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What is a nuchal translucency scan?

Well, it’s really something I just learned more about today. The technology has been around for a few years I believe, but I was just talking with the folks at Delhi Women’s Medical Services today and they were explaining the new 3D/4D machine to me.

This is an awesome piece of technology. One of the doctor’s favorite things to do with it is ultrasound for prenatal patients. He has plans to be certified for nuchal translucency scans by the end of the year. That means that he will be able to use the 3-D/4-D machine to do a very detailed ultrasound and he will be able to scan for possible abnormalities, without doing invasive testing such as amniocentesis (where a large needle is inserted into the amniotic sac to extract fluid for screening).

Nuchal translucency thickness is found in the neck of the fetus. By measuring this, the possibility of Down Syndrome (also known as trisomy 21) can often be detected. So far as I can find in a quick search for you, this screening is usually done between 11 and 13 weeks of gestation (pregnancy).

For more information, check out this research in The Green Journal. The researching doctors explain that

increased nuchal translucency thickness is the most important ultrasonographic marker of trisomy 21.

If you have any further questions, ask away and I’ll see what else I can find for you. What cool technology and I’m so excited that it’s available in our little ole rural area here!

Be well and Birth well.
Sheilah

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Nursing and back pain kind of go together, but they don’t have to. There are at least a few things you can do to help you avoid this common problem. I’ll give you a few tips which should not be kept secret. The first step is prevention, the next is preparation, and the third is alleviation.

Preventative measures:

The best things is to ensure you never have back pain in the first place. When you are pregnant and/or nursing, back pain is common, but if your back and stomach muscles are in shape beforehand, your chances of suffering may be greatly reduced.

• One very simple and light exercise to do is sometimes referred to as the “cat stretch.” It is where you get on your hands and knees with your back level. Arch your back up like a cat would, hold it for a count of 8 or 10. Then you can let it relax for a few seconds, gently flex the other way, and repeat the procedure again. All the while though, focus on your stomach muscles and holding them in tight, sucking in your gut and all the stomach muscles you possibly can. Start out with just a couple of reps, and work up until you are satisfied.
• Having a strong stomach helps you to have a strong back.
• Unless otherwise instructed by your physician, this exercise should be safe for you to do pre-pregnancy, prenatal, and postnatal. I will warn you though that just after you’ve had your baby will most likely hurt so you’ll probably want to take at least a few days off before resuming, and then work back into it slowly. Also seek your physician’s advice if you had a cesarean section.

Preparation:

Even perfectly fit people may suffer from nursing and back pain if they are ill-prepared so here is a suggestion to help you prepare: Pillows! Have several, anyway.
• I love my Boppy Pillow, and I’ve been able to use it for more than just breast feeding. I recommend getting covers for it too. When you use it a lot, it can get kind of grubby.
• Sometimes little throw pillows come in handy to stuff under one side of the Boppy (the side you are nursing on). The main idea here is to prop the baby up adequately so that you are not slouching to meet the baby. You may have to try a few combinations before you find what works best for you, but it will help save your back, so do it. I like to have my knees up a little too.

Alleviation:

• Always have adequate support for your back, even if you must stuff pillows behind you. Don’t be lazy and slouch, that will only make matters worse.
• Heat may be comforting to you, preferably from a heat pack and not an electric source. I like to use a rice bag (a cloth bag filled with rice and heated up in the microwave for a few minutes).
• Massage is almost always good. I can only think of one instance that it might not be, and that is if something is broken. Massage helps to release and relieve tension, it increases circulation which in turn promotes healing, and it just feels good.

Live well, feel well, and be well.
Sheilah

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I picked up a brochure at the dentist’s office for you. I always figured dental health during pregnancy had to do with calcium. Calcium intake during pregnancy has long been considered important for maternal and fetal health because developing bones require calcium. However, there is more to dental health during pregnancy that just that:

Among other things, pregnancy hormone fluctuations can increase your risk of gum disease. This is why it is important to take very good care of your teeth during your pregnancy and have regular dental visits to ensure that your teeth are as strong and healthy as they can be.

Additionally, cravings to sugary things or morning sickness can also wreck havoc on otherwise healthy teeth and contribute to tooth decay.

You know that a good diet is important to you health as well as your baby’s, and now you know that the health of you teeth is as well. Remember that your body is carrying your baby, so it is best for both you and your baby that everything about your body is in tip-top shape, including your gums and teeth.

For a more extensive guide to oral hygiene for you and your baby, there are a number of sites. Regular dental care is always important, but even more so when you are expecting a baby. The Oral-B site has a downloadable free guide specifically related to pregnancy. Here is the link: Oral-B Pregnancy guide to oral health. That will help give you a good start to ensure healthy teeth and gums during your pregnancy.

Eat well, consider your dentist a necessary physician, smile lots, and have a beautiful baby.
-Sheilah

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Besides knowing when you might need some absorbent protection, there is much more to the importance of knowing your cycle. And when I say knowing your cycle, I mean each phase of your cycle too, not just when to expect your period.

I’m a bit embarrassed to say that I have only recently begun to really know my entire cycle. I owe it in part to a small little “Q & A” blurb I read in Cosmopolitan (March 2008, p. 238). It talked about how you know when you are ovulating. Such information can be useful if you are trying to conceive or to help prevent conception, and it’s so simple.

What tipped me off was this thing that Cosmo called mittelschmerz. I felt a little twinge in my abdomen, so I made a note of it on my calendar. Then I started making note of other things that were cycle related, a lower back ache, abdominal cramping, menstruation, discharge changes, etc. Lo-and-behold, the twinge I felt fell about midway in my total cycle. I am still amazed by it. There really is a time frame for each little phase of a woman’s cycle. Understanding and knowing the time line of your menstrual cycle allows you to know what to expect and also not be alarmed when you are feeling a particular way in correspondence with each phase of your cycle.

