The Benefits OF Regular Exercise While Your Are Pregnant

Pregnancy exercise during pregnancy can help you stay in shape and prepare you for all the upcoming pregnancy stages.

When you find out that you are pregnant it seems like a perfect time to sit back and relax and not worry about what you are eating and how mush exercise that you are not getting.

In the old days pregnancy was treated as if it was an illness and you should rest for 9 months and not worry about exercise until your baby is born.   You need to be physically active during pregnancy.  Today we know that exercising before, during and after pregnancy along with good pregnancy nutrition has many benefits for the mom and the baby.

Most mothers do not realize that pregnancy exercise is so important, and is the key to a happy and healthy pregnancy and birth.  For those that have been following a regular exercise program prior to their pregnancy should be able to maintain a good exercise program throughout their pregnancy.

By continuing your current exercise program you will experience benefits from less fatigue and pain to feeling more emotionally stable during a difficult and emotion driven time in your life.  A guideline to go by calls for women to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise during pregnancy per week and should be spread out over the week.

Exercise will also help mothers during labor, one of the most stressful times during the pregnancy.  Labor is known to progress faster, lowering the risk of medication and possible Caesarian section.  Many mothers will have a shorter, uncomplicated vaginal delivery due to the exercise that they are doing.

Regular physical exercise after pregnancy continues to benefit a woman’s overall health and increase her cardio respiratory fitness as well as helps women achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

Taking care of yourself and your baby while you are pregnant is important to avoid and pregnancy complications.  That is why doing pregnancy exercise is one of the most important steps that you can take for pregnancy wellness.  You will see just how easy it is to have a happy uncomplicated pregnancy and labor, simply by adding exercise.

Gestational Diabetes: What it Means for Me and My Baby

What is gestational diabetes?

Gestational diabetes is first recognized or develops during pregnancy. A women loses the ability to control the level of sugar in her blood automatically. This means that your blood glucose is too high.

What causes gestational diabetes?

In pregnancy, the placenta produces hormones to sustain your pregnancy. Theses hormones make your cells more resistant to insulin.  In the second and third trimesters pregnancy complications can occur when your placenta grows larger which secretes more of these hormones.  This makes it harder for insulin to do its job.  
Your pancreas responds by producing extra insulin to fight this resistance. Your pancreas sometimes can not keep up with the higher demand for insulin then the body falls behind in processing glucose and the result, gestational diabetes. 

What are the symptoms and signs of gestational diabetes?

Usually there are no symptoms for gestational diabetes so for good pregnancy wellness you need to be tested for the condition. It’s very important to be tested for gestational diabetes because high blood sugar can cause problems for you and your baby.

If a women has another type of diabetes without knowing it she could have symptoms, they may include:

• Increased thirst
• Increased urination
• Weight loss in spite of increased appetite
• Fatigue
• Nausea and vomiting
• Frequent infections including those of the bladder,  vagina, and skin
• Blurred vision

Beware that having these symptoms does not mean that a women has diabetes.  What you need to do is talk with your doctor and be tested for diabetes.

Will my baby have diabetes?

Babies are not born with diabetes when their mother had diabetes when pregnant.  The most common problem would be if the mothers diabetes was not controlled during pregnancy could cause low blood sugar in the newborn baby.  The baby will have to be watched closely to make sure the babies body adjusts the amount of insulin it makes.

How is gestational diabetes treated?

Gestational diabetes can be treated by controlling your blood sugar level.  You can control your blood sugar level by changing your diet and make sure you get the right pregnancy exercises .  You may need to check your gestational diabetes at home and make sure you see your doctor on a regular basic.  Just do not discard the importance of good pregnancy nutrition.

I have diabetes and want to get pregnant how do I prevent problems to myself and my baby? 

Here are some of the things to look at to prevent problems to the mother and her baby.

• Need to plan the pregnancy – It’s important for a women with diabetes to get her body ready before getting pregnant. 
• Eat Health Foods – A women with diabetes should eat the foods from a meal plan that was made for a women with diabetes.
• Exercise Regularly – A women should be on an exercise program prior to getting pregnant. Help keep blood sugar under control.
• Regular Visits To Your Doctor – Your doctor can recommend the things you need to do prior to getting pregnant.
• Take Required Medications – Very important to take your medications on time.
• Monitor Blood Sugar At Home Regularly – Checking blood sugar levels often can help a woman keep her blood sugar in control.