Your Pregnancy

Pregnancy week by week tracking tools or calendars are great tools for keeping track of your baby’s growth during pregnancy. Also, you can acquire knowledge of different early pregnancy symptoms or signs of pregnancy.

Most of the pregnancy calendars or guides chart baby’s growth during pregnancy week by week. Though the baby continues to grow with every passing day, but changes and development of baby usually becomes manifest over a week’s time. Therefore, the complete pregnancy period has been divided into three trimesters comprising 40 weeks. By following the baby’s growth in pregnancy week-by-week information and or pregnancy calendars, you can have an idea as to what your baby looks like at a particular point in time. Moreover, if you find something lacking, you can get medical advice promptly. Let’s take a glance at some salient developments of your little one’s growth during the forty weeks.

The First Trimester

The first trimester of pregnancy week by week covers week 1 to week 14. First 2 weeks of this trimester denote the period from your last menses till conception or till that time when the sperm fertilizes the egg. By the end of week 3, the fertilized egg is metamorphosed into an embryo. During week 4 you begin to feel the early pregnancy symptom of nausea. Week 5 marks the beginning of formation of all major organs of the baby’s body. In fact this is the week, when the embryo’s metamorphosis into a baby begins. Come week 6 and your baby’s heart beats for the first time. Your baby doubles in size during week 7. By week 9, baby’s sex can be determined and your embryo becomes a small baby by week 10. Week 14 will make manifest another sign of pregnancy – enlarging and darkening of the area around your nipples.

The Second Trimester

The second trimester comprises week 15 to week 26. In the beginning of this trimester i.e. week 15, the baby begins movement of head, lips, and feet. Due to upward movement of uterus, the pregnancy symptom of frequent urination would abate by week 16. Baby begins blinking, sucking, and swallowing in week 17. Due to myelinization of nerves, nerve cell transmission registers a significant increase making body reflexes quicker. During week 20, baby begins to sleep and wake on regular basis. By week 24, baby’s heart beat becomes so distinct that it can be heard by placing an ear on stomach. And before the second trimester ends, brain wave activity commences for ears and eyes.

The Third Trimester

The third trimester as per pregnancy week by week commences with week 27 and ends with the birth of baby i.e. approximately week 40. Week 27 heralds increased movements of the baby. Senses of sound, smell, and taste develop by week 29. During week 34, baby’s own immune system begins to develop. Most of the babies are born around this period. By this week, look out for any signs of labor. In any case, your baby is born by the end of week 40. Sometimes, this period may extend by two more weeks.

By keeping yourself updated with the help of pregnancy week by week information, you can keep watch over various signs of pregnancy and your baby’s growth. If you feel your baby’s growth is not in consonance with the week by week chart, you can immediately get medical advice.

Early signs of pregnancy are not just one or two but as many as ten. These signs appear around one week after conception, when the fertilized egg implants in the uterus. This results in changes in hormone levels. The body reacts to these new levels and displays the following signs:

Light Spotting

A pinkish or brownish but not heavy bleeding from implantation causes an early sign of pregnancy called light spotting. You can distinguish it from a normal menstrual flow, which would begin light, become heavy, and then taper off again before ending.

More Frequent Urination

Frequent urination is a very early sign of pregnancy. Often women experience this even before a missed period.

Elevated Body Temperature

Another very early sign of pregnancy or early pregnancy symptom is an elevation in your basal body temperature at the time when your period should begin.

Missing a Menstrual Period

Missing a menstrual period is an obvious early sign of pregnancy. This is more accurate if your menstrual cycle normally occurs very regularly.

Fatigue

Although hard to distinguish from other forms of tiredness, fatigue is one of the very early signs of pregnancy.

Cramping

In this early sign of pregnancy, uterus contracts often. This could happen while moving around, exercising and having orgasms.

Nausea

Of the 10 early signs of pregnancy, only about half of pregnant women experience nausea, which can happen at any time of the day or night.

Tender Nipples and Breasts

A feeling of tenderness in the breasts and nipples is one of the very early signs of pregnancy. However, these feelings go away as the body becomes accustomed to the new hormone levels.

Darker Areolas

You can recognize this early sign of pregnancy by the darkness in the area around the nipples one week after conception. In addition, the bumps on the areolas become more prominent.

Constipation

Constipation may become an early sign of pregnancy because the intestines relaxes and function less with changing hormones.

