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| Pregnancy Information |
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How do Pregnancy Tests Work?
Pregnancy tests identify a special hormone in the blood or urine produced during pregnancy. This hormone is called human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), often referred to as the pregnancy hormone. There are two basic types of pregnancy tests, blood and urine. Home pregnancy test are primarily urine tests. These are easy to use, private and inexpensive. Most are quick and very accurate, claiming a 99% accuracy rate. Tests can be purchased at drug and discount stores without a prescription. False positives are very rare, but a false negative is possible if the test is done too early for sufficient quantities of HCG in your urine. False negatives can be avoided by waiting until your period is due, or about 2 weeks after you ovulate. Confirming a negative result with a second test a few days or a week later is wise. Always follow a positive result with a trip to your doctor for confirmation and prenatal care. Medicines containing HCG can cause a false positive on your home test, but most over-the-counter and prescription drugs will not affect test results. Blood test results may take a few hours or a day, and usually require a trip to the doctor or lab. There are two types of blood tests for pregnancy. The first, a qualitative HCG blood test, provides simple positive or negative results, similar to a urine test. This test is slightly less accurate than the quantitative blood test (or beta HCG test) which measures the exact amount of HCG in the blood. The beta test's ability to pick up small traces of HCG in the blood increase its accuracy. Whichever type of test you choose, it is important to remember that a follow-up trip to the doctor is important for you and your new baby. Maria writes for Pregnancy Due Date, a site that tries to information for expectant mothers. For more great pregnancy articles, visit our Pregnancy articles archive.
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Alternative Medicine Moral Armor on Predational Pregnancy We constantly hear of crackdowns on "dead-beat dads," but the topic of how they often originate remains hidden and deserves serious light: Dead-beat Mothers. Will I Get Stretch Marks? If I Do, What Can I Do? It doesn't seem possible at the outset of pregnancy, but your skin really will stretch enough to accommodate your baby. Collagen and elastin in the skin guarantee it. It seems that collagen has the tensile strength of steel and by the end of the pregnancy, you'll understand why this is important. Baby Essentials - A Guide For First Time Mums Are you a first time expectant mum wandering around the shops wondering do I really need that, or what is all this used for? If you answer yes to this question then you may find the following article useful. Get Back Your Pre-Pregnancy Abs With Side Planks The foundation of fitness for a mom is her abdominal area. To moms a flat stomach is wonderful; a strong abdominal core is critical. The cool thing is, you can get both at the same time with side planks. Twins Pregnancy?A Father's Point of View So you are expecting twins. Congratulations! How do I Calculate My Pregnancy Due Date? You're pregnant! The next question is: When is the baby due? Calculating the pregnancy due date is not complicated. There are several methods to calculate your estimated due date, but we all know that babies have their own timetables and most don't arrive on the estimated due date. Calcium and Pregnancy Studies show that most women do not get enough daily Calcium. And many pregnant women do not realize that the typical prenatal vitamin only contains 4-20% of the RDA of Calcium. Calcium is essential for strong teeth and bones, muscle contractions, nerve function and blood clotting. Calcium-deficiency results in decreased bone density (which in turn leads to osteoporosis and increased bone fracture risk), hypertension, preeclampsia, and increased cavities. There is also clinical evidence that correlates Calcium-deficiencies with preterm deliveries, low birth weight babies, high blood pressure in baby and cesarean sections. Our bodies cannot produce Calcium, therefore we must consume it. The Recommended Daily Allowance of Calcium for pregnant or, breastfeeding women, is 1,200 mg. Good sources of Calcium are listed on the bottom of this article. There is, however, much more to getting your daily allowance than just consuming 1,200 mg of calcium. There are many factors that contribute to how much calcium is actually absorbed by the body. For example; Keeping Cool When Pregnant Chill Out: how to keep your cool this summer The Developing Child We know the fetus is experiencing whatever is going on with the mother. This is the good news or the bad news as the case may be. Morning Sickness Survival Tips "Just eat a few saltines and you'll be ok". How to Get Your Pre-pregnancy Body Back The second biggest question you will ask yourself as a new mom is, "Will I be able to get back into shape after I give birth?" (The first, of course, is, "Will I be a good mother?") The truth is, yes, you can get back into pre-pregnancy shape and, if you desire, you can get yourself into even better shape than you were in before your pregnancy. Infertility and Pregnancy When a couple is unable to conceive a child, it is the couple's problem, and not the "fault" of one partner or the other. Female issues are the most common reasons cited, but some studies suggest that up to 40% of infertility is caused by one or more reasons originating with the male partner. Coping With an Unplanned Pregnancy Your period is late and you start to think maybe you might be pregnant. Maybe you are afraid to go take a test because you don't want to find out the results. You may be asking yourself "how could this happen"? If you find yourself pregnant with an unplanned pregnancy all kinds of emotions may run through your mind. Perhaps you are secretly excited about this but scared to tell your husband. Maybe you are not married and scared about facing motherhood alone. Maybe you do not want any more children and the prospect of having another baby is the worst thing you could imagine right now. There are many scenarios that lead up to unplanned pregnancies. Mistakes in judgment happen, condoms break, birth control pills fail, even tubal ligations and vasectomies fail. Pregnancy and Tanning Bed - Think Before You Tan With summer coming near, you would love to put on those cute maternity sun dresses, however you do not wish to show off your pale white skin. You may be asking yourself if tanning while having a baby inside you is a smart move? Delight in Pregnancy Bedrest My first experience with bedrest was at 30 weeks into my second pregnancy when I was dilated between 2-3 centimeters. I was on strict bedrest which I renamed "pregnancy prison." All my life's freedom as I knew it was put on hold or "put to rest." I had a bad attitude about the whole thing and fantasized that the baby would come early so I wouldn't have to suffer any longer. My wish of an early delivery came true 4 weeks into bedrest. Labor and Delivery This is it - the finish line. You and your partner have been training for this event for the last 40 weeks and there is no turning back. Hopefully, you have registered in a prenatal class (aka childbirth education class) to help prepare you for labor and delivery. And if you haven't already registered, then you should as soon as possible since spaces always fill up early. Very few couples, who are of sane mind, decide to face the delivery room without any preparatory training. Hyperpigmentation - Skin Discoloration - Pregnancy Mask First and foremost I want to start by emphasizing that it can take quite a while to get rid of discoloration! It can take months to years! You will have to be patient and consistent! Exclusively Pumping Breast Milk It is commonly recognized that breast milk is the best possible nutrition for an infant and more and more women are choosing to breastfeed their babies. But what happens if breastfeeding is not possible? Many people would suggest that the only alternative is to bottle feed formula. But, due to the improvement in breast pumps over the past decade or so, an increasing number of women are making the decision to exclusively pump breast milk for their babies. Can a Woman With PCOS Get Pregnant? One of the most common questions I get from women who are newly diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome is "Will I ever get pregnant?" I have not been able to find specific studies regarding fertility and PCOS-likely because it is so hard to track those who are successful in getting pregnant without medical intervention. One source said that women with PCOS have an 80-90 percent chance of having a baby, but I was unable to find any research studies to back this up. While some women with polycystic ovarian syndrome will not be able to get pregnant, I believe that the majority can and do eventually have healthy babies. Dietary Precautions During Pregnancy When you are pregnant, you should be sure to wash all raw vegetables prior to consumption. Raw vegetables have the potential to carry toxoplasmosis, which is a parasite that is typically carried in the feces of cats. It can sometimes get into the soil and contaminate fruits or vegetables.
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