Maybe you’re still with him, but you don’t know how he would react to this news. You’re scared to tell him you’re pregnant because you don’t know whether or not he will support you through the pregnancy.

Or possibly both of you are excited that you might be pregnant, but you’re scared to tell your family. You don’t think they’re going to react well so you want some advice as to what your next step should be.

Whatever your situation is, we know that it may be leaving you overwhelmed and scared. And while you might feel like you’re alone in this, you’re not. With six locations in South Central Indiana, Pregnancy Care Center is here waiting to come along side you and help you through this time. (You can find us in Columbus, Seymour, Shelbyville, Greensburg, North Vernon and Nashville, Indiana.)

So what can Pregnancy Care Center do to help you? First off, be a listening ear. For more than 20 years we’ve supported women struggling with unplanned pregnancies. One of the most helpful services they say we have is that we listen to their hearts and don’t judge them based on their situations. When you come to the Pregnancy Care Center, we will let you talk and express your feelings, fears and concerns. Then together we will sort through your feelings and answer any questions you may have regarding the pregnancy. Our goal is to help you clearly see all your options (Parenting, Abortion and Adoption) concerning this pregnancy so you can make the most informed decision possible.

Here are just a few comments our clients have said about the support they have received at the Pregnancy Care Center:

• I felt very comfortable and respected in this situation. I never felt judged or worried that my situation would be not confidential.

• My peer counselor helped me sort my feelings. She was very helpful and I feel a lot better after talking with her.

• I like the fact that she took the time to listen to me about my life.

• What I like best is that no one here judges you by who you are or what your circumstances may be.

• I felt very supported. Everything said was helpful in any decision I may make in the future.

• I like the fact that the people treat you as equal instead of something else. I also like the fact that they see your perspective of things and how you feel instead of telling you how you feel.

In addition to our peer counseling services, we also provide pregnancy tests and first trimester ultrasound to verify that you are indeed pregnant and determine how far along you are in the pregnancy. And all services provided by the Pregnancy Care Center are available at no cost.

We know you’re probably feeling overwhelmed with the weight of this decision; especially if there is no one in your life you can talk to about it. Remember that we’re here for you, waiting to help. Just pick up the phone and call us at 812-378-4730.

From the time we knew we were expecting, we also knew that we didn’t want to have our baby born in a hospital. Of all the reasons, the most notable was that I kept reading about relaxing helping labor along, and I knew I’d never be able to relax in a hospital, and I’m not much of a fan of pain. After a few months of searching and researching, we found a birth center in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, with close ties to high-quality emergency medical facilities. From the first visit to their website, we were pretty confident that this is where we would to birth our baby.

With our decision to plan to have our baby born in a birth center, we were, in that decision, choosing to plan a natural delivery, with no drugs or “preventive” procedures that can be done only in a hospital. Since this was our first baby, we didn’t really know, entirely, what we had coming, but now that we’re on the other side, we wouldn’t do it any other way.

Right from the start, my only sensation of labor was lower back pain that alerted me to contractions. The baby was born with the cord around her neck, and the midwife believes that she (the baby) had her head cocked into my spine througout the entire laboring process, with triggered the back pain as contractions pressed her harder into my spine. Poor kid…it seems a rough way to get started!

There were definitely moments when I wanted to just be done and/or give it all up. Funny thing, though, when you’re in the middle of labor and giving birth, it’s too late to change your mind. Thankfully, I had my wonderful husband with me throughout, and God strengthened him as much as He did me. From the jacuzzi to the shower to the floor to the bed, we experimented with many things that we had read, but for the most part, we just had to breathe through it all, and there was always a break right when I “couldn’t take it any more.”

I remember, all too clearly, that when it was all done, and our healthy baby girl was on my belly, then in my arms, that I was sure nothing would ever hurt again. After twenty-two hours of repetitive pain in my lower back, I was confident that I could take any discomfort and it would be nothing, in comparison. Less than nine months later, the least little paper cut hurts like crazy. So they were all right–the memories do soften over time.

After the fact, when our little girl had been born healthy, it was wonderful to be able to hold her right away. Since I had no drugs, I was very alert (until I crashed, a few hours later) and fully able to enjoy our daughter. She, too, was quite alert, and we had a great time getting to know her, right away. It was wonderful to be able to go home, since all systems were functional, and we were thrilled to have our first night altogether in our own home–what a great start! This was all possible, since I’d had no preventive procedures or medications. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gifts!

