PregoFIT Health & Wellness Team

When Does Real Labor Start?!

Labor actually consists of three stages. You’ll know you’ve progressed to true labor when your contractions get closer together, longer and don’t slow down when you’re resting. Stage 1: Dilation During this stage, the cervix opens. Your cervix will dilate from zero (closed) to 10 centimeters (fully open). On average, you can expect it to change 1 centimeter an hour. Early labor — before 4 centimeters — feels like ever-increasing cramping, and women sometimes experience diarrhea, spotting, and discharge. Active labor – after 4 centimeters — means contractions are regular and strong and cause cervical change. During active labor, your contractions will be 2-3 minutes apart, lasting about one minute each. Most women say contractions hurt, though some describe them as a feeling of intensity, pressure, or tightening. NOTE: To help manage the pain, PregoFIT recommends patterned breathing — rhythmic, slow and deep — or try a warm shower or (read more…)

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Trouble Sleeping? You’re Not Alone!

Many pregnant women tell me they can’t get a good night’s sleep. Either they can’t fall asleep or else they wake frequently to go to the bathroom and can’t go back to sleep. Maybe you’re one of them—and you’re pretty frustrated! So, let’s break it down into some strategies that might help you. First, check your sleep position. Lying flat on your back isn’t the best way to rest when you’re in your third trimester (by the way, it isn’t the best way to handle labor either!). When you’re on your back, the weight of your pregnant uterus presses down on your inferior vena cava, an important blood vessel that returns blood from your lower body to your heart. When this happens, your baby might receive less blood flow and thus, less oxygen. So side sleeping is probably the best, since it’s pretty tough to sleep on your stomach! If (read more…)

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What About Those Pregnancy Dreams

What are you dreaming about? I don’t mean “daydreaming”—I already know you’re daydreaming about holding your baby in your arms. I mean dreaming at night, while you’re (hopefully) sleeping. (OK, if you’re not sleeping very well, see my next blog about that! ) I’m talking about those incredibly vivid dreams pregnant women experience. Many pregnant women report that they have colorful, intense dreams and they wonder what that means. I recall when I was pregnant, I had dreams that seemed so real that I wondered if they had really happened. And the colors—well, they were like “high definition” compared to my pre-pregnancy dreams. Often I remembered them the next day in great detail, unlike before. As it turns out, the hormones of pregnancy seem to influence the intensity and richness of dreams. Maybe all our senses are heightened during the process of creating a little human! And the content of (read more…)

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Losing Pregnancy Weight While Breastfeeding

Click here and watch our video for tips on how to lose pregnancy weight while breastfeeding! Losing pregnancy weight while breastfeeding can sometimes be a bit of a juggling act — when a Mom loses weight, her breast milk can decrease. So, here are a few tips on how to maintain your milk supply while shedding those pregnancy pounds: Pump Frequently Increase Water Intake Decrease Caffeine Ease Into Exercise Program Increase Caloric Intake We hope the tips bless you and look forward to your thoughts and questions. Please let us know if there are additional ways we can serve you! Love, Kristen Ross “]

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Who Are You Listening To??

Kristen Ross writes: Chris shares her wisdom regarding what to do with ALL the feedback a pregnant woman experiences and how to determine what feedback is right for you. I remember how she brought peace to my mind during my first pregnancy by answering so many questions and concerns that I had from ‘what I heard’. Here’s her thoughts……. Have you ever noticed that everyone wants to give advice to pregnant women? Some of it is good, while some of it isn’t. Don’t raise your arms over your head or you’ll strangle the baby. Eat plenty of fish while you’re pregnant. Don’t eat fish while you’re pregnant. Be sure to get sleep now while you can. Breastfeed your baby—it’s healthier. Don’t breastfeed your baby—it’s too hard. Have an epidural for labor. Avoid medications, especially an epidural. What’s an expectant mom supposed to believe about pregnancy and birth?! On top of (read more…)

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Getting to Know your (Unborn) Baby

Chris Maricle is such a gift! She has blessed my life again and again through so many seasons. My husband and I took her childbirth class during my first pregnancy. Once Hayden was born, she came to my house every month until Hayden was three years old, to teach me how be the best mom for Hayden during ‘that stage’ of her development. Chris was my doula during my second delivery. She is a wealth of information on so many topics! I love her and am thrilled to hear her perspective any chance I get. Here are her thoughts on ‘Getting to Know your (unborn) Baby’…………. Bless you, Kristen Ross “He’s kicking me all day long!” “She gets the hiccups every afternoon!” “He loves the worship music at church because he’s already dancing.” As a birth educator, I’ve taught thousands of expectant parents and I love to (read more…)

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Working out and Breastfeeding

PregoFIT wants to encourage all Moms to workout after delivering their baby (or babies). Not only will you feel better losing your pregnancy weight, your baby (and other family members) will greatly benefit from your healthy lifestyle, too! Some Moms choose to workout before the other members of their house wakes up. Other Moms choose to do it in their living room with their children are napping or playing in the other room. Still others prefer “Mommy & Baby” classes, in order to stay close to baby. All of these options are great…as long as you are moving your body on a regular basis, and with the aim to shed those pregnancy pounds! If you are breastfeeding, here are several tips we encourage you to keep in mind: Start slowly. To keep your milk supply up, try not to lose your pregnancy weight too quickly. By omitting a (read more…)

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Kegel Exercises

Strengthening Your Pelvic Floor Muscles The pelvic floor is made up of a group of muscles. The largest muscle in this group is the pubococcygeus muscle. The pelvic floor muscles may weaken due to aging, pregnancy, vaginal childbirth, injury, surgery, chronic cough, and/or lack of exercise. If your pelvic floor is weak, you may feel pressure from sagging organs, or you may experience certain types of incontinence (inability to control urine flow). Kegel exercises will help strengthen your pelvic floor to better hold organs in place and control your urine flow. A strong pelvic floor may also make sexual intercourse more enjoyable. If you have a type of incontinence called stress incontinence, you may leak urine when you lift heavy objects, cough, laugh, sneeze, or get up from a chair. You may find yourself running to the bathroom as often as you can to help avoid an accident. Stress (read more…)

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CDC: Strokes rise among pregnant women, new moms

Sometimes pregnant women and new moms are so focused on the baby’s health that they neglect to consider their own. Read how strokes have spiked among pregnant women and new moms, who likely are paying a price for rising rates of high blood pressure, heart disease and obesity…… http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/wellness/pregnancy/story/2011/07/CDC-Strokes-rise-among-pregnant-women-new-moms/49703856/1 Best wishes to you and your baby’s health, The PregoFIT Health & Wellness Team

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Women Trying To Conceive

Desiring a child and wanting to grow a family is such a special season. It is also a perfect season for women to make lifestyle changes and prepare to be the healthiest Mom that they can be. One of the most common questions from a woman who is overweight and in this season, is the correlation between obesity and a woman’s ability to conceive. According to MayoClinic.com, obesity can affect a woman’s ability to get pregnant. Carrying around extra weight can affect her production of estrogen, a hormone needed for regular ovulation. Some overweight women have polycystic ovary syndrome. Fat cells metabolize hormones, and an excess amount of fat can alter metabolism enough to interrupt the normal ovulatory cycle. The dangers of being overweight come into play when a woman’s BMI is above 35 Kg/m2, which is defined as morbid obesity. Some providers suggest that a BMI above 30 Kg/m2 (read more…)