Baby Care

Archive for the ‘For Mothers’ Category

Sucking milk out is a useful invention that solves many problems faced by young nursing mothers.
Sucking milk out is indispensable when the kid for some reason does not take the breast. In the case where the child is not taking the breast, usage of milk suckers is practically the only way to support breastfeeding.

If mother, has too much milk, during incomplete squeezing she may have problem with swelling and pains in breasts. In such cases some women use milk suckers to remove excess milk. Mostly breast-feeding is difficult due to cracking nipples. In this case milk suckers provide gentle squeezing without breaking the child from breast milk.
Working women can not do without milk suckers who wish to preserve lactation. By the way, in such cases, there are accessories that will make the process of squeezing more comfortable. For example, Philips AVENT produces a special set, which, in addition to milk suckers include bottles, cooling packs and containers for storage of milk.
So, if you’re one of those mothers who are concerned about these inconveniences, milk sucker will help to solve your problem. It is necessary to ask: what kind of milk sucker should you choose?

The cheapest variant is milk suckers with hand pump, or the so-called “pear”. However, pump milk suckers contain no tanks, so you constantly must transfuse squeezed milk in the bottle which, of course, is unhygienic. In addition, the performance of such devices is very low: slightly better than the manual squeezing.

But the hand model is much more perfect. They are based on stimulation of the breast, which together with massage leads to a natural lactation. The most widely known and accepted milk suckers are Philips

AVENT ISIS. The secret of their success is in the design. This soft silicone cushion with five leaves delicately massages area around the nipple; painlessly stimulating the milk ejection reflex. Philips AVENT ISIS took into account almost everything: it is easy to disassemble, clean and sterilize, and it works silently and is very easy to use. But the main thing is that it decants the milk quickly and completely, without residue, so that Philips AVENT ISIS helps to cope with problems such as “overfilled” breast and cracks on the nipple.

Philips AVENT also suggests similar milk suckers ISIS with the system storage of breast milk VIA. Its key element is sterilely packaged containers. Container joins to milk sucker, and decant the milk directly into it. You can also feed the baby directly from the container, attaching the nipple to it. In addition, the containers are ideal for storing breast milk in the refrigerator or freezer within three months.

However, many women still prefer the electronic models, considering them more “productive”, than the hand ones. Here it’s worth telling you about a new generation of electronic milk suckers from Philips AVENT – ISIS iQ, combining in itself all the advantages of ISIS with microprocessor control. As with the existing electrical milk suckers, ISIS iQ works from the network or from the batteries, but the similarity with its predecessors ends. The main and unique AVENT ISIS iQ is a technology that “remembers” the individual rhythm of squeezing. The required pace can give the woman, because she knows how her child sucks the breast.

Effectiveness of milk suckers Philips AVENT is regularly confirmed by independent clinical studies. Thus, the leading British pediatricians and specialists in child nutrition compared manual milk suckers Philips AVENT ISIS with electrical milk suckers used in maternity hospitals. In this study, 145 women filled in a questionnaire after every use of milk sucker. As a result, it was found that mothers, who use manual Philips AVENT ISIS, decanted the same amount of milk as the women who used the electric milk suckers. The feedback on the Philips AVENT was much better.

In order to select milk sucker, it is important to determine for yourself how often you are going to use it. If you plan to use it every day, then it is logical to buy an electronic milk sucker, because then you do not have to strain your hands. If, however, there is no need to use it regularly, you can choose another variant. You can use a manual piston milk sucker.

Summer is a traditional time for traveling. Tickets are bought, things are collected, and you anticipate that very soon under the smell of bitter smoke and dimensional tap of wheels you’ll detract from the pressing problems. But maybe you will travel by car or by plane?

Whatever you choose, of course, you do not forget the entertainment on the road – a couple of detectives, cards, crosswords. However, there is a small snag – you travel with your child. I suspect that detectives can hardly help you in this case. You can’t take bulky table games. First, it is not very convenient, because you are to pay for every extra kilogram. Second, you’ll have some empty centimeter in your suitcase.
The main rule – do not entertain children from the very beginning. After all, first they’ll want to plunge into new experience, study the compartment or the cabin of aircraft, listen to new sounds … But the time will come when your child will be annoyed from these. And if you feel that your child is already tired, it is time to act!

