten and phytic acid which worsen the painful endometriosis symptoms. Soy products also contain phytic acid in a higher level than in wheat.

7. Refined carbohydrates which found in white bread, flour, pastry and cake.

8. Alcohol. Consuming alcohol can overwork the liver, which plays an important role in dealing with excess estrogen level in the body.

Endometriosis Diet – Food to Take

The body will give you the best response through the consumption of simple and natural endometriosis diet. Below are lists of food you must take while having this diet:

1. Organic food products such as locally grown fruits and vegetables, whole grains, organic meat and fish are the best choice as part of your endometriosis diet.

2. Fiber-source food is also good as a part of endometriosis diet while they’re not only help the digestion, but also help decreasing the level of estrogen circulating the body. Fiber can be found in beans, brown rice, vegetables and fruits.

3. Vegetables that help controlling estrogen level such as broccoli, cabbage and turnips.

The above three might not sound interesting, however you can replaced the “forbidden” food with some healthy but delicious options:

1. Sugar, replaced by agave nectar

2. Dairy milk, replaced by almond milk

3. Butter, replaced by flaxseed oil.

4. Table salt, replaced by sea salt.

5. Seasoned salt, replaced by fresh herbs.

6. Bottled juice, replaced by fresh fruit & veggies juice.

7. Peanut butter, replaced by almond butter.

8. Potato chips, replaced by flaxseed chips.

9. Meats, replaced by beans or fish.

10. Milk chocolate, replaced by dark chocolate.

11. Refined carbohydrates, replaced by whole grain bread, pasta and rice.

As I wrote in the previous section, changing into endometriosis diet might be simple but not that easy. But, if you dare to start from now, your body will give you a good response and one day it will thank you for the good substances you “feed” it.

Endometriosis Diet and Candida Growth

Many people believe that an effective endometriosis diet will prevent Candida to be overgrowth. This has been proved by a lot of research that showed women who implement anti-Candida diets have improved their endometriosis, increase level of energy and mood regulations as well as reducing the discomfort of endometriosis.

Although no definitive determinations of the relation between Candida and endometriosis which has been established, there are high prevalence of patience which suffers from both Candida overgrowth and Endometriosis. However, excessive amounts of Candida in reproduction area can create an ideal condition for hormonal imbalance or inflammation. On the other hand, hormonal imbalance which is usually found in a patient suffers from endometriosis can also be the trigger for a yeast infection. So, change dietary habit such as implementation of endometriosis diet is believed to impact both condition.

Additional Tips on for Successful Endometriosis Diet

To make your endometriosis diet successfully, I suggest you to perform physical exercise regularly. It has been proved by many women to lighten the pain during menstrual period.

Besides, there’s no evidence of doing proper exercise and having healthy diet which cause any harm ^-^.

So, don’t wait until tomorrow, start now and say “good bye” to your endometriosis horror.

Weaning From Breastfeeding

January 25, 2012

Nobody doubts the benefits of breast milk for babies. In fact, breast milk contains the most complete nutrition a baby need compared with the most expensive formula. However, sometimes a problem will arise when it comes the time for weaning from breastfeeding. This article will focus about this crucial process; how the child shows that he or she is ready for transition, the suggested method and tips on weaning from breastfeeding successfully.

Weaning from Breastfeeding-Is Your Baby Ready?

Baby should have only breast milk for about first 6 months of its life, this period is often called “exclusively breastfeeding”. Breastfeeding then continued until the child reaches the age of 2 years. This is what WHO suggested. After 2 years, mothers usually start weaning their babies from breastfeeding and turn into bottle or cup. Some mothers even start weaning from breastfeeding earlier. This transition sometimes causes some difficulties for both mother and the child. Some children will cry excessively, some others prefer to starve and refuse their breast milk’s replacement. Now, how to make sure your child is ready to be weaning from breastfeeding, either “fresh” breast milk or “expressed” one?

