A Guest Blog by the Allo Hope Foundation's Bethany WeathersbyI grew up in a large family, loving both the chaos and the built-in friendships that came with having four siblings. My mom had five normal pregnancies and five healthy children, and I always (naively) assumed my experience would be the same.Seven weeks ago my dream of having five kids — just like my mom — became a reality when I delivered my fifth living child, a beautiful 8-pound boy we named August. But while my mom’s path to five …
The Baby Blog: Mom's Health Conditions
Stress, Pregnancy & the COVID-19 Pandemic: When You Have Anxiety about Having Anxiety
Sometimes we have anxiety about…well, having anxiety. Kristen contacted MotherToBaby and was asking about ways to manage her already extremely high anxiety around pregnancy and birth during the pandemic. Should I even try to get pregnant right now? How will I deal with my anxiety and stress if I do become pregnant? What if almost no one in my family can even come to the hospital when I go into labor? How can I deal with my anxiety during labor and birth? I could tell she had a tremendous amount …
Intense Exercise during Pregnancy: Too Much of a Good Thing or Not?
If you are an athlete and/or have a physically active lifestyle, you may have wondered: ‘Should my exercise routine change during pregnancy and breastfeeding?’ As a former division 1 athlete and now teratogen information specialist, I sure have. You may have seen news reports about professional athletes who trained and competed at the highest level at least for some time during or shortly after their pregnancies. Serena Williams won the Australian Open while 8 weeks pregnant; Alysia Montano ran …
Planning a Healthy Pregnancy
Tanya called in on a Monday morning. “I’m getting married in a few months and we want to start trying to get pregnant right away. What should I be doing now to have the best chance of a healthy baby?”Preconception health and pregnancy planning present a terrific opportunity to assess a wide range of factors that can give your baby the best start. This blog will outline the things to consider, as I relayed to Tanya:Your Personal HealthAre you generally healthy? If you already get headaches or …
Zoloft and Pregnancy: Battling the Holiday Blues
The holiday season was in full swing when Katie found out she was pregnant. She called me and wanted to know if she could continue to take Zoloft (or sertraline), the medication she was prescribed to treat her depression. The idea of coming off of the medication scared Katie, just as much as the idea of taking something that could affect her baby did. Katie also had been feeling a bit more exhausted and down than usual, possibly due to both her pregnancy and to a case of the holiday blues. ‘Tis …
