Pregnancy Week By Week

Exercise during pregnancy appears to be safe even for African-American women at high risk for pregnancy complications, a new study suggests.

The study, which focused on poor, urban African-American women, found that “exercise participation did not increase or decrease the risk of low birth weight or preterm birth," said co-author Suezanne Orr, Ph.D.

“There is not much information about exercise participation in this population. Most of the research has been on middle-aged white women," said Orr, with the Department of Health Education and Promotion at East Carolina University, in Greenville, N.C.

The study, which appears in the current issue of the journal Ethnicity and Disease, looked at 922 low-income African-American women receiving prenatal care at five Baltimore clinics between 1993 and 1995.

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Mid Life Crisis

We are seeing a shift in the mid life crisis today. The New York Magazine has coined the phrase “grups” to describe the current middle aged population that tries to fill the generation gap. There is a sound reason for the generation gap. We probably shouldn’t try to fill it. The term grup is derived from an episode of Star Trek in which Captain Kirk and his crew find themselves on a planet run by kids. There are no adults in sight. (By the way if you know the episode I’m talking about you may be having a mid life crisis yourself). In the episode the kids create the term “grup” to refer to the adult crew visiting their child-filled planet. The word is a clever combination of the term “grown-ups” that seems to be a popular way to help us look at ourselves differently. The individuals entering the mid life crisis age are currently referred to as grups because of their inescapable desire to hold on to technology. Nothing is more aggravating than an adolescent who can show an adult how to run an ipod. (If you are wondering what an ipod is then you may be having a mid life crisis of a different kind). However, the younger generation is basically wired to work these kinds of gadgets. You may know a grup. You may even be a grup without knowing it. I got my wake-up call when I was expecting my daughter. The doctor mentioned something about advanced maternal age and I almost smacked him. How dare he? This is my first pregnancy from my first marriage. Okay, so I married when I was 34 but, still. I didn’t realize that I would be the oldest mom at daycare. I didn’t know that I was supposed to be tending to teens instead of toddlers. I was not aware that I should be in mid life crisis. Maybe this is the problem. Maybe my late start in married life is my mid life crisis. I should be sporting a “soccer mom” necklace but the idea makes me totally gag. For real. I guess that I should be listening to the oldies station but it depresses me. When did Elton John enter the realm of the oldies? Oh well, the mid life crisis has snuck up on me. I probably should forget going to the System of a Down concert I’ve been looking forward to attending. I should also back away from the ipod, too. I don’t know how to work those things anyway.

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Lose 20 Pounds After Birth

Lose 20 pounds Prior to getting pregnant, I had a great figure. I was wearing a size 6 and like what I saw when I looked in the mirror. I allowed myself to gain more weight than necessary when I was pregnant, figuring it would not be that difficult to lose. Wow, was I ever wrong! I managed to keep 35 extra pounds. Granted, I could have gained a few pounds before my daughter came along in order to look healthier. Now, I'm desperate to lose 20 pounds. If I could somehow discipline myself to lose 20 pounds and keep it off, I would be incredibly happy. I want to like what I see when I look in the mirror again. Now, I cringe. All I see are my problem areas. Becoming a mother and having a colicky baby stressed me out incredibly. A lot of changes occurred in my life and I let myself become depressed. By doing that, I used food as a comfort. That was a huge mistake. And, that's the reason I am needing to lose 20 pounds. I could lose a little bit more than that but I will set my first goal at 20 pounds. I saw this magazine ad that promised me a way to lose weight by simply taking some pills every day. I was always skeptical prior to being desperate to lose 20 pounds, so I suddenly found myself wondering if they would work. I bit the bullet and ordered them. I am embarrassed to announce that taking those pills did absolutely nothing for me except take money from my bank account. I work a full-time job and a part-time job and have little time for exercise. I know, that isn't an excuse. If I wanted it badly enough I would find the time. I'm working on that. I try to get some power stroller walks in every evening. My daughter loves it and it gets my heart pounding. I know that it will not be easy to lose 20 pounds. I need to be incredibly dedicated and motivated. I think that I am, and I'll do really well for days. In fact, several months ago I managed to lose 6 pounds. Then, something dramatic happened in my life and suddenly those 6 pounds were gained back in days. So much for my ability to lose 20 pounds. Perhaps if my husband admitted that he too could lose 20 pounds, I would have a support system and not be exposed to all of his junk food snacks. So, I suppose I'm completely on my own. If only they pills that motivated me to lose 20 pounds......

