Super Mammy Diaries

It's quite a waiting, and even a guessing game - trying to know when your baby will be born. 80% of babies are born between 37 and 42 weeks of gestation (with gestation being calculated from the Last Menstrual Period, i.e., LMP, or from the due date given at your nuchal scan in the first trimester.) Your babies gender could give you more of a clue as baby girls (due to their smaller size), and smaller babies tend to be born later, as do babies to parents who are under 30 years old. Babies to first time parents, also tend to have a longer gestation than subsequent siblings - so if you are expecting a second or third one, you can expect them to arrive a little sooner than your elder one did. In the long run, it doesn't matter if your baby is one of the 9% who are born on their due date, if they were a few days early, or many days late. However, during pregnancy, the waiting game can feel a lot more stressful than it will when you look back. You are likely uncomfortable, sleepless...

Hi Moms, The third and first trimester mirror one another in many ways including the exhaustion, and constant need to pee. However, it does help to know that the end (or actually the beginning) is almost here. While I had a crazy last trimester in my second pregnancy with multiple hospitalizations and preterm labor (which is why I have been MIA) - however, for most the last trimester goes quite smoothly and I thought it was the easiest one the first time around.. So hang in there, you will have your baby in your arms really soon!  Also, for those of you wondering what things are looking like down there or trying to decipher what your physician is talking about, here are the three terms you have to understand : (tons on this in my previous post on labor and delivery but for those who want a quick reference  see below)  Dilation - how much your cervix has opened. The goal is 10 cms, and the journey from 0 to 10 can take weeks or hours (rarely, though it does happen in subse...

Toddlerhood is no cake walk, specially with the terrible twos kicking in or "threenagers" running around. Adding a pregnancy to the mix just makes it all that much harder for you, mom. While my first baby was not planned, my second one was as I wanted my kids to be close together in age and grow up together, even know I knew that it would not be easy to be pregnant with a two year old and I am expecting a battle for attention up ahead. However, it does help to keep the bigger picture in mind - your little one may soon be the elder one but when you step out of the house, they will never be alone or want for company again. I'm not going to pretend it's easy. This week, I found bruises on my belly that I know have nothing to do with the kicks and tumbles of the little one inside me but are from the kicks and tumbles of the little boy on the outside, who no longer allows me to enter the restroom unaccompanied. And yet, my maternal intuition confirms that everything is eve...

The second trimester, often referred to as the best one, offers relief when it comes to some of the pesky first trimester symptoms like nausea and frequent urination (don't get too comfy, this will come right back with a vengeance). However, there are a number of other symptoms you should be on the look out for, and some tips on how to deal with them if they do come for you. For first trimester symptoms and tricks click here, and keep in mind that many of these do stay with you throughout. 12 second trimester symptoms that every expecting mom should know: 1. Back pain: Your center of gravity is no longer centered and there is increased pressure on your spine, which can cause pain. Often times though the discomfort is from sciatica which radiates up and down your legs, and there is a simple stretch you can do that does offer relief and helps you get some sleep at night. This one below is as simple as it looks but make sure to lean forward and press down on your knee. Sleeping with...

If you are a first time mom you should definitely know what to expect, and below are some very common first trimester symptoms that you may not be aware of until you experience them. However, if you are a second time, third or even tenth time mom, you should still know about these, because you (like me), have likely forgotten what it felt like until you were in it all over again (thank you, pregnancy brain, because if you hadn't wiped my memory clean I wouldn't have signed up for this again so agreeably). 16 First trimester symptoms that every expecting mom should know about:  1. Nausea and how: I know a few lucky people who skip this stage, but for more than 60% of us, "morning sickness" kicks in around 6 weeks, tends to occur at all times of day, and leaves at the end of the first trimester. For a lucky few, it stays until the end. Diclegis (also called doxinate or doxylamine, which is made from vitamins and an antihistamine and is a blessing for morning sickness),...

While pregnant, I found myself caught up in arguments with my husband about my how he envisioned my labor process. He saw it as a short and quick process  wherein you go to the hospital when your water breaks, women fuss and sweat while guests are waiting outside, and the baby is out so quick that there's even a risk of the delivery happening in the car. One of the times he was ranting about how he's scared I will deliver in the car, I had to sit him down and go through what was in his head and realized that all of his ideas came from the television! Quite contrary to what was going on in my head.  Ever since I found out how babies were born, the thought of me being in that position scared the living daylights out of me. However, while I was pregnant, I tried not to think about it for the majority of my pregnancy and focused on what was going on with my baby in the present. By the time I was closer I just so ready to be done. I had over time though formed an idea of what I wan...