Wikis tagged with pregnancy-week-by-week

        Week 5: What to avoid, steps to a healthy lifestyle   It's not that some people have willpower and some don't. It's that some people are ready for change and others are not. -James Gordon, M.D.     What's Happening in Your Body? Your uterus is beginning to expand, and if this is your first pregnancy, it will be about as big as a tennis ball. With subsequent pregnancies, your uterus will become larger earlier in your pregnancy. What's Happening with Your Baby? The baby's neural tube is already visible. In the coming weeks this will become your baby's...

        Week 39: The Third Stage of Labor Years ago it was unheard of that a woman should wish to see the afterbirth. Today, nearly every mother who watches her baby born asks me to show her the placenta. This I do, and point out the bag in which the infant, now lying peacefully in her arms, developed and became a perfect little human being. -Grantly Dick-Read, MD, Childbirth Without Fear   What's Happening in Your Body? Many women report a sharp, almost knife-like feeling from the pressure of the baby's head on their pelvic floor. What's Happening with Your...

        Week 9: How to choose your birth practitioner Nature, time and patience are the three great physicians. -Greek Proverb       What's Happening in Your Body? Your uterus has expanded to about the size of an orange by now, although you still probably won't be able to see this increase from the outside. What's Happening with Your Baby? It is not yet possible to determine if your baby is a girl or a boy by looking at the external sex organs. The baby's internal sex organs, however, have begun to develop this week. Your baby weighs about 1/8 of an ounce...

        Week 11: Make time for exercise and how to beat the blues   Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far. -Thomas Jefferson     What's Happening in Your Body? Your blood volume has now increased by 25 percent. Because of this, most women will begin to experience a gradual decrease in the extreme fatigue of the earlier weeks. What's Happening with Your Baby? Your baby is officially a fetus, rather than an embryo. By now your baby has a recognizably human face. The baby's eyes, complete with eyelids, and ears are...

        Week 38: The Second Stage of Labor     While you can still ask if you should push, you aren't ready to push.       What's Happening in Your Body? Your lower back may ache a bit from the increased weight of your uterus. Braxton-Hicks contractions may be happening on a daily basis. You may be feeling very weary of pregnancy by now. It's almost time! What's Happening with Your Baby? Your baby is now gaining vital immunities from you that will protect him after he is born. The Second Stage of Labor According to popular belief, a woman reaches her second...

        Week 12: What to do when your clothes don't fit   The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, nor touched ... but are felt in the heart. -Helen Keller     What's Happening in Your Body? Around this time, many women begin to notice a distinguishable bulge on their abdominal region. Your stomach may feel firmer to the touch as well. Your uterus is now about the size of a grapefruit. What's Happening with Your Baby? Your baby is now between 2 and 3 inches long, just about the size of the palm of your hand. She still weighs less than...

        Week 13: Common concerns in the second trimester and the pregnancy food groups The body has its own way of knowing, a knowing that has little to do with logic, and much to do with truth, little to do with control, and much to do with acceptance... -Marilyn Sewell   What's Happening in Your Body? You may begin to notice an increase in your appetite. For most women, nausea is beginning to subside, although food cravings may increase and continue for some time. What's Happening with Your Baby? Due to muscle development, movement has increased and your...

        Week 40: Newborn Decisions     During the early days postpartum with our four kids, we always put a sign on our door to remind people that our home was a special sanctuary with a newborn inside. -Aviva Jill Romm, Natural Health after Birth   What's Happening in Your Body? Your body is ready to give birth. Soon you will be meeting your baby! What's Happening with Your Baby? You may notice sharp kicking and pressing into your softened cervix that can feel almost knife-like. Your baby is now fully matured and ready for birth! Newborn Decisions During the...

        Week 7: How much does diet matter?   When I use the words eating well, I mean using food not only to influence health and well being but to satisfy the senses, providing pleasure and comfort. -Andrew Weil, M.D., Eating Well for Optimum Health     What's Happening in Your Body? You may begin to notice that you are responding to many things in your life with stronger emotions than usual. This is due to normal hormonal changes, which can also cause mood swings. What's Happening with Your Baby? Your baby is now developing ribs, and her hands and feet are...

        Week 25: Third Trimester Common Concerns Somewhere in our lives, each of us needs a free place, a little psychic territory. Do you have yours? -Gloria Steinem     What's Happening in Your Body? For some women the middle of pregnancy marks a time when sex becomes pleasurable again. They've had a chance to work through morning sickness and have become well adjusted to pregnancy. Some women find that they are more aware of their bodies than ever before, and may even experience heightened sexual feelings. What's Happening with Your Baby? Your baby is about...

