Pregnancy prep suggestions?

Hello all. It's been a while since I was on here...

DH and I have decided to start trying for #3. Not sure whether I'm
even -able- to get pregnant at this point (AF still hasn't returned,
probably because I haven't quite managed to fully wean DS), but we're
trying nonetheless.

Anyway, I want to do all the "shouldda/couldda/woulddas" this time
around to get myself ready for pregnancy #3 -- getting eyes and teeth
checked, any dental work done, getting a full physical, avoiding any
"bad" medicine/food/drink (not too tough since I've been avoiding
anyway due to BFing), etc. But I was wondering if anyone else had any
ideas for things they wish they'd done before they got pregnant.
Things like exercising easily come to mind -- I'd like to tighten up
my abs so they don't pop out the second we conceive, and I'd also like
to get my back into great shape so I have less back pain this time
around.

Any other ideas??? Medical/physical/emotional/recreational... I'm
curious about all of it.

Thanks!

-Carlye
DD 9/2004
DS 6/2006

carlye wrote:
Hello all. It's been a while since I was on here...

DH and I have decided to start trying for #3. Not sure whether I'm
even -able- to get pregnant at this point (AF still hasn't returned,
probably because I haven't quite managed to fully wean DS), but we're
trying nonetheless.

Anyway, I want to do all the "shouldda/couldda/woulddas" this time
around to get myself ready for pregnancy #3 -- getting eyes and teeth
checked, any dental work done, getting a full physical, avoiding any
"bad" medicine/food/drink (not too tough since I've been avoiding
anyway due to BFing), etc. But I was wondering if anyone else had any
ideas for things they wish they'd done before they got pregnant.
Things like exercising easily come to mind -- I'd like to tighten up
my abs so they don't pop out the second we conceive, and I'd also like
to get my back into great shape so I have less back pain this time
around.

Any other ideas??? Medical/physical/emotional/recreational... I'm
curious about all of it.

you didn't mention folic acid - but then if like most Americans you are
taking a multivitamin, it's in most of those at the recommended dose for
most women, but to double check the packet!

The abdominal muscles are strongly related to back pain, so getting
those strong kills two birds with one stone. I had had previous back
problems prior to my first pregnancy, but abs were not weak, just not
highly toned either, though it wasn't something I thought about until
later - my back pain reoccurred in week 5 of pregnancy!

2nd time around I was highly motivated to avoid that and had an abominal
injury when DS was a year old anyway, so I had some physical therapy
sessions as well as doing a lot of working out in the gym to strengthen
things, the results were pretty good, I carried really small to about 35
weeks, unfortunately I did get SPD from 20 weeks - I've since discovered
I have a genetic problem with connective tissue, so my muscles need to
be much stronger than normal to have any chance of balancing things out
- however I managed pretty well until 35 weeks, when it suddenly
became the pregnancy from hell, but don't let that worry you, I'm
definitely not the norm, it would just be incomplete to say everything
worked out really well when it only did for about 7 months.

I'd highly recommend pilates as a good way to work the relevant muscles out.

Cheers
Anne

On Aug 10, 3:07 pm, Anne Rogers wrote:
you didn't mention folic acid - but then if like most Americans you are
taking a multivitamin, it's in most of those at the recommended dose for
most women, but to double check the packet!

Ah, I should have mentioned that. Since I'm still nursing, I haven't
stopped taking my prenatal vitamins, so that one is taken care of!

I'd highly recommend pilates as a good way to work the relevant muscles out.

Thanks, Anne. I'll definitely look into pilates. I'm sorry about
your back/abdominal problems. I had back pain at the end of my first
pregnancy and through my entire second, but I don't really have a
*reason* for that pain, other than the pregnancy themselves. I cannot
imagine how women with -serious- back problems get through pregnancy.
Ugh.

Thanks!

