Charting Your Pregnancy Week by Week
Pregnancy is a difficult phase but it is the most beautiful too. Women pregnant for the first time claim that the pregnancy period makes them experience the essence of womanhood. It is important for every woman to understand what her body is going through while she is pregnant. She must be aware of what is normal and what is not. Given below is a pregnancy calendar i.e. a chart of what a pregnant woman can expect during her pregnancy.
This calendar can help you be mentally prepared to face whatever happens to your body during pregnancy week by week and not rush to the pregnancy doctor whenever something new is experienced. However, please make sure to consult your doctor regarding any unusual symptoms that you witness because some unusual symptoms could signal severe pregnancy complications.
Weeks 1 to 4
You are still not pregnant in Week 1. Pregnancy is calculated from the first day of your period. Your fertile period will start towards the end of the second week when you will ovulate. You should be pregnant by the middle of the third week. You however, will not feel anything until you miss your period. Some women have implantation bleeding during this time.
Weeks 5 to 8
You have missed your period. You really start to feel pregnant. A urine test will confirm your pregnancy. You are experiencing pregnancy symptoms like mood swings, nausea, tender breasts, and lower abdomen cramps etc. Your bundle of joy is right now actually just a few tiny cells. In your 7th week, your pregnancy is confirmed beyond doubt. Start looking for the various medical tests you might need after consultation with the doctor. You baby is growing very fast now! Your uterus is expanding- you may feel the stretch.
Weeks 9 to 14
You should start gaining weight by now. You will notice that you are visiting the toilet too often! The fetus has started developing most of its organs, especially noticeable at the limbs that look like buds! Many side effects of early pregnancy, like morning sickness, will have disappeared. Your baby is growing rather than developing new parts. All the main organs of your baby have been formed. You can hear the heart beat around this time.
Weeks 15 to 23
This the best part of your pregnancy period. You are in the second trimester. Life will be a lot simpler and all pregnancy symptoms have disappeared... You can feel your baby moving – more like a tickle! You are getting heavy now. Be careful about your sleeping posture and shoes. Your baby probably has hair, teeth, all its organs have formed... it will start growing with every passing day.
Weeks 24 to 33
What was that? Yes, you may get a few contractions during this time. Nothing to worry about- it’s your body preparing for a normal delivery. Start planning your maternity application. You will have to wind up your work quite soon. Take special care of your back and your knees. You will tend to lose balance easily. You have entered the pregnancy third trimester. Your baby has perfectly formed fingernails. It can react to sounds and touch too! Your baby is too big to move around freely now. Movements will be restricted other than a few pokes!
Weeks 34 to 39
You are almost there. Life seems slow and cumbersome now and you cannot wait to see your baby... hold on for a few more days! Your baby is fully developed and will have very high chances of survival even if it decides to enter the world earlier than planned! The time has come; it can happen any day now. Take rest. You will need the energy after your little darling is born! Your baby is ready, you need to be ready too, and you never know when it decides to give the push! Arrange necessary items like nursing gowns, breastfeeding bras, baby cloths etc. for the coming future requirements.
An educated and healthy mother means a healthy baby. Do a lot of research on the Internet and ask friends who have passed this stage to clear your doubts. We wish you a wonderful pregnancy and a happy motherhood!
Keeping a track of your pregnancy week by week with the help of a pregnancy calendar is a good idea and you can be aware of the pregnancy symptoms and avoid some pregnancy complications. Visit Pregnancy Week By Week for more on pregnancy and pregnancy health.
Planned Pregnancy – Good For You And Your Baby
Health care practitioners are a good medium to consult and find answers to your pregnancy related queries and inquiries. Every parent desires to have a healthy baby. It helps to consult someone you trust. It could be a consultant, your mother, your close relative or books, if you have the habit of reading. A planned pregnancy keeps you satisfied at every stage of pregnancy and you are well prepared to handle the situations as they arise. How to slip into pregnancy quickly, what are the good foods to eat, what is the best age for pregnancy, what vaccinations are essential, what vitamins and minerals are essential, should you consult a pregnancy planning calendar, what foods or substances are harmful for your pregnancy, all these questions and more usually haunt all going-to- be parents. Planning pregnancy helps to avert situations, which make you anxious and create anxiety.
Keeping A Step Ahead
Once you have a planned pregnancy you can find solutions for all problems that you envisage. As parents, you have taken a decision to bring another human being into life. Now it is your duty to see that you give the best of everything to your bundle of joy, and at the same time make sure that you do not lose any comfort for lack of planning. Conception planning helps you to understand the importance of remaining fit and healthy from the time you take the decision to become a parent. Which means regular exercise and morning and evening walks, good nourishing food throughout the day, a little meditation, watching TV and listening to music to remain stress free and keeping the environment in which you live neat and clean. If you accomplish all this and keep a working hand to take care of your daily chores getting pregnant or planning your second pregnancy would be a piece of cake.
