The journey of parenthood starts way before you conceive your baby. It starts off when you actually start desiring to go from a family of two to a family of three. It starts off when you start imagining your life with your child, making small changes to make space in your everyday life for another little human who will receive life and life lessons from you.
Through these beautiful dreams, you would also think of the day when you take a pregnancy test and as you wait anxiously, two lines of sheer joy take you one step closer to parenthood. The missed period, the positive pregnancy test and your first visit to the ob/gyn - these all mark the beginning of a beautiful and fulfilling journey.
This is when reality hits you and everything you imagined about being pregnant and having a baby starts to come true. Right from hormonal and emotional changes to physical changes, everything becomes real.
For the mother-to-be, no matter how many children they have already had, every pregnancy brings a different experience.
Many to-be-parents struggle to ascertain their pregnancy in the first month. So, let us make this easier for you to understand: what exactly counts as the first month of pregnancy? The third week after your last menstrual period is considered the beginning of your pregnancy. The first few weeks of pregnancy bring a storm of physical and emotional changes unique to every to-be-mom. This is when you take a home pregnancy test to confirm your pregnancy. In fact, most women don’t even realize that they are pregnant in the first month. The first trimester of pregnancy is definitely a time of great joy for the expectant couple, especially the mother. However, it may also evoke mixed feelings about pregnancy. Unpleasant and painful physical symptoms such as nausea or vomiting may make you feel resentful. Let us understand in detail what exactly happens in your uterus and how does it affect the baby, week by week.
In the first week of your pregnancy, your baby is still just an idea you have without any shape or form. It’s difficult to pinpoint when exactly you conceived your baby, hence the doctors calculate your due date to deliver the baby from the beginning of your last menstrual cycle. You got that right! In order to get an approximate date of conception and delivery, you’re considered ‘pregnant’ even before you conceived!It is advised that you schedule a preconception checkup with your obstetrician-gynecologist to rule-out the risks of genetic diseases and learn about necessary lifestyle changes to ensure a healthy pregnancy and baby.
Week 3 determines if your egg and your partner's sperm joined successfully. This is when your embryo is really there, although minuscule in size- almost about the size of the head of a pin. It's just a group of about 100 cells multiplying and growing rapidly in your uterus. The outer layer of cells becomes the placenta, and the inner layer becomes the embryo. At this point in time, you might not notice any changes in your body. Take a home pregnancy test and you get results immediately.
By the time you’re in your 4th week of pregnancy, the egg is fertilized and it burrows into the lining of your uterus which is called implantation. It is now that you’re expecting your period, and so if you don’t get your period, it might be one of the first signs that you're pregnant. You may as well observe a light spotting as a result of the implantation. You might not feel any difference in your uterus yet, but this is when the amniotic cavity- which will be filled with fluid, and the placenta- which will bring oxygen and nourishment to your baby, are forming in your uterus.This is when you put your diet in place and eat healthy - choosing from a variety of foods from the recommended food groups and drinking at least six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day. There is nothing to worry about if your food intake drops at the beginning of the first trimester. That happens because of morning sickness. If you've been eating right already, your baby will get the perfect nourishment he or she needs. You will experience many physical symptoms that will last throughout the first trimester of your pregnancy.
By the end of your first month of pregnancy, the fertilized egg grows and a water-tight sac forms around it, gradually filling with fluid. This is called the amniotic sac, and it helps protect and cushion the growing embryo, your baby. What also starts happening by the end of the first month is that the placenta starts developing, the organ that takes nutrients from you and provides it to the baby. A face is developed with large dark circles for eyes. The mouth, lower jaw, and throat of your baby are also developing. The blood cells are taking shape in the fetus’s body and circulation is about to begin. By the end of the first month, your baby should be about 1/4 inch long --smaller than a rice grain!
Ectopic pregnancy: In the third week of your pregnancy the fertilized egg cell may implant itself outside the uterus, often in the fallopian tube. This growing set of cells eventually ruptures the tube, causing significant internal bleeding and severe pain in the abdomen.
Miscarriage: The first trimester sees the highest risk of miscarriage. During these first few months, there are many things that can cause a miscarriage. This could be nature’s way of ending a pregnancy when the child would not be able to survive.
Having thoroughly informed you about all that you should expect from your first month of pregnancy, it is also advisable that you visit a gynaecologist and embark on the beautiful journey of parenthood, well-informed.
