Sarah Riley

3 words...round ligament pain. Oh my. This is probably my biggest complaint over the past couple of weeks. And my goodness, it is uncomfortable! Round ligament pain happens as the uterus expands in pregnancy. There are ligaments (special muscles) that hold the uterus in place in the abdomen. During...

At the beginning of week 14, I had my most recent appointment with my OB/GYN.

On the positive side, during the last week to week & a half, I've been feeling better. While I know it seems superficial, my biggest complaint right now is about clothing.

Physically, I'm feeling much the same as I was last week. Although the fetus is around an inch and a half long now, I don't think my look has changed much yet. I have switched over to maternity pants because it is simply more comfortable. The nausea and tiredness are still there, as is the anxiety. But hopefully some of that should wane in the next few weeks. This week, I've been thinking more about the social implications of pregnancy and I'd like to talk a bit more about that.

My uterus is around the size of a grapefruit this week. I'll admit, I find this rather amusing. When you look at sexual anatomy diagrams (which are generally shown non-pregnant anyway), the uterus usually looks pretty large. In reality, it's about 3 inches and looks a bit like a pear. By 10 weeks...

I think I feel more pregnant this week. It's amazing the impact that something the size of a grape can have on a person's body & life. My not-morning-sickness has kicked itself up a notch. For the most part, I feel fine until early afternoon and then start to get really nauseated. This feeling often...

I'm pregnant. It looks like such a small sentence, but in reality it is not small at all. Pregnancy is a big deal. It changes lives, both during a pregnancy and afterward. Bodies change, relationships change, lives change. It can be exciting and terrifying all at the same time. So I start this with a small statement with big implications.

Right now, it sounds like you are your partner are practicing withdrawal as a form of birth control. As a method of contraception, withdrawal is not the most effective choice available. With perfect use it is about 96% effective (meaning that about 4 out of every 100 people using it will become...

It's really hard to say when your periods might develop a discernible pattern. In general, we would probably expect to see that happen within the first 3-5 years of menstruation. However, that is a very general guideline because there are a lot of other factors that could be at work as well. Your...

Cigarettes are bad for you, but they're still sold all over the place. I was at the store just the other day and saw a frozen breakfast meal that contained 115% of your sodium intake for the day! There's no way that can be good for you, but it's still on the shelves. In fact, for many years in the...