Having a baby is an overwhelming experience: you are nurturing a life inside you and it is nothing less than a life changing stage for women. A mother who is expecting would like nothing better than to know how her baby is developing and that is the topic being covered in this article. The baby develops in stages, and we are going to see the pregnancy symptoms week by week, for the early stages of development as it is impossible to give the whole detail in one article.
The process of pregnancy actually begins two weeks before conception. This may be surprising for some to know, but doctors take this time to be a part of the gestation period. By the time you actually get to know that you are pregnant, these two weeks of pregnancy will already have passed. If you are beginning to wonder why that is so, let us tell you that conception occurs after the occurring of your menstrual cycle. The first week of permanency coincides with the end of your period.
It is important to know at this stage what periods actually are. In this process, the lining of the uterus, which in medical terms is known as endometrium, is gotten rid of by the body. After the first week, the progesterone levels in your body start to increase. The uterus thickens in preparation for the baby and starts making extra blood vessels. Meanwhile the cell grows in the ovaries.
Now the conception actually takes place: and the body starts to produce a hormone known as HCG which will be detected in urine about two weeks after this stage. So basically you get to know you are pregnant after almost five weeks of pregnancy. This hormone is very important because of the role it plays: it basically encourages production of progesterone so that the body does not shed the lining of the uterus. It also suppresses the immune system so that the baby does not get rejected by the body. This means that at this stage, you are quite prone to colds and flues, so it is important to take care of yourself.
The production of progesterone continues for almost seven weeks and this stops when placenta replaces it. Did you ever wonder what caused all those symptoms that are customary in the early weeks of pregnancy? Well, they are caused by progesterone. Apart from the very important purpose it serves, it also is the cause of your body storing extra fat, and for feeding the baby you are nurturing inside you. Another useful purpose that it serves is that it eases the tension building up in the muscles and thus prevents any chances of premature labour. Get ready for all the ‘excitement’ of the journey through pregnancy: waking up to feel nauseous, experiencing constipation and indigestion, and the tingling sensation in your breasts.
Now you move to the week four. By this time you will have gotten a little introduction to what you will be going through in pregnancy, but as mentioned earlier, these things are temporary and are very important for the development of the baby, the tiny little life that is nurturing within you. This is the time when pregnancy will reveal itself to you through early symptoms and the baby, which was just a tiny cell till now, begins to develop. The full process is fascinating, but since the space has run out, we will halt here. We hope you find this article informative.
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