The end of menstruation is called menopause. While many women dread this time in their lives it is actually very natural and part of the aging process. During menopause women’s ovaries will reduce the amount of hormones produced, including progesterone and estrogen, and after menopause women will not be able to conceive.

Some people think menopause is like menstruation in the sense that it just begins one day. That is actually not the case and it will take years for the body to prepare itself for menopause. Women may enter menopause as early as age 42 or as late as age 56 and the average is 52. The way women know they have truly entered menopause is when they have not had a menstrual period for an entire year.

Before Menopause

Before menopause women experience something called “perimenopause”. This can start quite a few years before a woman actually enters the menopause phase. It may seem confusing, but the word “menopause” is frequently used to describe the perimenopausal stage as well as the ensuing menopause stage. It’s easier for the entire process to be lumped into one word apparently.

Signs

The signs of menopause are different with every woman and some women experience them earlier than others. Symptoms range from none to light to moderate and even severe in some women. Generally, the clearest sign that menopause has started is when a woman begins experiencing changes in her menstrual cycle. This could be more cycles or fewer cycles than normal. When blood flow amounts change as well this is a sign that menopause may have begun. Some other common signs include hot flashes, night sweats, weight gain, vaginal dryness, memory problems, fatigue, insomnia, dry eyes, joint pain, mood swings, and others. Luckily, despite the severity of the symptoms for some women the symptoms will almost always disappear once menopause is over.

Not all women experience menopause in the same way and there are many things that affect women going through this change of life. Their lifestyle, genetics, cultural attitude and even their diet can affect how they handle menopause.

The biggest issue most parents have with their newborn is not changing diapers or even the crying. It’s the lack of sleep! Newborns usually sleep up to 18 hours during the day, however it is not in one long stretch but broken up into lots of shorter durations from 20 minutes to four hours. There is no sleep “schedule” and baby sleeps at will during the day and night. Parents can get sleep deprived in a hurry and one of the biggest issues for new parents is finding a way to get enough sleep. Luckily, there are ways to help your infant sleep better. The only true solution is time, but eventually everyone will start sleeping through the night.

Ambient noise is one method parents find to be helpful with some infants. Keep in mind not all infants will react well to ambient noise and sleep better. Just like adults, some infants are sound sleepers while others sleep fitfully. Many babies do like ambient noise to help them sleep, though, because the womb was far from a quiet place. Since baby is used to hearing the sound of a heart beating, blood flowing, and his mother’s voice, there is no reason to assume that baby must sleep in a quiet place. Play some music, put on a white noise machine, or turn the TV on low for some background noise. Adults might prefer silence for sleeping, but infants are used to noise and having noise might help them fall asleep and stay asleep longer.

If you have been putting baby down in complete silence only to have him wake faster than you can turn around then try turning on some music for your little one. It just might be the thing he needs to go to sleep and stay asleep for a little while!

There are many ways to promote infant sleep and music is one of them! Babies were accustomed to being lulled to sleep by mom’s heartbeat for nine months making them especially responsive to rhythm. Find music that incorporates a heartbeat or similar rhythm to help calm baby. The following suggestions will help you find the best music for your infant.

Relaxing

The first thing you want to consider is that the music is relaxing. The music should be both relaxing to mom and dad as well as baby. Everyone can benefit from some calming music.

Harmony

Most babies respond very well to music with harmony and rhythm. There are even some CDs designed for infants that claim to recreate the sounds from the uterus. You may want to try several different types of songs, some with words others with just melody, to see what your baby responds to the most.

No Toddler Music

While toddler music is fun and enjoyable for a toddler it’s not designed for your infant. Buy lullabies that are soothing or even classical music that is calming. Many libraries have CDs you can check out or else you might want to download a song or two from the Internet to see what songs seem to work best for calming and soothing your infant and you!

These are just a few tips that will help you find the right music for your baby. Keep in mind that songs labeled as “sleep selections” are best for promoting a calm and sleepy baby. There are other CDs designed for infants that you may want to listen to during the day that are more upbeat and will help keep baby alert and awake during the day. This in itself will help baby sleep more at night, which is what most parents need!

The first few months of an infant’s life are difficult simply because they don’t sleep for long stretches of time, need to breastfeed almost constantly, and really enjoy being held. That can be taxing on a family that also has other children and responsibilities, but is just a short stage of the child’s overall life and development. Parents are always interested in finding ways to promote sleep and one method that you have certainly heard about is adding rice cereal to your infant’s bottle to help fill her up so she will sleep longer. Is this truly recommended, though? Some doctors will recommend it and some won’t so how do you know you are doing what’s right for your infant?

Either way you go there is no evidence that doing this will actually work. And since there is nothing to prove that your baby will actually sleep longer there really is no reason to try it. Babies given a full meal just before bed or a bottle of rice cereal won’t necessarily sleep longer because hunger is not the only thing that will wake baby up. Parents should realize that infants are naturally programmed to wake up throughout the night. They simply don’t sleep for long stretches of time, despite this being difficult on parents. Babies won’t sleep through the night whether you give them rice cereal or anything else until their central nervous system has matured to the point that will allow them to sleep through the night. You will also want to keep in mind that “sleeping through the night” is considered sleeping for a stretch of five hours. This is surprising to many parents, but when infants can sleep for 5 hours at a time that is considered excellent!

Don’t let your exhaustion interfere with what’s best for your baby. Breast milk or formula is all your baby needs for the first four to six months of life anyway and by giving your baby rice cereal too early you could be setting the stage for allergies.

When you think you may be pregnant you want to know for sure. Because of this you will want to take the pregnancy test that has the most accurate results. There are many home pregnancy tests on the market and most of the ultra sensitive ones will provide you with an accurate result. Also, if you are testing after you have been pregnant for a few weeks or months then practically any home pregnancy test will give you accurate results. The following tips will help you take home pregnancy tests correctly and ensure the most accurate results.

When

You should wait an entire week after missing your period. This is the best way to ensure accurate results. Many pregnancy tests claim they are accurate a day after missing your period, but this is not the case for all women especially ones who are slow risers. Also, a negative pregnancy test a day or two after missing your period does not necessarily mean you are not pregnant. It could mean there was not enough HCG to measure yet. So, be patient and wait a week to ensure the results are accurate.

Accuracy

Results from home pregnancy tests are incredibly accurate one week after missing your period. However, the tests that claim to be accurate a day after a missed period are not consistently so. That means they may detect some pregnancies this early, but not all of them. If you follow the instructions on the box then you will receive accurate results. You can always retest, too, if you feel the test did not give you an accurate result.

False Positives

Many women wonder whether it’s possible to have a false positive with a pregnancy test. This is incredibly rare and although it is technically possible it’s not likely. If you have protein or blood in your urine then it is positive to get a positive home pregnancy test. There are also some tests that will give a false positive if you are taking prescription drugs. Expired kits may also not work properly and give a false positive.

False Negative

It is also positive to have a false negative. This usually occurs if you take the test too early, if you use urine that is diluted, or if you don’t time the test properly. False negatives are more likely than false positives and most of the time occur because women test too soon.

If you are trying to conceive, ttc, then you definitely want to begin taking prenatal vitamins a couple months ahead of time. Not only is a healthy diet important, but so is taking prenatal vitamins so you ensure your body has all of the minerals and vitamins needed to support a healthy pregnancy. It’s really important to take these prenatal vitamins to ensure that any nutrients or vitamins you might be short on are filled by the vitamins.

Many women wonder why they need prenatal vitamins if they are already taking a multivitamin. Basically, prenatal vitamins are designed for pregnant women. So, they contain more of the vitamins and minerals pregnant women need like folic acid, iron, and calcium.

If you are wondering why it matters then you should know that prenatal vitamins can prevent some birth defects. For example, women who do not receive enough folic acid may have a baby with a neural tube defect. This is an abnormality that can affect the spinal cord and the brain and can be quite serious. Folic acid also promotes a healthy birth weight and helps prevent preterm delivery. Extra calcium is needed to help bother mother and baby with strong bones and teeth. Women will also need extra calcium to promote her muscular, circulatory, and nervous system. Iron is important because it helps both mother and baby with blood and muscle support. Adequate iron helps prevent low birth weight and preterm delivery as well.

Many women claim to have healthier hair and nails when taking prenatal vitamins. However, these benefits have not been proven scientifically. Although, it does seem to have that affect on many women!

Most prenatal vitamins do not have omega-3 fatty acids so it is important for pregnant women to eat plenty of fish or take an omega-3 fatty acid supplement to support the baby’s brain development.

Once the pregnancy test shows you are pregnant there are so many things that will run through your mind. Not only will you be excited and possibly stare at the stick in disbelief, but you will be overwhelmed with the fact that you have finally conceived. Once the excitement of conception begins to wear off a bit and you truly feel like you are pregnant for the following nine months you may begin to think about the baby’s gender. Some moms don’t care what they have as long as it’s a healthy baby, but it’s hard not to dream about that baby girl or baby boy that may be growing inside you. Because of this, many moms wonder about predicting their baby’s gender once they are pregnant. There is no study that has been conducted that proves certain symptoms during pregnancy mean you will have a specific gender, but many women believe otherwise. Of course, when you are closer to 20 weeks an ultrasound can clue you in on what you are having, but until then you will have to use the following symptoms to guess what you are having!

Cravings

One sign that you might be having a little girl is if you are craving chocolate. On the other hand, if you have cravings for things like lemons or other sour things you may be having a little boy. If you are craving both sweet and sour, like many women, this may be more difficult to determine what the sex of the baby is.

Acne

Acne is considered to be a pregnancy symptom, too. However, it is quite subjective because it is said that if you have mild acne then you are expecting a little boy but if you have severe acne then it’s more probable that you are expecting a little girl. This is definitely a confusing symptom!

Morning Sickness

Many women experience morning sickness and this symptom supposedly will help you determine what sex you will be having. For example, you will have a baby girl if you are sick at night but a boy if you are sick in the morning. However, if you are extremely sick it’s a boy and little to no morning sickness means you will have a girl!

Hair

Body hair growth during pregnancy could mean you are pregnant with a boy while you won’t grow any body hair if you are pregnant with a girl, or so says the prediction!

When it comes to vaccines all babies are required by law to receive certain vaccinations unless they have an exemption not to. However, there are some children that should not receive certain vaccines or should wait to receive them. The following information will help you determine whether your child is okay to receive vaccines or not.

DTaP Vaccine

Any child who is sick should not receive the DTaP vaccine. Kids who just have a cold are okay to receive the DTaP vaccine unless they have had a bad reaction after one dose of this vaccine. In this case, a second dose should not be given. Some doctors would be willing to give your child a follow up dose if they had seizures, cried for more than three hours, or had a fever over 105 degrees. In this instances, it is not a good idea to continue with the vaccine schedule because the child obviously had a bad reaction.

Children over the age of seven should not receive this vaccine.

Hepatitis B Vaccine

Anyone who has ever had a bad reaction to yeast or to previous Hepatitis B vaccine should not be given subsequent doses. Any child who is ill should not receive the vaccine until they have recovered sufficiently.

Hib Vaccine

If a child experiences a bad reaction after the first Hib vaccine then subsequent vaccines should not be given. Children under six weeks of age should not be given this vaccine, either. Children should be healthy before receiving this vaccine.

MMR Vaccine

Children that are sick, moderately or severely, should not receive this vaccine. Also, any child who has had a bad reaction to a previous dose should avoid subsequent doses. Babies who are allergic to neomycin and/or gelatin should not receive this vaccine.

The first trimester is a time of excitement for the parents to be and it is a busy time for the fetus that is busy growing body systems and organs. Once the embryo has implanted in the uterine wall the amniotic sac begins to develop and fill with amniotic fluid. This fluid will protect the baby throughout the pregnancy and help in maintaining temperature. The placenta and umbilical cord also develop during this stage of pregnancy.

During the first trimester the fetus is sensitive to drugs, alcohol, medications, and some diseases. The mother’s body and fetus’ body will undergo significant changes during the first trimester.

The embryo will grow to three to four inches long and weigh ½ to 1 ounce during the first trimester. This seems really small, and it is, but rapid changes are taking place. Each fetus develops at his/her own rate and doctors will monitor the growth at each appointment. The first appointment your doctor will likely conduct an ultrasound to see the baby and its heartbeat. That is an experience that is worth all the pain and discomfort that comes from pregnancy because you can see your baby’s tiny heart pounding away.

During the first trimester women are usually exhausted and suffer from morning sickness. Some women have extremely sore breasts while others notice their sense of smell is stronger than ever. What’s important during the first trimester is to get as much rest as possible, take prenatal vitamins, and relax. The pregnancy should be an enjoyable time and memorable. The best way to do this is let others help you and realize all the changes your baby is going through in such a short period of time.

You are pregnant, congratulations! Now, when should you begin telling your family, friends, and co-workers? Each couple is different and while some may want to take some time to get used to the idea of pregnancy there are others that are interested in sharing the news with the world as quickly as possible. One thing is for sure and the support network you have will be there for you to support you throughout your pregnancy.

Early

One option is to share the news during the first trimester. Most women find out they are pregnant around the 4-6 week mark and take a couple weeks to relish in the news. Then, it’s fair game to let friends and family members in on the news. Of course, couples who have had problems with miscarriages may choose to wait longer than couples who have never been through a pregnancy.

After 3 Months

It is common for women to wait until after the first trimester to share the news. The reasoning behind this is that the risk of losing the baby is much lower after the 12 week mark and couples feel more comfortable sharing the news.

Surprise Everyone

Another option is to simply surprise everyone with the news. If you already have a child and people know you are thinking of having another it’s not uncommon for people to ask when you are thinking of the next one. So, to keep everyone off guard you may just dodge these questions and then one day post the news on your Facebook or announce the news in some other fun and exciting way.

The way you choose to tell family and friends the good news depends on your personality, and risk factors that may be present, and your general feeling about the pregnancy. Some people are more private while others are more open. There is no right or wrong way to share the news so do what feels good to you!