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Advice/tips for First timer??

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  • 17-01-2011 11:24am
    #1
    Lmnover
    Registered Users Posts: 148 ✭✭


    hi I have found out that i am preganant with my first child and due at the beginning of August - very excited!
    . Probably like everyone else I want to do everything to make child birth and also improve the health of my child. I have heard the following things and are not sure how true they are and would appreciate other tips to make life easier for me (ie learn from other peoples experiences!!)
    1) Does having reflexology done give you a calmer baby? are there other things I can do to improve the chances of calmer baby? My sisters both have babies who screamed for the first few months!!
    2) Does doing pregancy yoga make for an easier birth?Terrified of labour so anything I can do to make it easier i am all for it!!
    3) I was a coffee holic before I found out I was pregnant - is it ok to still drink 2 cups or is this harming the baby? I heard that decaff is just as bad! I am so used to having hot drinks this is a real killer! I hate tea so am at a loss on what to drink!
    4) Do I need to eat any more calories in the 1st trimester?? I am health and weight consious so want to strike a balance between eating just enough.
    5) i am a business owner and very worried about how I am going to be available to the business and also have a baby!! How long would I need to schedule to be off for after the birth??

    any other tips greatly appreciated!!!:D


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    #2
    Nevyn
    Closed Accounts Posts: 43,045 ✭✭✭✭Nevyn


    Ask your dr about caffine consumption and calories required.
    Yoga can help strengthen your pelvice floor and make birthing a bit easier.
    Newborns cry, it's what they do, they cant' communicate in any other way and it's something which you learn to cope with as you meet thier needs.

    Medically you are meant to take at least 6 weeks off after having a baby, but the recovery time varies and there is also the fact you are tending a newborn and if you are in work who will be minding the infant? Most creches have a hard starting age for infants.


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    #3
    Squiggler
    Closed Accounts Posts: 945 ✭✭✭Squiggler


    Congratulations OP, you've a very exciting time ahead of you.

    Regarding your question about how to have a calm baby, from my observation calm parents have calm children. There are books out there about it too, and this article is interesting. http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/baby/caring-for-baby/calm-mother-calm-baby-20090727-dxyk.html

    Many Mums I know swear by hypnobirthing for an easy (or easier) labour. The more you can relax and just let it take its course the faster it will progress and the easier it will be. Learning relaxation and meditation techniques may also help. Try not to be afraid of it, it's a natural process like any other.


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    #4
    aniascor
    Registered Users Posts: 503 ✭✭✭aniascor


    I did hypnobirthing (Gentlebirth), pregnancy yoga, and acupressure for labour. Used them all on the day, and it went great. I recommend them all!

    I had a very calm baby - people commented on it all the time. I have no idea if that was because I was relaxed during the pregnancy or if it was because that's just his nature.

    Don't know about the coffee. I stayed away from it completely and just drank decaf tea. But I know other women who had 1-2 cups a day. Why not ask your doctor?

    Calorie-wise, as far as I recall, you don't need any extra calories in the first trimester, and even later on, it's only a couple of hundred extra calories a day that you need.

    As for when to return to work - that's a really personal decision, and it depends on a lot of factors. At six weeks, there's no way I would have been ready to go back to work. I was still working hard on getting breastfeeding established.

    At 12 weeks, I probably could have managed it, but I would have been distraught at the idea. By six months, life was more routined and easier to manage. But my little guy was eight months when he finally slept through the night - we would have been up at least twice a night before that, and I'd never have managed at work. I went back when he was ten months, and I found it very hard for the first while - but I have friends who couldn't wait to get back. It's a very personal thing, I think.


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    #5
    Cat Melodeon
    Registered Users Posts: 1,617 ✭✭✭Cat Melodeon


    I also used the Gentlebirth CDs and did pregnancy yoga and found them both helpful. It's true though, calm parents make calm babies. My husband is one of the most Zen people on the planet and he keeps me calm too. I have a tendency to flit about a bit, but I was very excited about being pregnant and becoming a mammy. I loved being pregnant, relished all the changes and wasn't phased by the birth experience at all. That all made breastfeeding happen easily and naturally and my boy was a happy baby from day one. He's 17 months now and while I wouldn't exactly call him a calm child (he's frickin' wild), he is a happy child who never fusses, has never made strange, will eat anything and go with anyone. so for me, the experience was happy parents = happy baby. I never expected him to be calm, he's too like me.

    As for the diet etc, get yourself a copy of What To Expect When You're Expecting - it has some good tips. And talk to your doctor about what's best for you - recommendations change every month (or so it seems) and your personal medical history might require something different than me or other posters.


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    #6
    gaeilgegrinds1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭gaeilgegrinds1


    I used reflexology and also yoga. Had a natural, simple birth. Was just so easy I still find it hard to believe I did that. My baby is so chilled, nothing like his parents! As for caffeine. I drank some but only half a spoon instead of one. I stopped craving it after a few weeks. Regarding food, worried on that myself about number two now, just posted on the nutrition section. I think I'm underweight. I left the hospital the day after my son was born and was in the office three days later, just popping in and out. It's entirely up to you. Maybe starting back doing two hours every second day? And a lot can be done from home now. Don't miss out on the early days though, they fly!


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