So I want to continue to keep track of this. I just think it’s neat. I imagine that this would be an easy way for me to conceive again. Not that I want to though. Five kids is quite enough for me, AND my husband.

Of course, it’s nothing to rely on for birth control, but in combination with other forms, it is useful to know and could possibly be helpful in preventing unwanted pregnancies. Remember though that when it comes to not getting pregnant, your parents are right, “No sex is the safest sex.” If you want to know why, I can tell you, but that is a story for another time.

In the mean time, do you know the stages of your menstrual cycle? Should I go over them here? Feel free to comment, leave suggestions, etc. I’d love to hear from you.

Take care,
Sheilah

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I know I’ve discussed Pregnancy and Alcohol before, but it’s important enough to discuss again.

I drive by a huge billboard every week reminding people about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome which tells me that there are still people who apparently aren’t aware of the negative affects alcohol can have on a developing fetus. So in efforts to encourage pregnant women to stay “dry” and not drink alcohol, I asked a dear friend to share a little bit with us about what she recently learned.

We were having a conversation about her schooling and she was telling me about how she can easily recognize FAS (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) and FAE (Fetal Alcohol Effects) now. I totally understood what she was talking about because I have seen it too. So here is what she has to share with us, I present to you, Julie Clemmer:

I’m currently a returning student working towards my degree in nursing and recenty learned about something called fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol effects.

What’s the difference?

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is the results of alcohol on an unborn baby. It includes mental retardation, impairments to memory, language, attention, and motor coordination. There are physical abnormalities as well that makes these children stand out even into adulthood. Some of these abnormalities include short eyelid openings, eyes spaced far from each other, turned up nose, thin upper lip, and smaller head. There can also be noted defects in the ears, throat, heart, genitals, urinary tract, and immune system. The severity of the defects varies according the amount of alcohol consumed by the mother, and the time of pregnancy in which the baby was exposed.

But that’s just for pregnant mothers who abuse alcohol during pregnancy right?

Wrong!
Fetal alcohol effects (FAE) can display some of these same defects and abnormalities. Children born with FAE had mothers who still drank but drank less. This surprised me because even with this knowlege the doctors have today, I still hear of pregnant women who are told to drink a glass of wine every day to prevent premature labor. A glass of alcohol every day…so where does that leave the unborn child? With Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or Fetal Alcohol Effects? Both are damaging, both leave long term, life long damage to your child so why take the chance?

Additional Research

There is also research being done and it is believed that alcohol consumption of the father around the time of conception could actually alter gene expression and offer contribution to babies born with low birth weight, overactivity, heart defects, and other birth defects.

After learning about FAS and FAE, I began noticing people around me, babies, children, teens, and adults. I didn’t go out looking for them but there they were, with those exact physical characteristics. Of course I had pictures to study when I learned about this subject so I recommend doing a web search for yourselves.

I encourage readers to be responsible in planning your family and take this information into consideration. The decisions you make today could effect your child for the rest of their life and yours. It’s my opinion that there are no safe levels of alcohol when you are pregnant. And as the old saying goes, “when in doubt…don’t”.

I’d say that is very sound advice Julie, and thank you very much for sharing your learning experience with us. For additional information regarding Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and/or Fetal Alcohol Effects check out: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: Canadian guidelines for diagnosis

It’s only nine months for the rest of your baby’s life. If you need help to not drink alcohol, ask. It is well worth the effort to not have and alcohol while pregnant.

Take care and be well.
Sheilah

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I know it can be embarrassing, but it is a fact of life for many people and something that is quite common during pregnancy too. Constipation, you know, that awful feeling of needing to … poop, and not being able to for some reason. So what do you do about it?

What to do:

There are a few things to try.
• First off though, don’t get stressed out or worked up about it. That will only make things worse.
• Secondly, get to the root of the problem before treating the symptom. This is very important for any illness because you may only cause more problems if you aren’t treating the source of the problem.
  What have you eaten? What are you drinking? Are you stressed about something? Have your bathroom habits been regular or interrupted? Is there any pain associated? The answers to the questions can slowly help you rule out reasons for the problem.

Remedies:

Now it is time for the third step of what to do, remedy the source.
• Something that can only help is WATER, WATER, and more WATER. Perhaps you’ve only recently gotten pregnant or maybe you are close to you due date, either way, you may be tired of having to pee all the time, but TO BAD. For your own sake and your baby’s, water if a life line, and I don’t mean the flavored stuff either. The purest most natural water you can get. Your body needs to be well hydrated at any time, and even more so when you are pregnant.
• Next, I know I have said it before in relation to other things, examine your diet. A balanced diet is your best bet to a balanced body. If you are feeling bound up though, you might want to increase your intake of natural fiber by eating more fruits, vegetables, whole-grain foods, and bran.
• Lastly, I suggest to you to relax. Take some time someplace quiet, even if all you can get is two minutes on the toilet, take some time alone to close your eyes, breath deeply and slowly, and relax your entire body as much as you can. This is good practice for childbirth anyway.

Still?

If you are still having problems after a few days, everything that I have heard or read says you should consult your physician.
Avoid taking laxatives unless you and your physician agree together that it would be best. Reliance on laxatives can sometimes actually cause constipation.
As gruesome as it may be, it’s important to tell your physician all the details associated with the problem, so don’t hold back. They don’t know your body as well as you do so they are relying on what you tell them to help you the best they can.

Now go kick that constipation, in the butt!
-Sheilah

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