Week 25
Welcome to week 25! Your baby is currently 23 weeks and weights about a pound and a half. It measures approximately 9 incehs from the top of its head to the end of its rear. While premature babies have a long difficult road ahead of them, if your baby was born this week it would have a good chance of survival. Medical advancements have improved so much over the past several years and have helped to increase that survival rate.
Tips for Mom
Have you thought about taking a birth class yet? There are many options to choose from including Bradley, Lamaze, Read Naturl Childbirth and Gamper. While Lamaze has been the most commonly used in the past, Bradley is becoming more and more popular in many areas of the country and world.
What are the differences?
Lamaze teaches relaxation techniques such as controlled breathing through panting and puffing and focus of attention at an object away from the body. It involves several weeks (usually) of meeting one night each week and practicing the techniques. One of the techniques used involves you pinching yourself as hard as you can and then focusing away from that pain until you tend to not notice it anymore. Many women have found Lamaze a useful tool in their deliveries and feel that if helped to not only prepare them, but also their spouse, for what was to come. lamaze tends to encourage a woman use various positions throughout labor (if possible) but generally talks about delivery of the baby while lying down. Pain medications is strongly encouraged in Lamaze.
Bradley method uses a combination of exercise and diet in pregnancy to help with the delivery and discomforts. Relaxation techniques are taught and deep, slow breathing is practiced. This technique does not use panting or blowing, but instead keeps with the deep breaths and tries to keep your breathing more normal. Unlike Lamaze (which teaches outisde focal points and distraction), Bradley teaches you to use your mind and focus all your energy within your body and to work with your body instead of against it. Pain medication is reserved for complications and over 94% of Bradley users do not need any sort of pain mediation during labor & delivery. Bradley encourages a woman to deliver her baby in a position that is most comfortable and "normal" feeling for her. Bradley courses are generally 12 weeks long so if you plan to look into this method, plan ahead.
Talking to other moms who have been through the courses can be very helpful. Ask questions. Find out what they liked and disliked about their class.
Premature Labor
Premature labor is any labor that takes place before 37 weeks. There are many causes for preterm labor including (but not limited to):
Smoking
Alcohol or drug use
Incompetent cervix
Uterine irritability
Placenta previa
Infections (rubella, venereal diseases, UTI, vaginal infections, etc)
Sexual intercourse (if you are at a high risk for preterm labor, your doctor will generally tell you to abstain from sex and orgasms which can trigger contractions. Generally sex is not an issue in a normal healthy pregnancy.)
Poor weight gain
Inadequate nutrtion
Hard Physical Labor
Hormonal Imbalance
Stress
Fetal abnormatlities
Multiples (twins, triplets, etc)
Under age 17 or over age 35
History of premature deliveries
When premature labor begins, it can often be halted while the baby continues to grow. Bedrest is often recommended and hospitalization can occur. The baby is often given steroids to increase lung development and growth in case labor can not be stopped.
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