1. Flaunt your Radiance.

Gone are the days of tent blouses and overalls with huge kangaroo-like pouches. Those loose tops and dresses make mommies look as huge. Try tops with V-necks and empire cuts. Trendy maternity clothes that enhance curves look sexy — not promiscuous — on pregnant women. These types of clothes really do celebrate pregnancy. For utmost comfort, get paige maternity jeans and other clothes in stretch fabrics such as Lycra jersey, cotton, and chiffon.

The right wardrobe will work doubly well with a hairstyle that’s low maintenance, comfortable, stylish. Try one of two no-brainer hairstyles: long tresses that you can tie back into a bun, or a super-short yet super-chic wash-and-wear cut. Don’t take your pampering to the colorist, though. Chemicals from hair dyes may not be safe for the baby in your womb and when you’re breastfeeding.

Avoid clogging your pores with cosmetics since they might contain harsh chemicals that can affect your baby. If you have to wear makeup, keep it light. Remove your makeup as soon as you get home. Use a mild facial wash and makeup remover.

2. Exercise

Exercise counteracts the extra weight you gain. Since labor and giving birth are two of the most exhausting ordeals a woman has to go through, getting fit and keeping fit during pregnancy is a must. Of course, your doctor has to consent to what form of exercise you can do.

Aerobics and calisthenics are highly recommended by doctors. For a more “zen” workout, try yoga or pilates — but only after your doctor has given you the go signal. Many moms-to-be have found these two books: Yoga for Pregnancy or Pilates for Pregnancy helpful in doing yoga and pilates routines tailor-made for their growing baby and belly. However, it is still recommended that you get a private yoga or pilates instructor.

3. Eat Healthy

Step up on the nutrition department since you’re eating for two now. Good eating habits may keep complications like anemia, morning sickness, leg cramps, premature labor, and mood swings at bay.

Foremost in your diet should be fruits and green leafy vegetables. They contain vitamin A for healthy skin, bones, and eyes, folic acid, vitamin E, vitamin C, extra fiber, calcium, and trace minerals. Don’t completely discount fat from your diet. You and your baby also need calories, though your baby needs just about 300 calories per day. Easy on the sweets, go strong on the fluids.

But if there’s such a time when you need guilty-pleasure comfort food, it’s when you’re pregnant. Once in a while, treat yourself to an oatmeal cookie, a small helping of fries cooked in vegetable oil, buttermilk pancakes, a banana milkshake, and dried fruits. Then step away.

4. Pamper your Body

Nothing pampers a pregnant woman’s body like a trip to the spa. During pregnancy, your body retains extra fluid causing some body parts — especially your feet — to bloat and uncomfortably heavy (aside from the fact that your joints are expanding to ready your body for labor). A foot massage helps ease the discomfort.

5. Have Fun with the Girls

A support system is essential, especially now that you have a little person growing inside of you. Call the girls over! Have a girls’ poker night and, instead of money, bet with baby accessories. Play Pictionary or Scrabble — anything that will require minimum waddling and maximum mental activity. Your friends can also help you with your choice of clothes and juicy maternity jeans.

6. Bond with Hubby

Enjoying life with your husband becomes infinitely better when you’re about to have a baby. Go on a DVD marathon with him. Alternate between “chick flicks” and “manly-man movies” so you both accommodate your viewing preferences. Or have a lunch some place out of the ordinary.

7. Spend Time with Yourself

Sometimes all the fuss coming from family and friends can get overwhelming that all you want is to be alone for a while. By all means, go ahead. Relax with a stack of books. Bliss out with music, too. Studies show that soothing music can calm a fetus. But don’t pick any random CD of sonatas. Play music that you like and makes you feel good. When you feel good, your baby feels good also. If you want to dance along to your favorite track but your lower back just can’t handle it, lie back, snap your fingers, and wiggle your toes to the beat.

8. Prepare for D-day

Start a journal or make a scrapbook of what you’re going through. Show this scrapbook to your child when he or she is about to become a parent, too. Enjoy a creative brainstorming session with hubby by mulling over possible baby names.

Pack your belongings, as well as your baby’s, a month before your due date. Don’t forget important documents and IDs like medical insurance IDs, SSS ID, and your credit card and ATM card, etc.

Visit the hospital and assess the room you’ll be staying in: Will you need extra blankets and pillows? Is there room for hubby to sleep in? Can you charge your cellphone in the room? Is your room near the nursery? Do a run-through with your hubby of what to do when you begin labor.

If you don’t have a nursery for the baby at home, set up a “baby station” in your room so that everything will be in place when you and your baby come home from the hospital.

9. Rediscover and Reactivate your Talents

Several factors such as financial stress, lack of emotional support from your partner, or anxiety about your health or your baby’s may make your self-esteem dip a bit. That’s normal and will get better. All you need is to focus on what you’re good at and do it.

If you’ve always liked working with your hands, create something — perhaps a mobile for your baby’s crib or a hand sewn quilt to use as your baby’s first comforter. If you’re imaginative and eloquent, why not write a children’s story and read it to your baby?

