Pregnancy Week by Week, An Overview

During pregnancy the unborn baby stays in the womb for around thirty eight to forty weeks. The pregnancy due date is estimated form the first day of the last period. The actual pregnancy week by week stages are broken down into trimesters, the first trimester is the first twelve weeks, second trimester weeks twelve to twenty four and third trimester weeks twenty four to forty.

For most women, they can only take their pregnancy on a week by week basis. In the early stages, the changes in their body are pretty amazing. The very early signs of pregnancy can often be enough to slow you down quite considerably, these symptoms will include morning sickness and tiredness. As the pregnancy week by week progresses, these early signs of pregnancy will start to disappear and be replaced by more physical signs of pregnancy.

During the second trimester, pregnancy week by week changes are mostly centered around you starting to show. During the first trimester it is hard for others to spot your pregnancy, yet during the second trimester you will start to put on considerable weight. Although you may not need to buy any maternity clothes quite yet, you will definitely feel more pregnant and others will notice.

The second trimester is often the most enjoyable stage of being pregnant week by week. This is because emotionally you have come to terms with being pregnant and have finally got through all of those nasty early symptoms of pregnancy. Now that you have control of your body again, you can start to concentrate on the future, planning ahead for the baby and generally taking care of yourself from a health and fitness perspective.

All through the pregnancy week by week, you should be taking care of yourself. This means eating and drinking healthily and taking moderate exercise. You should not be overdoing it at this stage or taking part in strenuous activities, especially heavy lifting. If you have not stopped smoking and drinking alcohol during your pregnancy, you must seriously consider stopping right now. As the pregnancy week by week progresses, you are causing harm to both you and your unborn baby.

As you head towards the end of the second trimester, your thoughts will no doubt turn to labor and delivery. The pregnancy week by weeks leading up to delivery can be quite nerve racking, especially if this is your first baby. Often, there is nothing to be afraid of, if you have taken part in antenatal classes and have a general understanding of which breathing exercises to practice, you should be fine and experience few complications. If your doctor has identified any risks during your pregnancy week by week, they will have informed you by now.

During the final stages of pregnancy week by week, you will need to slow things down quite considerably. You might be experiencing discomfort when you move too much, so it is best to relax and conserve your energy as much as possible for labor and delivery.

Read more of our articles on pregnancy week by week

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 1 to 12
Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 13 to 24