How Your Body Changes Post-Pregnancy

/

DISCLAIMER: As always, this post is only to provide general information. Please consult with your healthcare professional regarding treatment for your specific needs.

The ways in which your body changes during pregnancy are pretty well documented and you probably already have a good idea of what will happen. However, the changes don’t always stop there and there are a range of differences that women notice in the months after having a baby. Whether you are currently pregnant or you are thinking about having a baby at any point in the future, it is worth knowing about a few of the most common changes so nothing catches you by surprise. 

Hair Loss

You may not know it, but each of us tends to lose around 100 hairs a day when we are not pregnant! During pregnancy, your body is flooded by hormones, so you lose far less than normal. After you have given birth, your body starts to compensate for this so you may find yourself losing more hair than usual during the first six months. Most likely, your hair will soon start to return to its usual growth cycle, but if you’re experiencing a prolonged delay in growth, it might be time to see a specialist: like a Trichologist.

 Breast Changes

In the first couple of days after giving birth, you may find that your breasts have become flushed, swollen or sore. This swelling will tend to go down if you choose not to breastfeed or after you have finished breastfeeding. Additionally, the skin around your breast may sag, and even if you don’t breastfeed, you may find yourself experiencing milk leakage for a few weeks after birth. 

Stomach Differences

In the days after giving birth, you can feel that your uterus is hard and round. Around six weeks or so, you should no longer feel it pressing against your abdomen. You will probably notice some stretch marks around your skin, and even the fittest new moms may have some excess skin in their midsections. To help with this, you may want to think about engaging in some exercises such as yoga or Pilates, and building these up over time. Remember not to rush into anything too quickly as your body has been through a lot during pregnancy.

 Back Pain

It will usually take some time before the abdomen muscles ( which have become stretched during pregnancy), regain their former strength. Your body reacts to this by naturally putting on weight around your back muscles. This can end up leading to some sort of back pain. These problems usually work themselves out around six months following giving birth, but you may choose to see a chiropractor if this is not the case.

 Skin Discoloration

If you have suffered from acne during pregnancy, you should notice your skin starting to clear itself up. If this is not the case or you have other underlying skin conditions that pregnancy has exacerbated, you should consider seeing a dermatologist.   

I hope this post provides all of my new and expecting mamas with additional information that you find beneficial. Again, this post is to provide general knowledge and can vary from person to person. Following up with your OB/GYN can provide you with information tailored to your specific needs.

LET'S GET SOCIAL...

The Top 10 Minerals And Vitamins We're Not Getting Enough Of

/

In a world where the focus on our health has dramatically shifted towards it, it’s hard to comprehend why we’re still not getting the vitamins and minerals that our body needs. Partly, we are not to blame; a change in how we grow our food, from the vegetables to the animals, has meant that some of the essentials are lost without us totally realizing it. Our need to eat foods which have been processed and our desire not to wait for meals (hello, drive thru!) has also lead towards a deficit.

So what are we actually missing out on - and how can we go about reversing this?

Magnesium

This inorganic mineral is responsible for a lot happening within your body. It helps conduct the structure of all of your bones, as well as being required for the synthesis of DNA. It can be found in green, leafy vegetables and legumes, so if you’re adding these to your diet then you should be getting your RDA in abundance. Some cereal brands have also started adding it to their product to ensure that you’re getting a healthy dose in the morning.

 

Sulfur

Once upon a time, when organic farmers were the norm and you would rely on your pet cow for both dairy products and the manure to spread on your crops, sulfur was a regular part of our diet. Nowadays, with the introduction of fast farming and a whole load of change to where our food is coming from, we aren’t getting as much as we need. Sulfur helps with disease resistance, increasing enzyme production within your body to fight off any unwanted illnesses. You can buy sulfur crystals to help your body get back right, or start tracing your food; knowing exactly where it comes from and the process used to create it is a good first step to take.

 

Fluoride

We are actually getting more access to fluoride than ever before, with certain water companies adding it to our regular flow so we don’t even notice that we’re getting it. However, a lot of people are purposely not ingesting it as it’s not an essential nutrient. It helps to protect against things like tooth decay, which can be a real concern later on in life. You don’t need a lot of it - too much fluoride is definitely a bad thing, but allowing a little into your water and toothpaste will really help with the condition of your teeth and bones.

Vitamin K

This is the vitamin that is most well-known for the effects that it has to the clotting of your blood. Our blood needs to be able to clot once we bleed, else we just won’t stop bleeding - it’s as simple as that. It works hand in hand with Vitamin D, and if you have been tested for deficiency in either Vitamin K or D, you will be deficient in the other one too. It is a fat-absorbed vitamin, so you need to be eating a good amount of fat in your diet to feel the benefits from it. If you have eradicated fat from your diet entirely, then there is a high chance that your body is operating on a deficit. Vitamin K is important for the prevention of such diseases as cancer and Alzheimer’s, as well as osteoporosis and diabetes. It is naturally occurring within green plants, so ensuring that your plate is full of them either at lunch or dinner time is a great way to go about getting more of this vital nutrient in your system.

