Blog - Page 15 of 15

April 24, 2021August 29, 2022

13 to 25 weeks pregnant? Here’s what you should know

You might have already discussed your pregnancy phase with your experienced female friends at your workplace. While your office friends and the internet may have given you enough knowledge about the subject, here are some important points that you should know when you are 13 to 25 weeks pregnant.

Weeks 13 to 16

In this stage, your baby grows from being the size of a plum to that of a lemon, peach and finally an avocado. You may notice that your belly starts protruding and you will love to flaunt your maternity wear collection at your workplace and make your friends go green with envy.

Your baby starts developing unique facial features and fingers apart from growing a long neck. You can hear his heartbeat clearly when you go for an ultrasound. Your baby’s arms, legs and nervous system start to develop rapidly.

Tips for this phase

Take your partner with you while listening to your baby’s heartbeat for the first time; it will give you both memories to cherish for a lifetime
Check with your doctor about the prenatal tests that you can opt for
Start walking, but consult your doctor before opting for other exercises

Weeks 17 to 20

In this stage, your baby, who was in the size of an avocado gradually grows to become the size of an apple, orange, onion and finally a pomegranate. Your baby’s weight increases, and the metabolic functions are in place. The heart, lungs, circulatory, nervous systems start functioning while your baby starts growing hair and eyelashes.

He will start expressing more and will develop sensitive taste buds. His skin is developing and is transparent. A thick coating called vernix develops to cover the skin. Your baby can move well and responds to all kinds of sounds.

Tips for this phase

Don’t sit for long hours in front of your laptop; go for frequent breaks
Move your positions slowly and carefully
Undertake whatever tests you can to ensure that your baby is growing well
Take appropriate medications as per your gynaecologist’s advice

Weeks 21 to 25

From the size of a pomegranate, your baby grows to the size of a mango, jicama, grapefruit, coconut and finally papaya during this phase. Your baby’s skin is well protected, and he keeps on growing bigger and bigger. The eyelids and eyebrows are fully developed while your baby’s muscle strength improves.

His immunity improves as his body starts producing white blood cells. His skin becomes opaque and your partner can clearly hear your baby’s heartbeat when he puts an ear against your belly, at this stage.

Tips for this phase

You can enroll in classes near you which will include lectures, discussions and exercises related to childbirth , if interested
Check for frequent vaginal discharges and rule out the chances of infections, if any. Talk to your doctor about this
Check for gestational diabetes, if your doctor recommends it

References:

https://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/your-pregnancy-week-by-week-weeks-21-25#2 http://www.pregnancysymptomsweekbyweek.org/Baby_Growth_Chart_Average_Weekly_Size_2

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April 24, 2021August 29, 2022

Pregnancy Week Guide: 1-12 Week

There’s no greater joy than receiving the news of conception. Along with the excitement of welcoming a new member in the family, pregnancy also brings a nerve-wracking phase in your life. It is not just your body that undergoes changes. The baby also goes through several developmental milestones. Let us try and understand the different stages of the baby’s development and the consequent changes in your body.

1-4 Weeks: The Beginning of a New Life

Fertilisation occurs during the time span of 5-14 days after the last period and the fertilised egg is called zygote. Within 90 hours of fertilisation, the cells begin to divide and subdivide to form a solid mass of cells.

6-10 days post-ovulation, the zygote gets attached to the walls of the uterus. This marks the beginning of further development of the cells that go on to make your baby’s internal organs and the body.

Right from the first week, your body will require all the essential nutrients to provide adequate nourishment and support to the developing baby. A balanced diet with all the necessary nutrients will help in meeting the nutritional demands of your body and baby. These nutrients play an important role in keeping cells healthy and the formation of tissues, skin and blood vessels.

5-8 weeks: The Steps Towards Development

The 5th week marks the beginning of several essential developmental processes. At this stage, the embryo is only about 1mm long. The baby’s key systems and organs such as the nervous system, circulatory system, brain, heart, umbilical cord start forming. Also, around this time, the baby’s heart starts beating at a rate of 110 beats per minute.

In order to sustain these developmental processes, you should continue maintaining a healthy diet. Include foodstuff rich in Vitamin A, folic acid, Iodine, Zinc. Green leafy vegetables, fruits, lentils, milk, cheese and eggs are excellent sources. These nutrients perform a variety of functions; formation of a healthy nervous system, immune system, vision and brain structures important for cognition.

9-12 weeks: Ready to Grow

While the internal organs continue to mature, the external features begin forming a definite shape. This phase includes the formation of the baby’s mouth, tongue, taste buds, facial bones and cartilage. At the same time, the limbs start to show individual fingers and toes emerging from their webbed buds.