1. Your baby eats solid food at least 3 mealtimes a day. Solids will directly reduce the amount of breast milk they usually consume. When the child has a growing appetite, it would be a good time for mothers to start introducing another form of milk instead of breast milk. By consuming solids, baby has already adjusting their meal pattern and recognized that there are other varieties of food besides breast milk.

2. Your baby can drink from glass or able to use straw or hold his milk bottle by himself. Mothers can use glass, cup or bottle as different media for serving their milk.

3. Understand some simple statements. A child who already able to understand what mommy says is somehow easier to accept explanations of why he or she should separate from mom’s breast. You can easily tell him that there’s no more milk in your breast and ask him to drink formula from bottle. (I always tell my son to drink with “the trumpet” instead drinking from bottle, I though it would be more attractive ^-^).

However, weaning from breastfeeding is not an instant process. Some mommies might not face any difficulties in this process, while some others did. Keep on reading the next section about the suggested method of weaning baby from breastfeeding.

Suggested Method of Weaning From Breastfeeding

The preferred suggestion to do this process is by doing gradually. Weaning from breastfeeding in “slowly but sure” way will make the transition from breast to bottle or cup an easy one.

Not only mother who is involved in this process, baby has an equal right on deciding when he or she is ready for this process. Weaning from breastfeeding is not a short process which happens overnight and it will be much easier if the child decides the time and mother will only need to follow his or her lead.

The suggested method (or maybe the only way) to achieve the goal of weaning is by changing routine, especially before bedtime. If you usually nurse the child before bedtime, try to substitute milk via bottle or cup. Or you can allow him to snuggle beside you and read him favorite books. If he wakes up in the middle of the night, avoid nursing him and give him bottle instead, or if possible hold him until he go back to sleep.

The most important key in weaning from breastfeeding is: PATIENCE. Don’t push your child to be separated from breast milk dramatically if he has not ready yet, it will lead into excessive crying which put your nerves on the line. If you decide to eliminate a feeding, do one at a time and give your child a couple of days until he used to it. Then go to the next elimination or substitution.

In my experience, I started to change the nursing ritual by eliminating one feeding time in the afternoon and replace it with formula. The next elimination would be in the middle of the night when he usually woke up for breast milk, again I replace it with formula. So far my 19 months Kairo didn’t complain with this transition. So by the time I wrote this article, I only need one more feeding time to be replaced (before bedtime), which is probably the most difficult.

Weaning from breastfeeding gradually will give opportunity to your body adjusting the transition. It will be painful for your breast if you stop nursing suddenly. I’ve tried it once before doing it “step by step” and the result is my breast is harden like a stone and make me breathe hardly.

Once again, don’t force the child. You will know if they’re ready weaning from breastfeeding anytime they think it’s time to say goodbye to breast milk. I hope, the following tips will help you through this transition.

Tips on Weaning From Breastfeeding

A child is suggested to have breast milk until up to 2 years. Unfortunately changing routine to weaning from breastfeeding (as I mentioned above) is not that simple. Crying child or rejection is normal in this process, so I’d like to give you some tips how to have an easy transition for both mommy and baby:

1. Follow the sign of your child. The weaning process involved both of you, or probably more about your child. Mother will find it much easier if the initiative to weaning from breastfeeding come from the child.

2. Give the solids. Solid foods will instantly reduce the passion for breast milk. It will make them adjust with new taste or texture of various foods and help them understand there are many more different foods beside breast milk.

3. Introduce them with bottle as soon as possible. I used to express my breast milk and put them in a bottle since my baby was 1 month. Actually I did this as I have to go back to work so I didn’t want my baby refuse the artificial nipple just because he didn’t used to it. So as the transition period to formula begin, it’s not difficult for me to ask him using milk bottle because he was already familiar with the “artificial” nipple.

4. Introduce them with cups as they start growing teeth. Many experts say that drinking with bottle in a long period is not really good for the child’s teeth structure. You can sometime bring him to the store and let your child choose his own cup. By using cup, you introduce him how we should drink and teach him to be more independence.

