| Overheard
"I get tired of everyone saying pregnant women are beautiful. I've never felt less attractive! I hear about women who love being pregnant, and I'm just puzzled by them."
— Laura | |   
The United States is the only industrialized nation that doesn't guarantee paid maternity leave. — The Project on Global Working Families |
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Feeling off balance, forgetfulness, and itchy skin
|  | Itchy skin
Your breasts and belly may feel especially itchy now as your skin stretches. You can take the edge off by:
• Showering or bathing in warm — not hot — water. (Some women swear by the skin-softening properties of a warm oatmeal bath — available in most drugstores.)
• Using a mild, moisturizing soap.
• Slathering on the moisturizer while your skin's still damp after a bath or shower.
• Wearing loose cotton clothing. | | Starting to feel a bit off balance? As your belly grows, your center of gravity changes, so you may begin to occasionally feel a little unsteady on your feet. Try to avoid situations with a high risk of falling. Wear low-heeled shoes to reduce your risk of taking a tumble; trauma to your abdomen could be dangerous for you and your baby. You'll also want to be sure to buckle up when you're in a car — keep the lap portion of the seat belt under your belly, drawn snugly across your hips, and also use the shoulder harness, which should fit snugly between your breasts. Why am I so forgetful?There's no conclusive explanation for why many pregnant women say that their short-term memory isn't up to par during pregnancy, but this feeling can be the result of lack of sleep. "Pregnant women need extra sleep, but it's hard to get," says Margaret Pfeifer, an obstetrician with the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. As your body changes and becomes more uncomfortable, it can disrupt your sleep patterns. Other factors that may contribute to this foggy feeling include hormones, stress, and a preoccupation with all things baby. | | | It's the Law: Giving birth at home
| | ADVERTISEMENT |  | | Decisions about how and where to deliver your baby are among the most personal you'll make during your pregnancy. While you have the right to opt for a home birth, your state may regulate who can deliver your child for you at home. If you want a midwife to deliver your baby, you'll need to find out if and how your state regulates midwives. Most states provide some certification or licensure of midwives that allow them to participate in home births. A few states offer no regulation, leaving midwives who attend births open to civil or even criminal penalties. Click here for state-by-state information. Of course, there are serious medical considerations involved in choosing to deliver your baby at home. And just because it may be legal doesn't mean that your health insurance will cover it. Contact your insurance provider or state Medicaid program to find out exactly what services and types of providers it will cover before deciding to deliver at home.
• Are you planning to take a childbirth class? | |
What can you do to prevent stretch marks?
| Erica Breneman
Obstetrician in Oakland, California, and mother of one | Unfortunately, there isn't much, if anything, you can do to prevent stretch marks and over half of pregnant women get them. Several things that might help: keep your weight gain slow and steady and within the recommended range, stay well-hydrated, and eat a healthy diet. Creams and lotions don't really help the marks, but they may decrease itching. | MaryJane Lewitt
Certified Nurse-Midwife in Atlanta, Georgia, and mother of two | Stretch marks are partly a gift from our own parents — if your mother had them, you will probably get them. Eating nutritiously and drinking lots of water helps your skin stay well-hydrated and stretchy and may help keep stretch marks from getting really bad. | Samantha Maplethorpe
Family Physician in Issaquah, Washington, and mother of three | There's really no evidence that anything works well. You'll find plenty of so-called prevention products on the market, but there's no proof they work. I say call them trophy lines — your body worked hard to create that baby! | | | | Expert Advice: Is it safe to sit in a hot tub while I'm pregnant?
|  Expert: Jeanne-Marie Guise, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Oregon Health Services Center, Portland, OR It's not a good idea to sit in a hot tub unless you can lower the temperature to be like a warm bath, around 100 degrees. Sitting in hot water can make you overheat. Being overheated raises your heart rate and reduces the blood flow to the fetus, potentially putting your baby under stress. There's also some concern that getting overheated in the first trimester affects the baby's development; there's a slightly increased risk of problems like the baby's abdominal wall not closing all the way. It's also harder to cool down when you're pregnant, so if you get overheated, you're more likely to pass out. | |
Also This Week ... | | | ADVERTISEMENT |  | |
 The best positions for sex during pregnancy
• The How-We-Got-Here-in-the-First-Place
• The Lap Full of Love
• The Crush
• The Get-Off-Before-I-Nod-Off
• The 10-Foot Pole
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Have a great week!
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