We parents today have demanding schedules, and we juggle multiple tasks all day long. There’s too much to do, and never enough time to do it. The bedtime routine often gets slotted as one more “thing to do” after which we can get on to yet another task on our never-ending to-do list.

I’d like to present you with a new way of looking at your child’s bedtime routine: as a wonderful opportunity for a nightly ritual of quiet connection and bonding. Sort of like a forced savings account – a daily slice of time out of a busy day, given to you so that you can bask in the joys of parenthood and build the foundation for a close lifetime relationship. Pretty heady stuff, when you look at it this way, isn’t it?

Simply said, you must get your child ready for bed each and every night. The time will be spent, one way or another. Would you like it to be peaceful, nurturing and bonding – or rushed and stressful? You have the power to set the tone of your evenings, so why not choose a pleasant routine? You will enjoy it more, and your child will no longer resist bedtime –won’t that be marvelous!

Begin your routine earlier
If you are starting your child’s bedtime routine fifteen or twenty minutes before you’d like him to be asleep, it will inevitably create problems. This provides barely enough time for the essentials, little time for pleasure, and no time at all for the inevitable dawdles and delays. As a parent, you’re watching the clock move forward, stressing over the time, and trying to rush things along. Your child, who senses your tension and feels pressured, reacts by dawdling, or fashioning new requests that simply must be met, but of course, there’s no time, so a meltdown occurs. Following this pattern, night after night, makes both parent and child dread bedtime, further increasing the stress, and making things even worse. So goes the cycle, from bad to worse, night after night.

The answer is to avoiding all this turmoil is to allow plenty of time for the pre-bed routine. For most families this means allocating at least an hour from the time the process begins to lights out. While an hour or more may seem like a lot to spend on a bedtime routine, most families with struggles end up spending more time than this dealing with a fussy child who won’t cooperate. And said fussy child gets so worked up that once in bed he’s wide awake and takes a long time before nodding off.

Decide in advance on the best bedtime for your child, and then identify a specific time that you will begin the getting ready for bed routine. You may have to work backwards from this time to be sure that dinner and post-dinner activities are completed by the time you wish to start your pre-bed plan.

Once you understand the power of a long-enough routine to ward off the problems, and if you look at this time as an opportunity to spend some peaceful time connecting with your sweet child, then this hour can be something wonderful to look forward to each night.

Excerpted with permission by McGraw-Hill Publishing from The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers & Preschoolers (McGraw-Hill) by Elizabeth Pantley http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth

About the author:
Elizabeth Pantley is the author of several books, including Gentle Baby Care : No-cry, No-fuss, No-worry — Essential Tips for Raising Your Baby, The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night, Kid Cooperation (with an introduction by William Sears, MD), Perfect Parenting, as well as her latest The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers and is also president of Better Beginnings, Inc. She is a popular speaker on family issues, and her newsletter, Parent Tips, is seen in schools nationwide. She appears as a regular radio show guest, and has been quoted in Parents, Parenting, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, American Baby, Working Mother, and Woman’s Day magazines. Visit Elizabeth’s web site http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth.

Ultrasounds are not just meant for fun. They are used medically for many things during pregnancy, and they are often a necessity. During early pregnancy you a woman might be given an ultrasound for several reasons. Those reasons include previous health problems, a miscarriage or the threatening of a miscarriage, or to date your pregnancy. These types will always be done during the first trimester.

During the second trimester, normally between the 18th and 22nd week of pregnancy a woman will be given an ultrasound in order to check the baby’s lungs, heart, and brain, as well as to check for any other visible problems such as the possibility of Downs Syndrome. At this point, unless your baby is not cooperating, you can probably find out the gender of your unborn child if you want to know. Sometimes if the doctor or technician is unable to get the measurements and pictures he was looking for, they will attempt another ultrasound later in the second trimester.

If a woman chooses to have an amniocentesis, normally because of a bad test result, advanced maternal age, or previous health problems with a child, they will also have an ultrasound so that the doctor can watch as the needle enters the amniotic sac. This generally occurs around the 15th week of pregnancy.