5. Explain them how’s your breast milk condition. “See, mom’s is empty. Why don’t you drink with your trumpet?”. That’s what I often say to my boy, sometime he believed but sometimes he didn’t. But as he grows up, he started to notice that there’s no more breast milk even when he sucked, then he said: “It’s empty, I want my trumpet”. You can also tell your baby that he or she has already grown up, so it’s time for them to say “bye bye” to breast milk.

Weaning from breastfeeding should be a fun process for mother and her baby. Enjoy doing this transition and you will get through this successfully.

Exercise for Pregnant Women

January 22, 2012

Congratulations! You’re now carrying a baby, which means you’ll have a wonderful 9-months journey until you meet the cute little angel. From now on, everything you do will affect both of you and your baby, including exercise you might perform during pregnancy. Mostly, exercise for pregnant women is quite terrifying while they’re afraid it may be risky. Well, it might be true if you don’t know what to do or what to avoid.

This article focused on detailed information about exercise for pregnant women, such as: the benefits of exercise during pregnancy, some useful tips, examples of light exercise for pregnant women and yoga as another option for this exercise.

Why Moms-to be Should Do Exercise for Pregnant Women

Below are some benefits of performing exercise for pregnant women:

1. Keeping your muscles strong.

2. Builds moms-to be stamina.

3. Increase ability to handle the stress during labor and delivery

4. Helps the body releasing serotonin. Serotonin is a happy hormone which helps you feel more pleasure by minimizing aches and pain during pregnancy.

5. Helps get your body back after delivery

Although there are lots of negative opinions that exercise for pregnant women can put both mother and baby in danger, what you must put into consideration is what your doctor recommend and do the recommendation in the right way. Hopefully, you’ll get through this amazing 9 month journey with less stress and more energy.

Right Intensity of Exercise for Pregnant Women

When you decide to perform exercise for pregnant, you’ll probably ask this question: what is the right intensity is safe during pregnancy? The easiest indicator is by measuring your heart rate; don’t let it exceed 140 beats per minute. However, while heart rate is different so massively, there is one preferred methods commonly use: RPE scale.

RPE or Rating of Perceived Exertion is a measurement of exercise intensity. It describes how difficult you find an exercise. Below is an example of the scale:

0 – Nothing at all
1 – Very light
2 – Light
3 – Moderate
4 – Somewhat hard
5 – Hard
7 – Very hard
10 – Very, very hard

In this case, 2-4 is the intensity you should maintain during exercising. When you’re fitter you can stay closer to a 4 or maybe 5, but if you didn’t exercised before pregnancy you can stay closer to 2 and build up the intensity slowly.

To make sure you’re exercising in the right intensity, there are at least 2 indicators: you can breathe properly and you still able to hold a conversation while exercising.

6 Safe Exercise for Pregnant Women

The goal of performing exercise for pregnant women is not only maintaining healthy muscle or building stamina during pregnancy, but also to prepare non-stress labor and delivery process as well as getting back to your pre-pregnancy body easier.

Obviously, it’s not recommended to do heavy exercise for a long amount of time. Provide no more than 30 minutes a day for doing these exercises is more than enough to increase your energy and reduce many uncomfortable side effects while you’re pregnant.

Below are some examples of safe exercise for pregnant women:

Swimming. While water provides a cushioning effect, many pregnant women found it comfortable to exercise in the water. However, it depends on your own physical condition, the age of your pregnancy and what the doctors told you.
Walking. This is probably the easiest as well as the cheapest exercise for pregnant women. You don’t have to strenuous walking, just keep your body moving for about 30 minutes and feel the difference.
Leg Lifts Exercise. Stands on your hands and knees, make sure your back is flat. Then lift your right knee forward and extend it backward until it’s straight. Repeat this movement 10 times on each leg. If you require, you can combine this exercise by lifting your opposite arm. So if you lift you right leg, you lift your left arm and vice versa (You’ll feel like Superman while doing this).
Pelvic Exercise/Cat Stretch. While you stand on your hands and knees, drop your abdominal so that your back arches downwards, then tighten your abdominal upwards slightly as a cat would do. Repeat 10 times and make sure to breath slowly.
Squats Exercise. Stand with your back against the wall then slide down into squat position. After that squat right back up. Repeat this exercise 10 times.
Pushup against the wall. Place your hands on the wall and bring your body toward the wall until your nose almost touches the wall, then push your body off.

