Pregnancy (18)
Pregnancy can be a really exciting time however it's important that you understand all the health-issues relating to being pregnant. Eating a really healthy diet during pregnancy is essential in order to have a healthy baby. Unfortunately some mothers don't follow the advice of their doctors and drink alchol and smoke cigarettes whilst pregnant. If you want to be a good mother you should learn what you can during these most important months of your life.
Am I Pregnant? Signs of Pregnancy
Written by Douglas BernardYou've been asking yourself, "Am I pregnant?," well these are the signs of pregnancy. Pregancy is defined as the period of time between conception and parturition during which an embryo or fetus is developing as a result of the union of a sperm and an ovum. Conception occurs when a sperm enters an ovum.
"Am I pregnant?" This is a question that will be answered soon enough. These are the signs of pregnancy. Signs of pregnancy advance from vague to definitive. One of the first signs is amenorrhea because the uterine lining is maintained for nourishment of the developing embryo. Nausea occurs in about 50% of women, and vomiting occurs in about 33%. Nausea and vomiting are related to rising estrogen levels and usually by the end of the first trimester. Because of increased plasma filtration in the kidneys and a shift in the position of the uterus, frequent urination occurs. The breasts become tender and enlarge owing to development of additonal milk ducts and increased fat deposits. A darkening of nipples and areola of the breasts occurs. The vagina becomes thickened and develops a purplish color. This color change of the vagina and cervix is called Chadwick's sign. The vagina is susceptible to infection 
during this time and throughout pregnancy. At about the 5th to 6th week after fertilization, an increased blood vessel penetration to the cervix makes it soften and is known as Goodell's sign. The hormones secreted by cells surrounding the fertilized egg and placenta secrete human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in the blood and urine. This can be found in a blood test within 24 hours after conception.
The date of confinement or date of delivery is estimated by using Nagele's rule. The first day of the last mentrual period is identified, 3 months are subtracted, and 7 days are added in the following year. This is based on the assumption that ovulation occurs 14 days after the last period; however, this is not always the case. Forty weeks after the last menstrual period is the date of delivery. Gestational weeks begin at the last menstrual period, so at conception the woman is considered to be 2 weeks pregnant (the time of the egg maturation up to ovulation). Ultrasonography is used to give a more accurate estimated date of delivery. So you can stop asking yourself, "Am I pregnant?" For the signs of pregnancy have been explained.
Vasectomy reversal is pretty much like the “undo” command in a computer program: when you realize you’ve made a mistake, you press Undo and reverse your document to the state that preceded the mistake. No joking, some young couples who don’t want children see vasectomy as a good prevention method. Years later, either they change their mind and decide they want kids, or they get a divorce and the guy meets another woman who wants to have children. Another reason for the reversal procedure is the Post Vasectomy Pain Syndrome (PVP), which has a strong impact on the patient’s quality of life.
Vasectomy is a surgical procedure which interrupts the tubes that carry the sperms from the testes to the urethra. Vasectomy reversal is the surgical attempt to connect them back again. However, maybe less than half of the procedures are successful, so if it crosses your mind to get a vasectomy, just be aware that it can be for good. This low success rate isn’t too motivating. Besides, medical studies have shown that a vasectomy isn’t 100% effective in preventing an undesirable pregnancy. One of these studies included 540 women out of whom six got pregnant within a time frame of 6 weeks to 1.5 years after the vasectomy of their husbands. Now, I’m not sure those ladies weren’t cheating on their spouses and I suppose neither did the doctors who ran the CREST (Collaborative Review of Sterilization) study.
Vasectomy Reversal Costs and Insurance Coverage
Vasectomy reversal is considered an elective medical procedure, therefore most chances are that it’s not covered by your health insurance plan. However, check it with your insurer, because some of them do cover the first surgery attempt. If this fails, then you’ll have to pay for the following ones from your own pocket. A loan can be a good solution, in case you don’t have so much cash available. The rates depend very much on the country, as well as on the vasectomy surgeon himself. For example, the average price for a reversal vasectomy in the US is $10000, while in Canada, the same procedure will cost you only CAN$5000. Probably the biggest part of the cost comes from the surgical fee. Additional to that, the patient has to pay the anesthetic fee and the hospital fee. Nonetheless, going for an out-patient surgical center will decrease the cost. As you can see, this is not a cheap procedure. Microsurgical vasectomy reversal, also known as vasovasostomy, needs a very powerful microscope. Besides, if complications occur, and if the surgeon needs to opt for another alternative of vasectomy reversal, namely the vasoepididymosostomy, the costs would go up.
