Pregnancy Stages: First Trimester To Third Trimester

Congratulations, you are pregnant! Pregnancy is a gift given by God to every woman. After getting pregnant there are so many changes occur in life as well as in your body. Obviously, now you are on the way to entering a journey of parenthood. Most of the women, in their first pregnancy, are very much scared as well as worried because they don’t know about the journey of pregnancy. Hence, today in this article we are telling you about pregnancy stages.

Here, in this article, we guide you through the pregnancy stages. All of you know that pregnancy is of 9 months, but what happened in that 9 months with you as well as your baby? The pregnancy is categorized into three trimesters, they are;

First Trimester (week 1- week 12) First 3 Months.
Second Trimester (week 13 – week 28) 4th to 6th Month.
Third Trimester ( week 29 – 40) 7th to 9th month.

Pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks, counting from the first day of your last normal period. If you want to know what happened to you and your baby during these 9 months, then read this article carefully. After knowing all the information about the pregnancy stages then you will also know what happens to you and when. Therefore, you can enjoy your pregnancy.

The Pregnancy Stages From Beginning To Ending:

1. The First Trimester: (Week 1 to Week 12)

This is the start of your pregnancy. For several women, body image is an enormous concern for the period of pregnancy. The first trimester is the period of most important development for your fetus and of deep physical as well as emotional changes for you. You may understand that you are pregnant straight away; on the other hand, many women will not recognize that they are pregnant till at least week four or five. This is one of the aims why women are stimulated to plan for pregnancy.

Throughout the first trimester of your pregnancy, your body is experiencing intense changes. Physically you may knowledge symptoms for the duration of the first trimester such as fatigue, the occurrence of urination, nausea and breast variations. Hormonal alterations disrupt closely every organ system in your body. These variations can activate symptoms even in the very main weeks of pregnancy. Your period stopping is a clear sign that you are pregnant. Other deviations may include:

Great tiredness.
Distressed stomach with or without throwing up (morning sickness)
Headache.
Tender, inflamed breasts. Your nipples might also stick out.
Desires or distaste for definite foods.
Constipation (trouble having bowel activities)
Mood swings.
Heartburn.
Weight gain or loss.
Essential to passing urine more frequently.

When your body changes, you might necessity to create changes to your everyday routine, such as going to bed earlier or eating frequent, small meals. Fortunately, the greatest of these distresses will go away as your pregnancy develops. And some women might not feel any distress at all! If you have been expecting before, you might feel a different way this time from place to place. Just as each woman is dissimilar, so is each pregnancy.

Read: Pregnancy Care Tips

Developing Baby:

At 4 Weeks:

Your baby’s brain and spinal cord have initiated to form.
Arm and leg buds look.
Your baby is currently an embryo and one-twenty-fifth inch long.
The heart originates to form.

At 8 Weeks:

Your baby’s heart beats with a stable rhythm.
The eyes have stimulated onward on the face and the eyelids have shaped.
The gender organs rise to form.
The umbilical cord is evidently visible.
The arms and legs progress longer, and fingers and toes have fashioned to form.
All chief organs and outer body structures have initiated to form.
At the finale of eight weeks, your baby is a fetus and appears more like a human. Your baby is closely 1 inch long and weighs less than one-eighth ounce.

At 12 Weeks:

Eyelids close to defending the emerging eyes. They will not open till the 28th week.
The exterior gender organs show if your baby is a boy or a girl. A woman who takes an ultrasound in the second trimester or later might be able to discover the baby’s gender.
Head development has slowed, and your baby is much lengthier. Now, at around 3 inches long, your baby weighs nearly an ounce.
The nerves as well as muscles start to work together. Your baby can mark a fist.

2. The Second Trimester: (Week 13 to Week 27)

The second trimester is regularly measured to be the best period of pregnancy. You will conceivably notice that a lot of the side effects of the first trimester have risen to fade and you must pledge to involvement in an overall feeling of happiness and well-being. Likewise, you do not, however, have the complete weight of a growing baby introducing stress on your body.

You will also notice a number of variations throughout the second trimester such as alterations to your digestive system, your body form and inhalation, and you will sense your baby starts to move. Right now, it is a good time to prepare for the baby. Most women discover the second trimester of pregnancy more relaxed than the first. But it is just as significant to stay learned about your pregnancy during these months. You might notice that symptoms like nausea and fatigue are going away. But other new, more obvious changes to your body are now happening. Your abdomen will enlarge as the baby remains to grow. You may also experience the following symptoms;

Darkening of the skin around your nipples.
Numb or tingling hands, named carpal tunnel syndrome.
Body pains, such as back, groin, or thigh pain and abdomen.
A line on the skin running from the belly button to the pubic hairline.
Keen on the abdomen, palms, and soles of the feet.
Puffiness of the ankles, face and fingers.
Stretch marks on your abdomen, breasts, thighs, or buttocks.
Coverings of darker skin, typically over the cheeks, forehead, nose, or upper lip. Patches often match on both sides of the face. This is sometimes called the mask of pregnancy.