During the third trimester an ultrasound may be offered to the parents in order to check the baby’s weight, because of lack of fetal movement, or while checking the baby’s health and stress level while doing a NST, or an amnio to check the development of the baby’s lungs.

Today pregnant women are lucky to have the option of paying out of pocket to receive an extended 3D or 4D ultrasound. These are normally not done by medical staff, but by offices as a business. They are more like souvenirs for the parents and the fee for them comes with the option to have video and pictures of their unborn baby that they can keep and show family and friends. These ultrasound sessions normally last between 30 and 90 minutes depending on what the couple pays for.

Early in pregnancy, constipation is caused by a change in your hormones which can make your digestive system sluggish and often uncooperative. Later in pregnancy, the constipation can be aided by the increased size of your uterus and the baby pushing down on the intestines and inner organs, not allowing as much room for food to pass.

What You Can Do
There are several things you can do to help ease or prevent the occurrence of constipation.

• Drink plenty of water. Staying hydrated has been proven to help keep your system regulated, both while pregnant and not pregnant. Doctors recommend that both pregnant and unpregnant women drink at least eight glasses of water a day. 
• Get more fiber. Fiber in your diet will help your bowel movements remain loose and regular. You can get fiber in fruits and vegetables, as well as grains. If you don’t feel like you are getting enough fiber, ask your doctor about taking a fiber supplement. 
• Watch the calcium. Too much calcium while pregnant can cause your bowels to harden and lead to constipation. Try to avoid eating more than the recommended amount of dairy foods. 
• Keep active. Exercise can help keep your system regulated. Keep up a walking routine, swim if you can, or lift some light weights if your doctor says it is safe.

If you are trying all this and the constipation still is not letting up, ask your doctor or midwife about the possibility of taking extra supplements or laxatives. There may be additional remedies that your provider can recommend to help bring you relief.

Tight clothing before you even have a bump can be very frustrating. If it isn’t your first pregnancy you may notice these changes earlier than other newly pregnant women. Most of the time, the first trimester is too early for maternity clothes, with their big elastic waistbands or big pouches, and yet no ome wants to have to spend money on new clothes every few weeks until the maternity clothes fit you.

If it is warm outside, your range of choices may be a bit wider than when the temperatures are colder. Try light, loose-fitting shorts with elastic waistbands for running around town, your house, or heading to the pool. Loose pull over short sleeve shirts and tank tops are perfect for avoiding your shirt stretching at the buttons over your growing breasts. Sundresses that don’t have a waist at all are a great choice, and something that you might already have in your closet. The idea is to be comfy!

If it is cooler outside and shorts are not an option, or you have to work in an office where you have a dress code, try looking for some black slacks or pants that don’t button, and instead have elastic or a draw string so that as the day goes on, there is room for you to grow and get comfortable. Black slacks can be dressed up or dressed down and can be worn with anything, so your options are unlimited. Stick to the tops in your closet that don’t have buttons if your breast size is rapidly growing, as pullovers and sweaters won’t look so stretched. On weekends or when running around town, try to stick to sweat bottoms as the elastic waist can move with your body.

When you get home for the day, there is nothing wrong with pulling out your comfortable pajama’s or a lounging outfit that has no buttons or zippers and putting it on for the evening. The third trimester, and after your baby is born, is soon enough to be uncomfortable all day, so there is no reason to be uncomfortable during the early days of your pregnancy.

Are you pregnant? Often, our body gives us the signs that we are pregnant before that plus sign ever shows up on a pregnancy test. How

ever, many signs of pregnancy could also be symptoms of a medical problem or even just premenstrual syndrome, so it’s important to take that test as soon as a positive result is possible.  Possible signs of pregnancy are:

Implantation Bleeding

Implantation bleeding, in women who experience it, is typically the first indication of pregnancy. When the embryo implants into the uterine wall, some blood may be released. However, only about 20 to 30 percent of women experience this bleeding, which is really more like a pink or very light red discharge of blood. Any bleeding that is not your period should be discussed with your doctor.

