First Trimester
December 22nd, 2008 Posted by: admin
When you’re pregnant, the three trimesters are your major milestones. The trimesters aren’t three periods of exactly three months each-they’re of different lengths, defined by the way
a baby grows and develops. The first trimester starts with the presumed date of conception (two weeks after your last period), and represents the first twelve weeks of your baby’s life in the womb. The second trimester ends at 28 weeks, and the third trimester is the rest of your pregnancy.
In the first trimester, your body adjusts to being pregnant. At first you won’t look any different, and you might not feel different, either, but the activities of your hormones will soon start to affect you in various ways. You might experience lots of mood swings, you may want to make love more or less often, and you may find that your appetite changes and you start choosing simpler, blander food than usual.
PHYSICAL CHANGES
Your pregnant body is having to work very hard to accommodate your developing embryo and the placenta. When you’re pregnant, your body’s metabolic rate increases and is between 10 and 25 percent higher than normal. This means that all the body’s functions are stepped up. Your cardiac output rises steeply, almost to the maximum level that will be kept up throughout the rest of your pregnancy. Your heart rate rises, too, and will go on doing so until the middle of the second trimester. Your breathing becomes more rapid because you now need to send more oxygen to your baby and breathe out more carbon dioxide.
Because of the action of increased levels of estrogen and progesterone in your body, your breasts quickly become larger and heavier. They’re usually tender to the touch from very early on, too. There’s an increase in fatty deposits in your breasts, and new milk ducts grow. The areola around your nipple becomes darker and develops little nodules called Montgomery’s tubercles. Underneath your skin, you’ll notice a network of bluish lines appearing as blood supply to your breasts increases.
Your uterus becomes larger even in early pregnancy, but you won’t feel it through the abdominal wall until the end of the first trimester, when it begins to rise above your pelvic brim. While the uterus is still low in your pelvis, it’ll start to press on your bladder as it get bigger, so you’ll almost certainly find that you need to urinate more often.
The muscle fibers of your uterus begin to thicken until it becomes very solid. Even so, you probably won’t notice your waistline changing until the end of this first trimester.
TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF
When you’re pregnant, you need extra carbohydrates and protein to supply your growing baby and the placenta, as well as your uterus and breasts, so it’s vital to eat healthily right from the start. If you have difficulty keeping meals down, eat little and often throughout the day. Many women feel most nauseous when their stomach is empty, like in the morning. You’ll need extra fluids, too, so drink at least eight glasses of liquid a day. You should avoid drugs, caffeine, junk food, alcohol, and smoking throughout your whole pregnancy, but it’s particularly important at this time, when fetal organs are forming. Make sure you get plenty of rest, too.
Clothes You’ll feel happier in comfortable clothes. You won’t need to buy maternity clothes yet, but there’s nothing worse than wearing something tight and uncomfortable, so try to stay a step ahead of your increasing size. You’ll probably need a larger bra almost right away, preferably a properly fitted maternity bra.
Related Links
http://health.yahoo.com/