It is important to note that not everyone will experience these early signs of pregnancy. If you do experience one or more of these or you feel pregnant even without these signs, confirm pregnancy by using one of the more reliable home pregnancy tests such as a blood or urine pregnancy test. Once your pregnancy is thus confirmed, see your doctor right away. The sooner you verify your pregnancy from the doctor the earlier you can start taking care of yourself and prepare for the future!

At the end of the 40 weeks of pregnancy, during the last period of the three trimesters, the future mothers enter the labor period. Labor is divided into three stages which are the dilation of the cervix, the delivery of the baby and the delivery of the placenta. In women that are giving birth for the first time labor takes around 12 to 24 hours. This period is shorter for women that had already delivered once. In their case labor takes about six to seven hours.

Contractions are the first symptoms of the labor. Sometimes Braxton-Hicks contractions are confused with labor. The difference between them is that the false contractions which are the Braxton-Hicks contraction usually start halfway through the pregnancy and continue until delivery. Labor is believed to be the cause of a hormone called oxytocin which is responsible for uterine contractions. Labor involves different symptoms that cause discomfort to the pregnant women. Among these symptoms we mention periodic cramps, backache, contractions, a small bloodstained discharge as their cervix thins and the mucus plug drop out.

As we said before labor includes three stages. The first stage is resumed at the dilation of cervix up to 10 centimeters. This first stage also includes different phases. The longest and the least painful phase of the labor is the latent phase. The cervix can thin out and mild contractions can occur. After this latent phase it is to follow an active phase. This phase involves strong and painful contractions that occur from about four to four minutes and last almost a minute. During this phase the cervix dilates around 7 centimeters. The final phase of the first stage is called the transition phase. The contractions occur more and more often and become more intense. Their frequency increases and the cervix get to the 10 centimeters size.

The second stage of the labor consists of the pushing of the baby. When the cervix gets dilated enough this stage may begin. The contractions are regular so the woman can relax between them. This stage lasts around 15 minutes to an hour, depending on each women and the number of deliveries.

The third and last stage of the labor is the delivery of the placenta. This stage does not last more than 30 minutes. For some women this stage could last only 5 minutes. The uterus contracts and pushes the placenta out.

Some advises for women that approach labor are to relax as much as possible at home and only when the contractions get regular and painful to go to a hospital, if they start bleeding from the vagina or their water breaks to go to the hospital. In hospital it is recommended to resist any urge to push before a complete dilation.

For more inforamtion about pregnancy test please visit pregnancy calculator or http://www.pregnancy-1st-guide.com/

All us of take good care of ourselves during pregnancy, have you given a thought to the importance of care after pregnancy? It is essential for the woman to receive proper care so that she comes out of it healthy, happy and content- ready to take care of the child and her family to the fullest.

Importance Of The Care Given After Pregnancy

You undergo lots of changes in your mental state, your appearance, your feelings and thoughts. There is lots of weight gain and other changes in the body. This can all be taken care of by giving proper care, support, guidance and information to you about after nine months care.

Post pregnancy care includes helping you recover from the pain and discomfort of giving birth, helping you to mentally adjust to the new role as a mother, helping you look good after pregnancy. To achieve all this, a well balanced diet and a well executed exercise regime is necessary.

Who Is Fit To Give You Post Pregnancy Care

The same person or persons who gave you medical care during those nine months are good enough for the care after pregnancy too. If you have gone through a caesarean section, post operative care will be given to you by your doctor. If you have given birth through normal delivery, your physician, mid-wife or obstetrician will help you recover and will care for you in your initial stages after nine months period.

You must decide on your caregiver after considering the following points:

How much does your caregiver listen to your concerns, rather than giving his/her advice?

Is he or she comfortable with your ideas about child-birth and medical care?

Are you comfortable in discussing all your queries and concerns with your caregiver?

Is there a back-up person or alternate arrangement, in case your caregiver is not available on the due date?

If you find the answers to these questions satisfactory, you may go ahead.

Other Dimensions Of Care After Pregnancy:

When we talk about care given after pregnancy, its not only about medical care. You will also need loving care and support of your family, especially your partner. Someone close to you who has this experience, like your mother, sister or a close friend will understand your situation better and her guidance will help you take care of yourself and your baby better. Family members are responsible for the balanced diet you take.

To get back in shape and to gain strength, a regular routine of exercise is also very necessary. You may ask your doctor about it or hire a physical trainer who will help you with the exercises to keep your mind and body in shape. Care after pregnancy must consist of all these aspects, for a fast recovery.