Delay/Difference in Menstruation

When a woman misses a period, often the first thing she does is take a home pregnancy test. A late or skipped menstrual period is the most well-known symptom of pregnancy. Some women may bleed lightly during pregnancy. If this occurs in the first few weeks, it’s called implantation bleeding and should be very light. Heavy bleeding after a period is late or after a pregnancy test has shown you are pregnant could

indicate a miscarriage and you should speak with your doctor.

Other factors may also create an irregular menstrual cycle or a missed period. These include:

• Excessive changes in weight and/or diet

• Hormonal imbalances

• Stress

• Going off birth control pills

• Breastfeeding

• Travel, esp. involving changes in altitude

• Illness

• Antibiotics

Swollen / Tender Breasts

A woman’s breasts may become sore, swollen or tender as early as one or two weeks after conception. However, this is also a sign of PMS so, if you experience swollen breasts, you may want to wait until the first day of your missed period to take a home pregnancy test. You may also experience tender or sore breasts if you have a hormone imbalance or recently started birth control pills or other hormone-based birth control.

Fatigue/Tiredness

Extreme fatigue or even feeling more tired than usual could indicate pregnancy and may begin as early as the first week after conception. However, there are multiple other factors that could make a woman tired, so if this is not accompanied by other symptoms of pregnancy, consider other factors first.

• Are you getting enough sleep?

• Are you under stress?

• Could you have a cold or the flu?

Stress, exhaustion, depression, illnesses, a change in exercise habits or even a change in diet can leave you feeling fatigued.

Nausea / Morning Sickness

This well-known pregnancy symptom will often show up between two and eight weeks after conception, and typically subsides at the start of the second trimester. Some women do not experience morning sickness at all, while some feel a degree of nausea throughout pregnancy. Rule out other causes first, including food poisoning, irritable bowel syndrome, stomach disorders, stress and a stomach flu.

Backaches

Lower backaches may be a symptom that occurs early in pregnancy, but it may begin at any time during your pregnancy and last until delivery, or come and go based on your level of physical activity and other factors.

Like most pregnancy symptoms, backaches may be caused by a number of other factors, including impending menstruation, stress, back problems, physical injuries such as pulled muscles.

Headaches

The sudden rise of hormones in your body can cause headaches early in pregnancy but, since headaches are so prevalent in women and have so many other causes, this is not usually a good indicator of pregnancy unless accompanied by other symptoms. Headaches may be caused by:

• Dehydration

• Caffeine withdrawal

• PMS

• Eye strain

• Stress

• Cold or flu

• Seasonal allergies

• Sinus infection

Frequent Urination

Around six to eight weeks after conception, as the uterus grows and shifts, taking up more room in your abdomen and exerting force on your bladder, you may experience frequent urination. Frequent urination in the absence of other pregnancy symptoms, however, could indicate a problem such as:

• Urinary tract infection

• Bladder infection

• Diabetes

Using diuretics or increasing your liquid intake may also cause more frequent urination.

Darkening of Areolas

If you are pregnant, the skin around your nipples may get darker. This may also be caused by a hormone imbalance not related to pregnancy. Areolas may not return to their original color after childbirth.

Food Cravings

As any pregnant woman – or her husband who hit the convenience store at midnight for ice cream, with or without pickles – can attest, pregnancy food cravings are not a myth. They can last throughout your entire pregnancy, but usually don’t appear until the second trimester or late in the first trimester.

Dieting, PMS, lack of a certain nutrients, stress or depression can also cause food cravings. Click here to read about some strange food cravings experienced by the BOL bloggers.

Enhanced Sense of Smell

For moms-to-be pregnant for the first time, an enhanced sense of smell is often one of the oddest symptoms of pregnancy. This evolutionary trait may have developed to help pregnant women detect – and avoid – spoiled foods before they ate them. It can be embarrassing if you have to leave a room because of someone’s intense body odor or want to gag around people with the scent of third-hand smoke clinging to their bodies.

