When you become pregnant your doctor should warn you not to change and clean the litter box for your cat. Cats who are allowed to be outside, or who were born outside, or whose mother was outside could have contracted toxoplasmosis and can pass it along in their excrement.

Toxoplasmosis is an infection that can threaten the health of your unborn baby. It is caused by a parasite that doesnt cause an illness to your cat. The parasite, Toxplasma gondii is carried by birds and transferred to cats when they are eaten.
About 80% of domestic cats carry toxoplasmosis after having eaten a bird, mole, squirrel or other infected prey.

The parasite multiplies in the cats intestines and then excreted into the litter box or soil outside. You can also get the parasite from eating undercooked meat from animals infected with the parasite.

Continue reading " Toxoplasmosis in Pregnancy "

Pregnancy is a great time for women to reevaluate their goals and objectives for the rest of their lives. Some women are bent toward a corporate career while others want to spend their childbearing years raising their children and caring for their homes. But there are those that straddle the fence and want both a career and family. They want it all. And when you are in your first and second trimester of your pregnancy it is the time to set up the support systems youll need to achieve whatever your goal is.

You must first know what your desires really are. Your choices are simple yet difficult to make. If you chose the career path youll likely miss out on many of your childs milestones such as first words, first steps and first time feeding himself. These are milestones that cant be repeated. Your support during the second trimester depends upon your goals.

On the other hand if you chose the mommy path to raise your children yourself then getting back to your career when your children have gone to college will be more difficult.

Continue reading " Support During the Second Trimester "

Pregnancy and Smoking; there are no pair of phrases in the English language that look worse next to one another than those two. Smoking is really the most unsafe thing that expectant women can do for their unborn babies. However, there is great news. There are actually quitting smoking techniques available today that make it a piece of cake for expecting moms to stop smoking. Continue reading to find out how one can very easily give up smoking to protect your child (and yourself).

Why don’t we take a short look at exactly why cigarette smoking is unsafe for your baby. Think of your baby being, let’s say, a month old. Could you take that treasured little baby into a packed bar full of people smoking cigarettes? Of course not! Your poor little one would be choking on the tobacco smoke, gasping for oxygen.

Continue reading " Pregnancy And Smoking – The Simplest And Most Effective Way To Stop Smoking When Expecting "

During your second trimester you may be diagnosed with gestational diabetes. In this condition your body is unable to handle all of the sugar that is produced in your body from the foods that you eat. This sugar is usually metabolized and used by insulin but your pancreas cant produce enough insulin to get rid of the sugar. So you have high blood sugar and the secondary effects that go along with that.

High blood sugar can cause effects to both you and your baby. Usually the condition resolves after the baby is born but there is some research to suggest that women who experience gestational diabetes during pregnancy are at a much higher risk of developing diabetes later in life.

Gestational diabetes is often diagnosed and found sometime between week 24 and 28. Some physicians have found that when women gain too much weight they put that weight on as body fat which increases the insulin resistance. In other words your body is unable to use insulin correctly and increases the risk of gestational diabetes.

Continue reading " Recommended Diet Gestational Diabetes "

During your pregnancy women are at risk of developing preeclampsia. Pre-eclampsia is associated with hypertension (blood pressure over 140/90), swelling due to fluid retention (not just the ankles) and protein in the urine. Pre-eclampsia happens in approximately 7% of all pregnancies. But because it can cause morbidity and mortality in both the mother and child all women are monitored closely for problems associated with pre-eclampsia.

Some theorize that you can prevent preeclampsia by high protein diets. But before learning how to prevent lets learn who is at risk. Some of the factors that place women at a higher risk of developing preeclampsia are first time mothers who are either very young or older (below 20 and over 37). Women who have a family history of preeclampsia also are at higher risk. Women who come from poor or under-privileged sector, multiple pregnancy, hereditary issues or women who have medical disorders like hypertension, kidney disease and diabetes.

Women who are beginning to have problems with preeclampsia exhibit some specific signs such as swelling over the ankles, feet and hands. Women complain of headaches, sleep disturbances, stomach pains, reduced amount of urine and blurred vision.

Continue reading " Prevent Preeclampsia By High Protein Diet "