Pregnancy and Birth Essay

Submitted By cassidymccauley
Words: 4452
Pages: 18
Open Document
So you think you’re
Pregnant?

How do you know when you’re pregnant?
If you're extremely tuned into your body's rhythms, you may begin to suspect you're pregnant soon after conception. But most women won't experience any early pregnancy symptoms until the fertilized egg attaches itself to the uterine wall, several days after conception.

Symptoms that you just cannot ignore;
 Miss your period - if you’re usually regular and your period is late you should try a pregnancy test.
 Food cravings - this can sometimes be a sign of pregnancy but don’t rely on them as a sure symptom
 Darkening of your skin around your nipples - this means you may successfully conceived although this may be a sign or hormonal imbalance unrelated to pregnancy
 Implantation bleeding or cramping - after about 8 days after ovulation you may experience implantation spotting, a light stain of a pink or brown colour as well as cramping.
 Frequent urination - once the embryo implants and begins producing the hormone human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) you may need to go to the bathroom a lot.
 Fatigue - high levels of the hormone progesterone can make you feel as if you’ve ran a marathon when really you just spent a day at the office
 Tender, swollen breasts - your breasts will probably become tender to touch just like they do before your period but much more so.
 Altered sense of taste - your sense of taste tends to change. The things you once loved may taste horrible to you now.
 Morning sickness - if you’re lucky you may not experience morning sickness until a few weeks after conception. But as early as a couple of days following conception, you may feel sick and throw up.
 A positive home pregnancy test - if you have waited to test until at least the last day of a missed period and 2 lines appears in the test window, you are most likely to be pregnant.

Month 1 This week marks the beginning of the embryonic period. From now until 10 weeks, all of your baby's organs will begin to develop and some will even begin to function. As a result, this is the time when she'll be most at risk to anything that might interfere with her development. Right now your baby is an embryo the size of a poppy seed, consisting of two layers; the epiblast and the hypoblast, from which all of its organs and body parts will develop. The primitive placenta is also made up of two layers at this point. Its cells are tunneling into the lining of your uterus, creating spaces for your blood to flow so that the developed placenta will be able to provide nutrients and oxygen to your growing baby when it starts to function at the end of this week. Also present now are the amniotic sac, which will house your baby; the amniotic fluid, which will cushion her as she grows; and the yolk sac, which produces your baby's red blood cells and helps deliver nutrients to her until the placenta has developed and is ready to take over this duty. If you're taking any medications/prescription or over-the-counter, ask now whether it's safe to keep taking them and be sure to alert your caregiver to any other issues of concern. If you haven’t already, you should start taking a multivitamin that contains at least 400 micrograms of folic acid. The mums tummy would have started grow but only slightly as you can on the picture to the left.
The first trimester of pregnancy is marked by an invisible yet amazing transformation and it happens quickly. Hormones trigger your body to begin healthful the baby even before tests and a physical exam can confirm the pregnancy. You start to feel run down all the time even if you haven’t done much because hormone progesterone soar in the mean time lower blood sugar levels, lower blood pressure and increase blood production can cause you to feel this way. You feel sick occasionally and you throw up from rapidly rising levels of estrogen and progesterone which cause the stomach to empty slowly. You tend to leak urine
Show More

Related Documents: Pregnancy and Birth Essay

Pregnancy: Pregnancy and Birth Control Methods Essay

“Teenage Pregnancy Can Be Prevented” Many teens are falling victim to teenage pregnancy. This trend is ruining the life of many teenagers throughout the world. With lack of parental involvement and limited guidance many teenagers are experiencing sex unprotected at a young age. With this behavior comes a consequence that these young people are not prepared to face. So many young girls are not aware of birth control methods or the consequences of sexual activity. They end up getting pregnant…

Words 730 - Pages 3

Abortion: Pregnancy and Birth Control Essay

don’t believe in abortion ( other alternatives) A. Birth control B. Adoption The embryo being innocent IV. Third reason I don’t believe in abortion (damage to body) A. Physical damage B. Psychological damage V. Statistic chart VI. Conclusion VII. References E. An abortion is a procedure that is used to end unwanted pregnancies. Abortions happen way too often in the United States. Approximately one- fifth of the 6.4 million pregnancies the happen annually in the United States end in…