What Should be Avoided when Doing Exercise for Pregnant Women

As many moms-to be realized the importance of staying fit by performing exercise during pregnancy, there are-somehow-some points that pregnant should avoid during their exercise. Below are some points you must avoid as they can put unnecessary strain on mother and the baby:

Lying on your back, especially after the first semester.
Hold breathing long periods
Excessive bounce or stretch
Doing contact sports such as basketball or football.
Give undue strain in abdominal area.
Performing exercise for pregnancy without consulting with your doctors. It’s very important while not every pregnant woman have the same conditions as others.
Doing exercise without warming up, while it can cause injury.

8 Tips on Exercise for Pregnant Women

Exercise for pregnant women might be very beneficial, but somehow there are some points you should put into consideration while working out:

Do this exercise for approximately 30 minutes daily with mild to moderate routine.
Avoid any kind of back exercise after first trimester; it can decrease blood circulation to the uterus.
Don’t exhaust yourself.
Don’t do exercise during hot or humid weather while it can cause dehydration.
Take extra water.
Avoid doing exercise that can cause balance lost, especially during third semester.
Stop your exercise when you feel discomforts or experience any of the following: vaginal bleeding, pain, dizzy, shortness of breath, contractions or vaginal fluid leak.
It’s all right to have your exercise at home, but it’s better to join maternity class which also provides class of exercise for pregnant women. You can be guided by certified instructors with effective and safe exercise. After you know the right exercise, you can practice it at home.

Yoga-Another Option of Exercise for Pregnant Women

Many peoples believe that yoga is very beneficial. The aim of yoga is to achieve breath control concentration as well as mental and emotional well-being. Although yoga is not recognized as an exercise for pregnant women, in fact some poses of yoga are very beneficial for them. It can reduce stress and helps them have a natural birth without complications. Try following pose for pregnant women:

Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)

This pose is good to strengthen the spine, open the chest and allow the lungs to breathe easily. This pose is also effective in stimulating thyroid gland.

Start back on the back, bend your knees, cross your fingers and bring them on the back. Then increase the size of the body toward the ceiling. Stretch your fingers close to the ankles of the legs as possible. Now, pull the shoulders on the floor, exhale and relax your fingers.

Cobblers pose (Badhdha Konasana)

Sitting on the ground and bend your legs at the knees to create a structure like a wing butterfly. Keep your hands on your knees, legs and gently squeeze everything you can. Then slowly release. This position stretchs the abdomen, hips and groin.

Placing children (Balasana)

This pose is very useful to open the chest and pelvis. Start with knees on the floor, wider than the hips. The stretch your hand with palms facing down and put your forehead on the floor, exhale as you position. Raise your hands on the floor so only your palms touch the floor.

Below are some tips when you practicing prenatal yoga exercise:

Follow prenatal yoga class to make sure you know the technique of doing the right pose and breathing methods.
Stay away from yoga before the birth.
Listen to what your body says. If some position gives you feeling of discomfort, then stop and switch to another pose.
Don’t compress the abdominal area

It’s possible for you to stay fit during pregnancy. In fact, it’s the best thing you can do for this amazing journey. Make sure you’ve consulted with your doctors before practicing any kinds of exercise for pregnant women.

Finally, happy exercising and have a wonderful journey of your joyful pregnancy ^-^

Fibroids and Pregnancy

January 20, 2012

Fibroids and Pregnancy at the Same Time, Is It Dangerous?

Most women’s first reaction when the doctors tell them that they have uterine fibroids and pregnancy at the same time is probably panic and despair. But the fact is, despite having fibroids, there are many women have successfully conceived and delivered normal and healthy babies.