-Carlye
DD 9/2004
DS 6/2006

Thanks, Anne. I'll definitely look into pilates. I'm sorry about
your back/abdominal problems. I had back pain at the end of my first
pregnancy and through my entire second, but I don't really have a
*reason* for that pain, other than the pregnancy themselves. I cannot
imagine how women with -serious- back problems get through pregnancy.
Ugh.

Mine weren't even serious, I'd had whiplash to the mid back (unusual,
it's usually the neck), then an impact injury to the same area, which
was about 2 years before getting pregnant, and it was the mid back that
flared up almost instantly - the theory was, it hadn't got normal
mobility, so when you add the pregnancy hormones, the differential is
enough to set of pain, I had mobilisations from a physical therapist,
but it didn't really seem to help, I wish I'd thought to try a
chiropractor. The physical therapist did warn me that at 27 weeks my
ribs would expand and it would be very painful as it was the same area,
I'm not sure how she could put such a date on it, but it did happen at
spot on 27 weeks and it was hellish, I don't think my ribs shrunk back
as I didn't get that 2nd time, I think they have shrunk back now, plus I
added a 2nd impact injury to the exact same area, this time I actually
broke a vertabra :-(. It's the injuries from the 2nd birth that worry me
most for a potential future pregnancy, the damage to my SI joints meant
there was visable swelling for 7 months! I'm mostly recovered, I have a
cartiledge problem in my hip that won't recover on it's own, I very
rarely feel anything in my low back, though I do have to be sure to keep
strong and stretch various things out, but I get a twinge in my
symphysis pubis most days - maybe I'm mad to even consider another
pregnancy! Though I've progressed so far in the last 6 months, maybe
another year will make a big difference, we were never planning to have
a 3rd before then even if it all the bad stuff didn't happen.

Cheers
Anne

carlye wrote:
Hello all. It's been a while since I was on here...

DH and I have decided to start trying for #3. Not sure whether I'm
even -able- to get pregnant at this point (AF still hasn't returned,
probably because I haven't quite managed to fully wean DS), but we're
trying nonetheless.

Good luck!

Anyway, I want to do all the "shouldda/couldda/woulddas" this time
around to get myself ready for pregnancy #3 -- getting eyes and teeth
checked, any dental work done, getting a full physical, avoiding any
"bad" medicine/food/drink (not too tough since I've been avoiding
anyway due to BFing), etc. But I was wondering if anyone else had any
ideas for things they wish they'd done before they got pregnant.

Discovered flylady.net and done some serious decluttering of my life
back in the days when I still had free time. ;-) Of course, this is
something I wish I'd done before my *first* pregnancy, and it can be
done at any time, but I suppose a general principle of fewer children
meaning more time to get these sorts of things done still applies - and
I do feel like getting some of that stuff in my life a lot more sorted
and organised back when I had time to do so would have been a worthwhile
endeavour.

Things like exercising easily come to mind -- I'd like to tighten up
my abs so they don't pop out the second we conceive, and I'd also like
to get my back into great shape so I have less back pain this time
around.

I did do this, and am glad I did. All I did was to work out a
ten-minute programme that I could do in the evenings while watching TV -
it's boring as hell, but I always tell myself that I can stand being
bored for ten minutes and it's not going to kill me. ;-) Hasn't made
any difference to my abs that I can see - but it is true that they
didn't pop out straight away when I got pregnant, which was my main
goal. Interestingly, although I hardly ever seem to have time for any
other exercise and I'm a junk food addict, my weight seemed to stay
pretty stable before I got pregnant - so I think the exercising was
probably beneficial from that point of view as well.

Any other ideas??? Medical/physical/emotional/recreational... I'm
curious about all of it.

My recommendation as a doctor would be to get your rubella immune status
checked prior to pregnancy on the off-chance that your immunity's worn
off (rare, but possible) - this gives you the chance to get the
immunisation if you do need it, as it can't be given during pregnancy so
finding out then is really a bit late. You can get a blood count and
iron levels checked at the same time to see whether you need
supplementation, as it would probably be a bit miserable to be
iron-deficient during pregnancy while trying to take care of two little
ones.

