What to expect during pregnancy

Let’s be honest having a pregnant partner isn't much fun for men, most of us feel helpless most of the time and in reality we are not much use other than to fetch and carry. In the coming 40 weeks, your partner is going to experience some huge physical and emotional changes.

In the early stages she many feel exhausted this is due to changing oestrogen and the emotional impact of being pregnant. The middle of the pregnancy is often the easiest but she will still be experiencing physical and emotional changes. In the latter months they maybe completely exhausted as the baby grows. During a normal pregnancy a woman may find it difficult to get comfortable and therefore find it hard to sleep, may suffer a from a whole range of irritating discomforts, indigestion, back pain, cravings, swollen ankles, needing to go to the toilet a lot, to mention just a few symptoms, if there are complications the problems can be worse.

All of this may leave you feeling glad that men don’t have babies, but also helpless as how to improve things for your partner. Don’t worry there are so many things that expectant dad's can do to help and the main one is to do as you are asked it saves so much time and arguments in the long run if you just agree and do what ever it is no matter how bizarre you feel the request may be.

If you want to help then take on as many of the household chores as you can or lets rephrase that as many as your partner feels that you do to a level that she find acceptable. Being an expectant dad can be very tiring in more ways than one but the best advice I was ever given was to count to ten before I saying anything to a pregnant woman as the barrage of venom that your once fun loving happy partner can now dish out in her hormone fuelled state is simply just best avoided. Some of you may be lucky and you see no real change in the personality of your partner you need to be very grateful. But for the rest of you take comfort from the fact that there are many men going through the same things as you and try to bear in mind that it is only nine months and hopefully at the end of it you wonderful partner will remerge. For more on foetal development try www.lavenmedia.co.uk/foetaldevelopment.html

I am pregnant ...

These three simple little words can change your life for ever. They can create a myriad of emotions, they can strike fear into the heart of the bravest of men, they can reduce the toughest of men to tears. The emotions range from sheer joy and excitement to terror, fear and dread (sometimes all of the above) at what lies ahead. Most men feel a little overwhelmed at this stage even if its what they have been wanting for years, so try not to panic or say things you can never take back, there is help out there and you can do it, it will just takes time to get your head around, luckily nature was kind and you have a good few months to prepare.

Planning for the new arrival

If you are planning a baby rather than just having one arrive, a happy accident you might say, you have a chance to look at all aspects of your lives and to change the things that will not fit in with your new life as a parent. This may include finical planning, you will have a responsibility to make sure you have things like life insurance are in place to provide if something happened to you, you may loose your partners or your wages for a while so you will need to check the budget to see the best way forward. It may involve moving home as the home that you are in as you may not be affordable it or it may not be suitable for a child. It gives you a chance to work out what the roles are going to be, who is going to be responsible for the family income, is it you or your partner or will it be shared. Making these decisions may involve a change in jobs for yourself or your partner, but addressing these issues now it will allow you time to settle down before the baby arrives. There is no avoiding it bringing a child in to the world is expensive but there are many ways to save yourselves money and still have exactly what you need it just takes a bit of time in planning and research to get the best deals.

So you want to be a dad ?

Before you consider creating a baby it is a good idea for you to take this chance to improve the healthiness of you diet and your self, we know its boring but the healthier you are the better the sperm that you produce its just a fact.

You need to think about kicking the bad habits you know what they are, no exercise, smoking and excessive drinking. So stop smoking now it hard but there are a lot of products on the market to help. Change your diet to one that’s health and well balanced, make sure you get your 5 a day fruit and vegetables, loose the fatty and sugary foods. Try to cut down on caffeine and alcohol and take regular exercises. We know you have heard it all before, we all know what we should be doing its just seems that we never get around to it, the chance of becoming a father is a perfect reason to start taking better care of ourselves.

Taking these actions will help to ensure that you are a health and active Dad. Also think about trying green tea, its a good alternative to caffeine but if you can't face it there are many other herbal teas try them, you will find one you like. It may be a good idea to start taking a good multivitamin and vitamin C, check with your G.P that any medication that you are on does not interfere with fertility and tell him of your intention to get healthy just to make sure there are no problems. There are good reasons to take multivits and vitamin C if you want to know read on if not go on to the next stage.
It is felt that :

Vitamin C, protects sperm from oxidative damage. It is also seen to improve sperm in smokers

Zinc. raises the testosterone levels

Coenzyme Q10, improves sperm count and mobility

Vitamin E, may improve fertility

Vitamin B12, is needed to maintain fertility