Baby Oatmeal
Makes about 1/2 cup
- 1/4 cup rolled oats
- 2/3 cup water
Put the oats in a blender or food processor and process to a fine powder. Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in the oatmeal powder and lower the heat. Cook, stirring continually, until the water is absorbed and the cereal is thickened and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. (If it's too thick, thin with a little cool water, breast milk, or formula.) Let cool to room temperature before feeding baby.
How Much Weight Should You Gain While Pregnant
Your pregnancy BMI (Body Mass Index) determines your weight gain recommendations. Your BMI is calculated by multiplying your weight in pounds by 703, then dividing by your height in inches squared. Or you can download a BMI app and do the calculations. You can search "adult BMI calculator" at cdc.gov, or use the chart below.
Your Pregnancy Mood Swings
Expectant dads share a lot more than the birth of their bundle of joy with their partner. Long before that bundle arrives, you may share in many of the symptoms, including pregnancy mood slumps, which are surprisingly common for expectant dads. Fluctuations in your hormones can play a role, but feelings factor in as well. Almost every dad-to-be, just like most moms-to-be, experiences a host of conflicted feelings in the months leading up to life’s most major changes, from anxiety to fear to ambivalence to a crumbling of confidence.
If You Get Sick
Maybe you were expecting some of the usual pregnancy symptoms while you’re pregnant. Like morning sickness, heartburn, and fatigue. Maybe you weren’t expecting to come down with a cold. Since your normal suppression of your immune system (so your body doesn’t reject your baby as “foreign”), makes you an easier target for germs. Not to mention it can be twice as uncomfortable when you’re sick for two, and so many of your regular remedies may need to stay on the shelf for now.
Back-to-Back Pregnancies
Are you expanding your family a little sooner than expected? Having another pregnancy before you have fully recovered from the last pregnancy , can be hard enough without adding stress. Although closely spaced pregnancies can take a physical toll on a mom-to-be who has just became a mom, there are a lot of things you can do to help your body be up to the challenge of back-to back- pregnancies.