Travel notes

Try to keep a road diary with your child. For this purpose you can use a thick notebook or album for drawing. It’s not terrible, if your child can’t write yet – he/she can draw unusual thing, a bird or a river, car which you met on the way. Then you can paste photographs taken on the road in the diary, or tickets, which will remind of the trip. It is interesting to monitor the movements on the map (it will also become an important part of the diary).
Comments on images and photos can be done in the style of a guide: “Look, what a magnificent panorama of petrol in front of you”. Do not forget to mark the date.

I paint – I paint you

If there isn’t anything interesting on your way, you can simply draw. A small notebook and a set of drawing pencils or felt-tip pen are enough for a young artist! The child may be full of new impressions, and he/she certainly would like to give them shape and color. You can also invent a game related to art.
For example, you can play the game “Nonsense”. Certainly, it is familiar to you from your childhood. You draw a head at the top of the page (humans’, animals’, birds’), indicate where to start the neck and torso, incurve sheet so that your image is not visible, and send it to the child. He/she draws the torso, starting with your marks, and leaves mark where to draw the feet.
We can offer another game-“The enigma of the illustration”. You paint a picture with “nonsense” – for example, while the sun shines in the sky there is also the moon, or a person wears a shoe on one leg, but on the other – boots. The younger the child, the brighter must the “nonsense” be. The task of your baby is to find your mistake. The game develops attention and logical thinking.

Honey, guess yourself…

The best road games are puzzles. There is a wide variety of puzzles. Here are some examples.
Guess my number
One participant keeps in mind any number. Another must guess the number by offering different versions. “20?” “More!” “45?” “Less”.
20 questions
Now think of any object. The participant has the right to ask only twenty questions – “Is it alive or dead?”, “Is it man made or natural?”, etc., then he/she must guess what you have kept.

What was changed?

You should play this game like this: spread a number of any items, toys, pencils, etc. One participant closes his/her eyes for a moment, at this time the other changes their order or removes one or two pieces. The task of the first player is to find out what was changed. You can also play in this way.
But the road gives new opportunities to modify the game, as out of the window of a car or a train, everything changes very quickly. Just turn for a second, and the panorama of the window will be slightly different. Who can find more differences?

Thimbles

This game is extremely exciting. You can play it even with a child of any age. You’ll need 2-3 plastic cups and a small object like hairpins, rubber, figures from Kinder-surprise, etc. For playing this game you can use folding table in an airplane and a train, or back seat of the car.
You must have seen how deftly professionals change the order of the cups. But their task is not very plausible, as they simply fraudulent. We will develop attention and coordination of in an honest way. So we cover the pin with a cup, and change their order. Try to guess where the hidden surprise is.
The important point: give your child the opportunity to hide a thing himself/herself. If your partner is under three, it is better to use colored glasses: color helps to concentrate.

Traveling stories

You can invent the most improbable stories. Just think of the principle on which to build your stories. For example, this:

Unfortunately or fortunately?

Fortunately, we took a clockwork parrot.
Unfortunately, it broke down.
Fortunately, now will be quiet, and we can sleep.
Unfortunately, if you sleep at daytime you’ll have insomnia.
Fortunately, at night you can walk in the fresh air and look at the stars … etc.

My beloved’s name starts with A

This game was described in the famous fairy-tale “Alice in Wonderland”. Choose any letter and create:
My beloved’s name starts with A – Andrew. I love him because he is accurate, I am afraid of him, because he is aggressive. I gave him apricot juice. And he lives in Austria…

Magic bag

Magic bag can replace a simple sock (preferably large one). Place small objects inside the sock-bag (a coin, small toys, rubber, etc.) and let the child feel what he/she holds. This game gives extra tactile stimulation that is not only important for the development of speech, but simply to relax on the road.
And you can make a magic bag in another way. Beforehand, at home choose a suitable bag or beautician and put in it every trifle: buttons, toys from Kinder-surprise, wooden sticks (toothpicks, a countable set), shreds, etc. The young traveler can play with them for a long time, especially if you take part in the parsing of treasures. From the threads and shreds you can make pictures, buttons can be turned into plates for small toys).

After all, you do not need to hurry and with a clear conscience, you can plunge into the wonderful world of children’s imaginations and creativity. Enjoy your trip!