 

Potassium

Potassium can be found in so many yummy foods that it’s actually harder to avoid it than it is to remind yourself to eat foods that contain it. If you have been experiencing things like dehydration, headaches and menstrual cramps that are hurting a bit more than they normally would, this can often be attributed to a lack of potassium within your diet. It is required to keep your vital organs functioning, so the more you can get, the better. It’s famously found in bananas, but the levels of potassium in this fruit compared to avocados, sweet potatoes and wild-caught salmon is considerably lower. That doesn’t mean that you should stop eating bananas, though - they’re a natural mood-booster as they help to release the dopamine hormone, giving you a buzz.

 

Sodium

More commonly known as salt, sodium is something that we need in our diet. However, too much of a good thing can turn into being bad for your body with this mineral. The more potassium that you take in, the more it will help with the breakup of sodium in your body. We do need a certain amount of salt to help our blood flow, as well as helping our nerves and muscles to work as they should. It can be easy to go overboard, as a lot of our food already contains the RDA for salt intake. If you know that you’re not getting as much as you need, the symptoms can be quite clear; you may just be having headaches, but more severe cases can see a drastic reduction in the stability of your mental health, as well as seizures.

Vitamin C

A lack of Vitamin C can cause a condition called scurvy to occur; typically associated with 18th century sailors which resulted in bleeding gums, intense bruising and blood spots appearing on the skin, it had appeared to have been completely eradicated … until cases were reported in Australia last year. Our diets are lacking in the fruits - such as oranges - which are big providers of this natural disease-fighter.  We definitely need to be trying to get it into our systems as much as we can.

 

Iron

Iron deficiency anemia is unfortunately on the rise currently due to poor diets. This means that your body isn’t producing as many blood cells as it should. The result of this is that those who are suffering from a lack of iron are more prone to become fatigued quickly, becoming pale in complexion and having an increase of headaches. The less common symptoms include a desire to eat non-food items such as paper or clay; this is due to your body reacting in a way to get you to ingest more iron from any means possible. There are certain tablets that you can take for it (especially within pregnancy, where you may be prescribed medication by your doctor), as well as drink supplements that contain a good amount to get you back to rights.

 

B Vitamins

There’s no such thing as Vitamin B - just a whole host of vitamins that fit under the umbrella! Each one plays a very important role, mainly centered around the nervous system and the functions of the skin. Folic acid counts as a B vitamin, which pregnant women are recommended to take to help with the development of their baby. These vitamins can be found in everyday foods like dairy and cereals.

 

Vitamin E

Not much is spoken about Vitamin E, but it’s still an essential for your body. You don’t need to eat it every day, as your body is clever enough to store it for the future on the days that you have ingested a lot. It can be found in foods such as seeds and nuts, so snacking on these throughout the day can really help to boost your Vit E levels. It helps to keep your eyes and skin healthy, as well as teaming up with the other vitamins to help fight against diseases - so what’s not to love?

LET'S GET SOCIAL....

Let's Talk About SEX......ual Issues We Hate

/

You know I’m all about staying fit and healthy. I hit the gym on a regular basis and I’ve released hundreds of articles on how you can keep fit. Whether that’s the proper way to exercise or the correct way to diet, but one subject I haven’t really talked about is sexual health. In fact, you’ll be hard pressed to find a single post on my blog that mentions it. But I’m not the only one. It seems that as a society, we shy away from this topic as much as we can. Sure it will pop in the news occasionally and we all remember sex ed from high school. But for the most part it’s forgotten, and that’s dangerous. There are a few sexual health issues you shouldn’t be afraid to talk about, no matter how uncomfortable they make you feel. 

 

Impotence

 

Impotence is perhaps the biggest taboo in sexual health. Don’t talk about it, don’t bring it up and certainly don’t bring the topic up with your partner, right? The same is true for a low sex drive and sexual dysfunction. But these are all medical conditions and they’re nothing to be ashamed of. In fact when you look at statistics they are all shockingly common. Hollywood might want you to think that every guy is ready to go as soon as he sees a girl naked. But it’s just not the case. The good news is that if you talk about it, you can fix it. There are treatments for all the issues that I’ve just mentioned. After seeing a healthcare professional, you can get a cialis discount card to get the medication that you may need. Once you have that, you can get on the track to healthy relationships in the bedroom. Don’t forget that problems like this can be symptoms of a more serious issue. Particularly if they occurred suddenly and that’s why they should always be checked out. 

 

Infertility

It’s weird how our minds work. When we’re young we have sex and pray to whoever it is we pray to that the pitter patter of tiny feet don’t arrive in nine months. But once you’re in a committed relationship, and you’re settling down the gears might switch. You start to focus on trying for a baby and it can be devastating when you don’t find you’re not pregnant. Even after one try, you’ll start to think that it’s not going to work. You might search online and find the pill in some cases has stopped women conceiving even after they have stopped taking it. But you have to remember a shocking statistic- your chances of getting pregnant each time you have sex without any contraception is on average five percent. That means ninety-five percent of the time it won’t work. It’s a frightening thought but it should also be reassuring. If it doesn’t work one time you should not automatically assume you have a problem. But once you go to your Physician, you can find out what you can do to improve your chances. 

 

I hope you see now there should be no taboo when talking about sexual health. If you can talk about it, you can tackle it head on.

STAY UP TO DATE WITH ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA...