Mom Monday: Pregnancy (and Giveaway!)

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Hello and welcome to my new Mom Monday format. I hope that you'll find Mom Monday to be an encouraging place to find information on many Motherhood topics! Each week you will find a new topic for everyone to chime in on, a newsletter if you choose to sign up, a sponsor's product review and giveaway (located at the bottom of the post) and hopefully lots of encouragement for your walk as a mother! So, on to this week's topic:

Pregnancy

There are few things that can create as much joy, frustration, impatience, panic and then joy again as being pregnant! I can remember the joy of a new experience, the impatience (especially by 9 months!), the panic that I couldn't do it and the joy again as my journey to becoming a new mom came to an end. What a roller coaster that first pregnancy was!

The most important thing to do is decide what you want from your birth experience and be up front with your doctor or midwife about it. Tell them what you want. What you're worried about. Ask questions. Don't feel like you're silly. That's what YOU are paying THEM for!! They are there to help you have the best birth experience possible.

First time moms tend to worry more about every little thing during pregnancy. I remember having a burning plastic smell in the apartment and I called my husband, worried that the fumes would give our baby brain damage. She's fine, by the way, and I felt silly afterward. Most things are completely normal in pregnancy, including things like light spotting in the first month or two, irregular contractions (Braxton Hicks contractions) and lots and lots of discomfort. :) If you have concerns, talk to your provider.

However, here are 9 serious signs in pregnancy you need to talk to your care provider about ASAP:

1. Vaginal Bleeding
2. Sudden excessive weight gain-especially with swelling or puffiness of face or eyelids, hands and feet
3. Severe or continuous headache
4. Visual disturbances-blurred vision, double vision or "seeing spots"
5. Sharp or continuous abdominal pain
6. Decreased fetal movement-over 24 hours
7. Sudden gush of fluid-especially if it is before due date
8. Severe or continuous nausea and/or vomiting
9. Fever and chills

Discomfort is common in pregnancy, but some things can be relieved non medically. Here are some tips I used in my pregnancies. **Always check with your care provider and let them know ANY remedy you are taking. These are recommended treatments I've received, but I'm not a doctor.

• Take alfalfa pills (available at Walmart cheaply) to keep things moving well and healthy (i.e. to avoid constipation and hemorrhoids)-start out slow with 1-2 pills were day, increasing to up to 6-8 per day
  
• Raspberry Leaf Tea is commonly recommended for overall feminine reproduction health because it strengthens and tones the uterus. However, it is recommended you wait until the 6th week if you are prone to miscarriage. You can start out with 1-2 cups per day and work up to a quart per day. This tea is beneficial even when you aren't pregnant.
• Ginger can help with nausea in early pregnancy. NOT "ginger ales" because most don't even have real ginger. Ginger pills can be taken 250mg 4 times per day or you can drink ginger tea.
• Other nausea helps: Vitamin B6, eating crackers or cereal before getting out of bed, and eating small, regular meals throughout the day to keep blood sugar levels steady.
• Protein is VERY highly recommended for many, many things in pregnancy. My birth instructor recommended 80-100 milligrams a day. It seems like a lot, but one chicken breat can pack up to 50 grams, so it's not so bad. Think outside the box. Ice cream, peanut butter, beans, and other non-meats can be good sources of protein.
• Prenatal massage or chiropractic service can be helpful for back pain in pregnancy. Just make sure your provider ok's it and the specialist you go to is trained for prenatal treatment.
• Papaya enzyme is excellent for heartburn and tummy troubles(also available cheaply at Walmart near the pharmacy with the vitamins/supplements). I often take papaya instead of tums during pregnancy and when I'm not pregnant either! It tastes very sweet and I love that it's more natural and doesn't contain aluminum!
  

Here are some websites that can be helpful for pregnancy related questions:

• Gerber site
• I-village
• Baby Center
• About Pregnancy

Pregnancy doesn't have to be scary or confusing, you just need the right tools to get informed. Read, talk to other moms and ask lots of questions. Don't be afraid to find out what this journey will be like and your experience will be much smoother.

What do you have to share with us about pregnancy this week? Link up or leave us a comment to enter this week's giveaway!



Last week's $5 Amazon Gift Card Winner is: Coupon Clippin' Mommy. I have sent you an email. Please respond within 48 hours.

**This Week's Sponsor/Giveaway**

This week, we're giving away the kid's book This Little Prayer of Mine written by Anthony DeStefano and illustrated by Mark Elliot (you can see my review and the book info here). To enter this giveaway you can do one or all of the following and leave me a comment for each:

1. What do you have to say about pregnancy that could benefit and encourage other moms? Write a post about it and link up here! It will also be included in the newsletter that will go out on Tuesday so others will see your post! (This is worth 2 entries so leave 2 comments)
   
2. If you don't want to link up, leave a comment with an encouraging thought or lesson on pregnancy!
3. Follow this blog
4. Fan this blog on Facebook
5. Leave me a comment saying you'd like the Mom Monday newsletter, along with your email
   
6. Put the Mom Monday button on your blog
7. Twitter about the new Mom Monday, linking back here
8. Do you have a company or store and want to sponsor a review/giveaway? Leave me a comment!
9. If you're interested in doing a guest post for Mom Mondays, leave me a comment with the topic you want to post about!
   

Come back next Monday and I'll have the new Mom Monday post up (about Baby Wearing and Carriers) and announce the winner. I'll also send the winner an email and you'll have 48 hours to respond. :) Good luck and thanks for joining us in this journey of motherhood!