All cares, worries and suffering associated with your child’s birth, are behind. Question number one: How to name the child? What should you take into consideration while choosing a name? Beautiful sound? A memory? The desire to perpetuate a name of a close relative?
Whatever your promptings are, try, above all, take care of your child’s happy fate, which to a large extent depends on what his/her name will be combined with.
In this case there isn’t any instruction. You are free with your choice. But there are some criteria which are worth following.
1. It will be better if the name is easy to pronounce and can be easily remembered. The name which is difficult to pronounce becomes a hindrance in communication.
2. The name must easily go with the patronymic.

3. Preferably, the name should not make any difficulties while making different forms.

4. It is vital that the name sounds softly and easily, for example: Alexander Vladimirovich, Alexei Mikhailovich. Pronounce these loudly, and immediately feel the difference with the other ones: Stepan Igorevich, Dmitri Stanislavlovich…

The harmonious sound occurs when the stress in the name and patronymic are in the same syllable account. It is desirable to get some nice sounds, in other words, that the combination of the name and patronymic did not have many consonant or vowel sounds.

5. In any case do not call your son like his father, for example: Aleksandr Aleksandrovich, Nikolai Nikolaevich, etc. Repetition of the parent contributes to the development of negative qualities.

Choosing a name is a very responsible activity. They largely determine the fate of your child.

It seems that babies are very fragile and can easily be broken. Everything is not like this. If you hold the child tightly and safely, you will not harm him/her. On the contrary, it will be useful for him/her. Child’s head should be maintained until the neck muscles are strong and he/she can keep it himself/herself. If the child’s head is slightly hanging, it will not harm him/her, but he/she will think that he/she falls, and this will make him/her nervous.
When you take your baby on your hands, do it as slowly as possible. The first time you can feel a small loss of coordination. But soon you will have more confidence, and you can take the child on your hands, not thinking about how to do it better.
If your child has woken up talk to him/her before you take him/her on hands in order not to frighten him/her. Continue to talk to him/her, raising him/her. Make sure your movements are smooth and bold.
• Put one hand under the head of the child, supporting his/her neck with your palm and the head with your fingers, so that the upper part of the back was on the wrist. Put other hand under the lower part of the body of the child, or between the legs, or sides, so that the lower part of the torso was in the palms of your hands and fingers support your lower back. Begin to raise the child, encouraging him/her with both hands.
• Tilt over the child and lift him/her toward you. Now you can keep the child in your arms.
• On Shoulder:
Many parents think that they can keep the child in this way when he cries, is capricious, or sleeping.
Place the child on your shoulder so that his/her body is in an upright position and the head is on your shoulder. Your hand, which had supported the head of a baby, can stay in the same place or support the upper back. Keep the lower part of the child’s body with the other hand. Keep it strong for him/her to feel safe.
There are several ways to keep the child in arms. Put the head of the child on your shoulder; you can change the location of the hands: the hand that supports the head will be located at the bottom of the trunk, and vice versa. Gaining confidence you will see that the baby can also hold with the help of one hand.
While keeping the baby in your arms, you can look at him/her, talk to him/her and sing him/her a song.

With more experience you will find out that your child can hold with one hand, while supporting the lower part of the torso. Thus, the second hand will be free.

Preparations for the maternity hospital cannot be done for the last minute because the list of things one will need is very long. Remember that “trip” to the maternity hospital can be sudden. And you must collect in advance all that is needed for the maternity hospital. You must always have a passport and an exchange card prepared.
The passport will allow hospital workers to make sure that you are registered and a card exchange will give a complete picture of your health. This means that emergency will not lose time.
So you should already store personal hygiene items, combined in a bright set, which you will necessarily have to take to the maternity hospital:
- Tooth brush;
- Pasta;
- Toilet soap in the soap-dish;
- Comb or brush massage;
- Toilet paper.

Probably, the list of “things to be taken to maternity hospital” will also include:
- Shampoo;
- At least your usual make-up (for those who do not want to unsettle their relatives with their haggard appearance);
- Sanitary pads of the largest size;
- Sanitary napkins – a towel for your face;
- A towel for the feet.

Apart from the above the following is required to be taken:
- Slippers (rubber is better and easier to wash);
- Gown (preferably plowed with a belt) – nightdress – bra for lactating mothers;
- Pants (better than bikini);
- A package for great things and for shoes, if you sit in a cell storage;
- Package for the dirty laundry;
- Pen and notebook (in order to sign your products in the refrigerator).

