Pregnancy Changes Trimester by Trimester

Pregnancy Pillows Sale

Trusted Baby Bedding Stores

Baby Bedding Blogs

Baby Bedding Search

		| E-Mail Page To A Friend |

What's a tired mom-to-be to do? Buy a Snoozer Pillow

Well, plain and simple, you're going to grow a baby. It's going to take about nine months; it's going to be exciting, worrisome and life altering. But in the end, you're going to be a mommy! Maybe again!

So, what's going to happen in the weeks and months ahead? How will you change? How will the baby change, develop and grow into a new life - a true miracle? Let's take a look at what lies ahead.

Baby Finds a Home
When the fertilized egg attaches itself to the uterine wall, it's still microscopic in size - invisible to the naked eye.

The thickened uterine wall provides the perfect environment for growth. The few cells (that will someday ask to borrow the car) split, creating more and more cells faster and faster. Some of the cells that attach to the uterus will form the baby's placenta - in effect, baby's life support system providing everything needed for proper development. The rest of this tiny sphere of cells will grow into a fetus - the baby floating inside the safety of the gestational sac inside the uterus, now called a womb.

Baby will grow quickly. The tiny fetus gets nourishment from the Yolk sac for the first 12 weeks of growth while the placenta develops. After the 12th week of pregnancy, the fetus is nourished from the mother's blood stream. The placenta provides the pipeline for oxygen, hormones and, again, nutrients to support fetal growth.

From the start, an umbilical cord connects the baby and the placenta. This tube-like vessel delivers oxygen and nutrients while simultaneously removing waste products from baby to the placenta.

Differentiation, the formation of different types of cells, is critical to the development of organ systems. During week three of the pregnancy, the brain, heart, and spinal cord begin to develop, along with the gastrointestinal system.

During weeks four and five, vertebrae and bone tissue start to form. The basis for eyes and eyes develop. The brain and cranial nerves become more sophisticated. Arm and leg buds grow. The heart starts to beat and early blood flow begins.

At week six, the lungs are developing and circulation improves. The arms and legs have grown some, and hands and feet are growing fingers and toes.

Week seven brings the growth of hair follicles and nipples. All the major organs are growing. The following week, the intestines develop further. Facial features are more pronounced and the ears are almost completely formed.

After eight weeks, baby has developed quickly and is now called a fetus.

In weeks nine through twelve, your little one will grow longer. Its head is equal in size to the rest of its body, the face well-formed. Tooth buds develop. Limbs lengthen. The urinary and genital components mature. Red blood cells are produced.

And, this is exciting - you can hear baby's heartbeat using a Doppler - a device you can purchase at the local pharmacy.

By the sixteenth week, your little bundle will grow to be six inches long. Lanugo, fine hair, grows on the head. Muscle and bones develop further. The fetus can suck and move. The liver and pancreas begin to function.

Moving right along to week twenty - a major emotional milestone for many moms-to-be - your little peanut has grown to eight inches long. Lanugo now covers the entire body. Finger and toenails are present. Eyebrows and eyelashes make their appearance. Quickening (your awareness of baby's movements) occurs. The heartbeat is loud enough to be heard with a stethoscope.

By week twenty-eight, the little one is now over two pounds - still little, but considering its microscopic size not so long ago, that's some growth spurt!

Weeks twenty-nine through week forty are all about getting ready for the grand debut. Baby fattens up, grows a bit longer (usually to between nineteen and twenty inches), loses its lanugo, and begins to really work on moving around.

Baby is considered full-term at thirty-seven weeks.

At forty weeks, mom and baby reach their due date and the joy and the adventure begin.

Okay, the joy actually began forty weeks earlier, but there are all kinds of joy associated with pregnancy. The joy of making baby, the joy of learning about baby's presence, the joy of bonding with baby in utero, the joy of anticipating and preparing for baby, the joy of bringing baby into the world (there is joy, even in pain), the joy of that wonderful new little person in your life.

If you're lucky, that was not new information. But even the most informed women (and men) can use a refresher course every now and then. Or, at least every pregnancy. So, let's summarize major changes for baby and for you trimester by trimester.