Soon to be married....and..... (Full Version)

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sharonjef2007 -> Soon to be married....and..... (6/17/2008 7:46:41 PM)

...I'm REALLY looking forward to the physical intimacy. However, as many of you know, I'm not at all thrilled about the idea of pregnancy and childbirth. Yet, I know that when people have sex, pregnancy can occur.

So, while we are NOT going to be trying to get pregnant and will be using condoms for BC, I also want my body to be prepared just in case we do end up with a "whoops." What can I do to help prepare my body? Take vitamins? Nutrition? Exercise? What kind of exercise?



Karaboo2 -> RE: Soon to be married....and..... (6/17/2008 7:51:19 PM)

You'll hear a lot of people saying that any woman of childbearing age should be taking (at minimum) folic acid. That would be the main recommendation.



Mrs.Wifey -> RE: Soon to be married....and..... (6/17/2008 7:54:17 PM)

I would just say Folic acid, although a good diet and exercise are good for anyone.

You don't exactly strike me as a partier or one who takes large quantities of prescription pain killers or other harmful-to-a-baby drugs.



sharonjef2007 -> RE: Soon to be married....and..... (6/17/2008 7:57:45 PM)

LOL..naw, I'm not a partier at all. Maybe a couple of glasses of wine or a beer a month. And that is a heavy month! No smoking or anything like that. I do take a fair share of allergy meds seasonally as well as advil due to endo and fibriod issues.

So, a multi-vitamin that has folic acid should be good? How much is recommended?



solo_soprano22 -> RE: Soon to be married....and..... (6/17/2008 7:57:49 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: sharonjef2007

...I'm REALLY looking forward to the physical intimacy. However, as many of you know, I'm not at all thrilled about the idea of pregnancy and childbirth. Yet, I know that when people have sex, pregnancy can occur.

So, while we are NOT going to be trying to get pregnant and will be using condoms for BC, I also want my body to be prepared just in case we do end up with a "whoops." What can I do to help prepare my body? Take vitamins? Nutrition? Exercise? What kind of exercise?


I'd make sure to have enough folic acid and retinoic acid (but not in excess) at least. I'm pretty sure you can start taking prenatal vitamins even if you're not planning on getting pregnant. If you end up suspecting you're pregnant, try to avoid teratogens (you can look them up) until you know for sure.



Mrs.Wifey -> RE: Soon to be married....and..... (6/17/2008 8:02:24 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: sharonjef2007

LOL..naw, I'm not a partier at all. Maybe a couple of glasses of wine or a beer a month. And that is a heavy month! No smoking or anything like that. I do take a fair share of allergy meds seasonally as well as advil due to endo and fibriod issues.

So, a multi-vitamin that has folic acid should be good? How much is recommended?


That's about the same thing I do, I don't really worry anyway. My OB said that a minimal amount of drinking done before 5-6 weeks of pregnancy(when most women find out they are pregnant) is rarely harmful... same with most allergy and OTC painkillers.

A regular Women's Multi should have enough Folic acid, or you can take a prenatal if you aren't opposed to the name.

quote:

retinoic acid


I would actually avoid this, nothing I have read suggests it is good for pregnancy. Unless you are just talking about Vitamin A, and in that case I wouldn't take anything more then what is in a multivitamin.

quote:

Retinoic acid is teratogenic in humans at very low doses. The critical exposure time is between 3-5 weeks of pregnancy, often before the woman knows she is pregnant. Exposure to retinoic acid during pregnancy may result in malformations of the fetus: craniofacial alterations, cleft palate, neural tube defects, cardiovascular malformations, thymic aplasia, psychological impairments, absent or defective ears, small jaw, kidney alterations. Fifty percent of affected children have an IQ below 85 (average intelligence being an IQ of 110-100).


Retinoic acid is the active ingredient in Accutaneš, a drug used to treat severe acne. Since its introduction in September of 1982, an estimated 160,000 women of child bearing age have ingested the drug. Between 1982 and 1987, approximately 900-1300 malformed children, 700-1000 spontaneous abortions and 5000-7000 elective abortions are due to Accutaneš exposure. Exposed children may have hydrocephaly, ear malformations, cardiovascular defects and decreased IQ. Accutane carries a pregnancy category X warning, meaning it is a known human teratogen.


From HERE



sharonjef2007 -> RE: Soon to be married....and..... (6/17/2008 8:02:36 PM)

ACK! NO FISH?????????? [sm=icon_smile_yikes.gif][sm=icon_smile_faint.gif]



HisCovenant -> RE: Soon to be married....and..... (6/17/2008 8:05:57 PM)

Eat a variety of whole grains, nuts, seeds, lean meats, fruits and veggies, preferring green veggies and berries in the fruit and veggie department because they are packed with the most nutrients and lowest sugar. And Exercise regularly with intensity. These things will keep you from having to spend money on suppliments, have your body at it's best for the baby, make you into a great role model for your child (health-wise, I mean,) and give you a better quality of life (energy and health) to deal with motherhood. Any exercise is good, although you should be doing some weight bearing exercise for both lower and upper body. It can include bearing your own weight (as in running or doing push ups.)