Fibroids usually develop in women above 30 years, where most of them wish to have babies. The main concern relating to fibroids and pregnancy are:

- Does it cause infertility?

- Does it cause complication during pregnancy or delivery?

According to statistic data, there were only small percentages of women who face problems with fibroids which cause infertility. This usually happened when the fibroid tumors in uterus are large and block one or both of fallopian tubes.

During post conception, uterine tumors may cause the pain during pregnancy as well as causing other symptoms like heavy vaginal bleeding, backache, pain in pelvic region, etc, these fibroids symptoms don’t affect all pregnant women. A lot of women has been proved that they had safe pregnancy and delivered healthy babies despite having uterine fibroids tumors.

This article is focused on the complications, the symptoms and the optional treatment as well as frequently asked question about uterine fibroids and pregnancy which occurred at the same time.

Uterine Fibroids and Pregnancy – The Complications

While small-sized uterine tumors do not always cause any symptoms, uterine fibroids and pregnancy are usually detected at the same time. This is happened when the women were checked with Ultra sonogram to confirm their pregnancy. Mostly, uterine tumors will not cause any major problem during pregnancy for many women. However, there are some complications which can arise when someone has detected to have fibroids and pregnancy at the same time, although they are rare cases and will not cause any harm to the fetus, unless there is a heavy bleeding.

Below are some of the complications in pregnancy due to fibroids:

1. The blocking of birth canal by uterine tumors.

If the size of fibroids tumors is very large, it can block the birth canal and prevent the baby to be born normally.

2. Abnormal position of the baby inside the uterus

This can happened when the fertilized egg which implanted in the uterine wall is closed to the location of fibroids tumors.

3. Fibroids can increase the risk of miscarriage and premature birth

The fibroid tumor which continues to grow will demand both space and nutrition. This kind of tumors can cause miscarriages.

Uterine Fibroids and Pregnancy – The Symptoms

There are some common symptoms when a woman has uterine fibroids and pregnancy at the same time. However these symptoms are not specific, that’s why uterine fibroids can only be confirmed by using USG.

Pain in abdominal area
Digestive disturbance, such as constipation
Frequent urination
Excessive bleeding from vagina
Heavy pressure felt in pelvic region

Fibroids and Pregnancy – The Optional Treatment

Every woman who was told to have fibroids and pregnancy will have “panic” as her first reaction. Then the next question is, is it possible to treat the fibroids during pregnancy? Fortunately, many cases of fibroids and pregnancy are not life threatening and many women had completely healthy pregnancy along with fibroids tumors.

The best treatment of fibroids and pregnancy is to avoid chemical medication and drugs, while pregnant women carried an unborn life. Basically fibroids occur because of hormonal change, and this hormonal balance can be restored by natural methods. It’s safe, no side effect and effective in shrinking the fibroids tumors in natural way. It would be worthwhile to give natural treatment a chance before going in for surgery.

Below are two simple natural methods shared by a friend who diagnosed to have fibroids and pregnancy:

1. Pay attention to your diet

Excess estrogen as well as toxins accumulated in the liver increase the growth rate of fibroids tumors. That’s why a high fat diet, high level of progesterone and deficiency in vitamin B can cause the fibroids to develop.

Choose healthy and right food, it’s not only safe for the pregnancy, but also helps shrinking the fibroids size naturally. Avoid processed food and consume organic food as possible as you can. Our body immune system will be boosted by changing the diet style into healthier food.

Consuming high-fiber foods such as fruits and vegetables, especially iron-rich green leafy vegetables are a good start. Avoid consuming dairy products, milk or yoghurt. Decrease the consumption of red meat and increase consumption of fish instead. If you can’t avoid red meat, choose organic meat which is free from chemical drugs, artificial hormones and pesticides. This will help you avoiding exposure of harmful substances.

2. Avoid stress life

Using meditation or acupuncture is very effective alternative method of treating uterine fibroids. Be optimist and trust yourselves that you’ll get through fibroids and pregnancy safely.

Fibroids and Pregnancy-FAQ

What is Fibroids?

