My dear friend, Tracy, called me last night. She was just checking me up. Well, she said, she missed me. I kinda miss her, too, actually. But, she must have missed me more.

Her phone call really made me laugh. The excitement even made me get a sudden insomnia (I have never had insomnia before, trust me!).

Tracy told me her session with her doctor. She said she almost got mad at him for telling her not to bike anymore. FYI, she goes to her office by bicycle. 15 miles away.

She’s been asking me to do the same, bike to work. But, too bad, I’m not a biking person. I’m more like a jogging kind of girl. However, don’t tell me to run or even walk to the office. By the time I reach the building, I’ll get cramps on my legs. It’s 30 miles away from home. I’d rather jog in a park!
Anyway, back to Tracy. So, her doctor told her not to bike to office anymore.

She said, “Why not? It’s been making me healthy! I need to do it. I want it.”

“It won’t be healthy anymore,” said the doctor.

“Does it have something to do with the irregularity of my periods lately?”

The doctor nodded.

“But, when can I start biking to work again?” asked Tracy.

“9 or 10 months from now, I guess,” answered the doctor.

“That long?!” Tracy got totally surprised.

“Yes, you’ll give birth within the next 8 months. And I think you’d better wait for another one or two months after that to start biking again.”

“Are you saying that I’m pregnant?!” She got more surprised.

And, so was I.

Tracy’s been waiting for this pregnancy since 6 years ago. Her first child is 8 years old now.

Wow! Congratulations, Tracy, Ben (her husband), Kelly (her daughter). Can’t wait ’til we all can see the healthy baby who’s been accompanying her mom biking to work for the last 1 month.

Being a woman, I can’t run away from the fact that I have to experience PMS.

It’s not easy since among many PMS symptoms, I undergo the one that I hate most, mood swing.

This morning I woke up with an uneasy feeling. Everything I saw seemed to be wrong.

At first, I didn’t realize it was caused by PMS. Only after I finished my shower, I found out the reason of my grumpy emotion.

So, when I got to the office this morning, I told the team that they’d better be careful or I might eat them.

My fellow editor, Riana, said, “Hahaha…I don’t know that PMS can cause great sense of humor. Eat us? You’re so funny.”

I didn’t mean to be funny. Yet, I let her laugh. But no, I didn’t eat her, of course.

So, I sat there in front of my computer, making decisions to what I should do to ease my mood, which are:

• Go to the shopping center at lunch and treat my self with something pretty
• Aromatherapy (I love it so much!)
• Go jogging (I bet Riana would love to join me!)

Perfect!

I believe the list above will heal me.

What about you? What do you do when you have PMS?

One of the famous yet wrong pregnancy myths is that a pregnant momma can’t go swimming for she could contract an infection from the water and it could spread to her womb.

There is no medical basis for this concern. On the contrary, swimming is a wonderful way for pregnant women to exercise. It’s a very safe form of exercise because the risk of injury is low.

Either you’re a beginner or someone who has been swimming for years, swimming is good for you who are expecting babies.

Jane Katz, in her book, Water Fitness During Your Pregnancy, explains the benefits of water exercise for pregnant women, plus the health and safety guidelines. Katz has been an expert in the water exercise and swim fields for more than 30 years.

Lauri and Jen, both are pregnant mommas. They keep swimming and they enjoy it so much.

It might reduce abortions since women can get the pills on time. Yet, there are also objections to this FDA announcement.

FDA Weighs Over-The-Counter Plan B Sales

“Adult women may soon be able to get the morning-after pill without a prescription. In a surprise decision Monday, health officials revived a long-stalled application to allow over-the-counter sales of the emergency contraceptive to women 18 and over.”

FDA may loosen sales of “morning-after pill”

“Plan B pills would be kept behind pharmacy counters and women would need to ask for them, said one Food and Drug Administration official, who asked not to be named. Females younger than 18 still would need a prescription.”

History of the morning-after pill

“July 1999: Plan B is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for prescription use as an emergency contraceptive.”

Pro-Life Spokesperson Objects to FDA Action on Morning-After Pill

“Plan B — also known as the “morning-after pill” — is essentially a megadose of prescription hormonal birth-control pills. “Plan B is marketed as a contraceptive but even its proponents admit that it works both before and after conception,” Ms. McQuade said.”

Heartburn, also called acid indigestion, is an irritation of the esophagus caused by acid that refluxes (comes up) from the stomach.[webMD.com]

So, it has nothing to do with heart at all, although some of th symptoms are similar to heart attack.

Some of the pregnant women I know are having heartburn. Why?

It’s hormonal. Pregnant women experience changing hormone levels It can affect the muscles of the digestive tract and affect how different foods are tolerated.

Pregnancy hormones can cause the lower esophageal sphincter (the muscular valve between the stomach and esophagus) to relax, allowing stomach acids to splash back up into the esophagus. In addition, the enlarged uterus can crowd the abdomen, pushing stomach acids upward.[webMD.com]

Then, can it be prevented or treated?

Sure it can. We at Healthifica.com have prepared everything you need to know about heartburn, both the preventions and treatments. Simply go to this page.

Pregnant or not, you’d better get this information.

To Jenn, KEP, What’s Meant to Be, congratulations on your pregnancy. Hope the heartburn will stop soon.

To Merseydotes, thanks for your simple tips to heartburn with macaroni, cheese and mashed potatoes.

I’m not comfortable wearing corset, but in some occasion I need to wear it. Wedding reception for example, is a must corset day.

A corset is a garment worn to mold and shape the torso into a desired shape. People can use it either for aesthetic or medical purposes.

But, there are some advantages and disadvantages of corset that I just found out…

Advantages

• Corsets can reduce pain and improve function for people with back problems or other muscular/skeletal disorders.
• Some large-breasted women find corsets more comfortable than brassieres, because the weight of the breasts is carried by the whole corset rather than the brassiere’s shoulder straps. (Straps can chafe or cut the skin.)
• Some corset-wearers enjoy the feeling of being “hugged” by the corset.
• Corsets can instantly ‘improve’ the figure without dieting, slimming drugs, or cosmetic surgery.
• Due to their tightness and close proximity to the body, corsets can make the wearer feel very warm. They have been most often worn in cool climates.

Disadvantages

• The best corsets are custom made and personally-fitted. The more closely clothing or lingerie clings to the body, the more carefully it must be fitted to look and feel right. In modern times, when labor costs much more than materials, custom clothing can be extremely expensive. Even finding a competent corsetiere can be difficult.
• A badly-fitting corset can chafe, impede digestion, damage ribs, and pinch nerves.