What to expect
By: Isabella Liggett
First Trimester
During the first month, you find out you are pregnant. The baby is only the size of a poppy seed and it's primitive placenta forms. During the second month, you begin to feel fatigued, sore in your breasts, and nauseous. Your hormones with fluctuate therefore you will have many mood swings. Meanwhile, your baby grows from the size of a sesame seed to the size of a kidney bean. Their appendages and many of their organs develop during the second month, such as the appendix, pancreas, veins, neural pathways, ect. Finally, in the third month of the first trimester, even though there is a chance you may not look pregnant yet, you still have many things changing in your body. You experience a feeling of more energy. From now on, you will typically gain a pound per week. The rate for a miscarriage is lower and your breasts begin to make colostrum. Your baby during this month will begin to look much more human. It will grow non distinguishable sex organs, muscle organs, and vital organs. The heart fully divides into four chambers. The eyes and ears also move more toward where they are supposed to be. The baby will begin to flex, stretch, and kick around though you won't feel it.
Second Trimester
During the fourth month if your pregnancy, also the first month of the second trimester, your belly will begin to show that you are pregnant. Your mood swings will lessen, you will begin to have the "glowing skin" and your center of gravity will change. There is a chance you could also find out the gender based on clarity of the picture and baby positioning. The baby will begin to make faces, pee, and suck its thumb. Its cartilage skeleton will turn to bone, limbs will grow to proportional size, and joints and sweat glands begin to form. During the fifth month, you will gain a larger appetite as well as a big belly. You will have increased estrogen and experience discoloration in your hands and belly. Stretch marks will also begin to appear. The baby's eyes and ears move to their final positions and all limbs are proportional. You will feel and see the baby's movements. The sensory development is huge, they can hear everything. The baby looks much more like a new born. In the sixth month, your hair will look great due to hormonal changes. Your lower back, legs, and ankles with begin to be sore. During this month your baby is becoming more prepared for the outside world with developments in hearing and breathing. They open and close their eyelids as well as sleep and wake.
Third Trimester
In the seventh month you will experience lower libido, cravings, and feel more tired. The baby is beginning to grow fat in order to live in the outside world. In the eighth month, you will have heartburn and constipation. Your baby will continue to grow fat all around it's body and develop better vision. In the ninth and final month your baby now has hair and is just preparing it's lungs and brain. You will feel many Braxton Hicks contractions more often before being ready to give birth.
Advice For Father
In order to help with pregnancy, you must do your best to keep her comfortable. She will have trouble doing things due to soreness later in the pregnancy and will need your help. Help her exercise and focus on her nutrition. Take her to birthing classes if it is your first child so you can be more prepared for when the birth comes.