When my pregnancy test came back positive, it took a little while for the news to sink in and the nurse was so patient. How could I be pregnant? I told her that I had my whole life ahead of me and that I was not that serious with the man involved. Right away I knew that abortion was what I would choose. But then I wasn’t so sure. The nurse offered to check via ultrasound if my pregnancy was “viable” meaning if it would continue or not, if left alone. She found the little “sack” where the baby should have been, but there was no heartbeat. All of the sudden, I felt so sad to know that on the same day I found out for sure that I was pregnant, the baby would not survive.

I really can’t express the emotions that I felt. First I was upset that I was pregnant, and then I was sad that I was not. Through my emotional roller-coaster, the Nurse-Consultant at the Women’s Center-Kettering was so kind. She explained that one out of four pregnancies end in miscarriage. She told me that many women schedule an abortion before they find out if the pregnancy will even continue on it’s own or not. She told me about the different methods of abortion. She explained how my cycle works and how a pregnancy occurs. I am embarrassed to admit it, but I didn’t know you could only get pregnant a few fertile days of the month. The way she talked about what a precious gift fertility is and how many women would give anything to be fertile and achieve pregnancy, it really made me think about things in a way I have never even considered.

She let me talk about my feelings and hopes and dreams and I got a new appreciation about being a woman. I’ve always dreaded pregnancy like it’s a disease or something. Now I think I’d like to save sex for a man who I’d like to raise a child with. I don’t know where the relationship with the man I’m dating now will lead, but one thing’s for sure; I’m not going to be having sex with him again unless we’re ready to have a child together (like after we’re married). At the Women’s Center-Kettering, they treated me with such respect as a woman, that I want to treat myself more respectfully from now on. My fertility is an awesome gift—I can’t wait to share it with my husband someday down the road.

For more information or to find out if you’re really pregnant, go to the Women’s Center-Kettering’s website at: www.womenscenterohio.com or call 937-643-4673. Tell them Jennell sent you.

The hormone balance in a woman’s body is a delicate thing. Her ovulation and monthly cycles are sometimes so precarious that a more than usually stressful month can throw them off. When trying to conceive, it serves a woman well to try to reduce her stress level by incorporating some physical activity into her daily routine. Unfortunately, this is a situation where there most definitely can be too much of a good thing. Over exercise can affect a woman’s ovulation cycle resulting in irregular, skipped and sometimes even non existent periods. Medically known as amenorrhea, this condition makes conception extremely difficult and in the long run can even contribute to severe osteoporosis.

In essence, the more you exercise, the more your cycle is affected. When you engage in high intensity activity, your body releases opioids, otherwise known as endorphins. This ‘feel good’ chemical creates the runner’s high that so many fitness enthusiasts are addicted to. However, this same chemical also suppresses the pituitary gland and thereby alters the production of hormones necessary for ovulation. Although high intensity exercise can give you an emotional boost and help you slide into your size five jeans, having too little body fat is another of the factors in infertility. Thirty percent of a woman’s estrogen production happens in her fat cells and if there simply isn’t enough, she’s going to have a struggle to become pregnant. Her body just won’t support a baby.

If you are an avid exerciser and are noticing your periods are affected, make an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible. He or she may recommend cutting your routine back to three or less hours a week and after calculating your body mass index, may even suggest gaining some weight.

Allow your body to rest and create the ideal environment for your growing baby. It may take some time to get your body back into a regular cycle. Try to relax. There is no reason why you can’t continue your hunt for endorphins after you have delivered a healthy baby and given yourself time to heal. Becoming a parent generally means giving up a lot of control and pregnancy is just the first step.

Women’s sexual health is important to us at Light of Hope Pregnancy Center. That’s why we provide free urine-based pregnancy tests with 99% accuracy, and results that are provided to you immediately.

At Light of Hope, you won’t find people who will judge you or lecture you! We provide confidential peer counseling by women who have been where you are – worried about an unplanned pregnancy. Our counselors have only your best interests in mind and will take the time to learn about you and your fears and concerns.

Have you ever made a decision and – looking back – wished you had known then what you know now? If you have a positive pregnancy test, you can depend upon Light of Hope Pregnancy Center to provide you with accurate information about all of your options for your pregnancy: parenting, abortion, and adoption. The decision is yours – there’s no pressure. But before you decide, we can provide you with all the facts that you need to know about your pregnancy and the options you have.

If you aren’t pregnant, but have questions about sexually transmitted disease, we can help. We can provide you with medically-accurate information about sexually transmitted infections and disease, and bust the myths about how to get them and how to prevent them.

Of course, all of our services are free and confidential. We’re located at 207 N. Main Street in downtown Sumter – just down the street from the main post office. Call us at 803-773-8858 or toll-free at 800-671-0681 for an appointment. You can also walk-in on Wednesdays and Thursdays between 10:00am and 2:00pm.

The first step in any, especially a prenatal beginning fitness routine is to move. It’s really that simple. Increasing your daily exercise by even ten minutes, can make a difference in the health of your baby and can reduce uncomfortable pregnancy symptoms. Walk to the store, forgo the elevator, take your partner on an after dinner stroll…you don’t have to train for a marathon, you just have to raise your heart rate. Once you have started the movement habit, you might consider other forms of exercise such as swimming, cycling or low-impact aerobics. Many community centers or gyms offer special prenatal programs that are tailored to your body’s needs. These classes have the added benefit of meeting other women and couples who are expecting and so can help to widen your social circle while reducing pregnancy discomforts. Whatever you choose, be sure your doctor knows you are beginning an exercise routine and has given you clearance to do so.

Stretching is incredibly important for pregnant women. During pregnancy, your body produces powerful hormones that loosen tendons and joints in preparation for labor. Stretching can help ease your body into and out of these considerable physical alterations. Prenatal yoga is helpful in this regard. It enables you to take the time to experience your body through all the stages of your pregnancy and to become more aware of the subtle signals your body sends. This combined with the breathing techniques essential to yoga practice will help you through your labor and in the tumultuous days to follow. There are copious amounts of yoga tapes and classes available to women. A quick internet search will show you what resources are available in your community – take advantage of them.

Many people feel that fitness is eighty percent diet and ten percent exercise. Whether this is true or not, the relationship between the two is certainly important. It’s not enough to exercise daily if you are still drowning your pregnancy anxieties in cheeseburgers and great tubs of ice cream. For your baby’s sake and your own health, you need to clean up your diet. The first thing to do is to stop eating processed foods. Commercially prepared junk foods are designed to taste good and thereby create addictions. When you have a craving for a sauce laden fast food burger, ask yourself if you would feed this to your newborn. Your baby deserves better and so do you. Instead of giving in to these urges, exercise will power and choose instead to nourish your amazing body with healthy food. Talk to your doctor about prenatal nutrition or consult a dietician for more information.

If you haven’t had the desire to pursue fitness before, you may find your pregnancy gives you the impetus you’ve been lacking. It’s never to late to start making healthy choices and starting a fitness program now will ensure you have the energy you need to help you as you and your baby grow together.

Between now and then, you and your baby will grow and grow and grow! One of his main objectives during this last bit of time in your womb is to put on extra body fat to help regulate his temperature after birth. Your baby will gain 4-7 pounds this third trimester (he is about 2 pounds on your twenty-eighth week), most of it during his last 7 weeks, and all of his growth will show in your big, beautiful belly! As your baby grows, his skeleton is also growing and hardening. In order to complete this work, your baby will soak up around 250mg of calcium from you each day!

As your pregnancy progresses, you may notice the return of fatigue. Your body is working very hard to accommodate its extra little resident, and on top of this, it does become harder to get a good night’s rest. Between the size of your belly and the seemingly constant need to urinate, waking in the night becomes the norm. This is good preparation, though, for once your baby arrives!

By the time you reach 35 weeks or so, you will likely notice a difference in your baby’s movements. This is because he is taking up so much room in your uterus that he no longer has the space to do the back flips and somersaults he has been able to enjoy! However, the number of kicks you feel should stay about the same.

Your baby will be considered full term if he is born anywhere between your thirty-seventh and forty-second week of pregnancy. At this point, it is all a waiting game. Although there are signs for which your care provider can be watching, to show that you are progressing toward labor, there is, of course, no way to guarantee when you’ll have your baby. During this time, your baby is finishing up any growing and weight gain needed, as well as getting his respiratory system ready for that first breath of air.

While it is hard to wait these last few weeks for your baby, you can take this time to enjoy the last bit of one-on-one time you’ll have with your partner and finish any needed preparations. Soon-to-be-siblings may need a bit of extra attention during this time, too. They, too, are getting ready for this big transition and may need a bit of additional support. Other preparations you can make are freezing meals for the first few weeks after the baby is born, making sure your baby’s clothes and blankets are washed and ready, and finalizing your birth plan.

Before you know it, you won’t be pregnant anymore (really, you won’t!), and your baby will actually be here! It is hard to believe, but it happens every time.

Your baby is still growing and changing rapidly. He is now able to move all of his joints and is often busy flexing his arm and leg muscles. As a result of this, along with his growing size, you may feel the first sensations of movement from your baby. The first time you feel your baby move is so exciting! This can happen anywhere from about 16 weeks to 20 weeks, so don’t worry if you haven’t felt him yet. At your prenatal appointments, it has probably become part of the ritual to listen to your baby’s heartbeat, either with the Feta Scope or the Doppler. This way, you can still feel that reassurance and connection until you are able to feel those first kicks.

Around your fifth month or so, your baby will begin using his circulatory system and his urinary tract. His brain is growing quickly and working hard, as well. During this time, the brain is doing things like designating specialized areas for sensory development. Also, a protective covering called myelin is beginning to form around all of his nerves. This will continue for up until a year after his birth. His respiratory system is also developing, and he will begin taking small breaths of amniotic fluid. This is his breathing practice, and it helps his lungs to get ready for birth.

While your baby starts the second trimester off very skinny and with wrinkled skin, by the end of this time, he will begin to put on a bit of baby fat. This will make his skin begin to appear smoother and make him look more like a newborn. By the time you are ready to head into your third trimester, at 28 weeks, your baby will be about 2 pounds! He can hear and open and close his eyes, and he has regular intervals of sleeping and waking (which can often seem to be opposite from yours!).

Can you believe that, after this, you have only 3 more months of pregnancy left?! It’s sometimes hard to not want your baby here now so you can hold him and gaze at him with your own eyes, but pregnancy is a very intimate time for you and your baby, and it lasts only 9 short months!

Well, it all started before you even knew you were pregnant. Your baby has been growing since your egg was fertilized, approximately 2 weeks ago. As soon as that sperm broke into the egg, cells began to divide and divide and divide . . . .

Once these dividing cells (called a blastocyst) burrow into your womb, the placenta begins to grow and will also start producing the hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin). This is what, among other things, turns your pregnancy test positive. The placenta also has the very important jobs of bringing your baby oxygen and needed nutrients, while eliminating the waste that he creates. In addition, the placenta will make sure that your immune system doesn’t reject your baby as a foreign invader and will prevent your blood cells from mixing with your baby’s. These are just a few ways the amazing placenta will support your baby as he grows in your womb.

By the time you are 4 weeks along, your baby enters the “embryonic period.” Your baby will begin developing all of his organs, and by the time you are 10 weeks along (the end of the embryonic period), some of these systems will begin functioning. This is the period of time when your baby’s development is most vulnerable.

As you move along through your pregnancy, you’ll need to take very good care of yourself. You may not feel like eating much, or you may even be throwing up what you do eat, but it is important for your baby that you do your best to get at least some nutrition. One of the things you can try to do to manage morning sickness is to eat many small meals–preferably high in protein–throughout the day, especially right after you wake up. This prevents your blood sugar from dropping, which is a trigger for nausea and/or vomiting in many women. It is likely that you’ll also feel tired during this time. It is important that you get good rest and exercise during your pregnancy.

By the midpoint of your first trimester, your baby has changed greatly. Things like the beginnings for his eyes, ears, and hands are in place, and his tiny little legs are able to kick now! By the time you’re into your eleventh week or so, your baby is past his most critical period, developmentally, and will enter what is called the “fetal period.” His organs and tissues will now begin to mature rapidly, and he will begin to put on weight.

As for you, your baby’s growth isn’t likely to begin showing until sometime in your second trimester. By the end of your twelfth week, you’re already a third of the way through your pregnancy journey! It all goes by so quickly–try to enjoy each and every minute.

Thanks for the question, Mari!  According to our Fertility/Ovulation Calculator, your ovulation date was April 12 so your most fertile days would have been April 9 through April 14.

Of course, many women have become pregnant on days outside the “most fertile week,” and sperm can live for several days, during which period it may come in contact with an egg and penetrate it.  However, in general, April 9 through the 14th would have been your most fertile time with the highest probability for becoming pregnant.

Thanks again for the question! If at any time you have pregnancy related questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we’ll be glad to consider posting your question with an answer.

The Crazy Pregnancy Team