Pregnancy After Vasectomy Reversal
Neither vasectomy nor its reversal are 100% guaranteed. It’s possible that your partner gets pregnant after you undergo this surgery, but it’s also possible that she doesn’t. It may sound funny, but there are doctors and medical centers who offer a vasectomy reversal refund program for their patients in case the procedure fails.
Knowing all these, choosing your doctor becomes a real challenge, but there’s no need to worry: just do like in any other shopping situations, collect multiple quotes, ask for certificates of good practice, try to get in touch with former patients and don’t ignore promotional discounts that you may find.
Pregnancy is a very crucial period in a woman’s life. It does not only affect her but also affects her family. With all the joy that comes with it are some potentially problematic things. One such thing is pregnant health insurance. According to statistics, 13% of women in the United States are not ensured. A significant chunk of those who are underinsured. Since health insurance is not that inexpensive, a lot of women keep putting off buying one. Some totally forgo it. This method may enable them to save a little in the meantime, but when something big happens like pregnancy, that is when they scramble to get one. Individual health insurance may or may not have pregnancy coverage. The terms differ from company to company. For someone who has this, it is advised to read the terms carefully to be sure of just what it covers.
If one’s health insurance does not cover maternity days, then one can choose to add a rider to the terms that does just that or get a supplemental health insurance for pregnancy. It is true that adding these things will require additional payments, but they are ultimately beneficial when the time of need comes. Having a healthy and medically well-supervised pregnancy is quite expensive. Giving birth alone in a hospital may cost somewhere between $3000-$10000 for a normal delivery. If any complications arise, it will add at least $2000 more to the already astronomical cost. Add the regular doctor check-ups, lab work, sonograms, and all other procedures that make sure the baby is growing fine and one may be looking at roughly $20,000 of medical bills.
Paying all that out of one’s own pocket is bordering on suicidal. Sadly, this is the case for a number of women who failed to acquire health insurance for pregnant ladies before conceiving. Most health insurance agencies do provide for pregnant women. However, they only cover future pregnancies and not the current one, which is not at all helpful for those who need coverage now. There are other options albeit limited ones. The best thing out there is Medicaid, a government sponsored program that offer medical assistance to low-income individuals or families. The downside of this is that one must qualify for the serviceable income bracket first to get help.
Some women make the decision to reduce their income just so they could qualify for Medicaid. This is not a very advisable action because as an expecting mother, one will have to maximize all available resources in case something comes up. It is best to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. After all, the baby still needs feeding and diapers, things that will eat up whatever remaining prenatal funds one has. It really is difficult for currently pregnant women, especially those in their second to third trimester, to get insurance. Another option one could explore is joining maternity discount programs. American Health Benefits is one of these and is legitimate and BBB approved. Careful scrutiny and research should be done before joining one of these programs for several of them are scams.
According to statistics, the number of people who have become more open minded with life insurances have increased significantly over the past 10 years. Maybe it’s because of the people’s lifestyle and the choices that led them to consider different life insurance programs. Unfortunately, this is not the case for the industry of health insurance for pregnant women. The sad truth is a big percent of expecting mothers, 13% to be exact, do not have any kind of health insurance at all. Here’s another fact, a lot of birth defects and disorders could have been prevented if the mother had all the right medical assistance and support that she needs. There have also been a lot of pregnancy complications that happen during and after the pregnancy that could have been easily dealt with if they had health insurance for pregnant women.
You might have heard of unfortunate stories of pregnancy complications that affected both the mother and the child. So now that you are really sure that you are carrying a baby inside you, what do you do next? The most common question that expecting parents ask is, “Can we still get health insurance from any company even if she’s already pregnant?” Well, there’s good news and bad news. Let’s start with the good one. There are some federally-funded programs like Medicaid that gives insurance to already pregnant women. But they only offer this privilege to the less fortunate families who have low income. Some people find it hard to pass the qualifications of such insurance companies so they end up spending a lot more than they could have spent if they got pregnancy insurance.
It must be very difficult for first time expecting mothers and fathers to deal with a lot of stress so pregnancy insurance should really be a basic part of your plans as a family. It's very important to take care of the baby and to consider what's best for him or her but this process shouldn't be too stressful for the expecting parents. Most especially for the mother because as we all know, stress isn't good for someone who is pregnant. All expecting mothers and fathers out there should be responsible enough to get a pregnancy health insurance of their choice.
If the idea of investment and saving a lot of money in the future are not appealing to you, then just imagine not having to worry about any kind of problems that might occur during and after the pregnancy. Most of all, your baby’s health and wellness is just priceless. As a parent, you know that you are willing to do anything that it takes to give your precious one a better life. It’s true that nothing is certain in this world. But if you know that you are given a choice and you can do something to give your child care that it needs, will you still risk it? Time is of the essence and if you are planning to start your own family, don’t take a risk and know more about any kind of support that you can get.
