FAQ:
- Prenatal vitamins, which are now available without a prescription, are safe to take during pregnancy. For any other medications, vitamins, herbal remedies or supplements, check with your physician.
- If you are pregnant and you get a cold, check with your physician before taking any over-the-counter cold or cough medications, especially if they contain aspirin or ibuprofen. In most cases, it is safe to take Tylenol (acetaminophen) for minor aches and pains. Saline nasal sprays or steam inhalation may help with congestion. Remember to drink lots of fluids.
- If you are pregnant and you get a cold, check with your physician before taking any over-the-counter cold or cough medications, especially if they contain aspirin or ibuprofen. In most cases, it is safe to take Tylenol (acetaminophen) for minor aches and pains. Saline nasal sprays or steam inhalation may help with congestion. Remember to drink lots of fluids.
- We recommend that you get a flu shot if you are pregnant during flu season. It’s safe to get a flu shot even if you are in the first trimester.
- Since very little of the chemicals in hair dye are absorbed into your system, it’s probably safe to dye your hair during pregnancy. However, if you’re concerned, you might consider waiting until the second trimester, when your developing baby is less vulnerable. You might also consider streaking, highlighting, frosting or other options in which the chemicals have little or no contact with your scalp.
- To be sure of ovulation, you need either a self-administered urine test called an ovulation predictor kit, or a blood test at your doctor’s office. If you use the ovulation predictor kit you should use it under the direction of your doctor.
- By BBT, sometimes you can suspect ovulation by a small drop in temperature just before the rise in temperature in the progesterone phase. The finding is not that reliable to go by however, which is why most specialists recommend the ovulation predictor kit.
- A general way to figure out when ovulation occurs is to subtract 14 days from how often you have a period. (e.g., if menses occurs every 30 days, then 30 -14 = 16.) So on day 16 of your cycle (your cycle begins on the first day of your period) is the time ovulation is most likely to occur. Your most fertile period is 7 days before (because sperm hangs around in the cervical mucus for up to 7 days) and 2 days after ovulation. I hope this helps.
- It is possible to get pregnant after you discontinue your birth control pills. It may be as high as a 20-30% chance on your first cycle after the pills, assuming you didn’t have any problems with skipping periods prior to going on the pill. In fact, you can get pregnant on your BCP’s but the chances are very low. Once you stop the pills your cycle will begin and allow you to continue a regular cycle. About 60% of women get pregnant within 6 months of trying and 80% within one year.
- Your fertile period is 7 days before and 2 days after ovulation from the ovary. Ovulation from the ovary usually occurs 14 days BEFORE your next menstrual period (range 12-17 days). If you have very regular menses starting every 28 days.then most likely fertile period is day 7 after start of menses (7 days before ovulation) to day 16 after menses. The problem becomes if your menses are not always that regular, the timing gets changed. To optimize pregnancy chances, having intercourse every other day (at least) starting on day 12 thru day 16 (or longer if your cycle is sometimes longer than 28 days).
- While the above are general rules of thumb, ovulation prediction has become much more sophisticated. You may want to discuss these with your doctor.
- There has always been concern, with data to support it, that if a woman gets pregnant sooner than about 6 months after a previous pregnancy, the complications such as low birth weight, placental problems and preterm labor are more frequent than in a woman who has waited longer after her pregnancy to become pregnant. There are many factors involved in the choice or circumstances of becoming pregnant. Also, we do not know if the outcome after a previous term pregnancy is going to be the same as after a pregnancy that miscarries.
- You would think that it would be easy to determine when the best time is to get pregnant after a miscarriage to minimize a future miscarriage (spontaneous abortion) or minimize a problem with a low birth weight or premature infant. It is not easy however, because the decision to try to conceive depends upon many factors which are influenced by a woman’s previous reproductive performance. If a woman knows she has difficulty conceiving or is getting older and feels time is running out, she will try to conceive as quickly as possible after a previous pregnancy loss. We know that women who are older or who are subfertile will have higher miscarriage rates so if you include their data, it will always look as if a short interpregnancy interval will lead to a higher miscarriage rate.
- As far as getting pregnant after a miscarriage, you can start trying whenever you want because we do not know of adverse data following just a spontaneous miscarriage. In fact some older data implies that there is no increase in the abortion rate in women who quickly conceive following a previous spontaneous abortion. Following a pregnancy, it appears that the best time to conceive with the least frequency of complications is about 18-23 months. Under 6 months the percent increase in problems is enough that most physicians do not recommend becoming pregnant.
- You may want to know what the chance of having another miscarriage is if you have had one or more already. Based upon clinically recognized pregnancies, not chemical ones, the chance of a subsequent miscarriage according to one study is:
- • Overall general rate 11%
• After one miscarriage 16%
• After two miscarriages 25%
• After three miscarriage 45%
• After four miscarriages 54%
- While the evidence does not clearly indicate that conceiving too soon leads to an increased incidence of miscarriage, there is indirect evidence that if you do get pregnant sooner than 6 months after a pregnancy of any type, that the outcome may lead to complications if pregnancy occurs. For that reason, I support taking a break of at least 6 months before trying to conceive again after a miscarriage. If you do get pregnant in that time, o.k. But don’t put nonstop pressure on yourself to conceive.
- It takes about 4-6 weeks. Your doctor will probably have you wait two cycles before trying to get pregnant. miscarriage. If you do get pregnant in that time, o.k. But don’t put nonstop pressure on yourself to conceive.
- If you have regular monthly periods and you are now one month late (i.e., 2 months since the first day of your last normal menstrual period); then no, it is not too early to take a pregnancy test. In fact if you are pregnant you would probably see a heart beat on ultrasound by now.
- As far as we know, fibroids are not hereditary. They do have a strange genetic pattern, however, in that many fibroids are monoclonal (derived from the same cell). In other words, if a woman has multiple fibroids, sometimes all of those fibroids come from a single cell as if that cell were cloned. This has led some people to postulate that a virus is involved in producing the fibroid cells that then grow and replicate like a cancer, but in a controlled, non-invasive fashion. If that is true, (we’re really guessing) then people in the same family could be susceptible; not because of genetics, but because of exposure to the same virus.
- Pedunculated fibroids are not as common as ones in the main uterine muscle but in a way they are less of a problem. The fibroid is a benign muscle growth, usually one cell that has just replicated itself over and over. It’s not a malignant or invasive process although sometimes they can grow quite big. The pedunculated ones generally do not cause abnormal bleeding because they are remote from the uterine lining sloughed each month during menses. The pedunculated ones can occasionally twist (torsion) and cause severe pain. For the most part though, they don’t usually produce many symptoms unless they are big enough to just cause abdominal fullness like a pregnancy feeling. A fibroid the size you describe may well be able to be removed laparoscopically alone or laparoscopically with a vaginal incision to deliver the fibroid rather than a major abdominal incision.
