Pregnancy Tips
Travel
Our practice recommends no long distance travel (beyond one hour from the hospital) after 34-35 weeks gestation to minimize the risk of delivering in a place other than Alexandria Hospital. We also recommend that when you are travelling during your pregnancy, you do not remain sedentary for long periods of time (longer that two hours). Being stationary places you at higher risk for developing blood clots in your lower extremities. You should also remember to drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration.
Diet
We recommend eating well-balanced meals throughout your pregnancy. Here are some recommendations for different sources of nutrients during pregnancy:
- Protein: Meats, cheese, eggs, poultry, meat substitutes, fish, legumes, milk, nuts, seeds, and yogurt.
- Calcium: Milk, yogurt, cheese, broccoli, cabbage, greens, calcium fortified juices.
- Iron: Lean red meats, poultry, eggs, whole grain breads and cereals, legumes, dried prunes, apricots, raisins, nuts, and seeds.
- Folate: Leafy green vegetables, broccoli, cabbage, orange juice, whole grain breads and cereals, eggs, nuts, beans and peas.
- Vitamin C: Orange juice, oranges, tangerines, berries, grapefruit, tomatoes, green peppers, greens, white potatoes.
- Fiber: Fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads and cereals, popcorn and bran.
Exercise
If you are normally an active person and routinely do aerobic exercise, you may continue your routine as long as there are no pregnancy complications (i.e. preterm labor, bleeding, etc.). If you are normally sedentary, we do not recommend beginning regular strenuous activity. We also recommend that while exercising, you keep your heartrate below 140 beats per minute. In addition, be careful not to over-extend yourself, given your joints and ligaments are more lax during pregnancy. Also, avoid activities that may put you at risk for abdominal trauma (i.e. diving into swimming pools, high-impact aerobics, etc.). Finally, aggressive hydration when exercising is strongly encouraged to avoid dehydration.
External Resources
MyPyramid.gov is a US Department of Agriculture website with personalized diet plans that are useful to expecting mothers
Patient Forms
Links to our most frequently accessed forms:
- New Patient History Form
- Annual History Form
- Medical Records Release (Use for transfer to Dr. Grapin's new practice)
- Dr. Salgado Patient Transfer Medical Release (Use to request records from Dr. Salgado’s old practice)
- Dr. Hibshman Patient Transfer Medical Release (Use to request records from Dr. Hibshman’s old practice)
Available in our office
Call for an appointment today.