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Your pregnancy month one
You
By the time your period is due you are already one month pregnant, for most of this first month you will be unaware of your growing baby, perhaps waiting excitedly to see if this is “the month” or perhaps without the thought of pregnancy even entering your head.
Normally about two weeks before your expected period you will ovulate and conceive, a pregnancy test can be accurate from the first day of a missed period, although some claim to predict pregnancy up to four days before the period is due.
By the time you miss your period you might already be experiencing some of the first signs of pregnancy such as tender breasts, sickness, tiredness or increased urination. Don't worry if you don't experience all or any of these, some women go through the whole first trimester without a single symptom!. In the days before your period is due you may have a very slight bleed called “implantation bleeding” as long as it is light it is nothing to worry about.
Even if you have been planning a pregnancy you may be surprised at how you react and feel when you get the positive test. If you were not planning a pregnancy you may be worried about the possibility of a baby at all especially if you will be raising your child alone. Most women start to worry about the pregnancy itself, the possibility of miscarriage or abnormality and these first few weeks can be a worrying time, all of these fears are normal and as the pregnancy progresses they will start to fade as you prepare for your new baby.
Many women chose to wait until the start of the second trimester to share the news of their pregnancy with others, this means that by the time you tell people the pregnancy is relatively safe and keeping a secret of it with your partner can be exciting as well as giving both of you time to get used to the idea of parenthood. Other women can't wait to tell the news and call everyone as soon as they get the positive test; this has the advantage of giving you plenty of support during these first weeks and can make the pregnancy seem real at a time when the idea of a baby can seem very remote. When and who to tell is a very personal choice, perhaps you will tell some people right away and wait to share the news with others. Although most people will be happy and share your excitement some may not react in the way you expected them to, try not to let that worry you, concentrate on your growing baby instead!.
As soon as you think you might be pregnant you should stop smoking and drinking, these can harm your baby and should be avoided as much as possible through your pregnancy. It is also a good idea to start taking a folic acid supplement, it is recommended that you begin to take these in the months before a planned pregnancy and as soon as pregnancy is confirmed in an unplanned pregnancy. It is also a good idea to cut down on your caffeine intake (although it is ok to still have an occasional cup of coffee or fizzy drink!).
After fertilization your baby becomes known as a Zygote. The Zygote then travels down the fallopian tube towards the uterus, at the same time dividing and growing until it becomes a ball of 64 separate cells called a Morula. By the beginning of week four the Morula becomes known as a blastocyst and is ready to implant in the lining of the uterus. Soon after this your period will be due and a home pregnancy test should show up as positive.
Your baby has already achieved a lot in this first month, it may not look much like a baby yet, but it is well on the way and even in its tiny state it may well be letting you know about its presence by making you feel sick or tired or both. Your baby is already either a boy or a girl but it will be a while before it lets you in on this secret, some babies don't share until birth! .During these early weeks the baby will grow faster than at any other point during pregnancy going from a single celled egg waiting to be fertilized to a recognizable baby by the end of next month (week 8).
Normally about two weeks before your expected period you will ovulate and conceive, a pregnancy test can be accurate from the first day of a missed period, although some claim to predict pregnancy up to four days before the period is due.
By the time you miss your period you might already be experiencing some of the first signs of pregnancy such as tender breasts, sickness, tiredness or increased urination. Don't worry if you don't experience all or any of these, some women go through the whole first trimester without a single symptom!. In the days before your period is due you may have a very slight bleed called “implantation bleeding” as long as it is light it is nothing to worry about.
Even if you have been planning a pregnancy you may be surprised at how you react and feel when you get the positive test. If you were not planning a pregnancy you may be worried about the possibility of a baby at all especially if you will be raising your child alone. Most women start to worry about the pregnancy itself, the possibility of miscarriage or abnormality and these first few weeks can be a worrying time, all of these fears are normal and as the pregnancy progresses they will start to fade as you prepare for your new baby.
Many women chose to wait until the start of the second trimester to share the news of their pregnancy with others, this means that by the time you tell people the pregnancy is relatively safe and keeping a secret of it with your partner can be exciting as well as giving both of you time to get used to the idea of parenthood. Other women can't wait to tell the news and call everyone as soon as they get the positive test; this has the advantage of giving you plenty of support during these first weeks and can make the pregnancy seem real at a time when the idea of a baby can seem very remote. When and who to tell is a very personal choice, perhaps you will tell some people right away and wait to share the news with others. Although most people will be happy and share your excitement some may not react in the way you expected them to, try not to let that worry you, concentrate on your growing baby instead!.
As soon as you think you might be pregnant you should stop smoking and drinking, these can harm your baby and should be avoided as much as possible through your pregnancy. It is also a good idea to start taking a folic acid supplement, it is recommended that you begin to take these in the months before a planned pregnancy and as soon as pregnancy is confirmed in an unplanned pregnancy. It is also a good idea to cut down on your caffeine intake (although it is ok to still have an occasional cup of coffee or fizzy drink!).
Your baby
After fertilization your baby becomes known as a Zygote. The Zygote then travels down the fallopian tube towards the uterus, at the same time dividing and growing until it becomes a ball of 64 separate cells called a Morula. By the beginning of week four the Morula becomes known as a blastocyst and is ready to implant in the lining of the uterus. Soon after this your period will be due and a home pregnancy test should show up as positive. Your baby has already achieved a lot in this first month, it may not look much like a baby yet, but it is well on the way and even in its tiny state it may well be letting you know about its presence by making you feel sick or tired or both. Your baby is already either a boy or a girl but it will be a while before it lets you in on this secret, some babies don't share until birth! .During these early weeks the baby will grow faster than at any other point during pregnancy going from a single celled egg waiting to be fertilized to a recognizable baby by the end of next month (week 8).