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Help For Troubled Teens

Are you the parent of a teenager? If the answer is yes, then welcome to the club. I swear, not a lot can be more stressful and annoying, than raising a grouchy teenager. Don't get me wrong, I love my children and I always will. However, why can't they just stay sweet and innocent for the rest of their lives? Is that really too much to ask? I think not. Anyway, if you have experienced the teen years, then you're well aware of how hairy things can get. Anything from drugs, to alcohol, to sex can become a serious issue. If things progress and get too out of hand, you may find yourself in a center that provides help for troubled teens. But, hopefully it won't get that bad. Have you noticed that help for troubled teens is becoming more accessible these days? You know why this is, right? It's simply due to the fact that children now days are facing even more difficulties and pressures. Although you probably dealt with teen sex and pregnancy back when you were in high school, you most likely didn't deal with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. This has changed the whole scheme of things. Pregnancy is no longer at the top of list of concerns. I must say that I have been rather fortunate in this respect. We spoke with our teenage daughter about sex and the usual teen stuff, and she decided it wasn't for her yet. Thank God! Now I won't have to shove her away in one of those clinics that offer help for troubled teens. Just a joke! However, we've had our bout with alcohol. Although we did encourage her not to drink, she still went out and stole some liquor with her friends. Yes, I did say stole. Believe me; she is now paying the price. I guess one method of help for troubled teens is community service. Acquiring help for troubled teens is not all that difficult any more. If you have a teenager who is in desperate need of some counseling or "straightening out," then you may want to try the World-Wide-Web. The Internet can introduce you to various programs that provide help for troubled teens. The key is taking the initiative early. Don't wait for things to get worse. This can end horribly. Get the help for troubled teens that you and your child need. He/she is worth it. Growing up can just be a tad overwhelming.

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Pregnancy Test

I still remember the day my wife found out that she was pregnant. We were returning home from a movie (coincidentally a movie about kids!) when on an impulse, my wife decided to purchase a home pregnancy test kit. We had been trying to start a family for quite some time and it was sheer coincidence that she chose that day to buy and use the pregnancy test kit. We came home, she went into the rest room to administer the test and we both sat and watched with glee as the two lines (indicating a positive test) materialized on the stick. The pregnancy test had worked, and confirmed her pregnancy and we would soon have our baby! But we wanted to be doubly sure and decided to read up on pregnancy tests. We were especially concerned about how accurate the results of such self administered tests were and whether these pregnancy tests were reliable at all. The information we found as comprehensive. Basically there are two kinds of pregnancy tests. First, there is the blood test (which cannot be done at home; you need the services of a healthcare facility or a trained healthcare services provider to get the results from this sort of a pregnancy test). The next, the one we had used, is the urine based home pregnancy test, which can be done in the safety and security of your home. In order to administer this test, the female places the test stick (or container in some cases) in her urine stream. Some variations of this pregnancy test may call for a few droplets of urine to be dropped into the test container. There is a short waiting period, and viola! The pregnancy (or the lack of it) is instantly revealed. The pregnancy test is able to do this because it seeks out a special hormone (the human chorionic gonadotropin or hCG) that the woman produces during her pregnancy. If the hormone is present in the urine stream, the woman is pregnant and the test is positive. If there is no discernable presence of the hormone, the woman is not pregnant and the test is negative. However, it so happens that if the pregnancy test is carried out very early, the body would not have started production of the hormone. Hence, at least two tests, spaced over a couple of weeks are advisable. Although most home pregnancy tests are considered to be at least 97% to 99% accurate, there are a number of things that can interfere with their results. Since pregnancy tests work by looking for signs of the pregnancy hormone, any drug that has sizable quantities of this hormone will vary the results of the pregnancy test. In such cases, you will have what is commonly known as a ‘false positive test’. This means that the pregnancy test will show you as being pregnant, although you are not. But there is still an element of surety attached to a negative test. Because even if you are using drugs that contain the pregnancy hormone (to treat cases like infertility) a negative test means no pregnancy. Most other over the counter drugs, antibiotics and even alcohol or other stimulants will not have any impact on the test results of a pregnancy test.