You can count day by day pregnancy – or week by week or month by month or trimester by trimester. It really doesn’t matter, but if you want to get down to the nitty gritty details about it keep reading…
The truth is that in terms of pregnancy progression it is approximately 280 days long, from the first day of the last menstrual period and the first very early pregnancy signs. It’s 40 weeks long. It’s 3 trimesters long, broken down by 3 months each. How you count your pregnancy and determine pregnancy due date is all up to you and up to your health care provider.
Have you decided on seeing an obstetrician gynecologist or a certified nurse midwife?
Here’s some tips for getting a good night’s rest during pregnancy – and using a pregnancy pillow.
Pregnancy Trimesters
First Trimester
The first trimester in pregnancy is the time of most change for the baby. Conception starts out as a once-celled sperm joining to a one-celled egg. The fertilized egg is very small, fitting on the tip
of a pencil, smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. The miraculous conception journey takes place before even the mother knows it has happened. A lot of growth takes place in the first trimester, by the end of it at around 13 weeks you can clearly see a baby has taken shape. That’s a lot of growth in 13 weeks from a one-celled fertilized egg to a tiny baby complete with arms and legs.
Second Trimester
The second trimester is known as the “glory days.” This is because most women will experience relief from the morning sickness, fatigue and frequent urination during this stage of the pregnancy.
Second trimester is also the best time to travel. The risk of miscarriage drops significantly too. This is approximately weeks 14-week 26.
Third Trimester
This is the time of the most weight gain and expansion. Just when you feel you can’t possibly get any bigger, you do and so does the baby. The female body is remarkable in how it accommodates a growing baby. At the end of the third trimester the wonderful miracle of birth happens. Full term is anytime from week 37 and on. Birth occurring prior to week 37 is considered preterm.
So you see, you can count more than just day by day in pregnancy. Coming real soon articles breaking down week by week for both mother and baby – complete with images!