By: Gen Mason

Finding out that you're pregnant is a very happy time. There are so many things to do like buying a crib, diapers, stroller, and much, much more!

Nine months seems like an eternity when you first find out you're pregnant, but it really is not. There are so many milestones that happen and so much to do it will go by in a flash.

So you're pregnant, what is a due date and when is it?

Your due date is the date that is given to you of when you can expect to go into labor. The dates are not usually very accurate. More often women go into labor with 2 weeks of the expected due date.

The most accurate way to determine a due date is when the woman knows the day of conception. This rarely happens so normally due dates are determined by using the 1st day of the woman’s last period. Normally the total gestation time is added to the 1st day of the last period minus 2 weeks.

Example:

The total gestation time is 40 weeks (9 months). If the woman's last period was on October 1st, 2005, you would add for weeks to that date and the date you would have then would be July 1st, 2006. You take away 2 weeks from this date and you have June 15th, 2006. So your due date would be June 15th.

This method is called the LMP Method (last menstrual period).

Two weeks are taken away from the 40 weeks because it is said that women can ovulate within 2 weeks of their last period.

Another interesting way to calculate your due date is called Naegle's Rule. As with LMP, Naegle's Rule also uses the first day of your last period.

Calculate the 1st day of your last period.
Count back 3 months from that day
Add 7 days

This is another easy way to calculate your due date.

Ultrasounds can also give an expecting mother her due date. Ultrasound technicians use the ultrasounds to determine the baby's age by looking at different body parts and organs.

There are also many online websites for expectant mothers that offer pregnancy due date calculators. These calculators often use the LMP method by asking you to put in the first day of your last period and calculating your due date from there. The calculators not only give the mothers a due date to anticipate, but can also be used to mark the different milestones of pregnancy.

For example:

the time when a baby develops organs
2nd trimester
3rd trimester
and your due date

In ancient times women used the different phases of the moon. When a woman suspected that she could be pregnant she would look at the moon and what phase it was in. Over time she would count how many times the moon was in that phase. At the 10th time the moon entered into that phase and the 10th period she missed, the woman would know she was due soon.

Dr. Naegle (with Naegle's Rule) determined that the ancient way was also an accurate way to determine a due date since a woman's cycle seems to follow by the moon’s cycle.

Although the ancient way is no longer used it normally came pretty close. Whether you want to calculate the moon's phases or use LMP to calculate it, there are many, many ways to find out a round about date as to when your new baby will be born!




Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
Gen Mason is a loving mother of 2 beautiful children. To learn about losing weight during and after pregnancy go to Pregnancy Without Pounds

Amoxicillin Is Okay For Pregnant Women And Pets
By: Michael Connelly

When the antibiotic known as Amoxicillin was discovered and developed by Beecham Research Laboratories in 1972 it was an instant success. With very few side effects, it proved to be very good for the treatment of bacterial infections. It is particularly adept at treating anaerobic infections, which are the stubborn kind that can grow without the aid of oxygen. Before long it was being widely prescribed for conditions that ranged from ear infections, to bladder infections to strep throat.

In addition to treating these common ailments there are also some other uses of Amoxicillin that are not so common.

Amoxicillin has a very interesting history. It was developed as a synthetic improvement to Penicillin after scientists discovered that it had many flaws that could be improved upon. For example, Penicillin does not absorb well into the intestinal tract, resulting in a 70 percent loss when taken orally. It can also be broken down by certain bacteria such as staphylococci allowing it to develop a resistance.

To remedy the problems associated with Penicillin the scientists at Beecham Labs went to work on producing a wonder drug that had its strengths, but without any of the weaknesses. The result is an antibiotic that covers a broad spectrum of bacterial infections. Today, Amoxicillin has become the most commonly used antibiotic in the World. But some of the things that it can be used for may surprise you.

If you remember back in 2001 during the time just after our country was attacked by terrorists you will recall that there was an anthrax scare going around the United States. A U.S. Post Office and several politicians received envelopes laced with traces of this deadly disease and the idea of a biological attack started a nationwide panic.

Hysteria swept across the Country in 2001 and everyone soon wanted to know how they could prevent anthrax from infecting their bodies if they happened to be a victim of a biological weapon attack. The big questions at the time were how to avoid getting this disease and how to cure it if you happened to be so unfortunate to actually get it.

The public soon discovered that there are basically 3 different antibiotics used for the prevention of anthrax infections. There is Ciprofloxacin, Doxycycline and Amoxicillin. Ciprofloxacin is the most widely used antibiotic for treating this disease, and then there is Doxycycline which is also commonly used. But these two drugs can cause problems for women who are pregnant, so the only one left for them would be Amoxicillin.

There have been no conclusive studies performed on the effects that Ciprofloxacin has on pregnant women and their babies. But there have been several studies of this subject using Doxycycline and the evidence shows that problems can occur with the teeth and bones of some fetuses. So, a study on Doxycyclene that yielded negative results for pregnant women and their fetuses and no accepted studies at all on Ciproflaxin for this issue narrowed the list down to one from the three available anthrax antibiotics that can be safely taken by pregnant women.

Studies of pregnant women who used Amoxicillin have yielded no negative results for the women and their babies. While the drug will cross the placenta it is still considered to be safe for use during a pregnancy. Because of these findings doctors are much more likely to prescribe it to pregnant women who would like treatment for the prevention of an anthrax infection. Not exactly your everyday use for this versatile antibiotic, but a very useful one nonetheless

Amoxicillin is also used to treat pregnant women who have Chlamydia.

Amoxicillin is one of the most widely prescribed antibiotics to our best friends and household cats too. Just like us, dogs and cats can get bacterial infections that can be deadly if left untreated. For example, pets that are owned by people who live in rural areas can be victims of a coyote attack or attacks from other wild animals when they wander outside in the back yard. If a pet is lucky enough to survive an attack by a wild animal they will more than likely have wounds that can get infected. Veterinarians who treat such wounds will need to prescribe an antibiotic to the wounded pet, and the most commonly used one is Amoxicillin.

Pet medicine is usually administered orally in a pill form that is basically the same one people take but with a smaller dose inside. The normal dose of Amoxicillin for dogs and cats is 5 to 10 milligrams per pound, taken every 12 to 24 hours.

The best way to administer a dose of Amoxicillin to a dog is to put the pill inside a small snack and give it to them. With cats, you can open the pills up and pour the contents into their food and then mix it in.

While the side effects that are associated with Amoxicillin use and people are relatively mild and uncommon they can be serious in some rare cases. Most mild reactions involve nausea and diarrhea. In rare cases people experience such things as severe skin rashes, jaundice, extreme fatigue and paleness of the skin. Amoxicillin should only be taken when prescribed by US licensed physicians and purchased from US licensed pharmacies, as with all prescription drugs and FDA approved drugs.

Amoxicillin is the most widely prescribed antibiotics in the World for some of the most commonly contracted bacterial infections such as strep throat and ear infections. However, there are some lesser know uses that are a bit out of the ordinary. Pregnant women, dogs and cats all have their own specific uses for this prescription drug that was created back in 1972 by a group of pharmaceutical scientists at Beecham Research Laboratories who wanted to make an antibiotic like Penicillin, only better.




Information about the Author:

Michael Connelly is an Author, Artist and award-winning Filmmaker who writes on a variety of topics that effect people in their every day lives. www.savealotonpharmacy.com

Pregnancy Articles: http://www.article-buzz.com

By: Julia Sullivan

Adolescent pregnancy in ninety nine percent of the cases is unwanted and is the major consequence of adolescent sexual activity, other than STDs. This issue has affected youth, families, educators, health care professionals, and government official. A study on the high school adolescents has concluded that forty eight percent of the males and forty five percent of the females are sexually active. One fourth of the high school students had sexual contact by fifteen years of age. The average age of boys is sixteen and a girl is seventeen, who have had intercourse. Ninety percent of adolescents, in the age range of fifteen to nineteen, say their pregnancy is unintended.

Seventy four percent of females above fourteen years and sixty percent of females below fifteen years have reported to have involuntary sex. Fifty percent of the adolescent pregnancies are within the time period of six months after the initial sexual intercourse. More than nine hundred thousand teenagers are reported to have become pregnant every year in the United States. Fifty one percent of the adolescent pregnancies result in live birth, thirty five percent result in induced abortion and fourteen percent result in stillbirths or miscarriages. Four out of ten adolescent females get pregnant, before they turn twenty, at least once. Twenty five percent of adolescent deliveries aren't the mother's first child. When a teenager gives birth to her first child, she increases the risk of begetting another child. One third of the adolescent parents are themselves result of adolescent pregnancies.

There are many reasons why adolescents choose to become sexually active at an early stage in life. The reasons can be early pubertal development, poverty, sexual abuse in childhood, lack of parent's attention, lack of career goals, family and cultural patterns of early sex, substance abuse, dropping out from school and poor school performance. Factors which discourage an adolescent to become sexually active are stable family environment, parental supervision, good family income, regular prayers, connectedness with parents and living with complete family and both the parents. The factors which are responsible for the consistent use of contraceptive among adolescents are academic success, anticipation for successful future, and involvement in a stable relationship.

There are many medical risks associated with adolescent pregnancies. Adolescents who are less than seventeen years are at a greater risk of developing medical complications, when compared to adult females. The risk is even more in teenagers below seventeen. The weight of the child, given birth by an adolescent, is very low in these pregnancies. It is usually below 2.5 kilogram. The rate of neonatal birth is also three times greater in adolescents, when compared to adults. Other problems caused by adolescent pregnancies are prematurity of the child, birth of underweight child, poor maternal weight gain, poor nutritional status, anemia, STDs and hypertension induced due to pregnancy.

Although there is an increase in the use of contraceptive methods by adolescents during their first sexual contact, only sixty three percent of the high school students have said to use condom while having sex previously. Adolescents, who use prescription contraceptives, delay their doctor's visit until the time they become sexually active for over a year.

According to a research, youngsters who have participated in sex education programs which gave them knowledge about contraception methods, abstinence, sexually transmitted diseases and youngsters who involved in discussions in order to get a clear picture, used contraceptives and condoms effectively without any increase in sexual activity. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has said that the solution for unwanted adolescent pregnancies and STDs are barrier contraceptive use and abstinence.



Information about the Author:

To read about first signs of pregnancy and bleeding during pregnancy, visit Pregnancy Facts.

Pregnancy Articles: http://www.article-buzz.com