My Mom got me Dr. Oz's book "YOU: Having a baby!". It's good, and kinda goes into that "fourth trimester" of partpartum recovery and newborn cares so that's helpful.
One thing I remember about it is the oddly large emphasis on dental care. Go to the dentist per the normal recommended six month schedule, follow their recommendations, get issues taken care of. Gingivitis can lead to bacteria that's harmful to your growing baby, much more harmful than any dental procedure ever could be.
And I can honestly say, I had tooth issues while pregnant. I didn't get cavities but my gums grew more sensitive and I swore my teeth were shifting, gaps were getting bigger, food stuck in them bothered me more.
I realize "parasite" is an insensitive word for the little miracles we're growing, but the fact is calcium gets taken from us whether we can spare it or not, and it's tough on your teeth. Those babies take what they need to grow bones. I should have flossed religiously, earlier. Yes I tried to get calcium, I took my prenatals, it didn't help.
Came across the article on the Triple Test, and figured I'd put in my non-experience.
I hate to say this but I'm not a big fan of genetic screening. I feel like it's something we do just because it's there. There's no "perfect baby" test, but there is a Down Syndrome test, and I think its main purpose is to give pregnant women something to freak out about. I've seen way too many board posts of women lamenting the fact that the test came back showing that their chances are .002% higher than average. Personally, I read up on the tests and decided that it had a stupid false positive rate and could only really lead to more tests and skipped it. I can understand that some people in high risk situations really want to know their situation, but most couples get it because they want to feel comfy and they give no thought to what the results will mean to them because they figure it'll be just perfect. Is Down Syndrome even the worst thing ever, anyway? If your chances are 1/1000 and the test didn't exist, would you give it a second thought? Just my two cents.
This week's articles
Month Week Day Article 3 16W,0D 112 Janet Balaskas 3 16W,1D 113 Triple test 3 16W,2D 114 Mother 3 16W,3D 115 Pregnancy category 3 16W,4D 116 Newborn screening 3 16W,5D 117 Preterm labor 3 16W,6D 118 Kegel exercise
| Month | Week | Day | Article |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 16W,0D | 112 | Janet Balaskas |
| 3 | 16W,1D | 113 | Triple test |
| 3 | 16W,2D | 114 | Mother |
| 3 | 16W,3D | 115 | Pregnancy category |
| 3 | 16W,4D | 116 | Newborn screening |
| 3 | 16W,5D | 117 | Preterm labor |
| 3 | 16W,6D | 118 | Kegel exercise |