Mood Swings

It’s not just a myth. All those hormonal changes going on in your body can wreak havoc with your mood, too. Of course, mood swings can also be caused by stress or plain old garden variety PMS. Some women actually experience improved moods – or a more stable mood if they previously suffered from PMS-related mood swings – during pregnancy. Others discover that one or two specific individuals “push their buttons” but that people, as a whole, are easier to tolerate.

Increased Hunger

Doctors recommend that women not gain much weight in the first trimester, but you may feel hungrier than usual. To keep weight in check, maintain a healthy diet and eat lots of foods high in fiber, which are filling and will also help alleviate constipation. Drink a glass of water before every meal, too. Pregnant women shouldn’t need to increase their caloric intake to accommodate the growing fetus until the start of the second trimester, when they should eat approximately 300 extra calories per day. You can also maintain a high level of physical activity in the first trimester, which will help prevent excessive weight gain.

Later Pregnancy Symptoms

Some symptoms – such as a backache or headaches – may begin in the first trimester and persist throughout pregnancy. Others appear later.

• Feeling extremely warm / hot flashes

• Varicose veins

• Quickening (fetal movement)

• Shortness of breath

• Stretch marks

• Changes in all areas of your body, including hair, skin and nails

• Blurred vision

• Insomnia

Essentially, “anything goes” when it comes to pregnancy symptoms. If you are concerned about any reactions you’re having or changes to your body, speak with your midwife or obstetrician.

Could You Be Pregnant?

If you are Trying To Conceive and are experiencing early signs of pregnancy, this could be good news! If you think you may be pregnant, today’s Home Pregnancy Tests can show positive results as early as a week before your period is due.  If you’re not ready to buy a pregnancy test just yet, enter your last menstrual cycle date into our Due Date Calculator to determine when you ovulated last.  That will give you a little insight too!

There are no two pregnancies that are alike so, while it is difficult to say exactly how each will progress, there are certain factors that are common among all women going through pregnancy. Quite often, early symptoms of pregnancy will appear and prompt the soon-to-be mom to purchase a home pregnancy test. These can be found at virtually every retail and/or grocery store. It is important to remember that pregnancy tests, while designed to be accurate, are sometimes wrong. Regardless of the result, it is recommended that women experiencing pregnancy symptoms should schedule an appointment with a health care professional who will accurately test for pregnancy.

Among the pregnancy symptoms that most women experience are heightened sensitivity to certain smells and/or food, exhaustion, recurring morning sickness and mood swings. During the entire pregnancy, it is very important that the woman participate in a healthy lifestyle. Among other things, this would include not smoking or being near secondhand smoke, avoid drinking alcohol, etc. In addition, the mom-to-be should drink plenty of milk and eat healthy foods. This will help to promote good development for the child and will be a healthy start for him/her.

Once a woman is confirmed with pregnancy, the next step is shopping for maternity clothes. There is generally a maternity section of every store, but many women simply wear oversized shirts and comfortable elastic waist pants. Preparing for a new baby will include shopping for nursery items, including a rocking chair, bassinet, baby blankets, clothes and toys. If there are plans to convert any room in the house into a nursery, it’s best to start early. It’s also very important that the mom-to-be not be near any paint or harmful products that may cause her, or her unborn child, any problems.

During the nine months of pregnancy, women will go through a lot of changes – both physically and mentally. Mood swings will become more intense and there may be frequent trips to the bathroom as the pregnancy progresses and the growing child begins to press more heavily on the bladder. After the baby is born, the woman will likely have a desire to lose her pregnancy weight. Immediately following birth, it may be a good idea to rest before starting on any exercise program. A licensed medical doctor will be able to prescribe a timeline for such things as physical activity, which will greatly be determined by the mom’s overall health.