Fibroids are some kind of tumors which grow in a woman’s womb, that’s why it’s often called uterine fibroids. Normally, fibroids are not cancerous and usually start to develop in a woman above the age of 30.

I was diagnosed to have fibroids tumor in my uterus, is it possible for me to get pregnant? Am I in the risk of being infertile?

Conception will be difficult to occur if:

The location of fibroids is much closed to the cervix.
Fibroids prevent sperm to fertilize eggs while its position is at the end of the fallopian tubes.
If the fibroids located in uterus are too large, it can sometimes prevent implantation.

According to statistic data, fibroids are indeed the cause of infertility in approximately 3-12% of women.

If fibroids are detected after conception, what complications can possibly happened?

Premature delivery is the first risk if the fibroids tumors present under the lining of the womb and cause womb distension.
Heavy bleeding comes as the second risk. This usually occurred during the second trimester of the pregnancy, as the baby grows bigger and the fibroids press on the other internal organs.
More than normal pain during pregnancy.
Increasing opportunity of miscarriages.

How to deal with fibroids and pregnancy to minimize the risks?

Consume lots of fruits and vegetables (organic ones are better).
Avoid processed or packaged food (especially processed meat)
Avoid junk food
Reduce (or avoid) caffeine contained in tea or coffee
Drink at least 2-3 water everyday
Avoid chemical medicine or drugs if possible.

Having a trouble-free uterine fibroids and pregnancy is possible as long as you are willing to look after yourself. Many women have proved to survive from having fibroids and pregnancy at the same time, and you may be one of them.

Pregnancy Test Accuracy

January 11, 2012

Factors Affecting Pregnancy Test Accuracy

Most women who hope to get pregnant can not wait to check for pregnancy possibilities. Nowadays, they able to get informed whether they’re pregnant or not through a pregnancy test which available in many stores and pharmacies. These various brand of pregnancy test are claiming to give the most exact results to decide pregnancy status. But in fact, pregnancy test accuracy may vary. This article focuses on factors affecting pregnancy test accuracy.

Pregnancy test works by measuring the level of hCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) hormone in the body. hCG hormone are present in urine and blood, so pregnancy detection can use these two fluids as indicator. The presence of hCG in a normal woman can’t be detected because of its lower quantity, but the body will produce large amount of hCG during conception. The production and secretion of hCG will double every two days during the first few weeks of pregnancy. That’s why you can repeat the test if you doubt with the previous pregnancy test accuracy to make sure of the result.

Although some people believe that this test is not probably exact due to the test kit error, there are actually many factors affecting. Below are some of the factors that may affect the pregnancy test accuracy:

Different sensitivity levels. Pregnancy test may have different sensitivity, so it’s important to choose one with higher sensitivity. As your guidance, pregnancy test which can detect 20 mIU hCG/ml is more sensitive than 50-100 mIU/ml.
Test Timing. Taking the test too early can give false result, the best thing to do is taking test several days after sexual intercourse. First urine in the morning is the best sample to be tested while at that moment, hCG concentration is in the highest amount.
Correct Usage. Using pregnancy test differently from what told in the manufacturer’s instruction may also affect the pregnancy test result accuracy.

Healthy Meal Ideas

January 10, 2012

Practical Healthy Meal Ideas

(A short guide for a busy pregnant woman)

Healthy meal ideas does not come suddenly, it need serious effort to plan for them. The planning begins from going to the market, food shopping, cooking and serving on the plate. Although it’s not that difficult to adjust the grocery list and cooking, these tips can help can you accommodating your desire for healthy meal ideas.

1. Recheck your list. The goal is to purchase foods which are close to their original state as possible. Organic products such as fruit and vegetables, whole grains such as quinoa, buckwheat, oats and brown rice are wiser choice than bread, milk, cheese and cookies. To provide your protein, there are wild caught fish, grass fed meats or organic eggs to be chosen. For an ideal healthy snack, you can try raw nuts (usually almonds). And for sweet indulgence, a bit of organic dark chocolate will also be one of healthy meal ideas. Cheese is not prohibited so long you use as condiment, not as main source of protein.

