Swelling During Pregnancy

This affects your eyes too! The fact that your eyes, more specifically the cornea, might thicken, could lead to discomfort for people wearing contact lenses. The reason why your eyes can swell is the same as the reason why your feet and hands might swell too. Hormonal spikes can cause fluctuations in blood and body fluid pressures. You cannot actually predict whether this will happen or not, but usually falls with in the range of normal pregnancy symptoms. However, if you regularly wear contact lenses, you may experience dry and itchy eyes, blurry vision, or slight discomfort when wearing your contacts, to the point where they are so ill-fitting that they may even fall out.

It is recommended that you visit an eye doctor at least two or three times during your pregnancy as he or she can run vision tests to see if the shape of your eyes have changed, and, if so, by how much. After the examination you will get a prescription for new contact lenses that will be of the right optical strength and size.

After you have given birth, your eyes will most likely go back to their original shape, meaning that your old prescription and contact lenses are applicable again.

Here’s what you can do if your eyes have changed shape during your pregnancy.

Get a New Prescription

Simply get a new prescription for contact lenses that you can wear while you are pregnant. Book an appointment at a local eye clinic where they can determine how much your vision has changed and prescribe you lenses that will be custom-fitted. Because it will take some time after pregnancy before your eyes return to normal, you can wear these lenses for quite some time.

Switch to Glasses

The second alternative that you will have is switching to regular glasses. It is important that you visit an eye clinic as the glasses need to have the correct optical power, which, due to the thickening of the cornea, has probably changed as well. If you wish, you could always go back to wearing lenses again after you have given birth as the swelling will most likely go down.

Sources:
Chris O. Imafidon. (1992). Contact Lenses in Pregnancy. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 99, 865¬-868
Park SB et al. (1992). The Effect of Pregnancy on Corneal Curvature, The CLAO Journal, Oct; 18(4), 256-259

What Is It?
GBS is a bacteria found in the lower intestines of 10-35% of all adults. In women it can also be found in the vagina. To test for it, your provider will swab the area between your vagina and anus and send it for a test sometime between the 35th and 37th weeks of your pregnancy. GBS should not be confused with the strep that causes sore throat, Group A Strep. GBS is not contagious, and in most cases it causes no harm to the adult that has it. However, in some cases, it can cause serious infection, known as Group B Strep disease.

Is It An STD?
Since it can be found in the vagina, many people assume that GBS is a STD, which is not true.It is simply a bacterium that is found in many people. It causes no discomfort and can not be transmitted sexually; therefore a carrier of GBS does not need to change their sexual practices.

How Does It Affect Newborns?
Approximately 8,000 babies born each year will contract a serious form of GBS disease. Of these 8,000, as many as 600 will die and another 20% will be left permanently handicapped. If a baby is infected with GBS, will appear either as an infection in the blood (sepsis), or as meningitis. It is also a frequent cause of pneumonia in newborns. It can also leave them with hearing or vision loss, as well as physical or learning disabilities.

How Is It Transmitted To A Newborn?
GBS is transmitted to a newborn during their descent through the birth canal. However, having a c-section is not recommended pas a way to prevent the infection in your baby, as the bacteria can also be found in your uterus and amniotic sac.

Prevention of Infection
If a pregnant woman tests positive for GBS, she can often be given a series of penicillin shots through an IV while in labor, prior to delivery. It is best to get these shots at least 4 hours prior to delivery. In most cases, if the woman has these shots, the baby will not be infected. If time does not permit for the woman to receive these shots, then immediately after birth the nurses will give your baby a shot of penicillin in the leg, to help prevent infection. In this case a mother will normally be asked to stay in the hospital for 48 hours in order for the neonatal team to watch the newborn for signs of infection.

Alternatives to Antibiotics
There have been no studies showing the success of alternative and/or home remedies in the prevention of the passage of GBS to your newborn. However, there are some that doctors and midwives may suggest you try.

Vaginal washing and immunotherapy have been suggested as a way to help clean out your vagina. Some practitioners have suggested supplements for the mother. These supplements include garlic, vitamin C, echinacea, and/or bee propolis. After a series of these supplements a woman can be retested to see if the bacterium has disappeared. This has worked in many, but not all cases of GBS in pregnant women.

1. They are leaders as well as parents. They don’t rely on the schools, the government, television, the movies or music to teach their children values and the difference between right and wrong. They do it themselves.

2. They have a vision for their family and its future, one that is discussed and shared often. And they support the vision with clearly articulated, clarified and communicated values and beliefs. Every action, behavior, and decision is taken with those values and beliefs firmly in mind. They constantly emphasize the relationship between family successes and acting in accordance with the values and beliefs. They make a clear distinction between right and wrong. Everybody is clear on how things are to be done and why.

3. They are behavioral models for their children. Their behaviors reflect those that they want the kids to emulate. They are honest because they value honesty; open because they value openness; forgiving because they value forgiveness. They make tough decisions when necessary and they take responsibility for the results. They don’t just tell their children what to value and believe; they show them through words and deeds.

4. They enable their children. They communicate high, but achievable behavioral and performance expectations and provide the spiritual, emotional, physical, intellectual and financial resources the children need to successfully achieve them. They know that self-esteem is a function of achievement.

5. They talk with their kids, not at them. They develop feedback loops so the children can come to understand the impact of their behavior on others. They make sure the kids understand the relationship behavior and consequences. And they distinguish between the child and his or her behavior so, when there are problems, they unconditionally love the child while looking for a solution to the problem.

6. They take pains to understand how children develop. As the children are finding their way in the world these parents use a combination of maturity and skill to firmly direct when direction is needed; discuss when the circumstances merit; push the kids away when they are ready to make provisional tries when they are ready to and, finally; they set them free altogether. Through it all, the door is left open for the kids to come back if they needed to.

7. They take an active role in their children’s education, both formal and informal. They are active contributors to both the schools and communities. They enrich the home environment in every way they can. They go to concerts, games, on camping trips and, unfailingly, to the ceremonies that mark the graduations from one stage to the next.

8. Although their children are outstanding in any number of ways, these parents freely admit their kids were anything but perfect. They accept and openly talk about the fact that, while good kids, their children are just as prone as others to the vicissitudes of growing up and, on occasion, their behavior reflects that fact.

9. When the time comes, they discuss the future and provide appropriate advice and guidance regarding career and other life choices that children must eventually make.

10. Through it all they encourage independent, critical thinking so, in the final analysis, each child becomes his or her own person.

© Dr. Tom Olson 2004, all rights reserved Permission to reprint article granted as long as this signature remains intact.

About the Author
Dr. Tom Olson is the author of Don’t Die With Your Helmet On. Visit www.Dontdiewithyourhelmeton.com for more information about Dr. Tom, the book and his work. Contact Dr. Tom at info@dontdiewithyourhelmeton.com.