Words 1437 - Pages 6

Pregnancy and Birth Defects Essay

with birth defects, like Down syndrome, Spina Bifida, Craniosynostosis and others. Also, 20 percent of infant deaths are the leading deaths in the United States. A lot of these children go through surgery due to the type of defect they are born with and issues they go through every day for the rest of their life. In fact, there is an estimate that about 3 percent of all children are born with major defects; minor defects or variations are estimated to occur in 10 percent to 15 percent of birth. Sometimes…

Words 320 - Pages 2

Preparing The Risk Of Assisted Pregnancy And Births

Because of assisted reproductive technologies, twin pregnancy occurs more frequently now than in the past, and it complicates 2 to 3% of all births.1,2 Twins are at higher risk for an adverse perinatal outcome than singletons.3,4 Planned cesarean section, as compared with planned vaginal delivery, may reduce this risk.5 Although a small, randomized, controlled trial did not show better perinatal outcomes with planned cesarean section than with planned vaginal delivery,6 several cohort studies have…

Words 1769 - Pages 8

Ended Before Birth

(pregnancy ended before birth) is the practice of ending a pregnancy by the causing the death of the human unborn baby. In 1973, (pregnancy ended before birth) was (permitted by law) in the United States via the famous court case of Roe vs Wade. Roe was a single and (having a baby developing inside the body) woman who was fighting the state of Texas where the law stated she was not allowed to get a (pregnancy ended before birth). Roe won the case and (pregnancy ended before birth) was (permitted…

Words 1300 - Pages 6

Essay on teen pregnancy 101

were 29.4 births for every 1,000 adolescent females ages 15-19, or 305,388 babies born to females in this age group.[1] Nearly eighty-nine percent of these births occurred outside of marriage[1]. The 2012 teen birth rate indicates a decline of six percent from 2011 when the birth rate was 31.3 per 1,000.[1]The teen birth rate has declined almost continuously over the past 20 years. In 1991, the U.S. teen birth rate was 61.8 births for every 1,000 adolescent females, compared with 29.4 births for every…

Words 874 - Pages 4

The Pros And Cons Of Birth Control

Some of these controversial drugs include medical marijuana, steroids, Accutane, Adderall, and birth control. One of the more prominent of these is birth control. Countless women and teenage girls use birth control for various reasons. It can be used to prevent pregnancy, lessen menstrual cramps, improve acne, delay or advance a menstrual period, or even cause the menstrual cycle not to occur. However, birth control does have several side effects, some of which are minimal and some of which are severe…

Words 1679 - Pages 7

Birth Control Accessibility

Birth Control Should Be Highly Accessible Birth control is a strategy commonly used by numerous biological women to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Additionally, birth control is used by many people who struggle with their menstrual cycles to manage menstrual symptoms. Because of this, birth control is a necessity for many biological women around the world. However, some barriers have been put in place to make birth control difficult or sometimes impossible to access. The obstacles to birth control…

Words 3249 - Pages 13

Essay on Policy process

The Policy Process: Formulation, Legislation and Implementation HCS/455 October 6, 2014 Pediatricians urge IUDs or Implants for teen age girls as opposed to other birth control methods. The IUDs is a small “T” shape plastic with copper and hormonal (Mirena or Skyla) that is inserted into the uterus to help prevent unwanted pregnancy. The IUD blocks the sperm from meeting up with the eggs. The copper IUD is effective for 12 years and the hormonal with two different brands. The Mirena brand is…

Words 961 - Pages 4

Medicalization Pregnant Women

modern society, the redefinition of pregnancy and childbirth as dangerous and risky to women's health and to the health of her fetus is still a dominant ideology today. Medicalization has socialized people into perceiving pregnancy and birth as high-risk situations where pregnant women are expected to seek out professional medical advice requiring technological medical interventions and monitoring (Zardorozyj 1999). Women are socialized to believe that pregnancy is a condition deviating from normal…

Words 1230 - Pages 5