2. Cooking practical menus. Healthy meal ideas do not always require a lot of time for preparation. There are many simple and healthy meal ideas available for those who are really aware of the importance of consuming healthy diet. I will give you several ideas which can help you achieving your goal of living healthier.

a. Smoothie made with wheat germ, frozen fruit and fat-free milk.

b. Whole wheat bread with peanut butter, along with an apple and a glass of milk.

c. Whole wheat toast with scramble eggs and green vegetables.

d. A bag of frozen vegetables served with 2 tablespoons of Parmesan and chopped nuts.

e. Salad, canned tuna, tomatoes and low fat dressing.

f. Quick sandwich made from whole wheat bread, sliced turkey meat, reduced fat cheese and mustard.

g. Cereal with low fat milk and fruit.

See? it’s just that simple to get healthy in a short time

Baby Growth Chart

Baby Growth Chart and Development Guide, Things a New Mom can’t be Apart of

As I became new mother for my little Jasmine, I always was wondering what she may be doing this month. At that moment, I can’t be apart of Baby Growth Chart and also Baby Development Guide to get an idea of my baby’s development milestones!

Baby Growth Chart tells you the correlation of baby’s weight gain each month. Mother should make sure her baby’s weight gain is in the range of “normal” area, which means the baby is not underweight or overweight.

If you require, you can have your own Baby Growth Chart from this sites:

www.mybirthcare.com

www.bigfrog.net

Besides baby growth chart, I also check Baby Development Guide every month. It showed me what kind of abilities a baby should have in every month of its first year of life.

Below is an example of Baby Development Guide (I just highlighted on some critical period).

Month 1.

- Moro reflex (reacts to sudden noise)

- Begin to smile

- Fix gaze at 8-12”

- Highly disorganized of daily patterns of sleeping, crying and eating.

- Two night feedings at night, 5-6 times daily.

- Move bowels 3-4 times daily

Month 2.

- May only have feeding once at night

- Respond to laugh sound

- Have a favorite sleeping position

- Enjoy bath time

- Move bowels twice daily

- Can awake to 10 hours a day and has 2-4 longer sleep period

- At night, sleep as long as 7 hours.

Month 4

- Squeals, babbles and laugh

- Smiles spontaneously

- Holds rattle

- Begin reaching object using both arms simultaneously

- Regular pattern of eating and sleeping

- Interval between feeding and bowel can be predicted

- Splashes in bath, kicks and lifts head

- Brings hand together

Month 6

- Plays with feet

- Follows path of dropping object

- Sits with support

- Begin recognize its name

- Ready for solids

- Begin to sleep through the night

- Imitates sound

- May hold own milk bottle

Month 9

- Creep and or crawl

- Start to say Mama or Dada

- Sit up well

- Understand a few words

- Pull to stand and cruise along furniture or wall

- Feed self holding cracker and drink from cup

- May fear bath

Month 12

- Lower self from standing to sitting without falling

- Wave goodbye

- Give hug or kiss

- Bang two cubes together

- Walk with support, may take a few steps alone

- Take three meals a day

- May have trouble sleeping

One thing you should remember that each baby is unique; some babies may perform an activity sooner or later while their development might be unpredictable. I suggest parents to discuss with pediatrician.

Conception Calculator

Understanding Conception Calculator

For those who plan to get pregnant, they need to understand the ovulation and conception process. Ovulation process can be calculated by many tools, one of them is Conception Calculator. This tool should be understood by couples who try to conceive, while this helpful tool might support their pregnancy program.

With conception calculator, you can estimate the probable conception dates based on last menstrual period date, due date or birth date. It’s pretty easy to use this calculator, (click this link to find online conception calculator), you only need to select the birth/due date or the last menstrual period as the measurement category, then simply clicks the “calculate” button.

The calculation result based on the first day of the most recent menstrual period, in which conception dates fall within 8-day period and the due date will be on a 40^th week from the conception date. By using this tool, a woman who is sure that she’s pregnant can estimate when to deliver her baby.