When you feel the first symptoms of pregnancy, you naturally head to the drug store to find a good pregnancy test. Have you ever wondered how they work?

Over-the-counter pregnancy tests look for the presence of the “pregnancy hormone” in your urine. The test you receive later in your doctor’s office looks for the same hormone in your blood. The hormone is called human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG for short. This hormone begins to build up just a few days after the fertilized egg is implanted in your uterine wall. The hCG will cause your placenta to produce progesterone after the implantation of the embryo, which is necessary to prevent the embryo’s rejection.

Because it takes time for the hormone to build up to detectable levels, most over-the-counter pregnancy tests work best when taken a few days or a week after your missed period. Some brands claim to be accurate sooner, but all women ovulate at different times of their cycles, so this may or may not be true for you.

The most accurate test is done in your doctor’s office. A blood test can detect much lower levels of the pregnancy hormone than urine tests. If you get a negative reading from your drug store pregnancy test, but you still “feel” pregnant, you’ll want to make an appointment with your doctor. Planned Parenthood offices also offer pregnancy tests and exams.

About 25 days after an egg is fertilized the fetus can be seen by transvaginal sonography.

What causes false negative test results?

A false positive result may occur if you take your test too early. The pregnancy hormone hCG does not begin to build up in your system until after the fertilized egg has attached to the uterine wall. This usually occurs within 14 days of fertilization, so a blood test is almost always accurate if it’s done after your next period was supposed to start. Some over-the-counter tests need higher levels of the hormone to be accurate, and so they say you’re not pregnant, even though you are. You can take another test a few days later to be sure.

Can you get a false positive result?

Yes, your test may say you’re pregnant even though you’re not. The most common cause is waiting too long to read the results of the test – the urine will evaporate from the test strip, and the color will change to show a positive result. If you get a positive result but you waited longer than suggested by the test’s instructions, you’ll want to take the test over.

If you’re taking fertility hormones, a home pregnancy test may show a false positive result. Ask your doctor if your injections include the hormone hCG. If so, the hormone will show up on the test, and the reading will be inaccurate.

In very rare instances, a false positive reading is caused by certain unusual forms of cancer.

What about the rabbit?

In your grandmother’s day, there were no over-the-counter pregnancy tests. The doctor would take a urine sample, and inject the urine into a female rabbit. If the rabbit was injected with humane urine that contained the pregnancy hormone, the rabbit’s ovaries would change. It usually took several days for the changes to take place, and the rabbit had to die before the lab technicians could look at her ovaries.

Fortunately, rabbits are no longer necessary for pregnancy tests.

So perhaps you’ve missed a period and are feeling a little run down. Maybe your breasts have even become tender. You go to the drugstore for a home pregnancy test – just how reliable are they?

There are two things to be concerned about with home pregnancy tests. 1. false positives and 2. false negatives.

False positives would be if the pregnancy test tells you that you are pregnant, but you really aren’t. With most home pregnancy tests, false positives are extremely rare, in fact, almost non-existent. Chances are if the test reads positive – you are pregnant.

Exceptions happen if you have been taking certain hormones, or have recently been pregnant and there are still hormones in your system. Either way, a positive test is worth a call to the doctor.

False negatives are a little more common. They happen when there isn’t enough of the pregnancy hormone in your system yet to cause the test to react positively. Each type of pregnancy test has a different threshold – some are more sensitive than others.

If you think you have a false negative, check the packaging for the pregnancy test you took and try a different one that’s more sensitive. You can always call your doctor who can provide a blood test that will be extremely accurate.

It is always a good idea, if you think you are pregnant, to call your doctor.

Early pregnancy symptoms, if observed carefully can help you detect pregnancy within a few days of fertilization. However, most of the women fail to notice some of these pregnancy symptoms, as they can be at times, very subtle. Many women tend to confuse these symptoms with symptoms that they experience before their periods every month. In such cases, medical experts advise that if women observe every small body change after fertilization and take a note of them, they might detect their pregnancy without any confusion. Through this article, you can discover what symptoms can indicate a positive and what signals complications in pregnancy and when it is very important to visit your physician.

Various Symptoms Of Pregnancy

Check out whether you have undergone one, some or all of the following early pregnancy symptoms, which give a clear indication of development of fetus inside you.

Missing Of Periods – Periods being overdue is what most of the pregnant women consider as the surest signal of pregnancy. However, there can be other factors that lead to a missed period like stress, travel, etc. Besides, when you notice a missed or delay in periods, you are already one or few weeks pregnant, so look for other typical early pregnancy symptoms to confirm your pregnancy.