Secondly, check out any perscriptions you are taking. Some are known to be harmful to women conceiving or nursing, although most are not known to be.



solo_soprano22 -> RE: Soon to be married....and..... (6/17/2008 8:10:03 PM)

Retinoic acid is a form of vitamin A (there's another scientific name for it)...I'm not sure what else it can be. Lol. I don't think there's a double meaning for it. It's needed for the neural tube to develop correctly (too much can cause abnormalities-- so can too little), and if something goes wrong there, you can end up with brain and spinal cord abnormalities. It may have a role in neural crest cell development, because both the tube and crest cells come from the same germ layer. The key is to not take it in excess; I tried to stress that in the first reply by italicizing. Just make sure you have the amount you need; no more, no less.

ETA the reason why you'd want to avoid teratogens during certain weeks more than others (wks 4-8 usually) is that a teratogen acts on organogeneis...and organ formation begins during those weeks. I'd try to avoid them altogether the entire pregnancy, but especially during that time.



Mrs.Wifey -> RE: Soon to be married....and..... (6/17/2008 8:20:32 PM)

Yeah, Retinoic Acid is the oxidized form of Vitamin A, they aren't the same thing. Ok, we're both right[8D]
quote:


Role in embryology

Retinoic acid via the retinoic acid receptor influences the process of cell differentiation, hence, the growth and development of embryos. During development there is a concentration gradient of retinoic acid along the anterior-posterior (head-tail) axis. Cells in the embryo respond differently to retinoic acid depending on the amount present. For example, in vertebrates the hindbrain transiently forms eight rhombomers and each rhombomere has a specific pattern of genes being expressed. If retinoic acid is not present the last four rhombomeres do not develop. Instead rhombomeres 1-4 grow to cover the same amount of space as all eight would normally occupy. Retinoic acid has its effects by turning on a differential pattern of Hox genes which encode different homeodomain transcription factors which in turn can turn on cell type specific genes. Deletion of the Hox-1 gene from rhombomere 4 makes the neurons growing in that region behave like neurons from rhombomere 2. The retina is also patterned by retinoic acid, with a concentration gradient that is high on the ventral side of the retina and low on the dorsal side.


ETA- Things like Accutane are on the lists of stuff to avoid, so I certainly wouldn't go seeking it out. We get enough just from our diet alone, from my understanding anyway.



nicole6598 -> RE: Soon to be married....and..... (6/17/2008 9:29:02 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: HisCovenant

Eat a variety of whole grains, nuts, seeds, lean meats, fruits and veggies, preferring green veggies and berries in the fruit and veggie department because they are packed with the most nutrients and lowest sugar. And Exercise regularly with intensity. These things will keep you from having to spend money on suppliments, have your body at it's best for the baby, make you into a great role model for your child (health-wise, I mean,) and give you a better quality of life (energy and health) to deal with motherhood. Any exercise is good, although you should be doing some weight bearing exercise for both lower and upper body. It can include bearing your own weight (as in running or doing push ups.)

Secondly, check out any perscriptions you are taking. Some are known to be harmful to women conceiving or nursing, although most are not known to be.

Zippy I was just about to say that!! If you are eating well there is no need for extra supplements which are very costly and sometimes you can be taking too much of something and I heard that that is not really that good for you either. The only thing I would take is folate and that is because I wasn't getting enough of what they recommended.
If you have a good healthy diet you shouldn't need anything else. although you could ask for bloods to be taken to see if you are low in any area of which you could eat more food or if you can't do that take supplements for that specific thing.



Mrs.X -> RE: Soon to be married....and..... (6/17/2008 10:00:31 PM)

No fish? Just not more than a can of tuna a week. Tuna has a higher mercury content than most fish, so you'll be fine eating other fishes, just not more than once a week. WIC gave me tuna when I was pregnant.

Eating iron rich foods is good too like steak and spinach. A lot of women become enemic while pregnant because the baby takes so much iron.

Moderate exercise is good too. They say the better shape you're in the less likely you'll have a c-section. You don't have a to get a gym membership or anything, but walking 4 times a week is good.



HisCovenant -> RE: Soon to be married....and..... (6/17/2008 10:28:35 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: nicole6598
If you have a good healthy diet you shouldn't need anything else. although you could ask for bloods to be taken to see if you are low in any area of which you could eat more food or if you can't do that take supplements for that specific thing.

That's a great suggestion.



nicole6598 -> RE: Soon to be married....and..... (6/17/2008 10:38:44 PM)

Why thank you Zippy [:)]

And Christina, iron was the main thing I was thinking of which will show up in a blood test, I know they checked mine and I was fine but my SIL who is pregnant has low iron so she needs to take supplements as she isn't that fond of red meat.



Mrs.X -> RE: Soon to be married....and..... (6/17/2008 10:56:27 PM)

Yeah, I had really low iron with Timmy, so I had to take iron pills in addition to my prenatal that had iron in it already.



SweetLittleErin -> RE: Soon to be married....and..... (6/17/2008 11:08:01 PM)

You might also want to try a prenatal, though if your (soon to be) DH is like mine he may freak out at the idea of prenantals when you arent "trying". I'd say folic acid would be sufficient, unless you feel you need something 'extra'. I took calcium too. As far as what NOT to eat and such, I think as long as you arent over drinking and taking drugs (and I'm sure you arent) you should be fine since you arent actively TRYING to get pregnant. When we were trying I tried to avoid meds that werent on the pregnancy "safe list" just because. And to get myself in the habit of it (ie: Tylenol instead of Advil, etc.)



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