By Eve O'Neill As if being pregnant hasn’t already given your body a thorough workout, along comes the cold. Before you know it, last-minute shopping, social activities, and the chilly weather have done a number on your skin—especially your lips. Because they lack oil glands, your lips dry out faster than the rest of your face. Winter’s extremes—outdoor cold and dry heat indoors—can cause lips to crack painfully. Before that happens, ramp up your wintertime protection. First, …
Unlike some visits to a doctor’s office, a prenatal appointment is usually quick and pleasant. It is primarily designed for you and your health-care provider to receive updated information regarding you and your baby, listen to your baby’s heartbeat, and rule out any complications. To maximize the time you spend with your ob/gyn, take these suggestions from The Smart Mother’s Guide to a Better Pregnancy. • Make a list of your concerns and present them at the beginning of your …
By Lisa Fields Eating right during pregnancy can be daunting, especially when you have to master a restricted menu and battle morning sickness. Just ask Mara Palcisco of Loveland, OH. When she learned she was pregnant, the systems engineer happily gave up her Tuesday night wine-and-sushi dinners with the girls from work. But while Palcisco’s ob/gyn provided a list of forbidden foods, the doctor was vague about what she should eat. So Palcisco often doubted her choices. And during …
By Heather Larson When Raelynn Glispin experienced contractions during the 36th week of her first pregnancy, they caught her by surprise; she wasn’t sure what they were. “When you’ve never had a contraction before, you aren’t positive if it’s Braxton Hicks or actual labor,” says Glispin, a mother of two in Oxford, MA. “With my second baby, I clearly knew the difference and wasn’t surprised.” Braxton Hicks, so named because an English doctor named John Braxton Hicks first …
By Sasha Brown-Worsham I found the postcard, written in 1945, in a dust-filled corner of my grandmother’s closet. It was a letter of encouragement—Bubby’s doctor urging my healthy, five months–pregnant grandmother to “keep your feet up, rest as much as possible.” In the 60 years since Bubby’s first pregnancy, that advice has gone from passé to downright absurd. More than ever, pregnant women in good health are encouraged to keep active during the full nine months, assured …
By Linda Childers The color options for expectant moms used to be pretty simple: pink or blue. But many pregnant women, driven by concern for the health of their baby, themselves, and the planet, are now selecting a different shade: green. Pediatricians agree that pregnancy is a good time to adopt environmentally conscious habits because fetuses are more vulnerable to toxic substances. For example, 2005 study by the Environmental Working Group measured umbilical cord blood for …
You believed it back in high school: Chocolate and french fries cause zits. But one look at your pink and pimply skin now and you know the culprit is hormones, which run rampant in your body during adolescence and pregnancy, increasing the sebum your skin produces and thus creating a breeding ground for acne-causing bacteria. Unfortunately, the treatments teens rely on—Accutane, tetracycline—are off-limits to you now. And some doctors even recommend avoiding over-the-counter ingredients …
Once upon a time, pregnant moms were told to keep off their feet and avoid exercise, but today’s experts say quite the contrary . “Exercise is great. I recommend it,” says Barbara Dehn, a nurse practitioner in the San Francisco Bay Area with more than 20 years experience. Walking is a good mom-to-be workout, but marathon runners and other fitness fans need not downsize to strolling, Dehn says. Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind: You sweat more during pregnancy, so drink plenty …
By the time you get to your third trimester, you may not be able to see your feet, but you know they’re there—swollen and worn out. Luckily, it’s perfectly safe to get a pedicure; in fact, it may be your only solution, because you probably can’t reach your toes, either! Most salons will take a few precautions, avoiding the area between the ankle bone and heel during any massage, even though there’s no medical evidence that this causes contractions. “You should be really cautious …
By Meagan Francis It’s no wonder pregnancy makes some women nervous. Life is about to change in a huge way, and, in the meantime, there’s a baby growing inside whose well-being she feels utterly responsible for. And, of course, that child is going to have to come out somehow! Whether it’s the first baby or the fourth, a natural birth or a C-section, it’s absolutely normal to feel uneasy about giving birth. Fortunately, it’s possible to replace those nerves with calmer thoughts. …