Also take some food:
- Juice or water;
- Biscuits, waffles or pastries;
- Chocolate for recuperation and good mood.
On the first day your child will need one-time diapers and sanitary napkins, a little later – the smallest things (sliders, blouse, socks, bonnet). In the maternity hospital you certainly will get diapers, but as practice shows, they are not enough. You’d better collect everything beforehand.

Green vitamins
Fresh greens satisfy the body with important vitamins and micronutrients. So let’s see how useful bunch of dill or a bouquet of lettuce can be?
Parsley and celery are rich in minerals. Thus, 100 g of parsley contains 340 mg potassium, 245 mg calcium, 79 mg sodium, 85 mg magnesium, 95 mg phosphorus, 1.9 mg iron. Those minerals in celery are less, but the salt of potassium in its counterfoils is 393 in 100 grams. Parsley is also richer in vitamin C than celery: 150 mg and 38 mg, respectively. Vitamin E in parsley is 157 mg and in celery 139 mg. These two greens also contain carotene and vitamins of group B. Celery is an excellent help for a person when he/she quickly gets tired, and essential oils of both plants are able to deter insects. If the child is not allergic, you can process his/her skin with juice of celery or parsley, and no mosquitoes can scare him/her.
Dill with its content of essential oils is even richer than parsley and celery – the content reaches 1.5%. It contains less vitamin C (100 mg per 100 grams of greenery); in addition dill gives trencherman salts of potassium, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. Dill tea has long been recognized as an assistant with the “concern” in the stomach even for the smallest kids, now these teas are produced even in the industry. Dill and parsley are the first spices in baby’s menu – they are added to children’s canned food from 6 months already.

Green onion, unlike its “root” contains more vitamin C (30 mg and 10 mg respectively), it is richer in salts of potassium (259 mg), calcium (121 mg), phosphorus and iron. Its essential oils can improve appetite, increase the secretion of stomach, help in the assimilation of food.

In the leaves of lettuce, there is an optimal balance of sodium and potassium. Lettuce salad among other elements also contains oxalic acid; its dark-green appearance has valuable carotene and ascorbic acid.

Giving advice is an ungrateful activity. Sometimes a good piece of advice may cost much more than a hundred of clever books. In this section we have tried to collect very useful advice to pregnant, who are in a practical condition. We hope that our advice and the recommendations to our readers will help to avoid common mistakes and gain confidence in the most difficult situations. Please note that we do not only give advice to pregnant, but take them from all who wish to share their experiences with prospective mothers.

1. All nine months only one thought will not leave you and also many relatives and friends alone: who will be born – a boy or a girl? Question: «And who are you waiting for? » (Interesting detail: when a woman is pregnant for the second or third time, they ask their elder children.) People traditionally make conclusions about sex of the baby: a) form of the belly – if it is round, it’s a girl, if it is sharp – a boy (the percentage of getting to the point, of course, is not hundred. Even ultrasound sometimes gives a wrong result!), b) Family «traditions» – a very strange premonition. One friend told me: «All the relatives of my husband have only boys, then, and we will have one…» I want to recall the lessons of biology in high school about the X-and Y-chromosome, but … Why argue with a pregnant? By the way, despite all the family «tradition», she has a charming girl, c) in case of changes in your appearance people say that girl takes the beauty from her mother. Or a boy, who knows? d) My husband, for example, believes that girls are born, when they have a very good dad.) Perhaps I have missed something. But my cheerful girlfriend helped to answer such questions: «Who are we waiting for? We are waiting for both a boy and a girl. We want both. And more … » This is wonderful, isn’t it?

2. Even if you’re really bad at Mathematics in this crucial period of life, I guarantee that at least 350 times your lover will tell you what NOT to do. You cannot sit putting leg on a leg (in this way you squeeze the head of the baby), wash the windows and hang laundry, greatly raise your hands (surrounded cord can happen), sit on a low sofa or stool (you press the baby with your weight). If for some historical reasons, your sewing machine with foot control have survived, your friends will categorically forbid running it (vibration can harm the child). As well as riding on the back of the bus or fly in an airplane … What all this says? I repeat: from the best intentions. And if there is an urgent trip on the 16th week of pregnancy, you will, of course, consult with your doctor before departure. All the above examples are acceptable (though with reservations). But why pregnant women cannot knit, tell me, please? Again umbilical cord will be crocked? Yeah baby will have much time to crock and unwind it! And here, for example, the Waldorf pedagogy urges pregnant to knit: the hand with the spokes are just opposite to the kid, he/she will receive mother’s energy, her concentration. The quiet, undulating movements contribute to harmonious development of the baby. There are «bearded» tips for pregnancy: eating for two, rest a lot, move slowly.
 