Many times, if your condition prevents your from doing some things you’re used to doing, pregnant women as yourself may go through a feeling of usefulness. The secret is to concentrate on what you can actually still do rather than on what you can’t.

The most common risk factors include a history or threat of miscarriage, a history of preterm labor or having premature contractions, unexplained vaginal discharge or cramping, having an abnormally implanted placenta that covers the cervix or is situated near the cervix, and pregnancy of multiple fetuses.

Sex does not directly harm the baby. The baby is protected by an amniotic sac and the strong muscles of the uterus. A thick mucus plug also seals the cervix and helps guard against infection. The penis does not come in contact with the fetus during sex.

It is a common question if the orgasm experienced during intercourse can cause miscarriage or contractions.  In cases of low-risk pregnancies it is safe safe to engage in sex since the contractions felt during and after orgasm are entirely different from those associated with labor. During the final weeks of pregnancy it is however advised to abstain from intercourse using the dynamic stretching of the uterus and cervix will induce production of prostaglandin E2 which may soften the cervix and induce the onset of labor.

In healthy pregnant women, sexual intercourse usually does no harm before the last four weeks or so of pregnancy. By the 36th week however, 72% of women reported intercourse less than once weekly.

A collaborative study in 1993 found no association with frequent intercourse and preterm delivery. There was however a two-fold increased incidence of prematurely ruptured membranes with the male-superior position.

Practices that are not safe during pregnancy include blowing air into the vagina when engaging in oral sex since this may cause a blockage of a blood vessel by an air bubble which can be potentially fatal for both mother and child. Sex with the husband ho is a possible carrier of sexually transmitted diseases such as herpes, genital warts, Chlymydia and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) may be transmitted to the baby with fatal consequences.

The sex drive may increase or decrease during pregnancy. During the first trimester many women find the symptoms of maternal adaptations bothersome such as breast tenderness, nausea and urinary frequency. Generally these symptoms may subside during the second trimester that some women find their desire for sex to increase around this time. Sex becomes more fulfilling since there are no worries for contraception along with a renewed sense of closeness with their husband. Libido generally subsides again during the third trimester as the uterus grows even larger and the reality of childbirth sets in.

The men have different opinions too regarding intercourse during pregnancy. Some men feel closer nd bonded to their pregnant wife and enjoy the changes in their bodies. Others become too anxious and burdened with upcoming parenthood as well as health concerns of both the mother and unborn child. In these situations, the man may have trouble reconciling the woman’s identity as a sexual partner and as an expectant mother. Communication with one’s husband can be a great help in dealing with these issues.

TFC made world news when it made possible the world’s first birth from frozen eggs and frozen testicular sperm, a break-through offering new possibilities for in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment.

What is IVF? IVF is simply the uniting of egg and sperm in vitro (in the lab). Subsequently, the embryos are transferred into the uterus through the cervix and the pregnancy is allowed to begin. The process is done in conjunction with induced ovulation, monitoring of hormone levels and follicular scanning through ultrasound.

The medical director of TFC, Dr Cheng Li Cheng, has been involved with IVF treatment for 15 years, including managing the IVF unit at King’s College Hospital, London, where he saw hundreds of women annually, despite a five-year waiting list just to get into the program.

TFC was established by Thomson Medical Centre in 1987, transferring medical technology and specialists from the Assisted Conception Unit at King’s College Hospital making it the first private hospital in Singapore to offer IVF treatment. It also offers a range of other assisted reproduction techniques. There is not waiting list, with 70% of patients coming from within Singapore and the remainder coming from the rest of the region, mainly Indonesia.

Says Dr Cheng: “IVF treatment is one of many ways to fulfill a couple’s desire to have a child. It is the ultimate in fertility treatment, and consequently, it is associated with a lot of stress — physical, emotional, and financial. At the end of the day, fertility treatment is life-giving treatment, not life-saving treatment. Thus, coules have toweigh is needed to achieve pregnancy against what they want.

With many couples opting to have a career first and think about having children later, their chances of conceiving naturally decrease with age.

“It is easier to have children when you are younger, and if there are problems to begin with, then conceiving can be a problem,” says Dr Cheng. “We should start having babies at 18, 19, and 20, like in the good old days,” he adds, smiling. Leaving parenthood until a later age is very much an urban problem, and as more countries achieve first world status it seems like the problem will get worse. Fortunately, technology can help.

What are the prospects for conceiving a child?

• Becoming pregnant is such a complex process that there is a much greater probability of not becoming pregnant during a monthly cycle than ever becoming pregnant.
• Even for a completely fertile couple having regularly unprotected sexual intercourse, the chance of conception within one menstural cycle is only 20%-30% (i.e. odds of up to 5 to 1).
• The pregnancy rates after treatment for fertility problems can also be around this level, if everything goes according to plan, which means several treatment cycles may be necessary before a woman can become pregnant.
• Of course, the individual prospects depend on the severity of the fertility problem and on the woman’s age. In the case of correctable hormonal disturbances, with or without slight restrictions in male fertility, pregnancy can be achieved by about 70% of couples within four treatment cycles. In cases of IVF (fertilization of egg with sperm outside the body), the prospects of pregnancy within four treatment cycles is about 50% to 60%.