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Having a baby: Stages of pregnancy by trimester - Livescience.com

Having a baby: Stages of pregnancy by trimester - Livescience.com

Having a baby: Stages of pregnancy by trimester - Livescience.com
Jun 14, 2021 3 mins, 12 secs

The stages of pregnancy are separated into three trimesters, with a fourth trimester after birth.

One of the biggest changes for most pregnant people is weight gain — a pregnant person carrying one baby should gain between 11 and 40 lbs.

But there are many other changes too, and exactly how pregnancy affects the body can be very different from person to person, and even for the same mother from one pregnancy to the next.

Some symptoms of pregnancy last for several weeks or months, while other discomforts are temporary or don't affect everyone the same way. .

During each trimester, changes take place in a pregnant person's body as well as in the developing fetus.

Some medical experts suggest that mothers and doctors should also recognize a "fourth trimester," which is the 12-week period after birth in which babies are adjusting to life outside the womb and women are coping with motherhood and on-going changes in their bodies, according to a paper published in July 2017 in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. .

First trimester changes in the mother:.

Pregnant people will experience a lot of symptoms during the first trimester as the body adjusts to the hormonal changes of pregnancy.

In the early weeks, the pregnancy may not be showing much on the outside of her body, but inside many changes are taking place. .

Besides the physical changes, expecting mothers may also experience emotional highs and lows in the early months of her pregnancy and throughout it.

After the eighth week of pregnancy and until birth occurs, a developing baby is called a fetus.

As early as the 10th week of pregnancy, a pregnant person may opt to have a noninvasive prenatal test (NIPT).

This testing uses a blood sample from the mother to analyze DNA from the fetus to help determine the risk of the baby being born with certain genetic abnormalities, according to MedlinePlus.

During the third month of pregnancy, the fetus' bones and muscles begin to grow, buds for future teeth appear, and fingers and toes grow.

Second trimester changes in the mother:.

As the fetus is getting bigger and the mother is gaining more pregnancy weight in the front of her body, she may also experience more back pain, Burch said.

Sometime between the 16th and 18th weeks of pregnancy, a first-time mother may feel the first fluttering movements of the fetus, known as quickening, Burch said.

It it isn't the first pregnancy, the mother is likely to feel the fetus kicking, squirming or turning even sooner because she knows what to expect, he said. .

Burch encourages his patients to take a "baby-moon" — a mini-vacation or weekend getaway — during the second trimester, and he said the best time to get away is around the 28th week of pregnancy.

By the fourth month of pregnancy the fetus' eyebrows, eyelashes, fingernails and the neck form, and the skin has a wrinkled appearance.

In the fifth month of pregnancy, the fetus is more active and the mother may be able to feel its movements.

Third trimester changes in the mother:

By the seventh month of pregnancy, the fetus kicks and stretches, and can even respond to light and sound, Burch said

During the eighth and ninth months of pregnancy, the fetus gains weight very quickly

The ninth month is the home stretch of pregnancy, and the fetus is getting ready for birth by turning into a head-down position in the mother's pelvis

The definition of a full-term pregnancy is when a baby is born after 39 to 40 weeks (it used to be 37 weeks), Burch said

In the weeks and months after the baby is born, the mother's body continues to go through major changes as it heals and recovers from pregnancy and birth

Despite the continuing changes and challenges that occur after childbirth, most mothers visit their obstetrician only once in the weeks after birth

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