Pregnancy Week By Week
As you progress through your pregnancy, it can be helpful to know what is going on in your pregnancy week by week. We say that there are 40 weeks in a pregnancy, on average, before the baby is born. At the time of conception you are already considered 2 weeks pregnant. By the time you miss your first menstrual period, you are 4 weeks pregnant. (Read about the signs of pregnancy here.) The weeks of pregnancy are divided up into 3 parts- the first (weeks 1-13), second (weeks 14-28) and third (weeks 29 until birth) trimesters. When you understand what is going on in your pregnancy week by week, it can be easier to tell what’s normal and what isn’t, why you might be feeling one way or another, what testing to research and make informed decisions about and what to expect from your baby’s development as well.
Here’s a quick overview to help you better understand your pregnancy week by week.
Baby Development During Your First Trimester
Your baby is forming! From an egg and sperm, a person develops slowly and methodically, cell by cell. The first 13 weeks of pregnancy are crucial and the processes of formation and development of the baby cannot be interrupted or changed. The heart starts beating at about the 22nd day of development, and by the time the first 13 weeks are over, the baby already looks like a little human!
This is also the time that many women begin to feel more “normal”; a reduction in nausea, feeling an appetite back, not as tired, etc.
Baby Development During Your Second Trimester
The second trimester is all about bone development for the baby. Because of this and because the baby is getting bigger each day, the second trimester is the time when you will be able to feel the baby move. This most commonly happens as early as the 14th week or as late as the 22nd week of pregnancy. Factors that affect how soon you will notice this movement are whether it is your first pregnancy or not (often first time mamas feel movement later; possibly because they may not recognize those first flutters until they have a bit of hindsight), how much extra weight you are carrying in your abdominal area, and where your placenta is located, to name a few.
Because movement makes the baby so much more real, this is a great time to begin connecting with your child on a daily basis (if you haven’t already done this). This is also a time, generally, of feeling pretty good yourself. The second trimester is sometimes referred to as the “honeymoon” of pregnancy. Most of the icky first trimester feelings have passed, and the heaviness and fatigue of the third trimester haven’t kicked in yet. This is a great time to travel a bit!
Baby Development During Your Third Trimester
The baby’s movements and flips and kicks are still going strong, and for the most part, this continues up until birth. The third trimester is the time when your baby goes from being a skinny little thing to putting on all the brown body fat that will keep him warm after birth. You may find that you continue to gain weight as a result of this, or you may find that your weight stays pretty constant even though the baby is putting on ounces every day. This last trimester is a time of increasing realization that labor and birth are near! This is a good time to finish up investigating your fears and desires for birth.
To get even more information about what is going on in your pregnancy week by week, take a look at the long list of articles below:
