DIY Baby: Your Essential Pregnancy Handbook

DIY Baby eases all your pregnancy worries with the gentle mentoring a a double-insider’s view: that of a mother and obstetrician who’s delivered over 3000 babies. DIY Baby won the 2008 Silver Mom’s Choice Award for the category: Pregnancy and Birth. It also garnered a stellar review from Reader’s View, and is a finalist for the 2008 Foreward Magazine and Eric Hoffer awards for independent  publishers.

Contact me at  shelleybinkley@gmail.com and I will email  you a free section of DIY Baby: Your Essential Pregnancy Handbook. Make sure you tell me what question you’d like answered or where you are in your pregnancy so I send you the most applicable chapter(s). A detailed Table of Contents Appears Below.

Contents:

Chapter 1: The Case of the Missing Period

• When am I due? Naegele’s Rule: An Easy Way to Find Your Due Date
• Early Ultrasound
• What Causes Twins?
• Sciences Notes: Fertilization to Implantation
• Pregnancy Dating
• Folic Acid and Early Nutrition: Alcohol, Tobacco,Drugs and Medications
• How Much Weight Should I Gain?, Body Mass Index, Exercise in Pregnancy
• Early Symptoms of Pregnancy: Breast Changes,Genital Changes,Cramping,Fatigue,Nausea,Spotting and Bleeding,Emotions
• Choosing Your Ob Provider
• Lay Midwives and Home Birth
• Choosing Where to Deliver: Hospital or Birth Center
  Your First Prenatal Visit
• For Dads: Mom’s Early Pregnancy Symptoms; How They Impact You
• Office Notes: Ambiguity About Pregnancy

Chapter 2: Miscarriage and Early Pregnancy Loss

• What is a Miscarriage?
• Incidence and Causes
• Diagnosing and Treating Miscarriage
• Ectopic Pregnancy
• Incomplete Miscarriage
• Second Trimester Pregnancy Loss
• Office Notes: Terry’s Twins

Chapter 3: Hormones and Optimism: Ten to Twenty Weeks

• Estrogens: Physical Effects, Mental and Emotional Effects
• Progesterone: Physical Effects, Mental and Emotional Effects
• Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (the Pregnancy hormone):Physical Effects, Mental and Emotional Effects
• Fetal Adrenal Glands and Hormones
• The Importance of Cholesterol
• Other Hormones, Relaxin
• Second Trimester Physical Symptoms: Bleeding and Spotting, Energy Level, Appetite Changes,
• Science Notes: Fetal Movement
• Early Genetic Screening: Nuchal Translucency and Early Ultrasound, First Trimester Serum Screening, Second Trimester Serum Screening, Mid-Trimester Ultrasound, Amniocentesis, Chorionic Villus Sampling
• For Dads: Intercourse and Mood Changes

Chapter 4: Viability: Twenty to Twenty-Six Weeks

• Viability Defined
• Preterm Birth: Defined and Incidence
• Gestational Age and Survival
• Preterm Birth: Prevention and Recognition, Risk Factors
• Preterm Labor Symptoms
• Round Ligament Pain or Contractions?
• Diagnosis of Preterm Labor
• Early Symtpoms Change
• Treatments for Preterm Labor
• Medications to Stop Contractions: Terbutaline, Magnesium Sulfate, Nifedipine, Indocin, Sulindac
• Betamethasone
• Antibiotics
• Consequences for Newborns of Preterm Birth
• Science Notes: Cerebral Palsy
• Office Notes: Story of Mom to a Preemie

Chapter 5: Nesting: Twenty-Six to Thirty-Six Weeks

• Prenatal Visits: Tummy Checks and Heart Tones
• Gestational Diabetes
• Pre-Eclampsia
• Rhesus Facor (Rh)
• Group B Strep
• Physical Changes in the Third Trimester: Pelvic Pressure, Constipation, Sleep Changes, Braxton Hicks Contractions, Breast Leakage, Vaginal Discharge, Sex in the Third Trimester, Emotional Status
• Fetal Movement: Sleep Cycles, Breathing, Hiccups
• Prenatal Classes
• Perinatal Massage
• What to Pack
• Birth Plans
• For Dads: Pregnancy “Mania”

Chapter 6: It’s Time! Labor and Deliver Me

• Keys to Successful Vaginal Birth: Passenger, Pelvis, Power
• Condition Your Body for Labor: You Can Affect the Outcome
• Condition Your Mind: Abdominal Breathing and Progressive Muscle Relaxation
• Your Birth Plan
• When will IT happen?
• How long will IT take?
• Phases of Labor: Early, Active; First, Second Third
• Science Notes: What Causes Labor to Begin?
• Early, Prodromal, and False Labor
• Spontaneous Rupture of the Membranes
• Bloody Show
• The Delivery Center
• The Labor Nurse
• Other non-Ob-Provider Delivery Personnel: Baby Care Providers, Nursing and Medical Students
• The Labor Room (LDR)
• The Fetal Monitor
• Fetal Heart Rate During Labor
• Maternal Position Change and Oxygen Administration
• Cerebral Palsy and Intrapartum Hypoxia
• Internal Monitors: Fetal Scalp Electrode, Intra-Uterine Pressure Catheter
• What Will Labor Be Like?
• Admission and Early Labor, Wearing Your Own Clothes, Walking and Eating, Early Labor Contractions, Active Labor Contractions, Walking, Swiveling, “Doing the Ball”
• Science Notes: Rotation and Descent of the Baby in Labor
• Pictures: 20 pages of photos with detailed explanations of what happens inside the body during labor
  • Positions of the Baby in the Uterus
  • Important Diameters of the Fetal Head
  • Pelvic Anatomy
  • Fetal Monitors and Intra-Uterine Pressure Monitors
  • The Faces of Labor
  • Positions for Active Labor
  • Positions for Pushing
  • Supporting the Perineum
  • Delivery Maneuvers
• Back Labor
• Asynclitism or “Tilted Head”
• “Transition”
• Pain Medication Options: Intravenous Narcotics, Regional Anesthetics
• Pushing
  • The “C” Position
  • Hips Flexed and Out
  • Normal Duration of Second Stage
  • Special Techniques for Delivering the Occiput Posterior or Asynclitic Baby: Pushing With a Towel, Hand and Knees,
• Baby Delivers!
• Tear vs. Episiotomy
• Science Notes: Anatomy of the Pelvic Floor
• “Shredding”
• “Caput Succedaneum” (Funny Looking Head)
• Science Notes: Baby’s First Breath
• Delivery of the Placenta
• For Dads: “Shock and Awe”
• Office Notes: Birth Plan Takes a Left Turn