The other thing, after reading that article Anne pointed out to me a
while back, is that there now seems to be some evidence for omega-3
supplementation during pregnancy to help prevent post-natal depression
(as well as premature birth, an outcome discovered some time back), and
so you could start supplementing with that now to get your levels up.


All the best,

Sarah
--
http://www.goodenoughmummy.typepad.com

"That which can be destroyed by the truth, should be" - P. C. Hodgell

Anne Rogers wrote:

The abdominal muscles are strongly related to back pain, so getting
those strong kills two birds with one stone. I had had previous back
problems prior to my first pregnancy, but abs were not weak, just not
highly toned either, though it wasn't something I thought about until
later - my back pain reoccurred in week 5 of pregnancy!

I hadn't realised that, and it's really interesting. I'd assumed it was
sheer good luck that I haven't had backache so far in this pregnancy,
and, of course, that may be the case (and I hope I don't regret tempting
fate by writing this!) But I was doing regular abs exercises for over a
year before I got pregnant - so maybe that's the reason and I didn't
realise!


All the best,

Sarah
--
http://www.goodenoughmummy.typepad.com

"That which can be destroyed by the truth, should be" - P. C. Hodgell

I hadn't realised that, and it's really interesting. I'd assumed it was
sheer good luck that I haven't had backache so far in this pregnancy,
and, of course, that may be the case (and I hope I don't regret tempting
fate by writing this!) But I was doing regular abs exercises for over a
year before I got pregnant - so maybe that's the reason and I didn't
realise!

To a certain extent it does depend which ab muscles, abs can mean
different things to different people, but it seems that particularly
with women and back pain, whether you've had a baby or not a physical
therapist will teach you how to activate your transversus abdominus and
probably pelvic floor as well. It's actually difficult to do many other
exercises correctly without it, particularly when you start load
bearing, I had PT when my first was about 9mths old as from carrying him
my shoulder kept subluxing, the therapist could tell whether or not I
was working the abdominals correctly by looking at what my shoulders
were doing!

In case it's helpful to anyone I'm going to write a paragraph on
strengthening the abs and SPD - basically the theory is, strengthen the
muscles and stabilise the joint, but it can be tricky as to load the
muscle to improve strength, if you're not using equipment, to move
beyond a simple contraction, you have to move the legs out, either
symmetrically or assymmetrically - which can be exceedingly painful with
SPD and might not be enough within pain free range to produce any
meaningful improvement. The only equipment I've discovered that can help
with this is the Pilates reformer, weight machines will help, but you
need a higher baseline of initial strength to get the static weight
moving, the reformer gives resistance via springs and there are a range
of springs, so you can go fairly light to start off with.

Cheers
Anne

On Aug 11, 2:04 pm, Sarah Vaughan wrote:
Discovered flylady.net and done some serious decluttering of my life
back in the days when I still had free time. ;-)

Yes, the organizing/cleaning/decluttering is a constant battle for
me. Fortunately, we moved into our current house last October, so
we've managed to purge a lot of the unnecessary stuff and are indeed
working on organizing the rest!

Hasn't made
any difference to my abs that I can see - but it is true that they
didn't pop out straight away when I got pregnant, which was my main
goal.

Well, that makes it worthwhile as far as I'm concerned! I am pretty
good about regular aerobic exercise and always have been, but it's the
strength training and stretching-type stuff that I have let go by the
wayside since I started having kids. I absolutely HAVE to find a good
pre-pregnancy, or even prenatal, workout that emphasizes those
"trouble" areas.

My recommendation as a doctor would be to get your rubella immune status
checked prior to pregnancy on the off-chance that your immunity's worn
off (rare, but possible) - this gives you the chance to get the
immunisation if you do need it, as it can't be given during pregnancy so
finding out then is really a bit late. You can get a blood count and
iron levels checked at the same time to see whether you need
supplementation, as it would probably be a bit miserable to be
iron-deficient during pregnancy while trying to take care of two little
ones.