Developing Baby:

• At 16 Weeks:

Skin originates to form. You can closely see through it.
Your baby reaches a length of about 4 to 5 inches and weighs nearly 3 ounces.
Muscle tissue and bone endure forming, making a more complete skeleton.
Your baby makes sucking motions with the mouth (sucking reflex).
Meconium grows in your baby’s abdominal tract. This will be your baby’s chief bowel movement.

• At 20 Weeks:

Eyebrows, fingernails, eyelashes, and toenails have been shaped. Your baby can even scratch itself.
baby can hear and swallow.
Your baby is more energetic. You might feel slight fluttering.
Your baby is enclosed by fine, downy hair named lanugo and a waxy covering termed vernix. This defends the developing skin beneath.
Now halfway over your pregnancy, your baby is about 6 inches long and weighs about 9 ounces.

• At 24 Weeks:

The lungs are formed but do not work.
Your baby sleeps and wakes frequently.
Real hair arises to grow on your baby’s head.
The hand and startle response develops.

Your baby stores fat and have gained quite a bit of weight. Now at about 12 inches long, your baby weighs about 1½ pounds.

Taste buds form on your baby’s tongue.
Bone marrow instigates to make blood cells.
Footprints and fingerprints have been made.
If your baby is a boy, his testicles instigate to transfer from the stomach into the scrotum. If your baby is a girl, her uterus, as well as ovaries, are in place, and a lifespan supply of eggs has been shaped in the ovaries.

The Stages Of Pregnancy From Beginning To Ending

Read: What Are The Symptoms Of Pregnancy

3. The Third Trimester: Week 28 Till Birth:

In the third trimester, you will possibly be feeling a grouping of enthusiasm as the birth approaches, mixed with an increasing desire to hurry things along. As you are now carrying a large weight around, you will experience a number of symptoms related specifically to your increasing size. By now your uterus, which used to weigh about 50grams, will be carrying your baby, the placenta and up to about a litre of amniotic fluid, so it is little wonder that you will be feeling a bit uncomfortable.

You are in the home stretch! Some of the same anxieties you had in your second trimester will remain. And above, many women find inhalation problematic and notice they have to go to the bathroom even more time and again. This is the reason that the baby is getting bigger and it is putting more weight on your organs. Don’t worry, your baby is well and these problems will reduce as soon as you give birth. You can also experience many changes in your body and they are as follows;

Concern sleeping.
The baby “dropping”, or stirring inferior in your abdomen.
The rapidity of breath.
Your tummy button may stick out.
Haemorrhoids
Reductions can be a symbol of real or false labour.
Tender breasts, which may leak watery pre-milk called colostrum.
Swelling of the ankles, fingers, and face. If you notice any rapid or risky swelling or if you achieve a lot of weight actually fast, call your doctor right away. This might be a sign of preeclampsia.
The main signs of labour initially are solid, even reductions and a “show”. A demonstration is when the mass of mucus from your cervix originates away.

For instance, if you are close to your due date, your cervix turns thinner as well as softer which is called obliterating. This is a normal, ordinary process that returns the birth canal or vagina to exposure during the sequence of the birthing process. Your doctor will form your progress with a vaginal exam as you near your due date. Get happy — the final countdown has arisen!

Developing Baby:

• At 32 Weeks:

Your baby’s body activates to stock dynamic minerals, such as iron and calcium.
The eyes can open and close and sense alterations in light.
Lanugo begins to fall off.
Lungs are not entirely formed, but practice “breathing” activities occur.
Your baby is gaining weight rapidly, about one-half pounds a week. Currently, your baby is around 15 to 17 inches long and weighs around 4 to 4½ pounds.
Your baby’s bones are entirely formed, but quite soft.
Your baby’s kicks and jabs are forceful.

• At 36 Weeks:

Your baby is about 16 to 19 inches long and weighs about 6 to 6½ pounds.
Body fat increases. Your baby is getting bigger and bigger and has less space to move around. Movements are less forceful, but you will feel stretches and wiggles.
The protective waxy coating called vernix gets thicker.

Pregnancy Stages Fetus Development& Phases

• At Weeks 37-40:

Through the end of 37 weeks, your baby is reflected full term. Your baby’s body parts are prepared to function on their own.
As you close your due date, your baby may turn into a head-down situation for birth. Most children “present” heads down.
At birth, your baby may weigh up anywhere between 6 pounds 2 ounces as well as 9 pounds 2 ounces and be 19 to 21 inches long.
Maximum full-term babies fall inside these ranges. But strong babies come in many diverse sizes.

Read: How to Do Pregnancy Test at Home

Weight Increase In Pregnancy:

Weight gain is a common portion of pregnancy – the precise quantity differs from woman to woman. Your midwife will consider you at your first selection. If you are worried about your weight improvement, talk to your midwife or doctor. They will be capable to express you whether it is too much or too slight for you as well as your baby.

The weight you achieve during pregnancy is not the same as receiving fat. The extra weight must be prepared up of: