Your Pregnancy Jouney
As week 14 of your Pregnancy approaches, your feelings of tiredness and lethargy are now disappearing and you are feeling more active. This is a good time for you to consider enrolling yourself to a regular prenatal exercise class. Exercise helps us stay fit and healthy. In fact it has become an integral part of our modern life style. Hence it is but natural that even during pregnancy women consider exercise equally important. Traditionally exercise was not given a lot of importance. Women were actually encouraged to take it easy and slow down, as exercise was considered unsafe for the pregnancy. But this belief has been replaced, as there is a great amount of research that shows benefits of exercise during pregnancy.
•It helps the mom stay fit and healthy.
•It ensures optimum weight gain.
•It helps prevent / reduce pregnancy discomforts.
•It reduces the incidence of pregnancy complications.
•It prepares the body for the birth process.
It also helps the baby as the fetus of an exercising mom is also in essence exercising with her and hence reaping the benefits of exercise.
•It speeds up post partum recovery and helps the mom get back to her pre- pregnancy shape and size much faster.
So if you are thinking of starting an exercise program here are some things that you should keep in mind:
First and foremost, discuss your exercise program with your doctor. Your doctor is examining you physically and will be able to assess your over all pregnancy health. Women who have a healthy pregnancy are actually permitted to partake in most exercise programs. Naturally all contact sports must be avoided, jarring movements should be steered clear of and any activity which has a high risk of injury or falls should be kept on the back burner till that baby is safely delivered.
Think about what you plan to do and how you plan to achieve the same. It is best to start off with a qualified professional especially if you are exercising for the first time.
Always start slow and gradually build up repetitions and intensity as you gain more strength.
•Get the right clothing and always wear the right shoes. Clothing should be breathable which will ensure that you do not get over heated and the right shoes will help prevent injuries.
•Ensure that you eat a small healthy snack before your workout and always keep sipping water at regular intervals during the session.
During this phase most women will also develop a dark line which runs down the centre of your abdomen and is called the linea nigra. This is usually happens due to hormonal changes and will disappear after the birth of the baby.
Your baby’s growth
Think about how you would feel when you first hear your baby’s heartbeat! It’s joy can that cannot be measured. Your baby is a part of your flesh and blood and now is the time you can hear the baby’s heartbeat through the Doppler in your doctor’s office. At this point in time your baby can also swallow the amniotic fluid as its digestive system has developed and can urinate. Also the placenta completely nourishes the baby which is now app. 9 cms long. The baby has also now formed its eyebrows and small fuzzy hair also starts to sprout on the head in this week