What’s amazing is that at 12 weeks, the baby is 6 cm long; about 60 times bigger than its size at 5 weeks. Moreover, the size has doubled in the last 3 weeks of development.

Clearly, such a growth rate demands appropriate nutrition. Vitamin D, Iron, Calcium, and healthy fats like Omega 3 and 6 are necessary for the baby’s development.

Over time, you will need adequate nutrition to maintain the healthy development of you and your baby. To find out more, please visit Mummypedia.in.

References:

https://www.aptaclub.co.uk/pregnancy/weeks/pregnancy-weeks-1-4.html https://www.aptaclub.co.uk/article/pregnancy-week-8 https://www.aptaclub.co.uk/article/pregnancy-week-12

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April 17, 2021August 16, 2022

Development of your baby for the initial 3 weeks of Pregnancy

It is surprising to know how fast your baby develops in your womb. Here’s a brief guide on foetus development during the first 3 weeks of pregnancy.

Week 1 & 2

Since the exact ovulation date is difficult to find, the first day of your last period is the start of your pregnancy. The length of pregnancy is also termed as the baby’s gestational age, which is a common term used during pregnancy. It would actually mean that in the first two weeks or so, you aren’t yet pregnant. Your body will be preparing for ovulation at this point. For most women, ovulation takes place from about 11-21 days from the first day of last period. Several hundred million sperms are released in the vagina during intercourse and they are going to travel a long journey before one of them meets your fertilized egg.

The lining of the uterus has thickened to prepare for a fertilized egg. Once the sperm penetrates an egg and this is the start of a new life – your baby.

Week 3

The moment you have been waiting for has arrived. This week you have officially conceived. Believe it or not, your baby has already started growing. The gender, hair colour and eye colour of the baby has already been decided and a lot of basic growth has started at this time. The development of the brain, spinal cord, heart, and gastrointestinal tract has begun.

While the wait is long, a few weeks from now, you will be able to see your fully-grown baby.

References:

https://www.aptaclub.co.uk/pregnancy/weeks/Pregnancy-weeks-1-4.html https://americanpregnancy.org/week-by-week/3-weeks-pregnant/ https://americanpregnancy.org/week-by-week/1-and-2-weeks-pregnant/

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April 17, 2021April 4, 2025

A guide to your baby’s developmental milestones and what you should look out for

At every well -baby visit, your doctor will check your baby’s height, weight, and head circumference. Of course, these are important parameters to monitor your baby’s growth and to ensure that he is healthy, but tracking your little one’s growth and development involves far more parameters than these.

Doctors advise you to track your baby’s milestones, especially in the first year of his life. This can give you a good estimate as to whether your baby is on track or whether you should keep an eye out for any possible delays. Read on to know more.

Developmental milestones

While every baby is different and they grow at their own pace, understanding the average pattern helps you understand how your baby is faring.

As your newborn inches towards a month or so of age, you will start to notice signs of your baby’s growth and see him begin to achieve developmental milestones. For instance, your baby is able to focus better by now and is likely to respond to familiar objects or those with bright and contrasting colours. You can help him along by introducing brightly coloured toys at this stage.

Around 3-4 months, your baby should be able to babble and gurgle with laughter in response to your interaction with him. By now, a baby should also have better neck control and is likely to be able to hold his head when you give him tummy time.

By 6 months, your baby is also likely to be able to roll onto his back from his stomach, and vice-versa.

At 9 months, your baby should be able to sit without support and crawl as well.

When it comes to activities such as walking and talking, some babies are known to achieve these milestones even as early as 9 months, while others can take much longer, even as long as 18 months to get there.

Things to keep in mind

Do not compare your child to others, and that includes a sibling. Each child achieves their milestones, but there could be a large range as to when they do so. However, there is a fine line between reaching a milestone at your own pace versus a developmental delay.

Signs to watch out for

A developmental delay is understood to occur when a child does not meet milestones even after what is considered to be the upper limit on a particular milestone. Following are the activities and tasks that your baby should be able to complete at various stages:

Gross motor skills, such as crawling
Fine motor skills, such as stacking rings or placing the right shapes into a shape sorter
Language skills, which includes speech
Thinking ability, wherein the child is able to reason for himself

What should be your next steps

If you believe that your child is not meeting a particular milestone, or is showing an inordinate delay, flag it off to his doctor. Early intervention is the key to ensuring that your child is able to come up the curve.