Yes, I forgot. You should, even have to look at everything beautiful: flowers, paintings, objects, sky. Then the baby will necessarily be born beautiful. Let’s keep looking at the sky …

3. Discussion of the size of the growing belly annoys many pregnant women. Especially if they give questions with such emphasis: «How? It’s already the seventh month? What a small tummy you have? Is everything all right? »Or« Listen, you have such a huge belly! How are you going to give birth? »I would be very happy for you, if others have enough sensitivity and wisdom, if noticing something like this, keep silence or speak more softly.

4. Think well before you tell your relatives or husband such «secrets», as a meat waiver, ski walks, swimming in the pool and (Oh, God!) cold pouring three times a day, or visiting the sauna. But there are mothers, so-called potential grandmothers, who even perceive a hostile reception for daily walks of pregnant daughter.

5. Unfortunately, regular visits to antenatal clinics annoy most pregnant women. Environmental conditions, stresses and previous «sores» do not allow communicating with a kid, nature, and beloved husband all nine months. From time to time you will have to give tests, surveys and other less interesting things. If you absolutely can’t bear such things consider the alternative versions – personal physician, observation in a specialized center, etc. This will cost more, but you will stay calm. And one more thing. Stay calm and quite. You carry your own child. Decisions are made only by you! (You’d better consult with your husband. Fortunately he is not pregnant.

Sun bath is a great way to recuperate and gain vitality, both for adults and children. In the opinion of dermatologists, you just should not abuse your stay in the sun and protect your skin using special creams taking into account the special needs of each family member.

For Future Mothers

Future mothers should be especially careful. The skin under the influence of pregnancy hormones becomes extremely sensitive to ultraviolet; therefore, a tan will be uneven. On feet, which have already become heavier from slow blood circulation, sun provokes local inflammation, in terms of redness and edema. Also, sunrays can aggravate the situation with the stretch, making more vulnerable the elastic fibers of skin. Therefore, from the very beginning of pregnancy future mothers should apply sun screen – sunscreen with a protection index of 60 to 20 SPF – in all areas which are at the risk of hyper pigmentation: face, chest, and abdomen. For the remaining parts of the body protection also should be increased – from 10 to 15 SPF and nourishing creams.

The simplest means of avoiding overheating and the overdose of ultra-violet rays is staying in the shade during hot afternoon hours. Do not lie in the sun – immobility contributes to varicosity and dries skin. To have a golden skin without any risk to health, just walk under the mild and generous tanning rays of the morning sun and sunset. If you want to enhance the effect in some areas, such as face and legs, use auto tans. They are suitable for application by moisturizing the structure and have color like natural tanning. After tripling use of auto tans with the reflective particles skin becomes glow and have a beautiful tone, as if you have spent on the beach a week, and happily escaped burns.

For Children
Children’s skin need the most robust protection, because their skin is still thin, devoid of the natural protective barrier and can not resist the aggressive external environment, especially the sun. Injuries caused by the sun in childhood can have unfortunate consequences, as it is shown that the risk of skin cancer is directly related to the number of sunburn received up to 15 years. Without any doubts, the sun is necessary for child’s development: ultra-violet rays B synthesize vitamin D, responsible for the retention of calcium in the body, but for the normal growth of the child every day about half an hour under sun rays is enough. Always lubricate the child’s body, even if the baby is sitting under an umbrella. Use only special children’s creams, as they are created on a special formula and do not cause allergies. Do not take to the beach children between 11am to 4pm- this is the most dangerous time, when the heat and ultraviolet rays are most intense. Try to keep the child in the shade: the sun at body temperature rises very quickly and can get a crumb of heat stroke, since mechanisms for thermoregulation have not been developed yet. Do not let your child walk on the beach without a T-shirt and panama and if he/she gets wet, quickly change her/his cloths: wet cloth transmits ultraviolet. Offer your child something to drink, without waiting until he/she asks to drink himself/herself. Dehydration is the primary hazard after sunstroke.

