Month One
By the time you miss your period and find out that you are actually pregnant, a tiny embryo that will become your baby has formed and begins growing at an incredibly rapid rate. In fact, the embryo is now 10,000 times larger than a single fertilized egg. The placenta, baby’s heart, spinal cord, and digestive system are all beginning to develop.

Month Two
By the end of this month, the embryo has grown to approximately 1 inch long. The heart is now functioning, and facial features are beginning to appear. While the embryo is moving, you will not feel anything for another couple of months.

Month Three
The embryo is officially called a fetus and measures almost 3 inches in length. His or her arms, legs, hands, and feet are fully formed. At this stage you can probably detect a heartbeat using a device called a Doppler.

Month Four
Growth continues rapidly, and your baby’s gender is now determinable. While looking human in appearance at this point, your baby will still need much more time before he or she could survive outside of your body.

Month Five
At about 10 inches long, your baby is beginning to grow hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows. He or she is also growing a type of fine hair called lanugo that will cover the body until it is shed shortly before or after birth.

Month Six
Fetal movement is becoming more and more pronounced as muscles strengthen. Eyelids begin to part and the eyes will open occasionally. Also, hearing has developed to the point of being able to hear sounds from outside of the womb.

Month Seven
The average seven-month-old fetus is 15 inches long and over two lbs. in weight. If born at this stage, your baby would be premature but would have a good chance of survival.

Month Eight
Growth is especially rapid this month, with tremendous development of the brain, lungs, and other organs. Your baby will most likely turn head down during this time to prepare for delivery.

Month Nine
Congratulations! Your baby is ready to be born. He or she likely weighs between 6 and 9 lbs and measure 18 to 22 inches in length. The lungs and other organs are completely mature and the skin is pink and smooth. Don’t forget that most babies are not born on their exact due date and there is no benefit to rushing it. Anytime from the 38th to the 42nd week of pregnancy is optimal.

Author: Julian Hall
About the author: Julian Hall of GiftBabies.co.uk and The Baby Gifts Company - The Most Unique, Innovative Gift Ideas for Babies, Christening Gifts, Newborn Gifts, Personalized Gifts, Organic Clothing, Nappies, Blankets, New Baby Gifts

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A pregnancy calendar is a fun and informative way to keep track of your pregnancy and ensure a healthy outcome for you and your baby. For most women, pregnancy and birth is one of the key points in life and a pregnancy calendar will help you live the experience to the fullest. Detailed week-by-week information about the bodily changes happening to yourself and your baby, as well as handy advice regarding everything from nutrition to exercise, are just some of the things pregnancy calendars have to offer.

Standard features of most pregnancy calendars include: how to take care of yourself throughout each stage of pregnancy; tips on how to meet increasing nutritional needs while staying physically fit; and how much weight you should gain during pregnancy. Some may also include a detailed outline of your baby’s weekly development and instructions from the experts on how to ensure that you both progress the way that you should. Many pregnancy calendars can be customized to fit your own unique personality and include spaces for a diary and a record to keep track of doctor’s appointments and other important dates.

Pregnancy calendars are fun to use and, best of all, they are often free or cost a minimal amount. Many internet sources offer free downloads of pregnancy calendars and a simple online search will reveal dozens of choices. Most can be personalized and some websites will even send you e-mail alerts as important milestones draw near. Some pregnancy-related or Women’s and Children’s Health magazines offer a free pregnancy calendar to paid subscribers.

Huggies offers an excellent pregnancy calendar while American Adoptions has an online version accompanied by weekly updates. American Baby and Pregnancy Weekly both have calendars that are available online and can be personalized. Baby Fit features a week-by-week, development-specific pregnancy calendar while Baby Center has create-your-own pregnancy calendar options and tools. The choices are endless and the results amazing. Many people treasure their pregnancy calendars as keepsakes or use them to compare with future pregnancies.

Most pregnancy calendars are very simple and user-friendly. Anyone can understand them and the facts are presented in a clear-cut, down-to-earth manner. The hardest part for most people is calculating the due date, but this is usually provided by your physician. Even if it is not, most pregnancy calendars include instructions on how to calculate the due date that are easy to understand for even the most math illiterate person.

Pregnancy is no longer just a 9-month waiting period for the big day. With the help of a pregnancy calendar, expectant mothers can become actively involved in all the exciting changes of pregnancy, while at the same time benefiting their health. A handy source for expert advice, it can also do much to alleviate anxiety, as the due date looms closer. The truth is, a pregnancy calendar is just one excellent way to make the most of your pregnancy.

