Q: Anytime you have your blood pressure checked, your pulse is checked as well.  You can have this done at your doctors office, or do it with a blood pressure cuff that you purchase at the pharmacy. You may also stop by any fire station and have your blood pressure and pulse checked. Many stores and pharmacies have blood pressure check machines; these machines check not only your blood pressure, but your heart rate as well. Electrocardiography is a graphic recording generated by reading the heart muscle using 12 leads while you are lying still.  It is a safe and simple procedure and takes 5 to 10 minutes to perform. First, expose your chest, arms, and legs. Color-coded electrodes will be attached to you and to the recording machine. The electrodes are coated with conductive gel and applied to the skin surface on your wrists, ankles, and chest. Make sure you are not wearing any metallic jewelry, and inform the person taking your ECG if you have a pacemaker or any other implants. The ECG will be interpreted by your physician. The holter monitor is worn on a belt or carried as a shoulder strap, and consists of a tape recorder connected to ECG leads on your chest. During the test period, you will keep a diary of activities and associated symptoms. Record all your activities, including brushing teeth, climbing stairs, bowel movements, eating, etc. At the end of the recording period, return the monitor to the hospital or physician. They will analyze the tape, comparing it with your diary. This information can help detect cardiac arrhythmias and myocardial ischemia that occur sporadically during activity or rest. Do not remove the electrodes, and try not to get the electrodes and wires wet. Wear a loose fitting shirt during the test. Portable pulse monitors can aid athletic training, and look like a watch with buttons that switch on and off.  It records your pulse and blood pressure at timed intervals according to your settings. It can also recall previous readings and times to match the current readings. Some models are safe for use in extreme temperatures and underwater. Some are rechargeable, while some use small batteries. During stress testing, the electrical activity of your heart is assessed with an ECG monitor while you walk on a treadmill, pedal a stationary bike, or climb up and down stairs.  A resting ECG is taken as a baseline before you begin the activity. During the test, the speed of the treadmill, the force required to pedal the bicycle, or the pace of stair-climbing is gradually increased. The goal is to increase the heart's workload until a predetermined target rate is reached. Your heart rate and rhythm are monitored continuously and ECG waveforms are recorded. Your blood pressure and respiratory rate are also monitored. You should report the onset of chest pain, dizziness, leg cramps or weakness, to avoid any injury. The readings of the ECG tracings will be interpreted by your physician. A cardiac monitor continuously records the electrical activity that produces your heart rhythms. This type of monitoring is usually implemented in ERs for patients with cardiac problems.  Electrodes will be placed on your chest and connected to a machine that displays the cardiac rhythm. A paper strip of the cardiac rhythm will be printed and attached to your medical record. Some units include the option for the signals to be sent to a central station for continuous observation, to allow you to walk around the nursing unit. Most cardiac monitors sound an alarm and automatically print out abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias or dysrhythmias).
A: Get a blood pressure screening. Look into electrocardiography to identify any heart problems. Use a holter monitor or ambulatory ECG to monitor your heart rate over a 24 to 48 hour period. Consider a portable pulse monitor to aid precision athletic training. Do stress testing to evaluate your heart function during exercise. Try a cardiac monitor to monitor your heart rate in the ER.

Q: You may be nervous about spending the night for the first time. However, remember that your boyfriend appreciates you for who you are. Not only that, he’s surely just as nervous as you. Take some of the pressure off by relaxing together and doing things you normally enjoy together.  Your boyfriend is probably nervous about you seeing what his house and room look like. Put him at ease by letting him know anything you like or appreciate about his living space. You can say something like, “I really like that poster you’ve got on the wall,” or, “Wow, this is a great location you’ve got.” If his place isn’t that great to hang out in, you can go for a walk or a drive. Take your date elsewhere and come back just to sleep. This may involve washing your face, brushing your hair and teeth and doing anything else you need to do before going to bed. Of course, at home you may have a more involved routine, but keep it streamlined for tonight. That way, you won’t spend all of your time in the bathroom with your boyfriend wondering what you’re doing.  You don’t need to explain what you’re doing in the bathroom. He may wonder, but that’s fine. If you usually braid your hair at night or tuck it up in a rag, you might want to skip that for the first few nights you spend together, if you’re comfortable with that. The first night you spend the night with another person, your brain actually stays a tiny bit awake during the night as a way of keeping you safe. You may wake up when your boyfriend moves around or changes positions in the bed.  Don’t plan to sleep over at your boyfriend’s house for the first time the night before a big day at school or work. You may need to catch up on sleep with a nap the next day, even if you try to go to bed early. If you hadn’t planned on sleeping over, you may not have brought a change of clothes or thought about planning for what you’d sleep in. Even if you did plan, it may not have made sense to bring pajamas or a change of clothes. What you wear to sleep will depend on how comfortable you feel with your boyfriend and your level of intimacy.  If you end up having sex or being physically intimate in other ways, you may feel comfortable sleeping with nothing on at all, or sleeping in only your underwear. If he lives with his family, you’ll want to sleep in something conservative in case a parent or sibling barges in or you need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. You can always ask to borrow a T-shirt to sleep in. Many guys find that endearing. When it’s time to go to bed because you’re both tired, it’s time to go to sleep. If you’re sleeping in the same bed, you’ll need to find a comfortable position for both of you. There may also be things that make it hard to get comfortable, such as:  If he snores. You may want to bring a pair of earplugs, just in case! If one of you steals the blankets or you like very different sleeping temperatures. If he likes to cuddle and you don’t (or vice versa).
A:
Enjoy each other’s company. Do your nighttime routine. Prepare to not sleep very well. Wear what you feel comfortable in. Go to bed when you’re ready.