Passport to a healthy pregnancy


When I found out I was pregnant, my first reaction was like oh god! really, so soon, already??
Now, it was all planned but we never expected it to happen that fast. It was just a month after we decided we would have a baby and we had given ourselves at least 6 months time to "let it happen". So, we were more surprised and a tad (only a tad) reluctant to let go of our carefree days yet :-).

My first point or secret to a healthy pregnancy would be that : it starts much before "getting pregnant". The body needs to be well-maintained and healthy before you embark on this ever-exhausting journey of motherhood. Both my husband and I were practicing yoga for quite sometime and we attribute our effortless entry into this phase to this fact. In this fast paced life where sedentary and stressful lifestyle giving rise to fertility issues is not uncommon, this is an important criterion to be fulfilled.

I dealt with severe nausea and vomiting during the entire first trimester. The changing hormones definitely left me emotionally and physically drained. I could barely cook leave alone eat anything. Whatever little I shoved down my throat would promptly be thrown out. We were worried about the baby getting the required nutrition as also with my health for I had lost 4 Kgs by the end of the first three months.. The doctor laid our fears to rest. Even if the mother fails to eat a balanced and nutritional meal during the first three months, when nausea usually strikes, the baby takes the required and deficient nutrients from the mother's blood. So even some amount of weight-loss for the mother during that phase is considered normal as long as the baby is growing fine. Only if there is a prolonged and constant deficiency in the nutritional intake for the remaining term of the pregnancy, there is cause for alarm and medical intervention. So, do read up about the myths over the net or confide in your gynaec and remain well-informed. Do not get carried away by what other people have to say. Know your body. Sign-up with any of the baby-sites that usually provide weekly updates during the pregnancy and also feature very interesting and informative articles. I had signed up with the babycentre.

Mothers-to-be dealing with a difficult, especially first pregnancy are bound to deal with some negative thoughts and mild depression-like state at some point or other. The trick is to acknowledge that it can be quite normal and not beat yourself about it or take a guilt-trip. Contrary to what the movies depict about being instantly exhilarated about the new arrival and automatically settling into the grove of a mother, real motherhood can be quite gradual and definitely not instant. Having said that, if the negative feelings or depression takes longer to clear, even after physical discomfort goes away,  you may need to take help of a counsellor. Do indulge in your favourite hobby, read light-hearted books, listen to music, take a short vacation, anything that will keep you relatively- and for the major part- positive about the baby.

I continued to do yoga ( do read more about the kind here ) for the entire term and resumed it as soon as my body regained strength after delivery. It helped me have a calm mind during labour, the breathing asanas come in handy at the crucial time and enabled me have a smooth and normal delivery. The bonus: I had little trouble getting back into shape later. Any form of exercise, after consultation with the doctors, is essential to ensure a smooth- and to an extent- a normal way of delivery. Despite best efforts, an unplanned C-section can happen. So please do not feel guilty of the same. If nothing, the exercise will surely assist you to get back into your pre-pregnancy shape faster.

Last and not the least, please do take the "eat for two now" advice with a huge pinch of salt. Indulge at times but do not over-indulge just because you are entitled to do so. Eat healthy and maintain proper weight-gain. Remember: It will take you 9 months to pile on whatever you wish but it may take longer to shed off that excess weight if you do not watch out.

So, that's my mantra- at least the one I followed- for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.


12 comments:

  1. Wow! Whatty Sum-up Uma!
    Even I believed that, the mother should have a healthy body before conception. Like the land being fertile before the crops. I really recommend people about this.
    Btw, why don't you join Indiblogger, Blogjunta? You write so well.. !
    End of 'carefree' days?! Yeah.. atleast for the next 9 months.. and if you breastfeed for few more months.. ! ;)

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  2. Wow ! Welk articulated :)
    Surely the end of life as we knew it but also a start of a wonderful new era!

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  3. Sahana: Thank you very much Sahana for your appreciation!
    yes, the body needs preparation as does the mind..
    Indiblogger or blogjunta? will surely join..thank you so much for the kind words..

    Sirisha: Thank you Sirisha for the lovely comment and welcome here!
    yes, you said it! :-)

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  4. This is very intriguing, You are a quite skilled blogger. I have joined your rss feed and look forward to looking for far more of your wonderful post. Also, I’ve shared your internet web site in my social networks!

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  5. Loved, loved, looooved this post Uma.. so well said !!

    I was one who was lucky with flexibility and weight pre-pregnancy so had an easier time of it than most. But it would be so great for more and more ladies to read your post and be well prepared :).

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  6. Aparna: Thank you soooooooo much Aparna !!! :-D

    Except for the difficult first trimester, it was relatively a smooth ride. Even the labour was comparatively shorter and easier compared to many other horror stories I heard.
    Now it seems like even labour was easy compared to rearing a child. ;-)

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  7. Books and internet are nearly god-mothers, aren't they?!:) Lovely post Uma.. I so agree on that bit about eating in moderation, and of course all other points you have mentioned:)

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  8. Vidya: nearly?? they are!!..:-)
    Thank you so much Vidya :-)

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  9. Uma, sometimes I think u r my pre clone or something!!! your first paragraph is exactly the word to word story of mine!! :| weird!

    we planned for the baby anytime in the second year.... and *isssshhhh* the result was faster than we expected... similar to ur experience. I had tears in my eyes out of happiness and worry was writ large on hubby's face, considering what a huge responsibility the baby was going to be. :)

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  10. Purnima: LOLOL..pechle janam ka koi rishta??:-)
    In our case, BOTH of us were a little worried about the major responsibility..:-)

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  11. Indulge at times but do not over-indulge just because you are entitled to do so. Eat healthy and maintain proper weight-gain. Remember: It will take you 9 months to pile on whatever you wish but it may take longer to shed off that excess weight if you do not watch out.

    Tell me about it;-S

    Written really well Uma, best of luck on the contest:-)

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  12. Nancy: ;-)..
    thanks a lot Nancy!!..:-)

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