        Week 8: How to choose a place for your baby's birth Human beings are mammals. All mammals hide themselves, isolate themselves to give birth. They need privacy. It is the same for humans. We should always be aware of this need for privacy. -Michel Odent, M.D., Birth Reform   What's Happening in Your Body? You may begin to notice some weight gain. Although your uterus may not have visibly expanded as of yet, many women notice a thickening around their waistlines. What's Happening with Your Baby? Your baby is more than 1/2 an inch long. This week webbed...

        Week 18: How to effectively communicate with your birth attendant Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. -Dr. Seuss     What's Happening in Your Body? You may start to feel your baby's movements more reliably. At first this might just seem like a tiny flutter, but soon there will be no mistaking it. What's Happening with Your Baby? Your baby is now about five to six inches long-about as long as your outstretched hand. The baby's head is not quite as large in proportion to the rest...

        Week 17: Create a network of other women   To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it. -Mother Theresa, Meditations from a Simple Path     What's Happening in Your Body? Most women notice that they need to urinate more frequently early on in pregnancy. Now you may also find that you need to get up during the night to use the bathroom. What's Happening with Your Baby? The hair on the baby's head and eyebrows is now becoming coarser and is beginning to develop pigment. Fine hair, known as lanugo, begins to grow all over the baby's body,...

        Week 16: Dealing with powerful emotions   Everything becomes possible by the mere presence of someone who knows how to listen, to live and to give of himself. -Elie Wiesl     What's Happening in Your Body? You may begin to notice a dark line, called the linea nigra, in between your belly button and the pubic region. This normal pigment change will fade after the baby's birth. What's Happening with Your Baby? Your baby is beginning to make breathing motions and can turn her head. She is also beginning to make facial expressions such as squinting,...

        Week 15: All about amniocentesis Faith is belief in the unseen, the quietly held conviction that even though you can't imagine how, at some time, in some place, in the right way, the thing you desire will indeed come to pass. -Daphne Rose Kingman     What's Happening in Your Body? You may find fatigue lessening now. Some women report a surge of energy at the beginning of the second trimester, along with a general sense of well-being. What's Happening with Your Baby? Your baby is now beginning to grow his very first hairs. Around this time the baby's...

        Week 14: Understanding weight gain during pregnancy   Being pregnant is like getting on a train that whisks you down the track to a destination not precisely known. -Rahima Baldwin and Terra Palmarini Richardson, Pregnant Feelings: Developing Trust in Birth   What's Happening in Your Body? Your clothes may be starting to feel snug. It's important to feel comfortable and unrestricted, so it may be time to start making some changes in your wardrobe. From this point on you will notice a continuous increase in the size of your abdomen until the baby is...

        Weeks 1 to 4: Confirming pregnancy and establishing due date   Becoming a parent may happen on purpose or by accident, but however it comes about, parenting itself is a calling. -Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mindful Parenting     What's Happening in Your Body? Even though you've just discovered that you're pregnant, you're already noticing some changes. You may feel tired, perhaps your breasts are tender, or you find you are urinating more frequently. Some women feel a little crampiness as the embryo implants into the uterine wall. What's Happening with...

        Week 32: Getting Ready for Labor and the First Few Postpartum Weeks Every single human being was drummed into this world by a woman, having listened to the heart rhythms of their mother. -Connie Sauer     What's Happening in Your Body? You may experience shortness of breath as your uterus presses on your diaphragm or ribs. You might find you need to take stairs slowly, and give yourself plenty of time to get from one place to the next. What's Happening with Your Baby? During these last weeks of pregnancy, your baby's weight is increasing by as much as...

        Week 30: Creating a Network of Other Moms     A friend is a gift you give yourself. -Robert Louis Stevenson     What's Happening in Your Body? Leg cramps, especially before bed, or during the night are not unusual. This is uncomfortable, but nothing to be concerned about. Try stretching and massaging your calves for relief. What's Happening with Your Baby? Your baby weighs between two and three pounds. She is slowly gaining stores of body fat and her hands are about one-inch long. Creating a Network of Other Moms We all need our friends, it’s true,...

        Week 27: Third Trimester Diagnostic Tests The human animal needs a privacy seldom mentioned, freedom from intrusion. He needs a little privacy as much as he wants understanding or vitamins or exercise or praise. -Phyllis McGinley   What's Happening in Your Body? Gum swelling and bleeding is not uncommon during pregnancy because of increased blood flow. It is important to visit your dentist for a checkup during your pregnancy at least once - be sure to inform them that you are pregnant, as dental X-rays are not safe for pregnant women. What's Happening...