Pregnancy @ MindSay

I want snakebites but I know they'll be looked down upon in the professional world. This I understand, but that doesn't mean I'm not comfortable with it. In fact, I'm appalled by the condescending nature of such powers. I could live with using clear retainers all of my life, but even then, it's a personal discretion I shouldn't have to participate in. I made a post earlier about the social acceptance of self-harm, and now I'm continuing that. Piercings are a demonstration of personal sovereignty, falling into the same category as self-harm, such as cutting or anorexia, and physiological liberty, such as the consumption of psychoactives and the termination of a pregnancy.

For the benefit of society as a whole, a mental zeitgeist of personal sovereignty needs to be blanketed through all aspects of life.

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http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Bristol_Palin

Men don't usually scour pre-pregnancy books, stocking up on all the right vitamins and minerals, and planning against the hidden dangers that could harm their baby-to-be. But - though in a couple trying to get pregnant the attention tends to be focused on the woman - there is a lot you can do to ensure a healthy pregnancy for your wife and become a proud dad.

Future dads, who are trying to conceive, would do well to avoid the following things:

• Hot water baths: Heat around the testicles may affect a man's ability to conceive. One reason why men have testicles that hang outside the body is that it makes them cooler and improves their capacity to produce healthy sperm. Soaking in a hot bath or spa will therefore adversely affect your sperm production. Besides, it will also harm immature sperm before it develops. Thus, bathing in hot water today may end up reducing the fertility of your sperm up to three months down the line.

• Warm underwear: Warm or tight underwear can also affect your sperm production by raising the temperature in the groin area.

• Too much cycling: If you are an enthusiastic cyclist who cycles daily, you may run the risk of reducing your sperm count. This is because of the overheating of the testicles caused by the fact they remain squeezed between the legs and the seat of the cycle.

• Sex, in case of yeast infection: If you suffer from a yeast infection, avoid having sex with your spouse. You run the risk of infecting your spouse, who can pass the infection back to you and so on. A yeast infection will generally make intercourse less pleasant, and therefore reduce the number of times you have sex; this could indirectly affect your chances of conception. Some also believe that the creams or suppositories used to treat yeast infections may interfere with successful conception.

If you are about to start a family with your spouse, you will often hear about "family planning". But what really does it mean? Family planning is often understood as prevention of pregnancy.

It is commonly believed that women instinctively know when they are pregnant. That's only part of the truth. The onset of pregnancy is marked by a series of changes in their bodies. Women who are sensitive to these symptoms-especially if they have been pregnant before-correctly interpret them as signs of pregnancy.

# 1. Nausea. Symptoms of nausea are a very common sign of pregnancy. Popularly termed 'morning sickness,' the symptoms may be felt at all times of the day. Many women also develop an intense aversion to certain smells or tastes, of food items for instance, that they liked earlier. Symptoms of nausea may continue to be felt even into the second semester.

# 2. Abdominal bloat. Soon after conception, hormonal changes cause the abdomen to feel distended. Your spouse may complain that her clothes are getting tighter. This pregnancy sign is similar to the feeling of bloat she experiences when she has her periods.

# 3. Tender breasts. If your spouse complains that her breasts pain when you touch them, you may have reason to rejoice. Tenderness or soreness of the breasts is another obvious sign of pregnancy. The pain is similar to, but usually more intense than, what women experience during periods. A related pregnancy symptom is a feeling of fullness in the breasts. The appearance of the breasts may also change with veins becoming visible under the skin.

# 4. Montgomery's tubercules. Somber as the phrase sounds, it simply refers to the wart like projections that form around the areolas-the dark area surrounding the nipples- of the breasts.

# 5. Missed periods. A very likely sign of pregnancy is when your spouse misses a period. The scanty menstrual-like flow that sometimes appears at the time of implantation-around ten days after conception-is not a period, and, in fact, indicates a pregnancy.

If you and your spouse are trying to conceive a baby, you may want to know if your wife is pregnant. The best and earliest method to that is to use a home pregnancy test.

What does a home pregnancy test do?

The way a home pregnancy test works is simple. The test measures the amount of a pregnancy hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in your spouse's urine. A woman's body starts releasing hCG only after a fertilized egg attaches itself to the uterus wall and the placenta begins to form around it. All this happens within the first 10-15 days of a pregnancy.

The placenta stimulates the release of hCG in a woman's bloodstream but some amount of the hormone passes out through her urine, which is detected by a home pregnancy test. Most kits can detect anywhere between 15 to 100 mIU/ml of hCG in the urine.

What are the different types of tests available?

A home pregnancy test comes in three main forms and is most accurate when the first morning urine sample is used.

• The most common home pregnancy test consists of a test stick your spouse can dip into her urine. The stick changes color if hCG is present and confirms a pregnancy.

• A second pregnancy test includes a urine collection cup and a testing mechanism (like a dipstick), with a well in it. A few drops of urine are put in the well or the well is dipped into the urine collected in the cup. If hCG is present, a specific part of the test device changes color.

• A newer pregnancy test available involves mixing a urine sample with a special substance (in powder or liquid form) to produce a chemical reaction. This reaction will occur only if hCG is present in the urine.

Is a home pregnancy test accurate?

A home pregnancy test is reasonably accurate. hCG takes around 2 weeks or more after fertilization to start being detected in the urine so a pregnancy test performed within this period will yield a negative result. For better accuracy, your spouse should take a test at least one week after the first day of her missed period.

The accuracy of a home pregnancy test also depends on your spouse's menstrual cycle, the exact day of fertilization, and the sensitivity of the test itself. Remember that even if your spouse's test is positive, she still needs to have her doctor confirm her pregnancy.