How to Care for Your Pregnant Partner?

As fascinating as pregnancy is, it is also a time of great pressure for both parents. As a father-to-be, there's a lot you can do to help your partner from the start. Because this baby is a shared responsibility, your behavior during this stressful period has a direct impact on her feelings. Never think that this pregnancy is about her alone, or assume that she won't need you till the baby is born. No matter how supportive her friends and/or family might be, your absence will definitely have a negative, and maybe dominant, effect on her mood and sense of self.

Helping around the house is an obvious tip. As much as it is helpful to her, it will also give you a chance to get used to doing chores, since you will probably do many of them to help when the baby arrives. Offer to help with older children if present, to give her time for a nap or a relaxing hot bath. For the sake of your partner and your baby's health, keep your smoking and drinking outside the house. Although her body naturally adapts to the growing baby, she is still breathing for two, so be cautious especially if she has a history of respiratory illness or used to be a smoker herself.

Though it is not a must for many women that her partner attends every prenatal appointment, try - as much as your schedule allows you - to be there every time you can. It is splendid to see your baby on an ultrasound screen or hear his heartbeat with a Doppler, so try never to skip sharing those lovely moments with your partner.

Always remind her of her beautiful features and compliment her new look. Do not, however, lie to her even with good intentions. A woman can easily sense whether or not her partner means what he says, especially when it comes to looks. If you do feel offended by her increased weight, swollen ankles or lack of activity, focus on complimenting the few pretty features she has left till she becomes your sexy, lively partner again. Otherwise, refrain from talking about her appearance altogether. Until then, either compliment her newly lustrous hair or shut up!

Show appreciation with a few romantic gestures. Rub her belly with stretch mark cream every night and talk to your little one in the process. Worth noting, your baby can hear your voice as early as the 7th month, so talk to it and let it know your voice. This will make you bond with your baby while making your partner know how strongly you feel about your little angel. Help her get into her boots, tie her shoelace and pick things up from the floor. These simple tasks become tremendously exhausting as the pregnancy progresses.

Finally, keep in mind that the worst feeling a woman can encounter is neglect. Because the more tiresome days are yet to come, take a chance to make her feel good about herself. Take her to a nice date, go shopping together and do anything she wishes to distract her from the pregnancy aches and the worries about the baby, especially if she's a first-time mother. Remember that a happy mother equals a happy baby, and a family that's well taken care of.

10 Symptoms Of Pregnancy

As women bodies differ so do symptoms of pregnancy manifest differently in them. But the wrong assumption is that a missed period is the very first symptom of pregnancy. You will be quite surprised to discover that there many other signs before one misses her period. There are symptoms that manifest as early as 2 days to one week of conception.

In this article, we are going to look at the 10 most occurring symptoms of pregnancy.

1. Rise In Basal Temperature: The first sign of pregnancy is probably the rise in basal temperature. The rise will continue and even extend beyond the next period. This can be notice as early as 2 days after conception. This is usually measured with a special thermometer.

2. Implantation Bleeding: Implantation bleeding occurs when the embryo implants itself on the uterine wall of the womb. This usually occur as early as 6-12 days after conception. Some experiences in some women are cramping and spotting.

3. Fatigue/Tiredness: This usually occurs after first week of conception when you feels tired even without doing work. There could be other reasons for this tiredness but it could be pregnancy.

4. Change In Breast Size, Texture And Nipple Enlargement: This pregnancy symptoms can be noticed between 1-2 weeks after conception when the breast becomes bigger in size. The breast also becomes tender to touch and the nipples enlarged. Another change that can be noticed during this period is the areola - the dark area around the nipple darkens in readiness for milk production for the coming new baby.

5. Early Morning Sickness: Morning Sickness occurs between 2-8 weeks of conception. In this, the woman experiences fever early in the morning accompanied with vomiting.

6. Missed Period: This is the most common symptom of pregnancy which almost all women can easily identify. When this happens, the next thing that comes to a woman's mind is to head to test know what is responsible for the change.

7. Back Aches: Backache is also experienced in early pregnancy.

8. Headache: The activities of hormones released due to pregnancy can cause headache.

9. Frequent Urination: This happens between 6-8 weeks of conception when you see yourself urinating frequently.

10. Food Cravings/Aversion: According to Wikipedia, food cravings is an intense desire to consume a particular food, stronger than simply normal hunger. During pregnancy, you will discover that your desire for a particular food is at its peak. Ever sudden hatred for some foods are also manifested.