Chapter 7: Help is On its Way: Medical Intervention at Term and During Birth

• Delivery Usually Uneventful: The Big Picture
• The National Cesarean Section Rate
• The Breech Position, Breech Delivery of a Second Twin
• Induction of Labor
• Some Reasons for Labor Inductions
• Prostaglandins Ripen the “Unfavorable” Cervix
• Augmentation of Labor with Amniotomy
• Induction of Labor With Oxytocin
• Augmentation of Labor with Oxytocin
• Labor Dysfunction
• Other Reasons for Intervention: Fetal Intolerance of Labor, Cord Compression, Placental Insufficiency
• Shoulder Dystocia
• Assisted Vaginal Delivery
• Safety Requirements for Vacuum/Forceps
• Vacuum
• Forceps
• Science Notes: Vacuum vs. Forceps Delivery
• Illustrations: Vacuum Delivery
• Cesarean Section
• Recovery from A C-Section
• VBAC versus Elective Repeat Section
• Patient Choice Cesarean Section
• Management of Third Stage (Delivery of Placenta) and Post-Partum Hemorrhage: Uterine Atony, Retained Placenta, Lacerations
• Birth Plans Revisited
• Home Births
• For Dads: Going to C-Section
• Office Notes: The Longest Labor

Chapter 8: DIY Baby! What You Need to Know if You’re Considering Home Birth

• Home Birth–Why: Personal, Financial, Spiritual/Religious, Access to Care
• Home Birth–Safer Than You Think??
• Are You a Good Physical Candidate to Attempt Home Birth?
• Are You a Good Mental/Emotional Candidate for Home Birth?
• Establish Relationships Prior to Delivery
• Contraindications to Attempting Home Birth
• Who Should Attend Your Birth?
• Preparation is Key: Supplies Necessary for Home Birth
• Managing Labor at Home
• Delivery of the Placenta
• Dealing With Heavy Bleeding
• Keep Your Eye on the Ball

Chapter 9: A Perfect Love, A Perfect Life: Newborn and Post-Partum Period

• A Love Like No Other
• The First Week Post-Partum
• Inconsolable Crying (Colic)
• Pacifiers and Artificial Nipples
• Breast-Feeding and Lactation: Latch-On, Inverted and Flat Nipples
• What is Breast Milk and When Does  it “Come In”?
• Science Notes: Composition of Breast Milk: Why “Breast is Best”?
• Milk Let-Down
• Foremilk and Hindmilk: Empty One Breast Fully Before Switching
• Asymmetry in Production and Size
• Setting
• Nursing Holds
• Frequency of Nursing: How To Tell if Your Baby’s Getting Enough
• Duration of Nursing Sessions: Nourishment vs. Comfort Nursing
• Milk Supply, Breast Pumps
• Introducing a Bottle: Feeding the Baby Pumped Milk or Formula
• Storing Pumped Milk and Supplementing
• Formula Feeding
• Nipple Problems
• Mastitis
• Suppression of Milk Supply
• Neonatal Jaundice
• Baby Blues and Post-Partum Depression: Why They Occur and How to Tell the Difference: How to Know When You Need Help
• Feelings of Detachment
• Rehabilitating Your Pelvic Floor
• Kegels to the Rescue!
• Sex After Baby, Sex Drive Rebounds, Anatomic Changes
• Mile Markers: Six and Twelve Weeks
• Some Nuts and Bolts of Infant Care: Head Control, Car Seat, Pediatrician Visits, Circumcision, Preventing SIDS: Back to Sleep and No Smoking
• For Dads: Why the Breasts May be Off-Limits

Chapter 10: The Leading Man–Knight in Shining Armor: Tips for Dads

• “Shock and Awe”
• Fatherhood: Long-Term Commitment, Not a Rite of Passage
• Conquering Fear
• How to Be the Knight in Shining Armor
• You Will Be Ignored–It’s Nothing Personal
• Transform Setbacks Into Opportunities
• Ambiguity
• Breasts
• Sex After Baby–Patience–She’s Not There Yet
• How to Get Her Interested Again
• Work and Family Balance; Consistency
• How to Recognize Post-Partum Depression
• The Family Bed
• Dad’s Baby Blues: No Phase Lasts Forever
• Office Notes: Matthew’s Story (of Becoming a Father at 50)

Epilogue: What I Learned from My Own Pregnancies

Knowledge is Power

I want to empower you with knowledge and de-mystify pregnancy. Many of the questions I answer on cafemom.com and other pregnancy sites are thoroughly covered in DIY Baby. Many of my posts on pregnancy are excerpts from the book. I regularly add content to the book via  healthewoman.org.

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Preview a free chapter via email. Contact me at shelleybinkley@gmail.com with your request for a chapter or the entire book and I will email it to you.