Information from this calculator is similar with those from a physician, which based on 28-day menstrual cycle (common period of measurement). Maybe it would be quite surprising that a female can be able to become pregnant in only five days each month. Why? Because pregnancy can occurs only during ovulation, which happens in the 12^th to 16^th day of the menstrual period.

If you plan to start carrying a baby or curious to know when is your due date, why don’t you visit My Birth Care to try using Conception Calculator or you can go to this website to start using Conception Calculator: www.baby2see.com

Best Breast Pump

January 8, 2012

My Choice of Best Breast Pump

My Best Breast Pump

As a working mother, I have to return to my office 2 months after delivering my Jasmine (5 years) and Kairo (2 years). I know I’m not the only mothers who have such experience. Surely this situation prevents many mom from breastfeeding their babies and will turn bottle feeding with formula instead. But don’t worry, today mother can use breast pump as a solution if they still wish to provide the best milk for the baby and need to work at the same time.

Everyone knows that breast milk is the most nutritious milk for the baby. With the breast pump, a working mother can get some of the flexibility to support the breastfeeding process. There are many variants of breast pump you can choose, either manual or electric one. But what is the best breast pump for working mother?

Because working mother has limitation of time, they need breast pump which is easy to dismantle and clean, produce more milk and also light because the need to carry it around. Besides, it will be more practical if mother can pump, store and feed from the same bottle. If it’s possible, mother can consider buying two breast pumps to use simultaneously as this can stimulate milk production quite well and spare more time.

Price is another important thing to consider. Usually, electric ones are quite more expensive than the manual ones. But it’s not always that the expensive one is better than one with the lower price. Before buying, you can read as many breast pump reviews as possible, or it will be good if you try one before purchasing. Hopefully, you can get the best breast pump to support breastfeeding your baby.

I personally choose manual breast pump produced by Pigeon. I’ve tried one of friend’s best pump before deciding to purchase it and found it’s very comfortable to use. I can operate it only with one hand and produce more milk than my own previous best pump (which was cheaper). During breast pumping, I could bring home around 300 cc of breast milk each day. Although (for me), the price is quite expensive, but I thought it’s an investment for the baby’s future. Thanks to Pigeon who invented my favourite gadget: the best breast pump I’ve ever used.

Ameda Purely Yours Breast Pump: The Good Points

Ameda Purely Yours Breast Pump

January 1, 2012

Ameda Purely Yours Breast Pumps: The Good Points

Congratulations! You will soon have a new member of the family, or maybe right now you’re celebrating the arrival of your new baby if you’ve just delivered.

Having a baby can be a very exciting and stressful moment at the same time. You will have many decisions to make, especially when dealing with the health of your baby. Choosing breastfeeding or not is one of the most important decisions and when you decide to do breastfeeding, there’s one important gadget that will need further decision: BREAST PUMP.

Although there are many good performing and reputable breast pump, this article will focus on one of the best selling one: Ameda Purely Yours Breast Pump. Hope this can help you making the right decision.

These are some good points of this product:

1. Because the Ameda Purely Yours breast pump is very light (maybe one of the lightest and the most compact), this pump is very easy to be taken to your work place or during traveling.

2. You can set the different strength of suction for each breast.

3. Unlike many other top selling brands, the motor is more powerful and durable, while it is driven by pistons. It makes you possible to pump the milk out quickly.

4. Ameda Purely Yours breast pump is very easy to be cleaned. Since it has a brilliant design, it makes you possible not to clean the tubes without being afraid of germs and bacteria contamination.

5. You have three options of power source: battery, car battery or electricity.

It’s very essential for you to do some research before deciding the best breast pump. Visit some other websites which give you more reviews about Ameda Purely Yours Breast Pump and some other top sellers’ brand, so you can finally choose the best breast pump to support your breastfeeding.

Personal Note: Whatever brands of breast pump you choose; Breastfeeding is the best choice for you and of course for your baby.