References:

https://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/features/is-your-baby-on-track#1

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April 17, 2021September 1, 2022

Dealing with infant crying

When you hear a baby cry, you definitely do feel disturbed, don’t you? This happens even if it is not your baby that is crying. Infant cries are very loud-pitched that you find it hard to carry on as if nothing happened. When your baby cries, it is quite natural for you to feel stressed. As a new mother, you might be stressed on dealing with your crying infant, or you may feel bad for your baby who is crying without any reason.

Don’t worry at all; in most of the cases, when your infant starts crying, trying to communicate with you. Crying is his first form of communication. Hunger, wet nappies and health issues maybe some of the common reasons for his tears. If you feel your baby is perfectly fine but doesn’t stop crying, you can try the following simple solutions:

Lift the baby gently and walk around the house at a steady pace. You and your partner can do this step in turns until your baby feels calm and relaxed.
Lift your baby and go for a walk with him in the park or garden. When he is introduced to a whiff of fresh air, he will definitely feel better. It will help you to beat your stress too.
You can make any sound for diverting your baby and calming him (whistling, singing, making animal sounds, etc. are some good options to distract your baby from crying).
Sometimes, your baby may stop crying immediately, when you introduce him to some gentle movement (rocking the cradle, swaying him gently in your arms, taking him for a car ride, etc. are good options to make your baby feel relaxed).
Soothing massages can also help to control your baby’s crying. Depending on his health, you can give him a nice, warm bath by gently massaging all over his body, so that he feels refreshed. This will help to improve his sleeping as well.

During the first few weeks, you may find it difficult to understand your baby’s cries and soothe him immediately. However, you will learn with time. You will get to know why exactly your baby is crying.

Though they don’t communicate through any other mode except crying during the first few weeks, infants develop a keen sense of observation in this stage. Your baby begins to recognise the human voices in his house. He learns to identify your face well and he starts responding when spoken to. It is very important that you communicate with him regularly so that he grasps whatever you are saying.

When your baby starts crying, you don’t have to rush to him immediately. This will make him yearn for immediate attention and pampering when he grows up too. You could wait for a few seconds and then fulfil his needs, based on the tone of his cries.

Crying is very normal in infants and you don’t have anything to worry about at all. However, if you find that your baby is crying for more than 2 to 3 hours continuously in a day, you have to consult

your paediatrician, as it could be a case of colic. This is a very common ailment and most kids grow out of this issue when they turn 4 to 6 months old.

References:

https://www.aptaclub.co.uk/baby/health-and-wellbeing/crying/crying-your-babys-first-form-of-communication.html https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/cnewborn.html

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April 16, 2021September 1, 2022

Your Toddler Stage by Stage

While time passes and your baby grows soon, the experience of watching your baby grow each day is one that should be cherished. Here’s a brief guide on the growth of your baby stage by stage along with things you must bear in mind to ensure their healthy development.

First 6 months (0-6 months)

Be careful of her head as her body is delicate and she is still growing. It will flop if you don’t support her
She will learn to stretch her hands and legs now
She is going to start recognizing voices
She will open her fists now and will try to use her hands
She can roll on both sides
She will respond to high contrast objects and loud noises
By 3-4 months, she will cut her first tooth
She will stare at things away from her, but may not be able to reach it yet
She will try holding her head steady and will hold hands together
Will observe and try to register new objects
She can grab her toes and feet

6-12 months

She can sit by herself. She can also stand with support
She will try to walk using support
She will learn to poke and to point by now
Will pull, tear and play with toys in different ways
She can hold her bottle. In fact, she will try to feed herself with the spoon, but may not be very successful at it
She can find objects that you try to hide from her
Looks at pictures in books
She will now enjoy toys with lights and music

12-18 months

Between 12-15 months, your toddler may be able to stand up without any support.
Some children start walking by 15 months and some may take 18 months to start walking.
She is now good at recognizing people and will point to people she knows.
By 18 months, children have a lot of control on their hands and feet movements. She may start attempting to use a spoon or drink from a cup on their own.
She is also growing emotionally now. She will feel sad if someone around her is crying. She is now aware of her emotions and may also throw tantrums.
She may also get embarrassed if she is asked to do things she is not comfortable with.
She may fear being away from her loved ones
Your baby will now start saying words in between her normal babbles and grunts.
She will follow your instructions and gestures easily.
She now knows her name and will respond if she is called
She will understand mirror reflection
She will hug you and smile at you n

