Your Pregnancy, One Week At A Time

The way that you feel each week during your pregnancy can change amazingly. These changes can be due to a number of reasons but it is important that you monitor your pregnancy week by week to ensure that you and your baby are healthy.

Your doctor or midwife can observe your pregnancy week by week to accurately evaluate how your baby is growing. You may not have checkups during the early stages of your pregnancy each week but these appointments will definitely become more frequent towards the end of your pregnancy. Read more . . .

First Trimester Pregnancy

The first trimester covers from conception up to the 12th week of pregnancy. There are an assortment of ways that your body is changing throughout early pregnancy and adjusting to the embryo that is growing inside.

The most common sign of early pregnancy is that your periods will cease completely or may become remarkably light. This menstruation cessation is normally the symptom that most women take to mean that they are in the stages of early pregnancy.

The notorious morning sickness is another indication that many women experience during early pregnancy. The term ‘morning sickness’ is actually a bit misleading because many women feel nauseous or experience vomiting at different times throughout the day during their early pregnancy, not just in the morning. One method of alleviating this nausea is to eat small meals throughout the day, snack on crackers or dry toast, or drink  lemonade or juice during your early pregnancy. Ginger and ginger ale are also beneficial in soothing this uncomfortable portion of early pregnancy. Read more . . .

Determining Your Pregnancy Due Date

A pregnancy is considered full term at forty weeks, so your estimated due date is calculated 40 weeks from the date of conception. Sadly, this system of calculation can lead to a somewhat inaccurate due date. One of the most common reasons for this due date likelihood of being erroneous is that many women do not have regular menstrual cycles. The pregnancy due date is calculated using an average menstrual cycle of every twenty eight days and the ovulation date being mid-cycle. For most women, this will simply mean that the estimated due date can be as much as a month off. It is important not to rely too much on the first due date that your health professional gives you. Many pregnancies, however, do not last for precisely 40 weeks. It is quite normal that the actual pregnancy due date is longer than this by up to two weeks.

A rough pregnancy due date is enough for most women to plan when they are going to file for maternity leave. Even if the due date isn’t entirely accurate, however,  it can be used as a good indicator of when the women can decide to stop working.  As the pregnancy progresses, the pregnancy due date can be estimated much more accurately by either an ultrasound scan or  a blood test. Read more . . .