Physical Fitness Is Essential
It is important to keep a check on your body mass index. A healthy body with ideal weight has a better chance of getting pregnant. In this context, if you know about ovulation and your best time to get pregnant you can greatly improve your chances for pregnancy. A planned pregnancy can help you to understand your ovulation period, which starts from the 14th day of your menstruation. Besides these you can also have many herbs and medicines to boost fertility in males and females, if you have any complications, in getting pregnant or your pregnancy is taking time even after taking due precautions.
Never undermine the importance of money matters even if you have a good source of income. Quick borrowing of money on important matters like the hospital bills, clothes for the baby, creams, gels, powders, crib, pram, painting and white washing, the piling list of grocery and medical items, travel and communication bills etc can make a big hole in the pocket. Therefore, a planned pregnancy can really be helpful in creating a pool of money, which can be used when your health insurance and other sources seem to run out of steam. If you are a person of limited means then you should start saving today and cut down on your expenses and save some money for the rainy day. Usually, you stop getting payment from office six weeks after delivery; you should be ready to foot the bills after that. A planned pregnancy is like a friend who lends you help when you need it the most.
There are numerous advantages of a planned pregnancy and conception planning for the physical and mental health of the mother and her baby. Pregnancy planning is equally important even if you are planning for second pregnancy. Some people recommend the use of pregnancy planning calendar for determining the sex of the baby but in certain geographies, it is not ethically correct. Visit Pregnancy Period for more details on getting pregnant and other aspects of pregnancy and motherhood.
Teen Pregnancy - Made Easier Through The Right Guidance
Pregnancy is a course of rebirth for every woman as she comes a full circle of life at this point. She is giving birth to a new body and soul. Teen pregnancy especially needs the right guidance. The kind of life and diet you lead defines the health and life of your baby during the pregnancy period.
Whom To Contact During Teen Pregnancy?
Constant pre-natal care from your doctor, nutrition experts and clinic as well as family and friends is one of the basic things to be followed. Drinking and smoking should be avoided at all costs as it causes irreparable damage to the little one inside. Drugs prescribed by the doctor are the only ones to be taken. A balanced and nutritional diet should be top priority. Teenage pregnancies are always laden with the risks of going back to drugs, smoking; as a result the babies develop immature organs/systems, even retardation in many cases and the most dominant, early death during infancy.
Correct Nutrition and Medication during Teen Pregnancy:
Since, a teenager’s body is still growing, it is necessary to eat the right amount of pregnancy diet that is essential for you as well as your baby. Correct composition of vitamins and minerals are required mainly in case of a teen pregnancy. It is normal to gain 25-30 pounds during pregnancy and the minimum intake of calories per day should be no less than 300.Gaining weight is much more important if you want to breastfeed the child. Never skip meals and avoid junk food as much as possible as the have very little or no nutrient value at all. If you cannot afford nutritious food, inform your health care providers and ask them for advice and they will enroll you into the Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) program.
LOVE AND CARE MOST REQUIRED TO DEAL WITH TEEN PREGNANCY:
The prevalence of teenage pregnancy is the highest in the U.S and most of such pregnancies end up in premature deliveries or abortions. Most of them are unintended. No strenuous exercises should be done during this period, but a brisk walk for 15-20 minutes or a game of basketball would be fine. The main cause of teenage pregnancy is the lack of knowledge and awareness. Every parent should discuss the pros and cons of having teenage pregnancies. School education has led to a 10% decrease in teenage pregnancy. Even though it is good to see this, we should understand that a teenage mother-to-be needs extra support and care, as they are incapable of handling the stress of teenage pregnancy. As they are not educated enough, many teenagers do not understand the problem associated with teenage pregnancy and smoking/drinking and intake of drugs. Therefore, all they require during this hard time is to get the unconditional and unending support and advice of their gynecologist and family as well as loved ones. Therefore, teenage pregnancy can be done away with proper communication and education about it, but until that time all the teenage pregnancies and the teenage mothers need to be handled with all the care and love possible.
The information provided in this article is not intended to substitute medical information and guidance. Please consult your pregnancy doctor or health care provider for more information or before following any treatment, activity or exercise mentioned herein.
Teenage pregnancy or teen pregnancy is a sensitive issue and require special care and handling. This is primarily because the body and mind of a teenaged girl is not matured enough to undergo the rigors and stresses of pregnancy period. Teen pregnancy could be harmful not only for the health of the mother but also of the baby. Teenage pregnancy could be avoided by providing proper education and creating awareness about the same. Pregnancy Types provides more information on this subject and other issues related to pregnancy such as pregnancy symptoms, types of pregnancy, pregnancy clothing, breastfeeding, pregnancy gifts, and care for the newborn baby.