Once you are pregnant, you might feel like knowing more about the stages of pregnancy and development of your baby. It’s always better to know and understand these stages beforehand, so that, you can take better care of yourself and your developing baby. The knowledge will help you enjoy your motherhood time.
The pregnancy usually lasts about 40 weeks. The stages of pregnancy can be categorized month by month or by weeks grouped into three trimesters. In this article, we will read about the three stages of pregnancy for brief and easy understanding of the changes.
First Trimester (week 1-week 12)
The first trimester, which starts from the first day of your last normal period continue till 12 weeks. During this time you may experience different hormonal changes and most of your organ is affected by these changes. Some women may experience the changes in the every first week while some may experience it later. In addition to the discontinuance of your period, you may experience fatigue, morning sickness, constipation, mood swings, frequent urination and tender or enlarged breasts.
During this time, you need to take good care of your diet and routine. It’s important that you include all vitamins, minerals and other nutrients for proper growth and development of the baby. You can also do few exercises which suits to your fitness level by consulting the experts.
Second Trimester (week 13-week 28)
During the second trimester, you will feel comparatively better than the first trimester. As your pregnancy progresses to second stage symptoms like nausea, fatigue and morning sickness get reduced. However, your body appearance will change as your abdomen will expand with growth of the baby. During this stage you may experience body aches that include back, thighs, groin and abdomen. You will also see stretch marks on your abdomen, thighs, buttocks and breasts. You will find the area around nipples darkening. Some of the women may also experience itching on the abdomen, palms, and soles of the feet. As you come to the end to this stage you may feel the movement and kick of the baby.
At this stage, you should be careful will lifting and carrying heavy things. While you need to change the exercises, you will continue with healthy nutritious diet increased calories.
Third Trimester (Week 29-Week 40)
On entering the third trimester, you may experience some discomforts. Due to the increased size and weight of your baby you may experience back pain as well as the need for urinating more often. This stage may make you feel very uncomfortable and anxious. You may experience shortness of breath and heartburn. At the same time you will also become more emotional and sensitive. At this stage your breasts become tender, which may leak watery pre-milk called colostrum.
You need to continue with nutrition and calories. You can continue will small exercises but you will have to reduce the intensity.
These stages of pregnancy will help you prepare yourself for the most beautiful gift you will receive. The diet and routine you maintain at this time will help the baby to grow and develop properly. And hence, you can be excited to enjoy your motherhood time.