WALKING DURING PREGNANCY

Walking is considered as one of the most simplest, effective and easy exercise to keep ourselves fit and healthy. Not much of the efforts are required to walk for sometime daily. Women at the time of pregnancy as well as after pregnancy should walk daily. It will keep them healthy and fit. Walking during pregnancy helps women to improve their endurance and to recover them from pregnancy effects.

WALKING DURING PREGNANCY TIPS:

Walking is very good for one’s body especially during pregnancy. It can regain your spirits and help you feel fresh. It is one remedy for most of the ailments.

There are certain ways, which are recommended for walking during pregnancy:

• One should maintain the right posture when walking. Try to walk straight and try not to lean over someone else when walking. Hold someone’s hand while walking. Relax yourself and walk. This will also help you cure your back pain. Some women also wear a maternity belt when walking. This helps them to maintain their posture.


• Look straight while walking. You should not look here and there while walking. This will help you to avoid walking into someone or something accidentally. It will also help you to cure your problem of backaches.


• Walk at a desired pace. There is no need to run and walk neither walk too slowly. Walking at a normal pace copes with the various exercises you need to do during pregnancy. Do not walk too fast that you lose your breath.


• Always stretch before walking and after walking. As during pregnancy, the muscles tend to stretch preparing the body for the labor pains; therefore, one must stretch oneself before and after walking.

Many hormones are released during pregnancy. They make us feel sore and uncomfortable. Therefore, the chances of getting hurt during pregnancy increases. But if you exercise daily or take a short walk, which is equivalent to exercising, you may get relief.

If you feel bored while walking alone, you can talk to some other friend or relative of yours and can ask them to accompany you for walking during pregnancy. You can also listen to some music while walking which will make you feel comparatively less bored. If two people are walking together, both of them can keep each other motivated. Walking during pregnancy is one of the best methods to keep yourself fit and fine.

Maternity Fashion Tips for Pregnant Women

During the first trimester it is possible to continue wearing clothes proved favorites pre-pregnancy but once a baby bump takes over and the weight goes on many fashion-conscious women find that their redefined shape can prove a challenge.

Just because there is a baby on board is no reason to stop being a style guru — nor is there reason to dive head-first into maternity wear too early. There are likely to be pieces that are already in the wardrobe which can do double-duty before reaching for those maternity smocks and muumuus. Buying standard outfits several sizes larger are also an option provided styles are carefully chosen to suit a pregnant body shape

Fashionable Clothes for Pregnant Women

• Empire-line dresses and tops cinch in the area just below the bustline and provide a flattering silhouette with material grazing over the baby bump. Forget shapeless tent-like dresses — a voluminous tank dress can be gathered up with a ribbon, sash or belt tied under the bust to give definition.


• Evening dresses for pregnant women include maxi dresses and caftans, which prove comfortable, light and easy to wear. However, ensure a narrow cut which skins the figure rather than a diaphanous style. Strapless empire-line dresses look cute on pregnant women but don’t even go there unless they can be kept safely in place.


• With every-growing breasts its time to consider what neckline is the most flattering. Scoop necks, thick-strap vest tops and V-necks are the way to go. According to author Jenny Levin of Harper’s Bazaar Great Style (Aurum Presss 2007), “completely covering up will add pounds, whilst revealing too much will look sloppy.”


• Soft draping fabrics will define the body shape and look pretty when pregnant. Choose skirts and dresses with plenty of swing in them and tops with fabric that falls from on or under the bustline and finish at the hips or beyond.


• As arms put on weight cover them with sleeves, which will also balance out a bulging belly. A 3/4 length will still give a hint of bare skin, and sheer sleeves (short or long) offer both coverage and sex appeal.


• Go for sophisticated, simple single-block colors rather than busy prints and crazy colors.


• Dressing within the same color family from head-to-toe (e.g. different hues of blue or gray) will streamline the figure and make it look taller and leaner. It also means everything goes together and can be reworked with different pieces.


• Avoid wearing baggy jeans with flowing tops. Maternity jeans (probably the most important item in a pregnant woman's wardrobe) should be relatively straight-legged to balance out the volume on the upper part of the body.


• For smart workwear, a suit jacket with a single-button that fastens just below the bust will flatter a pregnant figure. A-line and draped skirts are likely prove the most comfortable.

Top 10 Signs of Pregnancy

If you're extremely tuned in to your body's rhythms, you may begin to suspect you're pregnant soon after conception. But most women won't experience any early pregnancy symptoms until the fertilized egg attaches itself to the uterine wall, several days after conception. Others may notice no signs of pregnancy for weeks and begin to wonder "Am I pregnant?" only when they miss a period.

Below is a list of some of the first signs of impending motherhood. You may experience all, some, or none of these symptoms of pregnancy:

1. Food cravings: Sure it's a cliche, but food cravings sometimes can be a sign of pregnancy. Don't rely on them as a sure symptom (it may be all in your head, or even a sign that your body is low on a particular nutrient), but if cravings are accompanied by some of the other symptoms on this list, start counting the days from your last period.

2. Darkening of your aureoles: If the skin around your nipples gets darker, you may have successfully conceived, though this may also signal a hormonal imbalance unrelated to pregnancy or be a leftover effect from a previous pregnancy.

3. Implantation bleeding or cramping: About eight days after ovulation, you may experience implantation spotting, a slight staining of a pink or brown color, as well as some cramping. You might also see some spotting around the time you expect your period; this is caused by the egg burrowing into the endometrial lining.

4. Frequent urination: Once the embryo implants and begins producing the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), you may find yourself going to the bathroom more often.

5. Fatigue: Feeling tired? No, make that exhausted. High levels of the hormone progesterone can make you feel as if you've run a marathon when all you've done is put in a day at the office. Fatigue is a hallmark of early pregnancy, though probably not a surefire symptom on its own.

6. Tender, swollen breasts: If you're pregnant, your breasts will probably become increasingly tender to the touch, similar to the way they feel before your period, only more so. Once your body grows accustomed to the hormone surge, the pain will subside.

7. Morning sickness: If you're lucky, morning sickness won't hit you until a few weeks after conception. (A lucky few escape it altogether.) But as early as a couple of days following conception, you may begin feeling nauseated and queasy. And not just in the morning, either pregnancy-related nausea can be a problem morning, noon, or night. You may also notice that your sense of taste changes. Some women say they have a metallic taste in their mouth, others that they cannot stand the taste of coffee, tea, or a food they usually like.

8. Your basal body temperature stays high: If you've been charting your basal body temperature and you see that your temperature has stayed above the coverline for 18 days in a row, you're probably pregnant.

9. A missed period: If you're usually pretty regular and your period is late, it's worth trying a pregnancy test. A missed period is the surest sign of pregnancy in a woman of childbearing age who usually has regular periods. And finally ...

10. A positive home pregnancy test: If you've waited to test until at least the first day of a missed period and a blue line appears in the test window, you're most likely in the family way. Make an appointment with your doctor to confirm the good news, and head on over to our pregnancy area.

Tired of Being Pregnant

As much as mothers might like to naturally induce labor as soon as they grow tired of being pregnant, labor starts often unpredictably and sometimes later than what mothers would like for their own comfort. Babies will come at 38 weeks and other times will need 42 weeks. Technically you are not overdue or what is called "postdates" until 42 weeks. However, today it is more common to hear from providers that you are "overdue" even if your due date was yesterday!

So in essence, your due date is only a very rough target; which is why it is referred to as an EDD - estimated due date. Your own baby will likely come within a period of four weeks between 38-42 weeks. Only about 3-5% of women actually give birth on their due date not to mention that the majority of women don't go into labor until after their estimated due date!

Rushing the Last Weeks May Cause Long Labors and Cesareans

Studies have shown that if your body is not ready for labor, (i.e. cervix unripe- not dilated or effaced) and you have an induction with pitocin, you will either have a very long labor or a much greater chance of a cesarean. For more information about reasons for an induction and how to labor with an induction, see this article on labor inductions.

Realize that inductions, especially early ones, can be harmful to your baby. If your baby is born even 1-2 weeks pre-term, they can have difficulty breathing on their own. This can happen when your due date has been miscalculated and the baby's lungs have not finished developing. Babies may require a stay in the NICU often for several days or longer if necessary.

Sleep is Not a Given After the Baby Arrives

Another thing to consider is that even though your sleep is likely to be very poor in the last few weeks of your pregnancy, it won't get any better once the baby comes. In fact, most babies will be wakeful and need to eat about every 2 hours thoughout the day and night for the first several weeks. Many babies will be waking up once or twice a night even months after birth.