Your nine month guide through pregnancy.

Congratulations! You're pregnant! Having been first time moms ourselves, we know that it could be difficult understanding the many changes that may occur throughout your pregnancy. Hopefully our summary of the next 9 months (40 weeks) will give you an insight of what to expect during your pregnancy.  

Pregnancy is divided into three trimesters, or into 3 almost equal parts. If you count from the last menstrual period with a 28-day cycle, usually a pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, don't worry your not actually pregnant 10 calendar months. It is considered that the first trimester of your pregnancy ends at approximately 14 weeks. The second trimester continues from 14 to 28 weeks and the third trimester takes you from 28 to 40 weeks, or until you deliver. Because there is a 2-week pregnancy cycle exception, most doctors will not induce until the 42nd week.  

The first trimester:

If you are like most of us, you have just received your 5th positive response from your home pregnancy test, and after receiving definite thumbs up from your doctor, you can consider yourself officially pregnant. Although you may not feel or look pregnant, your body is fast at work ensuring the growth and health of your unborn child. At five weeks, your "baby" measures approximately 2 whole millimeters, but every organ is already under construction. Facial features, including eyes and ears begin to form. By six weeks, you may finally be feeling your pregnancy, by the dreaded morning sickness, which can occur at anytime of the day. Although swallowing the horse sized pre-natal vitamins may seem more then you can stomach, it is of more importance then you might think. Vitamins provide your "baby" with all of the necessary nut rations to help growth and development during your pregnancy.  

By the end of your first trimester of pregnancy, your "baby" is approximately 3 inches long and weighs 14 grams. He/she is able to swallow, absorb, and discharge fluids, and the hands, tooth buds, and vocal cards are under development.  

Pregnancy symptoms such as dizziness and irritability, fatigue and headaches, as well as nausea, may occur, by the beginning of the second trimester of your pregnancy most if not all of the symptoms should be gone.  

The second trimester:

You are now out of the first stage of pregnancy, you are not only feeling better, but you are finally starting to look pregnant; the nausea is gone and the energy is back! Most women start showing a belly between the 14th -16th week of pregnancy. If you showed a little bit earlier or your stomach doesn't seem to be showing, there is no cause for alarm, every woman carries her pregnancy differently. Between the 18th - 22nd week of pregnancy, your baby becomes very active; the babies start using your pregnant stomach as their own personal playground. After the 20th week of your pregnancy, you can identify the gender, via an ultrasound test.

During the second trimester of pregnancy, you may feel a tightening sensation in your uterus known as Braxton Hicks contractions; these contractions are harmless and may be felt throughout your pregnancy. At 24 to 28 weeks of pregnancy your baby is at its most active stage and can respond to loud noises as well as your touch. At 28 weeks you are now finishing your second trimester of pregnancy. Your baby's eyes are now open and he/she is now busy familiarizing him/herself with his surroundings (your womb). This second stage of pregnancy is a wonderful time filled with energy and growth for both you and your future bundle of joy. Your belly is finally out there for the world to see and no one can mistake your pregnancy for just gaining weight. You are officially more than half way done with your pregnancy and will soon be holding your precious one in your arms.

The third trimester:

It is almost over; you are nearing the end of the pregnancy roller coaster ride. All those emotions you are now experiencing, anything from elation to dread are perfectly normal and something all moms' to be go through at some point in the last months of pregnancy.  

Taking on projects such as getting the baby's room ready and shopping for that extensive newborn wardrobe can either fill you with that new mommy fear or can excite you and make the prospect of holding that long awaited bundle of joy in your arms a reality.  

At 32 weeks of pregnancy your baby may develop more adult patterns of sleeping and waking as he/she may now respond to light and dark. Backaches are a common discomfort for many moms during this last stage of pregnancy as your body accommodates the growth of your baby. At 35 weeks of pregnancy your baby weights approximately five pounds and steadily gains about a half pound per week.  

Now is the time to discuss various issues of labor and delivery with your doctor to ensure a smoother birth for your baby and a less strenuous labor process for you. As you near the end of your pregnancy, family and friends feel compelled to recount their own labor and delivery experiences in great detail, a subject you may or may not be interested in discussing.

Near your due date your child weighs around seven pounds although a three pound variation either higher or lower is very common (remember the story of the 11 pound baby your neighbor told you). You are now nearing the home stretch of pregnancy, your kitchen calendar has more red marks and notes on it then the president's, your to do list is longer and more complicated than the national debt. The wait is almost over your due date is here, you wait anxiously for signs of labor but none come. Do not panic it is quite common for labor to happen naturally before the 42nd week of pregnancy and not at the 40 week mark you have been waiting for, a post dated pregnancy is very common among first time moms, and as long as your doctor is fine waiting you should be to. Those sleepless nights will come soon enough; enjoy the peace while it lasts.

Pregnancy is a wonderful experience to be treasured and remembered as well as hopefully repeated in the years to come. Despite the discomfort of the last few months of pregnancy you are finally near the moment you have so anxiously dreamed about for so long, you are holding your brand new bundle of joy in your arms as those close to you marvel at the miracle you have just delivered. You have completed the journey from a couple to a family; let your new life as a parent begin.  

As new mom's ourselves, we have experienced the full range of emotions and physical changes that you have just gone through. Although each pregnancy is different, some basic characteristics remain the same for us all. Pregnancy is a miracle! Birth is a miracle! But, your new baby will be the greatest miracle of all! Let the miracles begin!  

Congratulations and Best Wishes from Nicole Daulton!