WELCOME!!

Hello ladies! First I want to thank you for visiting The Belly Button Connection (TBBC). TBBC was originally created as a forum for mothers: aspiring, expecting, and veteran. The name was derived from the baby’s connection to the mother: physically, mentally, and emotionally. I wanted TBBC to be a place where women received both accurate and positive feedback about pregnancy. Since creating TBBC I’ve learned that our thoughts about pregnancy, motherhood, and womanhood start long before the onset of puberty. In fact, it starts with our relationships with our own mothers, aunts, sisters, and peers. Our hardships are not our own. They are passed down from generation to generation, friend to friend, spouse to spouse, parent to child. This doesn’t have to be the case. Leo Buscaglia said it best when he said, “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

TBBC is that touch, smile, kind word, listening ear, honest compliment, and smallest act of caring. My mission is to keep you abreast on events, programs, and seminars that will be beneficial to you as well as partner with organizations that will improve your confidence, increase your self-esteem, and help you become the woman you strive to be for yourself, your family, and generations to follow.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Medical Records in English Please!

Deciphering your medical records can be very confusing. They may as well be written in Japanese, right? Well, here are a few tips that will help you decipher what your medical professionals are saying about you.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS:

Para 0 - The mother has had no previous births

Para 1 - The mother has had 1 previous birth

Para 2 + 1 - The mother has had 2 previous births and 1 miscarriage.

LMP - Last Menstrual Period - The date of the first day of the last menstrual period

EDD/EDC - Expected date of delivery

Proteinuria - Protein in urine - Your urine is analyzed for the presence of sugar, which may be a sign of diabetes, and protein, which may be a sign of preeclampsia. If theses are present, they are notated by + signs. Neither should be present; however, traces of protein and sugar are sometimes present in a normal pregnancy.

Hb - Hemoglobin - Hemoglobin is an oxygen-carrying substance present in red blood cells. If your Hb level is lower than 10.5% or your hematocrit is below 32% you may be considered anemmic and prescribed iron.

Hct - Hematocrit - Hematocrit is the precentage of red blood cells in the blood.

Fe - Iron - This means that you have been prescribed iron.

BP - Blood Pressure

FHR - Fetal Heart Rate - The number of fetal heartbeats per minute.

H/NH - Heard/Not Heard - This refers to the fetal heart.

Edema - Swelling -

Fundus - The top of the uterus - As the baby grows, the fundus is pushedup to just above your navel at 22 weeks and under your ribs at 36 weeks. but when the baby drops down into the bony pelvis ready for birth, the fundus is lower again. You can find your own dundus and chart its position week by week through your pregnancy. Lie on your back with your tummy bare and, with the sides and palms of your hands, feel around the hard top of your uterus, pressing against what feels like a wall of muscle.

Cx - Cervix - The neck of the uterus, which softens, shortens, and opens during birth.

PP - The presenting part of the baby - This is the part of the baby that is down at the bottom of the uterus.

Vx/Vtx - Vertex - This indicates the baby is head down, as it should be.

Ceph - Cephalic - This also indicates that the baby is head down.

Long L- Longitudinal lie - The baby is laying parallel to your spine

Eng/E - Engages - This is written on your chart when the baby's head has dwopped down into your pelvis.

T - Term - This is written on your chart when you are 40 weeks into your pregnany, which is your estimated date of delivery.

Additional Abbreviations:

28+3 (28 weeks and 3 days)

NAD - No Abnormalities Detected


**This chart was taken from The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth by Sheila Kitzinger and Baby Center.
Posted by Brandi at 7:53 PM
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