Ultraviolet is dangerous for children’s eyes – their broad and less pigmented eyes miss rays up to the retina, so while purchasing sunglasses take good ones with filters.

Proper nutrition is the main thing that a woman who is preparing to become a mother should carry out. Every day, she should receive all necessary materials, trace elements and vitamins to maintain normally in her own body and to the development of the child. A few tips, guided by which each woman easily can make the best diet for all nine months of pregnancy, are required to learn.

Vitamin A in the form of carotene, which requires growing cells, healthy skin, eyes, bone, enters the body with yellow vegetables and fruits (sweet peppers, carrots, apricots, dried apricots, peaches) as well as herbs. In addition, yellow vegetables and fruits contain folic acid, which has a positive effect on the brain development of the future child.

Vitamins of B group are contained in thin porridges, particularly gross. It should therefore be mandatory to include porridge oats, buckwheat and dark unpolished rice in the diet. In addition, the vitamins of this group are contained in the black bread, cabbage, and beer, although this drink is not recommended for pregnant women.
 
Vitamin C is used by the organism in the process of regeneration, wound healing; a child needs all these for proper growth and development of a durable skeleton and teeth. The main source of vitamin C is a citrus fruit. Dietitians in this case particularly recommend grapefruit, which contains the highest dose of vitamin C and is less dangerous in terms of allergy development. In addition to citrus, this vitamin is found in strawberries and raspberries, tomatoes, and white cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli, sweet peppers, sorrel, and spinach.
Selenium, which often works in combination with vitamin E, is very important from the standpoint of prevention of cardiovascular, cancer and infectious diseases.

Iron plays an important role. During pregnancy, women need to have up to 40 milligrams of iron a day, because this time it is spent not only to meet the increased demand of the female body itself, but it is also used to provide it with sufficient developing fetus. The shortage of iron leads to anemia, decrease of immunity, in violation of the fetus (e.g., delay of growth and mental development), as well as premature births. It is not difficult to avoid such problems.

Iron is found in all foods, especially offal (liver, kidney, and brains), lean beef, poultry and some varieties of fish. Plant products, all seasonal fruits, vegetables and herbs grown on the ground are also rich in iron. Especially it is found in fruit and berries with bright coloration. It is worth considering that iron is best absorbed in the presence of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Therefore, dishes from meat or fish should be combined with fresh vegetables, or with lemon juice.

Calcium is most important in the formation of bone tissue. From this perspective, it will be useful to include in their menu’s milk, kefir, cottage cheese, cheese, and fish. A large quantity of calcium is found in almonds, peanuts and dried fruits.

Naturally, protein must be included in the diet of pregnant women. Amino acids, that are included in protein, are a kind of building material of cells of human tissue, and contribute to the growth of the child. The daily rate is approximately 75-100 grams of protein a day. This is roughly equivalent to three glasses of milk, 0.5 kg of cottage cheese, 2 eggs and 100 grams of meat or fish. It will be superfluous to recall nuts and legumes. 

In order to maintain power, the body also needs carbohydrates. Gross bread, cereals, pasta, vegetables, potatoes are slow, unrefined carbohydrates. They raise the level of glucose and maintain it for a long time. These products contribute to good peristalsis, eliminating the problem of constipation and nausea. In addition, they do not lead to the weight increment.
Despite of popular belief, the menu of pregnant women should also include unsaturated fats, for example, butter. While grilling products use refined oil because it does not form carcinogens during the thermal processing. And for the filling of lettuce, use the crude oil, since it is more useful. Daily Dose – 4 tablespoons of butter or mayonnaise (because of oil used with hot food), or 400 grams of lean meat, 8 chicken eggs or 16 spoons of sour cream. Of course, the best way to obtain the necessary dose will be a combination of various fat products.  

In addition to natural products a pregnant woman should actively use the vitamin-mineral complexes.

Many women have some pains in back during pregnancy; they can feel the tension or numbness in various parts of the body. Gentle massage can help them ease this state. In addition, it will help you to alleviate the state of insomnia, back pain, edema, headache, and other possible ailments during pregnancy.

Before birth:
Pain in the back very often appears during pregnancy (as well as during breastfeeding). To facilitate such a pain you should do massage of back, neck, legs and feet, massage stomach with very soft movements. Many pregnant women have difficulties in circulation of fluids, this condition can be corrected with the help of general body massage that will stimulate and improve the movement of blood. Feet massage will help to relax, relieve the pain in legs and reduce swelling. During this massage, avoid areas with veins varicose (if there is any). 

