Daily habits and pregnancy

What clothes and shoes to wear during pregnancy?

As your belly grows, your old clothes gradually become tight. Do not rush to completely update your wardrobe. If you do not gain excess weight (and this is exactly how you should behave during pregnancy to avoid problems), then in your everyday clothes you will easily "reach" the 5th month. If you are going to give birth in the summer or early autumn, then you will not experience any problems at all. After all, in the hot season you can wear light, wide dressing gowns or sundresses, and on holidays you can wear a skirt that fits your size, and a blouse or top. If your clothes do not fit at all and you have practically nothing to go out in, ask your friends for the clothes they wore during pregnancy. However, if you are not constrained in funds, you can buy any clothes you like. The main thing is that the clothes are made of natural fabrics. This will protect you to some extent from overheating, since during pregnancy the metabolism is increased.

The choice of underwear is of great importance. We have already said, but it is better to supplement what has already been said: the bra should be made of natural fabric, should not squeeze the breasts and lift them too high. Considering that your breasts grow during pregnancy, you should change it to a larger one in a timely manner.

You need to be especially careful with your shoes. Shoes should not restrict your feet and should have low heels.

Since your center of gravity shifts during pregnancy, and constantly, high-heeled shoes are undesirable - you don't need to fall now. Your feet may swell during pregnancy, so you'll have to put aside wearing boots with a narrow shaft for a while. You should also "retire" shoes or boots with laces and fasteners, which can worsen venous outflow from your feet and shins. So look for low-heeled shoes in your wardrobe that don't restrict your feet too much. And if you don't have any, be sure to buy them.

Is it possible to do physical exercise and sports during pregnancy?

Let's start with sports. Sports, if done in moderation, are good for a pregnant woman. You may ask: "What does moderation mean? And training for participation in the Olympic Games - is it moderate exercise?" Of course, if you are pregnant for only about two or three hours, you can participate in competitions of any level. But if you have firmly decided to become a mother, then starting from the second month of pregnancy, training loads should be sharply reduced.

Let's look at the sports that are strictly contraindicated for pregnant women: horse riding, water skiing, diving, alpine skiing, and some types of gymnastic exercises. These sports are associated with falls, injuries (including abdominal injuries) and concussions of the entire body, which can lead to miscarriage. The next group: long-distance running, sprinting, scuba diving (with or without scuba gear), and cross-country skiing. These sports involve the body working in conditions of oxygen starvation, and nothing has such a negative effect on the embryo (especially during organ development) as hypoxia.

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What types of sports are allowed or even beneficial for pregnant women?

These are jogging, tennis, yoga, swimming. These sports help strengthen the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, improve tissue aeration, and strengthen muscles.

Cycling and cross-country skiing are somewhat less useful. If you don't try too hard and don't try to "show results", then you can certainly do them. However, I should make a reservation here: I wrote "cycling" and "cross-country skiing", but I should have written "biking" and "skiing", but there are no such sports, although you should do cycling and skiing in exactly this mode after you find out that you are pregnant.

Therefore, if you can do sports, then physical education is even more so. But here we need to be more specific - what kind of exercises are useful at different stages of pregnancy, whether they are dangerous for the fetus, how to dose the load, etc.

In the first trimester of pregnancy, you can do any exercises - bends, swings of arms and legs, squats. You can allow yourself stretching exercises, but without "fanaticism". Breathing exercises and yoga classes are especially useful, which improve the oxygen supply to the pregnant woman's body, and along with her, the future child receives more oxygen.

In the second trimester of pregnancy, given that the belly has already changed your center of gravity and the load on the back has increased, it will be difficult for you to do exercises while standing. Therefore, it is better to unload the back and do exercises lying on your side, on your back, standing on all fours. Given the size of the uterus, it is no longer worth doing exercises while lying on your stomach.

In the third trimester of pregnancy, your physical activity will become noticeably less due to the significant increase in your belly. But you still need to do exercises. The exercises remain standing on all fours, sitting, lying on your left side. It is better not to lie on your right side or back, since the uterus will compress the liver and the large inferior vena cava, which can cause a drop in blood pressure, nausea, and even loss of consciousness. Of course, you can and should continue breathing exercises. And do not neglect physical education classes, which will be offered to you at the antenatal clinic.

Separately, it is necessary to say about swimming and physical exercises in the pool. This is the so-called aqua training. Water has its own energy. A person in water is always in energetic interaction with it. In water, you will never be able to make a sharp or irrational movement, since its density will not allow you to do this.

Now about the benefits of aqua training: exercises in water harmoniously develop and strengthen all muscles, deepen breathing, increase lung capacity. Since there is almost no gravity in water, your muscles responsible for balance are relaxed, but you can tense those muscles that you need to develop for future births. Exercises in water promote relaxation, relieve fatigue, and eliminate the manifestations of constant stress. Water has a beneficial effect on the skin, reducing the likelihood of stretch marks on the abdomen and thighs. Children of mothers who have done aqua training do not experience fear of water and are better suited to swimming and diving.

Considering all of the above, it might be worth looking for a section that deals with water preparation.

Is it possible to have sex during pregnancy?

If your pregnancy is proceeding normally (there is no threat of miscarriage, no bleeding, etc.), then there are no contraindications to continuing sexual activity. Moreover, if sex is a continuation and development of your relationship, a manifestation of love and tenderness to each other, then it is simply necessary. After all, an orgasm experienced by a woman causes a surge of happiness and satisfaction, relieves stress and nervousness. And what could be more important and better for a pregnant woman than a normal home environment!

Therefore, it is better to indicate those situations when sex should not be engaged in or should not be done at all.

You cannot have sex if there is a risk of miscarriage, since during orgasm not only the muscles of the urogenital diaphragm contract, but also the uterus, and uterine contractions lead to the expulsion of the fertilized egg; if you have had multiple miscarriages before, then the increased tone of the uterus can lead to miscarriage; if an ultrasound examination has shown that the placenta is located at the exit from the uterus, that is, there is a placenta previa (in this case, there is a risk of bleeding). It is better to abstain from sex a month before childbirth, since there is a risk that premature labor may begin as a result of the increased tone of the uterus during orgasm.

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