This article is to be used for informational purposes only. It is not designed to be used in conjunction with, or in place of, professional medical advice. Any woman who believes she may be experiencing pregnancy symptoms, or has reason to believe that she may be pregnant, should consult a licensed medical physician for proper testing and determination.

About The Author
Find more about Chinese pregnancy calendar, Chinese gender chart and EPT pregnancy test and many other pregnancy resources on CareJournal.org.

The toughest bit of the 1st trimester of pregnancy is morning sickness and any woman who has gone through or is going through it, knows the first signs usually develop during the month following the first missed menstrual period, when hormone levels increase. It may range from mild, occasional nausea to severe, continuous, debilitating nausea with bouts of vomiting. In most cases, symptoms may be worse in morning, albeit they can strike day or night.

Despite all advances in medicine, there is no way of predicting how long your morning sickness will last even if you have suffered it before. Generally, nausea and vomiting last till about 12 – 13 weeks of pregnancy. However, some women continue to feel ill beyond their 22nd week as well.

However, some studies show that mild to moderate sickness is a sign of a good pregnancy, and less risk of miscarriage.

There is no simple treatment. The best course of action is home treatment. The following tips work wonders not only when you wake up feeling nauseous but also work when you get that queasy feeling during the day.

Changing what, when and how much you eat coupled with certain changes to the way foods cooked helps.

During morning or for that matter all day sickness, you may find that eating five or six small meals, rather than the usual three large ones, is easier on the body. Make sure each meal contains some protein and carbohydrate, like whole wheat bread with grated cheese and a slice of tomato, rice or wheat preparation with some easily digestible / light cereals, orange juice and a whole wheat biscuit. Be creative; choose low fat health foods you know will tempt your appetite. Aversions to food because of nausea are perfectly normal and understandable.

Try not to miss meals

Eat small, dry snacks.

Don’t jump up out of bed immediately. Lie quietly for a while and ask you husband to bring you a slice of fresh lemon or orange or a dry, bland biscuit.

Avoid large drinks, have frequent small one between meals.

Spicy, fried foods, and fatty foods like very rich sweets, are best avoided.

Avoid excessive consumption of pickles or chutney, which is rich in salt.

Don’t spend much time in the kitchen and avoid the strong smell of certain foods when shopping.

Prepare food when feeling least nauseous.

Taking lemon or orange juice in the morning and before meals relieves nausea of early pregnancy.

Suck an ice cube till the nausea passes off.

Sip on cool water.

However, if you have severe, persistent nausea and vomiting, see your doctor. This not so common complication of pregnancy can lead to dehydration and malnutrition, sometimes calling for prescribed medication and in some cases even hospitalization. Although drugs are best avoided in pregnancy, especially in the early months, there are some that have been in use for many years with no apparent danger to the developing baby.

About the Author
Ashely Farrar also writes on Home Remedy for Kidney Stone. More info: http://www.symptoms-kidney-stones-treatments.com.

It’s a very natural thing to blame yourself when you suffer a miscarriage. I did. I wracked my brain in a futile attempt to come up with some answers. Anything. Nothing the doctor said could convince me that there wasn’t something I did to make this happen.

So, I prolonged my suffering. By blaming myself I only made things worse. It was not my fault- just as it’s not your fault that you’ve miscarried. No, that glass of wine or beer you had did not cause your miscarriage. No, the argument you had with your husband did not cause you so much stress that you miscarried. No, the unhealthy food you ate from a fast food restaurant didn’t do it either. Please, stop knocking yourself and blaming yourself for this. I know you need answers. You want some sort of justification for your pain and loss. But, when you continually find, or try to find blame within yourself, you are hurting yourself over and over again…

About the Author
Ellen M. DuBois is a multi-published author in the fiction, nonfiction, inspirational and poetry genres. She resides in Massachusetts, and is also a singer/songwriter. To learn more about Ellen’s books and projects, please visit her website at ellendubois.com

The woman who has miscarried is just like me. I miscarried in 1991 and my days were spent weeping over my empty womb and arms for months on end. There were no Internet support groups; no books that spoke to my pain; and although people were concerned, their focus was more on me than on the baby lost.

“The fetus is no longer viable”. Those were the words I heard one terrible day in May. I was four-and-a-half months pregnant and noticed some spotting. My sister accompanied me to the hospital, and in a very tiny room, lit only by the image of my dead baby on the ultrasound screen, the doctor told me my baby had ‘expired’.

When my baby died, all the hopes, wishes and dreams I had for my child died, too. It felt like the rug was ripped from under my feet and I had no solid ground to stand upon. No matter where I looked for support, I found none- other than from well meaning family and friends. Still, I felt alone. Where was the person, book or group that could tell me I wasn’t nuts for grieving over a baby nobody ever knew? Why couldn’t somebody tell me I had every right to mourn the loss of the baby I never held?

That’s what prompted me, ten years after my miscarriage, to write a small e-book called I Never Held You. Women from around the world downloaded the booklet which described the stages I went through after my miscarriage- from grief and self-blame to letting go and moving on. Five years later, I teamed up with a Psychologist and Grief Counselor, expanded my book into paperback and included sound advice on grief and more from Dr. Linda Backman, who lived the experience some thirty-years ago.

My mission has become one of reaching women who’ve suffered a miscarriage and feel like I once did: alone, isolated, and full of tears.

Validating a woman’s grief after miscarriage won’t take away her pain, but it will make her feel less crazy and far more understood. Through connection comes awareness. Through awareness comes a stronger voice. Through a stronger voice come the masses saying: Miscarriage is a very real loss and needs to be treated as such. We, the women who have miscarried need your help, support, understanding and validation of our pain.

It’s happening. Books are available and the Internet has opened countless doors to support once invisible. The over one million women in the US alone who suffer a miscarriage are finally being heard, as are those worldwide. I am honored to be a part of bringing about the realization that miscarriage is a monumental loss, but there is help, hope and most importantly, healing after miscarriage. You are not alone, I promise.

About the Author
Ellen M DuBois is the author of Jackie’s Heart, and I Never Held You, a book about miscarriage, healing and recovery gently guides a women who has miscarried through the processes of grief and the emotional roller coaster ride following with the help of Psychologist and Grief Counselor Dr. Linda Backman, who also wrote the foreword. Ellen DuBois is also a contributing author in: More God Allows U-Turns, Conquering Panic and Anxiety Disorders, Sisters by Blue Mountain Arts, Soul Matters for Teens, and Romancing the Soul.

A woman’s period is caused by her uterus shedding the lining it builds every month in which a fertilized egg can attach itself and a pregnancy can develop. When a woman does not get pregnant, the lining is not needed and the uterine wall is shed, causing the bleeding and clots that a woman experiences approximately once a month. When a woman gets pregnant, and the fertilized egg is implanted into the uterine wall, the uterus does not shed, and there is no monthly period.

When a woman gets pregnant she should immediately start missing her periods, although this isn’t always the case. Sometimes women will have a period that is much lighter than normal, or rarely have a normal period for the first month. There are even a few recorded situations where a woman has continued to have a period throughout her pregnancy. Sometimes there might be a little spotting when the period should have come, making a woman believe that she had her period when she is in fact pregnant. This spotting is called implantation bleeding.

Just because a woman misses her period doesn’t automatically mean that she is pregnant. There are other reasons why her period might not have come that month. Stress and life changes can have a big effect on the regularity of a woman’s period on track. Also, if a woman has recently lost or gained a lot of weight, her menstrual cycle could be affected. Starting, stopping or changing her birth control during a cycle could also cause a missed period. Breastfeeding can also delay the return of a normal period cycle by up to a few months.

There are many ways to discover if your missed period means that you are pregnant, but the most common and easiest is to purchase a home pregnancy test. Most of these are close to 99% accurate and can tell a woman if she is expecting a baby, or if she is just “late”. When in doubt, be sure to call your doctor immediately.

One of the biggest signals of being pregnant is that awful feeling of morning sickness. How can you describe it? Unless you have been pregnant, it’s impossible for anyone else to really know how if feels. Doctors describe morning sickness as that nauseated feeling a pregnant woman gets during her first trimester of pregnancy. While that is kind of a vague definition, it’s true that many women experience morning sickness for their entire pregnancy, while others rarely have it at all. Some women will actually experience morning sickness in the morning, but the term “morning sickness” is a misnomer, as some women experience it during the afternoon as well as in the evening hours.

There is really no single cause for it, but physicians have concluded that there are a number of things that can contribute to morning sickness which include increasing hormone levels, sensitivity to odors and the enhanced sense of smell and a sensitized gastrointestinal tract. There are also other reasons why a woman may have morning sickness. Some of these include a pregnancy that involves twins or triplets, if the woman has had morning sickness with a previous pregnancy, and if the woman is susceptible to motion sickness or suffers from migraine headaches prior to becoming pregnant.

Since it is a widespread, common problem in pregnancy, there has been much research and study conducted related on how to best alleviate it. While there certainly isn’t a cure for morning sickness, there are ways in which it can be managed. Some of these are avoiding foods whose scents cause nausea, avoiding fatty foods, eating many small meals instead of three regular sized ones throughout the day, taking prenatal vitamins with food, drinking plenty of fluids between meals, and taking regular naps, which will allow the body to rest.

Although there is no medical backing for such things, ginger and peppermint seem to alleviate nausea and morning sickness for some women. Other alternative remedies that have been handed down from generation to generation as ways to quell morning sickness include bananas, vitamin B, cloves, cola syrup, honey, ice, lemons and red raspberry leaf tea. Before using any of these remedies, it is wise to first check with ones physician. There are also acupressure bands available that are worn on the wrist over a pressure point that sometimes alleviate morning sickness. If one has tried all of the aforementioned and there appears to be no relief in site, a physician may be able to prescribe an anti-nausea medication that will help. There are many types of these prescription medications available that are safe to use during pregnancy that will offer relief from morning sickness.

It may or may not occur with pregnancy, but if it does, there are numerous ways to manage it. The physician will be able to offer advice concerning this symptom that is a nuisance for so many pregnant women, and who knows, maybe in the near future the medical community will come up with a cure for it. But for now, try not to let morning sickness keep you down.

About the Author
You can find out more about Morning Sickness as well as much more information on women’s issues at http://www.surviving-pregnancy.infofroma-z.com.

Babies Online wants to make it easier for every woman to find out her baby’s due date prior to that first appointment, by offering both helpful information and our fantastic due date calculator which is free for you to use.

The first thing you need to know in order to use our due date calculator is the first day of your last menstrual cycle. It is very difficult to get an estimated due date, without an early ultrasound, even from your doctor, unless you know this date. Calculators take into account your last period and assume conception took place a week after that date. They then add nine months to that date to give you the estimated due date.

It is important to remember that these calculations are just estimates – you should not count on your baby coming on that day. Only about 20% of babies come on the actual due date that was calculated. The other 80% are split between coming before the estimated due date, and after. Since a pregnancy is considered full term at 37 weeks (3 weeks before the calculated due date) and is generally not considered to be dangerously overdue till after 42 weeks (2 weeks after the calculated due date), this early date gives you an estimated time span of when your baby will come.

As your pregnancy progresses and you have ultrasounds done to check your baby, it is possible that your doctor will update and change your due date at which to reflect the rate at which your babyhas grown, using measurements taken in the ultrasound. In most cases, this will only change a few days or a week in either direction.

After you get that positive result from your pregnancy test, knowing the date your baby should be born gives you something to focus on, and to look forward to for the months to come. It is likely that for many women, the next nine months will seem the longest nine months of her life. Have no fear though. Your baby will arrive, whether he makes an appearance on your calculated due date or surprises you on another date.