Read an Excerpt
The Mother of All Pregnancy Organizers
By Ann Douglas John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0-7645-5913-3
Chapter One
Operation Healthy Baby The moment the sperm and the egg hooked up in the darkest recesses of your fallopian tube, you signed on for a super-secret mission called Operation Healthy Baby - a mission so secret, in fact, that for the first few weeks of your pregnancy, you didn't even know you'd been recruited!
Super-secret spy stuff aside, your mission over the next nine months is pretty straightforward: to do everything in your power to maximize your chances of having a healthy baby. That means gaining a healthy amount of weight, ensuring that your body gets an ample supply of nutrients, and avoiding substances that could be harmful to your baby.
This section helps you keep track of both your health and the health of your growing fetus throughout your pregnancy. In between discovering useful tips on choosing a caregiver and detailed information about what to expect in your prenatal visits, you'll also find pages to record your first signs of pregnancy, write down the addresses and phone numbers of your caregivers, fill in information that your caregiver will ask for at your first visit, and keep an eye on any medications you're taking.
This section also helps you log your first and 14 subsequent prenatal visits to your caregiver. These pages provide spaces for the time and date of each visit with your caregiver - fill these in as you schedule each appointment, and you'll never miss a prenatal visit! You'll also find areas to note the multitude of questions you have for your doctor or midwife, as well as space to jot down his or her recommendations. For each prenatal visit, you'll also find a reassuring tip or fact that may help to eliminate at least one of your worries, as well as room to write down your current health statistics, such your estimated due date, weight, blood pressure, pulse, test results, and contractions. Throughout your pregnancy, you can also use this section to keep track of your baby's health information, including his or her fetal heart rate and fundal height (the distance from the top of your pubic bone to the top of your uterus; a way of measuring your baby's growth).
First Signs of Pregnancy
Are you experiencing the first signs of pregnancy or is something else going on? This table identifies common symptoms and also highlights other causes of those symptoms.
Symptom What Causes It to Other Possible Menstrual Changes Occur During Pregnancy Causes
A missed period Rising levels of progesterone Birth control pills, jet fully suppress your menstrual lag, extreme weight loss period. or gain, a change in climate, a chronic disease such as diabetes or tuberculosis, severe illness, surgery, shock, bereavement, or other sources of stress.
A lighter-than- Your progesterone levels are Can be experienced by average period rising, but not enough to fully users of birth control suppress your menstrual pills. period (making your due date difficult to pinpoint).
A small amount May occur when the fertilized Can be experienced by of spotting egg implants in the uterine users of birth control wall - about a week after pills and women with conception has occurred. fibroids or infections. What's more, some women routinely experience some mid-cycle spotting. Spotting may also be the earliest sign of an impending miscarriage.
Symptom What Causes It to Other Possible Breast Changes Occur During Pregnancy Causes
Breast tenderness Hormonal changes of early Premenstrual syndrome and enlargement pregnancy. Note: You may (PMS), excessive also notice some related caffeine intake, or physical changes. The areola fibrocystic breast (the flat area around the nipple) disease. may begin to darken, and the tiny glands on the areola may begin to enlarge.
Cramping and/or Nausea
Abdominal cramping Hormonal changes PMS, constipation, or (period-like cramping of early pregnancy. irritable bowel in the lower abdomen syndrome. and pelvis and/or bloating and gassiness)
Morning sickness High levels of progesterone Flu, food poisoning, (used to describe and human chorionic or other illnesses. everything from gonadotropin (hCG). Note: mild nausea to Tends to be worse first thing vomiting to the in the morning, when your point of dehydration) blood sugar is at its lowest.
Increased Need to Urinate and/or Constipation
Increased need to Increased blood flow A urinary tract infection, urinate to the pelvic area, uterine fibroids, or triggered by the excessive caffeine production of human intake. chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) during early pregnancy.
Constipation Progesterone relaxes Inadequate intake of the intestinal muscles, high-fiber foods or resulting in varying inadequate degrees of constipation. consumption of fluids.
Symptom What Causes It to Other Possible Occur During Pregnancy Causes
Food Aversions and Cravings and/or Heightened Sense of Smell
Food aversions and Hormonal changes of Poor diet, stress, or cravings (e.g., a early pregnancy. PMS. metallic taste in the mouth and/or a craving for certain foods)
Heightened sense Hormonal changes Illness. of smell of early pregnancy.
Decreased Energy Level
Fatigue Increased production of Not getting enough progesterone (which acts sleep, not eating as a natural sedative) properly, flu, illness, and an increase in your or some other medical metabolic rate (your body's condition. way of ensuring it will be able to support the needs of you and your developing baby).
Changes to the Reproductive Organs
Changes to the Hormonal changes of early A delayed menstrual cervix (slightly purplish pregnancy (detected by your period. hue; softening) and doctor or midwife during the uterus (softening) a pelvic examination).
Mini Address Book
Keep track of caregivers who can help you through both pregnancy and the early months of your baby's life: your primary care physician, OB/GYN, nurse-midwife, doula (a professional labor support person), childbirth educator, lactation consultant, and more.
Name of caregiver: __________________________________
Role: _______________________________________________
Affiliation: ________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________
Phone number: _______________________________________
E-mail address and/or Web site: _____________________
Name of caregiver: __________________________________
Role: _______________________________________________
Affiliation: ________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________
Phone number: _______________________________________
E-mail address and/or Web site: _____________________ Name of caregiver: __________________________________
Role: _______________________________________________
Affiliation: ________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________
Phone number: _______________________________________
E-mail address and/or Web site: _____________________ Name of caregiver: __________________________________
Role: _______________________________________________
Affiliation: ________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________ Phone number: _______________________________________
E-mail address and/or Web site: _____________________
Mini Address Book ___________________________________
Name of caregiver: __________________________________
Role: _______________________________________________
Affiliation: ________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________ Phone number: _______________________________________
E-mail address and/or Web site: _____________________
Name of caregiver: __________________________________
Role: _______________________________________________
Affiliation: ________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________
Phone number: _______________________________________
E-mail address and/or Web site: _____________________
Name of caregiver: __________________________________
Role: _______________________________________________
Affiliation: ________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________
Phone number: _______________________________________
E-mail address and/or Web site: _____________________
Name of caregiver: __________________________________
Role: _______________________________________________
Affiliation: ________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________
Phone number: _______________________________________
E-mail address and/or Web site: _____________________
Name of caregiver: __________________________________
Role: _______________________________________________
Affiliation: ________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________
Phone number: _______________________________________
E-mail address and/or Web site: _____________________
Choosing Your Caregiver
At this stage of the game, you're probably worried about finding a doctor or midwife to care for you during your pregnancy and to be present at the birth of your baby. Here are some specific questions to ask when you're trying to determine whether a particular caregiver is right for you:
How long have you been in practice? ____________________________
How many births have you attended? _____________________________
What percentage of your patients' babies do you end up delivering yourself? ________________________________________________________________
What's your standard schedule for prenatal appointments? _______ ________________________________________________________________
Under what circumstances would you decide to see me more often than this? ________________________________________________________________
How much time do you set aside for each appointment? ___________
What types of tests are you likely to recommend over the course of my pregnancy (e.g.,
Continues...
Excerpted from The Mother of All Pregnancy Organizers by Ann Douglas Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