Morning Sickness Or Nausea – Many pregnant women complain about feeling of fatigue and nausea in different time of the day. It can be in the morning, or in the afternoon, evening or at night, however, this early pregnancy symptoms are termed as morning sickness. Expecting mothers may reduce discomforts of morning sickness by reducing spicy dishes from their meals and cutting down big meals into small frequent meals that are easier to digest and call for less discomforts of nausea.

Tender Breasts – If after a few days you start noticing pain in breast along with a little swelling and tenderness, you must consider this as one of the strongest early pregnancy symptoms. Some may observe their veins surrounding chest areas seem highly visible and the areola tend to become darker in color along with tender breasts.

Vaginal Spotting – Little bit of bleeding secreted through your vagina is quite normal during the early stage of pregnancy. This spotting is also know as ‘implantation bleeding’ as the bleeding is caused by implantation of egg to the inner walls of uterus. This is one of those very common early pregnancy symptoms and occurs a few days after conceiving. After implantation, the fetus starts developing in the uterus. You may notice the color of spotting a bit pinkish unlike the color of your menstruation. Implantation bleeding may accompany slight cramping pain in abdomen that is quite normal and harmless. However, if the pain is severe, you may consult doctor immediately as it may signal some complications.

Create a pregnancy journal by making a note of all early pregnancy symptoms you are experiencing beforehand your visit to the doctor. Doctor may take a urine test, blood test or pelvic exam. Now the pelvic exam is carried out to detect both to see if the uterus has been enlarged or if there is any complication. Many of the early pregnancy symptoms also signal negative pregnancy such as miscarriages or ectopic pregnancy, in such cases, pelvic exam is the way out to identify it accurately.

While the general consensus is only from the fifth or sixth week of conception, how early can you get pregnancy symptom is a query many pregnant women answer on their own. Many of them say they feel symptoms within the first two weeks after conception after which they confirm their suspicions through a pregnancy test.

A universal indicator of how early can you get pregnant symptom are sore breasts. Breasts may begin to be sore and tender to the touch even before the time of the period, so you can rely on this sign to tell you whether or not you may be pregnant.

Headaches and feeling sickly are two other signs of how early can you get pregnancy symptom. Headaches are frequent in early pregnancy but are rarely serious. If you get an occasional headache, you could ask your physician about taking the medicine acetaminophen when the head begins to hurt. You can feel sickly throughout the day with nausea and an extreme tiredness in your bones. All you want to do then is go on a liquid diet and stay in bed all day (and night).

The feeling that you are sore all over may persist right from the beginning of your having conceived. Medical evidence announces that it isn’t possible until after a missed period in order for the hormones to build up and cause the symptoms. However, from the personal experiences of many pregnant women, they begin to sense that they are pregnant with the sixth instinct that hints there is another being inside them now. Sometimes it makes sense to trust your own instincts and your bodies’ signs and take it from there.

You are pregnant when your stomach hurts, your breast feel sore and you experience nausea, some movements in the stomach tell you there is something there, and you feel the aches and strains of your body sooner than usual. Meaning, these are the body’s wake-up call to announce your pregnancy without a doctor having confirmed it.

Pregnancy symptoms can vary in their intensity, frequency and duration. How early can you get pregnant symptoms is only a guideline.

Why you may be confused is because many of the earliest pregnancy symptoms can appear similar to routine pre-menstrual discomforts. Suppose, you are not trying to conceive, you might think it is just your period coming on again, when in reality you may be experiencing very early signs of pregnancy.

At the same time, if you are trying to conceive, you may be frustrated when you think you may be experiencing early symptoms of pregnancy but in reality experiencing only pre-menstrual symptoms. It is sometimes that hard to tell the difference between early pregnancy symptoms and the indications that you may be menstruating soon.

How early can you get pregnancy symptoms may also include a wide variety of physical and emotional changes. These may include any or all of the pregnancy symptoms listed above. Although each of these are considered typical early symptoms of pregnancy, they may happen earlier or later than the order in which they are usually put forth. By paying careful attention to these, you can detect how early can you get pregnancy symptoms.

Pregnancy health of the mother is the prime concern of every physician, as the health of the baby depends entirely on the mother. Diet and nutrition create health. Pregnancy is a condition where the pregnant women constantly feel hungry for food. Your intake will decide whether your baby will be healthy or underweight. Informative women start taking healthy meals even before pregnancy, which results in healthy pregnancy. Healthy women deliver healthy babies.

