Your first trimester: what to expect
Your first trimester (weeks 0-12) is an exciting time in early pregnancy. Your baby is developing fast and you’ll be able to see him for the first time at your first pregnancy scan. You’ll feel a range of emotions and mood swings too – and pregnancy symptoms such as morning sickness can loom large.
Your feelings
Don’t be surprised if you feel decidedly ambiguous about finding out that you’re pregnant. Even if your baby is much-wanted and you’ve been trying to get pregnant for a long time, the reality can be overwhelming. After the initial feelings of joy and excitement, it’s common to feel a tad down and to experience intense
mood swings.
It’s partly due to pregnancy hormones. While they sustain the changes your body needs to make to support and nourish your growing baby, they can leave you an emotional wreck. Plus, many women find they result in the dreaded
morning sickness. And this can be a misnomer, as it’s common for pregnancy nausea to continue 24-7 during the first trimester. Eating smaller, more frequent meals and avoiding spicy, fatty foods can help (check out gurgle’s other tried-and-tested tips for
easing morning sickness).
At the same time as your baby is forming, your
placenta is too ??– it’s thought this may be one reason women usually feel so
tired in early pregnancy. Try to grab a few minutes’ rest whenever you can and accept that you’ll be going to bed much earlier than usual for the next couple of months. Be prepared for disturbed nights too – pregnancy hormones can make you feel the urge to urinate constantly during the first trimester (in fact for some women it’s the first sign of pregnancy) meaning regular trips to the bathroom overnight.
Tender breasts also can be a problem in the first trimester. The good news is that most moms-to-be see these pregnancy niggles clear up once their first trimester passes.
Taking care of you and your baby
It’s vital that you
eat right now that you’re pregnant. Your baby is relying on you for nourishment and if your diet doesn’t provide it, his growth may be affected. And even though you may feel too ill to eat, ensuring that you consume a healthy, balanced diet will help you overcome tiredness and compensate all the extra work your body is doing to nourish your baby. Adequate folate intake is particularly important as this can help protect your baby from
spina bifida, so ask your healthcare provider about supplementing with folic acid.
Look to your
alcohol and
caffeine intake: these can endanger your pregnancy and your baby if you partake to excess. Certain foods also should be
avoided to safeguard your baby. You may experience some odd
food cravings around now and these may be associated wit your dietary needs now you’re pregnant.
Ensure you get plenty of
exercise too (check with your healthcare provider before taking up any new exercise routine if you’re not used to exercising). Keeping active will boost your mood and your energy and also can help you avoid
backache as your bump grows, and
varicose veins as your circulation slows due to pregnancy hormones. Try to go for a walk each day, or enroll in a pregnancy yoga or aquarobics class at your local fitness club or YMCA. As a rule, avoid any high impact aerobics like step classes, and if you’re taking a standard fitness class tell the fitness instructor that you’re pregnant so that she can let you know which exercises may not be suitable for you.
Taking some me-time is vital. Moms-to-be often are the forgotten ingredient in pregnancy, with everyone wanting to know the latest news on how your baby is growing. Taking a few moments out to listen to quiet music, read a book, have a massage or meditate can make a huge difference to your state of mind at this time.
Your prenatal care
You should schedule your first prenatal check at around weeks six to eight. Your OB-GYN or midwife will ask you how you’re feeling and will likely offer advice to help you cope with early pregnancy symptoms that may be getting you down. They also will discuss
prenatal tests and checks with you. These assess your risk of having a baby with a disability but they don’t provide a definite diagnosis.
Occasionally you may be offered a dating scan in your first trimester if you’re unsure of your dates and are at risk of having a baby with an abnormality, since the accuracy of screening and diagnostic tests depends on when they’re performed. You may also have an early scan if there are any concerns about your pregnancy (for example, if you’ve experienced any
bleeding or you conceived via
IVF).
For most moms-to-be, their first scan is the
nuchal translucency scan, which forms part of their first trimester screen, carried out between weeks 11 and 13. It measures an area of fluid behind the baby’s neck that has been linked with chromosomal disorders such as
Down syndrome (a special blood test may be performed at the same time). A
second scan carried out during your second trimester (weeks 13-28) checks your baby for physical abnormalities such as
cleft lip and palate and
spina bifida (blood tests carried out during your second trimester also check for spina bifida).
If you’re ‘screen negative’ this means that the risk of having a baby with this problem is low enough not to be considered a problem; if you’re ‘screen positive’, you’re considered to be at a high enough risk to have a diagnostic test, which can tell you for sure whether your baby has a certain condition. Diagnostic tests include certain types of ultrasound scans,
chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and
amniocentis. These tests are invasive and carry a small risk of miscarriage that, for some women, outweighs the benefit of being tested.
It’s important to recognize that being ‘screen positive’ doesn’t mean your baby is definitely affected by this condition. Many of the women who get positive results go on to have perfectly healthy babies. These cases are referred to as false positives. ??
Your baby’s development
During your first trimester your baby develops from a fertilized egg to a full-formed human being. After the fertilized egg implants in the wall of your uterus (which actually happens in
week three of your pregnancy) his brain, spinal cord, heart and other organs begin to form.
At this stage your baby doesn’t remotely resemble a person – he looks more like a tiny shrimp! He’s officially an embryo, and he’s formed of three separate layers. The top layer (called the ectoderm) will develop into what’s called the neural tube, which is where his brain, spinal cord, spinal nerves and spinal bones will develop. His middle layer (mesoderm) will develop into his heart and circulatory system, as well as his muscles, bones, kidneys and reproductive system. His inner layer (endoderm) will form his lungs, intestines and bladder.
During
week five his heart will start to beat. His growth starts to speed up so that by the end of
week six his facial features are beginning to develop, with openings that will become his mouth, ears and eyes. His digestive and respiratory systems are forming, as are small buds that will develop into tiny arms and legs. At
seven weeks, he’s around three-quarters of an inch long. His body is still transparent but his face is becoming more defined. By the end of
week eight he has tiny webbed fingers and toes and is just over half an inch long. His eyelids, ears, nose and lips continue to develop. By now his heart is beating at around 150 beats per minute.
He’s bouncing round in there, but you won’t feel him for a while, as he’s still tiny – just an inch long. His head makes up nearly half of his body – and hair follicles are starting to form on it. His internal organs continue to develop. In
week 10 his skeleton starts to form and the webbing connecting his fingers and toes is gone. Tooth buds are forming in his gums and if he is a boy he starts producing the male hormone testosterone. In
week 11 your baby is officially a fetus, and his (or her) sex organs will have formed and may be visible on a scan. By
week 12, the end of your first trimester, he has tiny finger and toenails and a proper face, although his eyes have yet to form and his eyelids won’t open for some time yet. He’s around three inches long.
Your baby is now fully formed. From now until the end of your pregnancy he’ll continue to increase in size until he’s ready to be born.
The information in this feature is intended for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your health, the health of your child or the health of someone you know, please consult with a doctor or other healthcare professional.
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Last Modified: 08/02/2009