That’s right, we’re going to talk about pregnancy (miscarriage), babies and children in this chapter!

Miscarriage is a touchy issue, I assume, since it is extremely heart-breaking for a couple to lose a child, but I’m still going to go ahead and say my piece.

I’ve noticed that in some stories, the couples in there get pregnant only a short while after their miscarriage. And by short, I mean a few days after the unfortunate event.

That is not possible at all! The emotional and physical trauma just doesn't allow the couple to try for another baby so quick. Also, the mother needs time to recover and let the uterus repair so the chance of a repeat miscarriage will be lowered, although there are cases of females getting pregnant again just a week after their miscarriage.

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There is no perfect amount of time to wait before trying to conceive again, but many healthcare providers encourage woman to wait at least a few months to strengthen the chance of a healthy pregnancy. If a woman’s body isn’t ready to support a pregnancy by the time that she conceives again, she faces an increased risk of experiencing a repeat miscarriage. It takes time for the uterus to recover and for the endometrial lining to become strong and healthy again.

Medically, it is safe to conceive after two or three normal menstrual periods if tests or treatments for the cause of the miscarriage are not being done. Some physicians routinely recommend that couples wait six months to a year before attempting another pregnancy in order to come to terms with their loss, whereas other physicians feel there is no compelling reason to wait so long.

I feel that authors who plan on including pregnancy and miscarriages should do their research before writing the story itself because unrealistic events will eventually ruin the whole feel of the story. Everything is about pacing and the timeline, or the fic will not turn out as good.

Next, we’re going to talk about babies and what they eat.

Babies from 0 to 4 months drink only milk or formula, they do not take solid food or even pureed food. You don't just go shoving their faces with baby cereal when their teeth have barely grown. So those stories that portray the couple lovingly feed their few-month-old baby with baby food, they’re not very realistic.

4 to 6 months is when the baby can start eating pureed food, but it is also dependent on whether the baby is willing to eat it or not. Because while this period of time is the recommended age, they may not want to eat what they’re offered on the first try. (Not me though, my mom told me that I was a pig who ate everything she shoved into my mouth.) Also, the amount they’re fed everyday is about a tablespoon when they’re used to the food. Of course, you cannot forget the milk because that still makes up most of their diet.

For the rest of the food babies should be fed while growing up, (and if you’re interested,) visit this website: http://www.babycenter.com/0_age-by-age-guide-to-feeding-your-baby_1400680.bc

Last of all, I’m going to talk about the number of children a couple can have in a family. Actually, a woman can give birth to a ton of children, only if she wants it or not. So the number of children a family can have is limitless, but of course you have to consider the female’s birthing capacity.

An average family will have two to three children, but I’m not surprised if they have more than six or seven children, as one can get pregnant shortly after giving birth. In fact, my great-grandparents gave birth to about nine to ten children, which means I have many granduncles and grandaunts. Furthermore, one of my granduncles is only as old as my dad, so for me, it’s not exactly surprising when stories write about a couple having a lot of children or the mother and daughter giving birth to children at around the same time.

(My friends asked me how many children I want when I get married, I replied more than three because I love children!)

So, I hope this has been an eye-opener for you and I hope that this will help in the possible stories you guise are going to write in the near future.

Also, if you want to ask me about anything else, my Ask.fm account username is immainspiritvip, I don't mind anonymous questions. ;)

If you have any other issues you wanna bring up, lemme know in the comments or you can pm me in the messages if you wanna have a chapter/topic all to yourself (I’ll credit you!). Ciao!

-Jihyun