This is a good idea. If one does a pre-pregnancy physical, do you
need to see someone that handles OB/GYN, or will a regular doctor do?
I can't get into see a single doc that does prenatal care or delivers
babies unless I am pregnant, and I'm a little apprehensive about
seeing a regular doctor when pregnancy is, you know, the whole point
of the visit.

The other thing, after reading that article Anne pointed out to me a
while back, is that there now seems to be some evidence for omega-3
supplementation during pregnancy to help prevent post-natal depression
(as well as premature birth, an outcome discovered some time back), and
so you could start supplementing with that now to get your levels up.

Will do. Hadn't heard that.

Thanks so much for the good advice!

Here's hoping for #3 soon...

-Carlye
DD 9/2004
DS 6/2006

This is a good idea. If one does a pre-pregnancy physical, do you
need to see someone that handles OB/GYN, or will a regular doctor do?
I can't get into see a single doc that does prenatal care or delivers
babies unless I am pregnant, and I'm a little apprehensive about
seeing a regular doctor when pregnancy is, you know, the whole point
of the visit.

where you are do ob/gyns who deliver babies not do women's annuals and
other stuff? I've not done it, so I don't know how it would work and
whether insurance would pay for it, but what I'd do is ring the office
and say I needed to get some things checked before trying to conceive, I
see a doctor in that office who's near retirement and doesn't delivery
babies, I'd prefer to see him for this kind of appointment though as
he's already met me a few times. As it happens our family practitioner
delivers babies anyway, so I'd be happy going to here if necessary. To
be honest, unless you have specific things to discuss about a plan for
pregnancy that might be high risk, then I'd think a general doctor or
even a nurse practitioner would be sufficient. If you're due an annual
any time soon you could get it all done together.

Cheers
Anne

"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
. ..

This is a good idea. If one does a pre-pregnancy physical, do you
need to see someone that handles OB/GYN, or will a regular doctor do?
I can't get into see a single doc that does prenatal care or delivers
babies unless I am pregnant, and I'm a little apprehensive about
seeing a regular doctor when pregnancy is, you know, the whole point
of the visit.

Are they just not taking any new patients? Have you seen any of those
doctors before, while pregnant? It's strange to me that you can't get in if
you aren't pregnant, especially if you are TTC, and more especially if they
are not "not taking new patients."

I've always seen an OB/GYN for all of my annual physical needs. I started
in my 20's, well before I was ready to TTC. They did my annual paps, breast
exams, and other basic physical checks. That's what the GYN part of the
OB/GYN is for. Gynecological.

Regardless, pregnancy and prepregnancy is a basic part of medical learning,
so I wouldn't be worried about seeing a regular doctor for standard
pre-pregnancy checkups. Especially if you go armed with the knowledge that
you have gained here, like the fact that you want a rubella check before you
are pregnant, etc. Basically when you go for a prepregnancy checkup, they
ask you if you are healthy, if you have any medical concerns or worries, are
you eating well and taking folic acid, and then say, "Good luck!" and you
are out the door. There just isn't that much medically that you need to do,
if you are a healthy woman in your child bearing years.
--

Jamie
Earth Angels:
Taylor Marlys -- 01/03/03
Addison Grace -- 09/30/04



where you are do ob/gyns who deliver babies not do women's annuals and
other stuff? I've not done it, so I don't know how it would work and
whether insurance would pay for it, but what I'd do is ring the office and
say I needed to get some things checked before trying to conceive, I see a
doctor in that office who's near retirement and doesn't delivery babies,
I'd prefer to see him for this kind of appointment though as he's already
met me a few times. As it happens our family practitioner delivers babies
anyway, so I'd be happy going to here if necessary. To be honest, unless
you have specific things to discuss about a plan for pregnancy that might
be high risk, then I'd think a general doctor or even a nurse practitioner
would be sufficient. If you're due an annual any time soon you could get
it all done together.

Cheers
Anne