About the author:
Celia Nemart writes about family and medical issues on the internet, Celia is a dedicated mother that is aware of the dangers of the lack of information about Pregnancy.

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Author: Kat Beechum

“Congratulations! You are pregnant!” That is probably one of best lines you will ever hear from your doctor!

There are so many things to think about when you are pregnant and one of the questions I hear often is “How much weight should I gain? What is a safe weight gain?” It can be so easy to just take the opportunity to eat lots of food and not worry about the consequences! While you are eating for two, it pays to remember that you ARE only eating for two, not three or four (unless you are of course!).

Weight gain is going to be different for each of you, so you just have to feel what is right for you. Fast weight gain is not good for you or the baby. Weight gain should be gradual over time as your baby grows inside you. If you find that your weight is increasing rapidly, see your doctor for some guidelines on what to eat and if at any stage during your pregnancy you feel that things are just not quite right, do go and see your doctor, it is not worth the risk to ignore your instincts.

As a rule of thumb, you should gain 2 to 4 pounds during the first three months of pregnancy and then 3 to 4 pounds per month for the rest of your pregnancy to equal a total of about 25 - 30 pounds over the whole pregnancy.

By slowly gaining weight throughout your pregnancy, you will decrease the risk of delivering a low-birth-weight baby. After all, you want a healthy, happy baby.

The weight you will gain includes 6 to 8 pounds for the weight of the baby. The remaining weight consists of a higher fluid volume, larger breasts, larger uterus, amniotic fluid, and the placenta. Phew, that is a lot to be carrying around!

Make sure you keep up with exercise during your pregnancy as well. If you don’t exercise, now is a good time to start! Light walks every day will keep your weight gain to a healthy amount and you will feel so much better for it.

Above all else, do what makes you feel good and keep in mind the health of you and your baby… with those things in mind, you can’t go wrong!

About the author:
Kat Beechum is a writer who loves to writer about her interests and passions, which are many and varied.

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This short clip shows how the embryo grows into a baby.

Moving through pregnancy often raises some tricky questions.One of the common questions is whether or not a pregnant woman is “supposed” to gain weight in the first trimester of pregnancy.When you are pregnant, you have to pay attention to a lot of details if you want to have a healthy baby (and of course you want this!). One of these details is the appropriate amount of weight to gain during pregnancy. If you are an expectant mother, you probably know that an adult normal-weight woman must gain between 25 and 35 pounds by the ninth month. You must also know that you have to gain weight mainly in the second and in the third trimester, but many of you ask yourselves: should I be gaining weight during the first trimester of pregnancy?

The first trimester is the beginning of this important journey that is pregnancy. Even if is not obvious that you are carrying a baby from the outside, you will feel different and you will notice many changes in your body. These include breast changes, you will urinate more often, you may be much more tired than usual, and you may have nausea, heartburn, headaches. Besides these, some women have feelings of depression, anxiety, fear and mood swings.

Many women feel compelled to gain weight as soon as they hear they are pregnant. Others feel it is a license to “eat for two”. The truth is that you should only gain about 3 to 5 pounds during the first trimester. Sometimes it’s difficult to gain even that much weight even if you want to. Some women even lose weight in the first trimester, because of morning sickness, lack of appetite and exhaustion. Other women tend to gain much more than the normal amount of weight in the first trimester. Either situation is not ideal for either of you.

Will you gain weight the first trimester of pregnancy if you barely eat anything? Perhaps not, but you don’t have to worry about this. During the nausea-prone first trimester, few women manage to eat “by the book”. That’s why it is important to enter pregnancy with enough nutritional reserves to provide for both you and your baby. If you didn’t manage to gain at least 2 pounds after the first trimester of pregnancy you don’t need to panic because this is not a reason for the baby not to develop normally, but you should consult a specialist in nutrition if you do not begin to gain weight. If you didn’t have healthy-eating habits before, pregnancy is the time to develop these good habits. Even if you don’t have an appetite and you feel a little sick, make sure that every bite you take (and keep down) packs a nutritional wallop. Don’t try to compensate for your lack of weight gain by eating junk food once your morning sickness passes. This may be harmful for the baby.

Excessive weight gain on the other hand, can lead to health problems for the mother, such as gestational diabetes, high blood pressure and varicose veins, and will increase the difficulty of delivery. It will also be more difficult for you to get back to your pre-pregnancy weight.

You probably know that much of the extra weight goes to your baby (7-8 pounds), the extra blood and fluid volume (8 pounds), amniotic fluid (2 pounds), uterus, placenta, breast enlargement, and extra fat stores (7 pounds) in case of illness or “hard times.”