Those women who have problems with sleep, relaxing effects of massage will help them calm down and relax. Some pregnant women say that the soft abdominal massage helps to ensure that the child calms down and falls asleep too.
Massage relaxes and soothes, and helps to alleviate the unpleasant physical sensations, as well as enables your partner or children to help you and take part in your pregnancy.
Consult a doctor before you begin a massage. If the doctor does not recommend a stomach and back massage, you can conduct face, neck, feet and hands massage, this massage will help the body to relax very well.

When and how to massage:
While some schools of massage do not recommend holding it in the first three months of pregnancy, many women think that a light massage throughout pregnancy is very useful. When you massage a pregnant woman, all movements should be very soft and accurate, especially in the abdomen and waist. Do not use a strong press and strikes.
You can add a few drops of aromatic oils in your massage oil.
During massage it is recommended to use the following aromatic oils: Mandarin, ylang-ylang, Geranium, lemon, sandalwood, tea tree.
Aromatic oils, which are not recommended: anise, arnica, basil, mint, cypress, fennel, jasmine, juniper and marjoram.

Pregnancy is a very important period in the life of any woman. This is a great event. And the earlier the expectant mother learns that she originated another life, the better for her and her baby. 
At an early time it is difficult to determine pregnancy on your own. Often, even the gynecologist does not say with confidence that you are expecting a baby, before holding the required tests. 
For the first time a woman starts to think about a possible pregnancy, with regular menstrual delay, however, there are other signs which might confirm or disprove your guess.
Let’s consider the most evident early signs of potential pregnancy:
 
-> Delayed menstruation
As it was mentioned above, the absence of menstruation is one of the first major signs of pregnancy. Menstruation will not be throughout the pregnancy, but don’t rely only on this by mistake. It may occur for other reasons. For example, menstruation is absent in certain diseases: vitamin deficiency, hormonal balance irregularities, and diseases of nervous soil infections.

-> Increased appetite, change in the taste of food
Suddenly you notice that you have started eating more than usual- products do not stay long in refrigerator. This is another sign of pregnancy – in fact now you need to feed two people. This may change tastes – something that previously you were eating with a great desire now may lead to disgust, and on the contrary, many dishes you did not like before, noticeably become tastier. The body of a pregnant woman defines itself, what is not enough to form a baby and that she should eat to obtain the desired vitamins. 

-> Nausea during pregnancy
Nausea, and sometimes vomiting (in the mornings, as a rule, it is particularly strong) also indicates the occurrence of pregnancy. In order to protect the embryo, women begin to restructure, become more sensitive to the impurities and toxins in food, which we usually do not notice. As a rule, sickness manifests itself in the first months of the date of conception, when the emerging child is too vulnerable, and cannot cope with any toxins entering him/her from mother. 

-> Changing Mood
A pregnant woman’s nervous system often changes. For example, there is a sudden irritability, frequent mood changes, like crying for no reason, there is depression, drowsiness. These are rather frequent symptoms of pregnancy. A woman may have a feeling of fear, inexplicable anxiety; she may suddenly get upset because of some trifles, or shout without any reason. In such moments, the woman is extremely difficult to control herself, but this is normal while pregnancy. 

-> Frequent toilet visits 
Throughout the duration of a pregnancy women often have urge to urination. The lower part of abdomen fills with blood, which supplies the growing uterus and other organs. They have enough pressure on the bladder. Besides the metabolism is accelerated, the amount of fluid in the body is increased, the kidneys work more active.

-> Breast and mammary glands growth
Almost immediately from the moment of conception changes in the mammary glands are starting. Breasts become bigger; sometimes there is a local voltage and low pain. These are the changes of mammary glands, and preparing for milk producing.

If you notice these signs, visit a gynecologist. The doctor will check and send you to make an ultrasound, ask to pass the necessary tests and then either confirm your guess or no, possibly, send to other doctors. If the pregnancy is confirmed, the physician will determine the approximate time and help to make a calendar.

Before visiting a doctor, you can also get tested for pregnancy. These tests are sold in pharmacies. They are fairly easy to use and quite reliable, but for reliability we recommend to pass the test several times.