Pregnant women should start eating healthy food and maintain a strict regimen of exercise to remain healthy, as soon as they have decided to have a baby. Weight control gains significance here as you start eating food rich in fat and protein. The more you will eat the more you will gain in weight if you do not follow a strict routine of exercise. Keeping a strict routine becomes difficult for people with a history of some disease like diabetes, or women on medication. It is important to understand that you should adhere to the advice of your doctor on these issues, and try to recover fully before you take the plunge for pregnancy.

When you begin the journey of motherhood, you are entrusted with the job of developing the mind and body of the baby. In order to have a healthy pregnancy, the mother should stop taking contraceptive pills a few months before pregnancy. The hormones of the body take at least three months to become normal and allow you to conceive a healthy fetus.

Here Are Some Tips To Have A Healthy Body

Begin your day with four glasses of water and continue drinking water throughout the day. Take as many juices as you can like orange juice, apple juice, carrot juice, pomegranate juice and more. Add shakes to your diet as well. Mango shakes, strawberry shakes and more. The idea is to keep enough liquid in your body and never be hypoglycemic. In juices and shakes, you also provide your body with important minerals like calcium, iron, manganese, riboflavin, Vitamin C and Vitamin B. Learn from womens magazines and TV shows, about the essential ingredients of a healthy and nutritious diet. Do consult your doctor for advice on nutrition as well. During the first trimester of your pregnancy, when you experience morning sickness and constipation, your diet becomes very low. Do not be careless on any account and continue having good nutritious food like almonds, cashew nuts and dry fruits to keep up your energy level.

Keep Your Body Active

Do not undermine the importance of proper sleep during the course of a healthy pregnancy. Sleep as much as you can. When you get up, eat a good nutritious meal and go to sleep again. Do short stretches of morning and evening walks to remain active. Keep in touch with your consultant to monitor your pregnancy health. Do not hesitate to ask questions whenever you are confused. Keep your mind free from tension. Do some meditation if possible.

Try to laugh as much as you can and do not keep any bitterness in your mind about anybody or anything. If you remain cheerful the baby inside you also remains happy, and happiness is good for growth of baby and healthy pregnancy. Try to wear loosely fit clothes as your body is growing day by day. Also, wear smart and comfortable clothes and keep yourself and your surroundings neat and clean.

The only certain thing about the symptom of pregnancy is that no early pregnancy symptom that can be universally accepted as the sure sign of pregnancy. There are both types of the pregnant woman. In the first category we can put those women who feel about the pregnancy symptom during the beginning of the pregnancy period. On the other hand there are woman who do not feel that they are pregnant during the course of the pregnancy period.

No Symptom Of Pregnancy is Universally Accepted

Although this is true that there is no symptom of pregnancy that can be considered as the sure sign of pregnancy yet here are some of the symptom of pregnancy that most of the pregnant women experience during the course of their pregnancy period. Among all these the morning sickness is most talked about symptom of pregnancy. Morning sickness refers to the feeling of nausea ands sometime resulting in the vomiting by the pregnant women. However, you should not get confused with the name morning sickness because it can happen at any time during the day. In some even this most common symptom of pregnancy is not observed. In most of the cases morning sickness continues only till the end of the first trimester.

Missed menstrual Cycle

Missed menstrual period is another symptom of pregnancy that is very common among the entire pregnant woman. However, there may be several other reasons also that are responsible for the missed period. Some of these reasons that can cause missing of the period even if the woman is not pregnant are illness, stress, fluctuation in the weight and use of the oral contraceptive pills by the woman. Here polycystic ovary syndrome is worth mentioning because it can delay the arrival of the menstrual period by several months. However, if any other symptom of pregnancy also occurs with this then we can assume that the woman in question is pregnant.

Change In The Size And The Feel Of the Breast

If a woman observes that the size of the breast is changing along with the feeling of breast then it can be assumed that the woman is pregnant because this is also very common symptom of pregnancy. This sign of pregnancy can appear in the very early stage of the pregnancy. The enlargement in the size of the pregnant women is understandable because the nature is preparing the body for the breastfeeding. In some cases the sensitivity of the breast increases and the pregnant women start feeling tenderness in the breast. Some of them also complain about a tingling sensation. However, in most of the cases women have to face this problem only for few weeks during the pregnancy period.