18-24 months

Most toddlers are walking by now and some can also run around.
By the time she is 2 years, you will know which hand is the dominant one for her
She will help in taking off simple things like her socks and will be cooperative when you dress her.
You can now start training her on toilet habits. By the time she is 2yrs. old, she will learn it.
At this age, your child starts to feel more emotions like happiness, anger, excitement, etc.
She may throw tantrums by screaming, crying, shouting or running away from you.
Your toddler should eat well and sleep at least for 13 hours in a day.
Your toddler will probably start being able to:
- Find hidden things
- Sort shapes and colors
- Complete familiar rhymes and parts of songs
- Name items in books
- By the time she is 2, she will at last know 50 words and will learn to communicate

References:

https://www.healthyfamiliesbc.ca/home/articles/babies-physical-development-0-6-months https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/development-milestones-12-to-18-months https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/development-milestones-18-to-24-months

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February 1, 2021August 16, 2022

Why bonding with your unborn baby is important

All through your pregnancy, your baby bump is your best companion. The bonding between you and your baby develops right before he sees this world. He can recognise your voice, sounds, rhythms and everything else right inside your womb. So, when he comes out, he will develop an instant connection with you when he hears you.

According to experts, bonding with your baby bump can help you and your baby to familiarise with each other. You and your baby will feel relaxed, thanks to which, you will have a healthy and easy pregnancy. Apart from the bonding that develops between you and your baby, when you talk to him before birth, you help in his learning process as well.

Here are some of the top benefits that your baby will enjoy when you bond with him before birth:

1. The baby feels safe

A bond is formed between you and your baby when you talk to your baby bump. This attachment is extremely important because, your baby feels a sense of safety with your familiar voice. After being born, he will be able to associate your voices and recognize them. This assures the baby that it is in a safe environment with his parents around to take care of him.

2. Your baby picks up the language quickly

When you talk to your baby bump, you are introducing your baby to your language and some common words. When you familiarise your baby with your tone and communication style, it helps him to remember those and speak quite early. His brain is swift in picking up languages; therefore, it is highly recommended that you keep talking to your baby even before he is born. Plus, not only does this help to lay a strong foundation for his language, but also helps your baby to recognize your voice after birth.

3. Your baby feels relaxed

Research says that a mom’s voice helps to relax your baby and lower their heart rate. The maternal voice creates a calm and smooth effect on your baby. This comes with repeated exposure to mother’s voice in the womb. The outcome is extremely positive because this gives you a chance to interact with your baby well and provide him with a suitable environment to grow.

Many a times, to-be mothers face a dilemma as to what to talk to your baby while he is inside your womb. Do not worry, the techniques are pretty simple. Singing a lullaby or any melodious song to your baby can do wonders. If music is not your forte, you can try reading stories or reciting nursery rhymes out loud. If nothing works, you can simply talk to your baby like you would after he is born. The method does not matter. What matters is your voice reaches your baby and you start a conversation for life!

References:

https://www.aptaclub.co.uk/pregnancy/bonding-and-development/bonding-with-your-bump-helps-your-baby-learn.html

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February 1, 2021August 25, 2022

Baby sleep routine

As a mother to a newborn, your life changes, which includes your general schedule. However, much of this is true for the initial 3-4 months, and it is possible to help your baby adapt to your schedule instead of a haphazard one after she has crossed the 3 months threshold. She has already gained the ability to understand you now and she will learn from what you teach her. Bedtime schedules help babies have a healthy sleep and a steady future.

How to start?

Help her understand the difference between day and night. Days are to play, while nights are for sleeping. You can teach her this by talking to her and by keeping your house bright during the day time. In a similar way, you should keep the lights dim and talk to her less at night. This will help her understand that nights are for sleeping.

Things to keep in mind before you start the routine
Think of a realistic routine and make sure that you are comfortable with what you have created.
Don’t expect your baby to follow it from day 1.
Expect some push back from her, stay patient, and keep trying.
Explain this to your family to help your baby follow the same in your absence.
Consistency is the key.

The pattern

The pattern created by you will help her regulate her own clock and she will establish a sleep pattern. Your baby will be relaxed and she will know what to expect when.

Your bedtime routine could include the below few things. You could add or subtract as per your and your baby’s needs, but make sure to be consistent.

Giving her a bath – a warm bath in the evening will help relax her body.

Changing her clothes and diapers – Differentiate between her day time clothes and bedtime clothes. When you make her wear pajamas at night, she will know it is time for bed now.

Draw the curtains – This will calm her and babies feel sleepy sooner with dim lights.

Kissing her goodnight – While kissing her good, say goodnight to her and everything around her. She will understand the meaning of good night soon.

Lay down beside her crib – She will copy you. You should close your eyes and lay down. She is probably seeing you and will do the same as you