First Trimester

Within two weeks of fertilization, a blood test can confirm that you are pregnant. Congratulations!

In this, your first trimester, your body is very busy not only preparing itself for the rest of your pregnancy, but also growing your baby's organs. Stem Cells begin to specialize into other cells creating your baby's pancreas, liver, brain, heart, etc. You are able to see and feel signs of this throughout these three months. In your first month, you will notice that your breasts are swollen and sensitive, then, you will find that your areola and nipples are darker and the prominent veins on your breasts are more visible. By your second month, you may be experiencing the nausea commonly referred to as morning sickness. And you may be spending even more time in the bathroom: your rising HCG and progesterone levels inspire much more frequent urination. Progesterone can also be credited with your fatigue, which is intensified by your now speedy metabolism. By week 12, your placenta has taken charge of hormone production and will now be directing your body to do all the right things to prepare for, and provide for, your baby over the next two trimesters.

By the end of this trimester, your baby will weigh approximately one ounce, and will be about three inches long. Your baby has all the major organs, a head, mouth, eyes, hands and the beginnings of limbs, fingernails, teeth and even vocal cords - all the better to scream and cry with a few months down the road. Can you imagine that? Your own howling baby? It will make all the morning sickness and breast tenderness so worthwhile!


Second Trimester

You are digesting solid food on a regular basis, which is a welcome development, and you have a lot more energy now. Your body has shifted its focus from growing your baby's organs to growing you! You will gain the majority of your weight in this trimester, and your collection of symptoms may increase. You also may notice skin changes, forgetfulness, swelling, clumsiness, backaches, nosebleeds, Braxton-Hicks contractions, or any number of minor inconveniences, aches, and sensations. You may start noticing a fluttering sensation: your baby at play inside you! He or she will be somersaulting around in your amniotic fluid, reacting to touch and loud noises.

Your baby is able now to react to the outside world, thanks to ears that can overhear and eyes complete with brows and lashes that can see everything within eight inches. Your baby can do so much now! Hiccups are an option. So is thumb-sucking. Their hands and feet are fully formed, nails and all. And their brain tissue is bulking up quite nicely, as is their head of hair, (if there's any there)... By the end of this trimester, your baby will weigh approximately three pounds, and should be about 11 inches in length. They've been growing as quickly as you have!

Third Trimester

While your weight gain is slowing, your baby's is still at full throttle. But your baby isn't moving around much anymore. Other than positioning themselves for birth, they're not going to do too much moving around towards the end of this trimester. What they will be doing is shedding (and eating some of) the lanugo and vernix that have been blanketing them, while their lungs and brain are racing toward maturity. Their immune system is still immature, though. Your placenta, and later your breast milk, provide needed antibodies. Your baby's sight has improved: they can now track movement and differentiate between light and dark. Thanks to this development, they're now on a regular sleep cycle. Don't count on that lasting too long after birth. You are at your most voluptuous.

Though you are not gaining much more weight, your bra size is through the roof. Your baby's size is impressive as well, and that is making it tough to sleep and unwise to stay too far from the bathroom. Those trips to the bathroom may now involve waddling. Relaxin, one of those hormones running rampant through your system, softens your hip joints, and your belly has begun throwing your posture into a swayback curve, which, if unchecked, will intensify your backaches. The aching and waddling will end soon enough, though. Labor generally occurs naturally before week 42. Ideally, it lasts for between 11 and 15 hours.

By your due date, your baby will, if average, weigh about seven and a half pounds, measure about twenty inches from head to toe, and be the most beautiful little person you will ever meet.