Improve your Pregnancy- Pregnancy and high blood pressure

My wife is now pregnant for our second child. We are very expecting our second child since we had to wait for about 1 year before she pregnant. Unfortunately, she was indicated has high blood pressure about 4 months before she’s pregnant. I’m worry about my wife and the baby health. So, I tried to find some articles that is related with this problem and make the summary of the articles.

1.    Why is high blood pressure becomes a problem during pregnancy?

High blood pressure can decrease blood flow to the placenta, which will affect the supply of oxygen and nutrients from the baby. This can slow the growth of babies and increase the risk of childbirth. High blood pressure also increases the risk of sudden damage of the placenta, where the placenta separates from the uterus prematurely. Life-threatening complications due to high blood pressure also can occur but are rare.

2.    Are there different types of high blood pressure during pregnancy?

Yes. As many as 5% of women have high blood pressure before pregnancy. This is called essential hypertension. This type is no different with high blood pressure are usually suffered by people who are overweight and lazy to move. Some women are not diagnosed with high blood pressure until they begin to conceive.

5% - 8% of other women experiencing high blood pressure in pregnancy. This is called gestational hypertension. Although usually disappears after birth, gestational hypertension can increase the risk of developing chronic high blood pressure in the future.

Sometimes chronic hypertension or gestational hypertension leads to preeclampsia, which is a serious condition characterized by increased blood pressure and protein in urine be a sign of kidney problems.

3.    What you need to know about preeclampsia?

One in four women with chronic high blood pressure could be preeclampsia. In addition to the increase in blood pressure and protein in urine, may indicate a swelling of the face and hands, weight gain is sudden, constant headaches, blurred vision, dizziness and abdominal pain.

Preeclampsia can quickly rise to life-threatening condition is eclampsia. This rare condition can cause seizures and sometimes coma.

When you have signs of preeclampsia, you and your baby will be monitored closely. Sometimes bed rest or hospitalization is recommended for those conditions.

4.    Is it safe to use medicine for blood pressure during pregnancy?

All medications that you use during pregnancy can affect the baby. Although several drugs used to lower blood pressure is considered safe to use during pregnancy, drugs such as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are not safe.

However care is very important. The risk for heart attacks, strokes and other problems associated with high blood pressure during pregnancy and still threatens to harm the baby as well. When the drug was needed to cope with blood pressure, then the prescription must be the most safe and with the smallest effective dose. Use the medication as prescribed. Do not stop the indiscriminate or adjust the dose of the drug itself.

5.    What should be prepared prior to pregnancy?

You and your doctor will evaluate how well you handle your blood pressure, and will consider possible changes needed before becoming pregnant. If you are overweight, it will be recommended to reduce excess body weight before planning to become pregnant.

During pregnancy, you need to go to the doctor more often. Blood and urine tests, routine examination of body weight and blood pressure should also be done more regularly.

6.    What can be done to prevent complications?

By maintaining good health with a great way to keep safe your baby's future.

• Drinking blood pressure medications as prescribed.
• Eat healthy foods.
• Limit the amount of sodium in foods.
• Take vitamins.
• Follow the advice of a doctor for sports and everyday activities.
• Get plenty of rest.
• Avoid smoking, alcohol and drugs are not necessary.

7.    What about when giving birth?

Your doctor will probably recommend to the induction of birth a few weeks before giving birth to avoid complications, or when suffering from preeclampsia or other complications. If you experience severe preeclampsia, then you will be given medication during labor to prevent seizures. In some cases, plan C need to be prepared. Depending on the time, you may be given potent steroid injection to ensure that the baby's lungs fully formed before birth.

When I made this summary, my wife is about 5 month pregnancy. I hope she will be fine until the baby is born. Insyaallah….

IMPROVE your Gender Selection - Can you determine your unborn baby’s sex?

Can you determine your unborn baby’s gender?

The recently research found that mothers who consume cereal for breakfast and potassium rich foods has potential to bear baby boy than mother who skip breakfast and consume a bit calories.

The Proceedings of the Royal Society B Study on 740 newly pregnant of British women about what they consume before conception mentioned that the women who consume cereal for breakfast and potassium rich foods and consume more calorie daily, deliver of more boys compare to who skip breakfast and consume a bit calories.

The researcher said that there isn’t certainty whether the calories and/or the nutrients can determine the gender or no even though the association had been proved it by the experiment on animals.

Cereals, grains or cereal grains, are grasses (members of the monocot families Poaceae or Gramineae  cultivated for the edible components of their fruit seeds (botanically, a type of fruit  called a caryopsis) - the endocarp, germ  and bran. (see link for detail http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cereal)

Potassium is a mineral salt (electrolyte) that is essential for maintaining the balance of pH levels in our body fluids. It plays an important role in regulating our blood pressure, bone mass, nervous system, muscle function, and heart, kidney, and adrenal functions. Low levels of potassium can cause potassium deficiency and bring on a whole host of health problems.

Aside from the aforementioned cantaloupe, potassium rich foods include:

Bananas, Oranges, Apricots, Avocado, Strawberries, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Chard, Bell pepper, Eggplant, Squash, Crimini mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, Turmeric, Parsley, Spinach, Broccoli, Tuna, Halibut

Here is a list of some foods high in potassium and their potassium content from the USDA National Nutrient Database:

Potassium Rich Foods            Weight            Measure           Potassium Content

Raw, baby carrots                10               1 medium            24 mg

Raw Lettuce                      10               1 leaf              19 mg

Raw Onions                       14               1 slice             20 mg

Fresh Strawberries               12               1 strawberry        18 mg

Raw Garlic                        3               1 clove             12 mg

Honey                            21               1 tablespoon        11 mg

Raw Radishes                      4.5             1 radish            10 mg

Raw Peppers                      10               1 ring              18 mg

White Bread                      23               1 slice             17 mg

Papayas                         304               1 papaya           781 mg

Lima Beans                      188               1 cup              955 mg

Plantains                       179               1 medium           893 mg

Jerusalem Artichokes            150               1 cup              644 mg

Bananas                         118               1 banana           422 mg

Oat Bran                         94               1 cup              532 mg

Tomatoes                        255               1 cup              528 mg

Cucumber                        301               1 large            442 mg

Cantaloupe                      160               1 cup              427 mg

Pears                           275               1 pear             333 mg

Mangoes                         207               1 mango            323 mg

Low-Tech Methods of Sex Selection

So many methods that can be used to gain the odds of conceiving a boy or a girl. If you search the web for “gender selection” you’ll get some hits articles, a book called How to Choose the Sex of Your Baby, and several commercial web sites selling gender-preference kits. Many of these approaches suggest one or more of the following techniques:

• Intercourse that is done as close as possible to the ovulation has potential to determine a boy and the opposite is for a girl. Because The “girl” sperm (with X chromosome) is stronger than the “boy” sperm (with Y chromosome). So having intercourse as close as possible to the ovulation will make the “boy” sperm easy to reach the ovum.

• Making the vaginal environment more hospitable. Some people said that it can be done by douching the vaginal environment with water and vinegar to gain acid environment and “girl-friendly” and by douching the vaginal environment with water and baking soda to gain alkaline environment and “boy-friendly”.

• Adopt various position during the intercourse. For instance, the missionary position is recommended for determine the girl and doggy style for determine the boy.

Contradiction is submitted by Steven Ory, MD, a reproductive endocrinologist in the Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. area and past president of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. He told, “There really is no old-fashioned technique that can influence sex selection”

 “Nothing is proven,” agrees Richard P. Frieder, MD, a staff gynecologist at Santa Monica-UCLA & Orthopedic Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. He pinted out that to find the relation between dietary habits or intercourse timing or other approaches and having more girl or boy babies is different than finding a cause and effect.

The cause and effect is on the fringe of the old fashioned sex-selection techniques.

His patient who are expecting for specific sex always ask about whether is there any simple method that can do to increase the possibility to conceive a child with expectation sex or no. He told them, “it’s 50-50. The reality is there is nothing you can do. That’s really matters”

 “You have a 50-50 probability of a girl or a boy,” Ory said. If a couple is trying interventions such as dietary changes or different positions or intercourse timing, he said, “there is a tendency to attribute what you did to getting results [you wanted]. And people tell their friends. In medicine, we call them anecdotes.”

Proponents of Low-Tech Methods

 “Combine the techniques can give better result”, said M. Jericho Banks, PhD, a partner and owner of Gen Select, a preconception sex selection method sold online. He said that by adjusting the body chemistry to be more acid or more alkaline, the couples can boost the chances of conceiving their preferred sex.

For instance, his company advises couples who want a girl to avoid salt and eat a lot of protein. “It is in line with the recent study” he said. “It can help a lot” Banks contended. He said that making the vaginal environment and body chemistry more hospitable to one or another type of sperm can influence the conception.

Hazards of Sex Selection?

According to Frieder, the dietary changes seems harmless. But based on the recent study, nutritionists caution women to do not skimp on the calories and/or nutrients in the hopes of conceiving a girl.

Frieder said that the method that suggests having intercourse before or after ovulation, depending on whether a boy or a girl is preferred, may actually reduce the chances of getting pregnant at all, if the couples miscalculate their ovulation.

“In general, the overall chance of getting pregnant each month is fairly low. There is a 20% chance of getting pregnant in one menstrual cycle if the sex is at the perfect ovulation time. If the intercourse occurs earlier or later, the odds of getting pregnant could decline,” Frieder said. And for the douch suggestion, Frieder didn’t advises it. “They could be caustic to the sperm.”

But in general, most of the low-tech methods to influence a baby’s sex seem harmless, even if they don’t work, Frieder said. “It gives couples something to do while they are waiting to get pregnant.”

Allyson A. Gonzalez, MD, another gynecologist at Santa Monica-UCLA & Orthopaedic Hospital, agrees. Old wives tales may deserve respect, she said, even though they aren’t backed by scientific proof. “Old wives tales don’t come from nowhere,” she said. If a method won’t harm the couples or the unborn baby, she doesn’t discourage it. But she cautions couples not to count on any of the methods working.