In the first trimester of pregnancy the baby and her “housing” are still yet very small, and your pregnancy weight gain needs are covered with 5-6 pounds. The extra pounds you gain above these 5-6 are yours only. Don’t even consider compensating them with gaining less in the second or in the third trimester.

If you try to eat nutritionally dense foods every day and stay away from the junk you are doing the best you can for your baby and probably have better things to focus on than every ounce you are gaining.

About the author:
Author - Kitty Barker who often writes for and with Pregnancy Information where there is far more information, news and resources. She also writes for Pregnancy Weight Gain If that link is inactive, you can paste this link into your browser - http://pregnancy-and-baby-tips.com/

Buy the Book: Pregnancy Weight Management

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Although no one can ever know exactly what physical and emotional changes will occur with a second pregnancy, it can almost be guaranteed there will be big differences between your first and second. Here are a few educated guesses as to what you may expect.

You will show sooner
Many second time Moms find that with the second pregnancy their bodies change much sooner than the first time around. This is perfectly normal. Once a woman’s body has experienced pregnancy and childbirth, her body remembers what is required and therefore makes the changes more rapidly. The muscles may not be as taut as they were the first time, and many women find themselves wearing maternity clothing long before they reach their second trimester.

You’ll feel those kicks and flutters sooner
Having been through this once before many Moms are far more in-tune with the baby’s movements the second time and are able to distinguish between genuine baby movement and fluttering rather than gastrointestinal sensations. However, like with everything else pregnancy related, this isn’t always the case. If baby decides to camp out towards the back of the uterus rather than the front, it may be well into the second half of pregnancy before you feel any movement.

Prepare to be more tired
During your first pregnancy, you probably had time to rest if you felt tired. This time you have another person to consider and contend with. Therefore, the amount of rest you are able to obtain could entirely depend on the activity level of your first-born. If you are constantly running around, it is no wonder you will tire sooner. You are still experiencing everything you did first time, but also having to consider someone else. If you are offered help or the chance of a break, take it! Try to relax, and enjoy the rest you are able to get now. Life is about to get a whole lot busier.

Your labor may be shorter but there are no guarantees
Many Moms find that their second or subsequent deliveries progress much quicker than their first. The cervical dilation rate tends to be 1.2 cm per hour for a first baby and 1.5 cm per hour for the second. The pushing stage may also be quicker the second time around. For a first baby, this tends to average one to two hours, whereas a Mom can expect to push less than an hour the next time. However, like with everything else in life, there are no guarantees. So, go ahead and hope for a short labor and delivery, but prepare yourself for the unexpected.

You will probably be less preoccupied with the second pregnancy
Unlike with your first pregnancy, when everything was new and unknown, this time you could be chasing after a toddler, preschooler, or older child. Therefore, you will just have less time to think about this pregnancy. Quite often, this can make second time Mums feel guilty. Do not worry. This is normal, and after the baby is born, this will all change.

You may have mixed emotions
You may question your feelings towards the second baby and worry that you could never love them as much as their older sibling. Or, you might be concerned that your relationship will change with the older child. Fortunately, you will adjust to the new baby very quickly as will their older sibling. Although it is perfectly normal to question yourself, you will probably be amazed at your own capacity to love and wonder why you ever worried. How you feel about your second baby or any there after will be as much as the first. Remember each child is an individual with their own personality, and your feelings and actions could therefore differ from child to child.

Relax and Enjoy
Finally, pregnancy is a wonderful experience that many second time Moms find they enjoy far more than the first. Having been through it once, it is often easier to appreciate it for the truly beautiful experience that it is. So, rejoice in these miraculous nine months, and enjoy!

Author: Julian Hall
About the author: Julian Hall of Baby Gifts Company - The Most Unique, Innovative Gift Ideas for Babies, Christening Gifts, Newborn Gifts, Personalized Gifts, Organic Clothing, Nappies, Blankets, New Baby Gifts

Buy the Book: Your Second Pregnancy,What to Expect This Time
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So you think you might be pregnant? Find out if you are pregnant by checking out the 18 common pregnancy symptoms below.

1. Nausea or morning sickness:
Morning sickness is the nauseating feelings and possibly vomiting many women experience during pregnancy. This occurs in approximately 50% to 95% of all pregnant women as early as the first week of pregnancy. Although the name suggests that this is a condition experienced in the morning, it may strike at any time during the day whenever your blood sugar levels get too low.

2. Headaches:
If you have never experienced regular headaches before pregnancy, be prepared for some throbbing pain in your head and neck during pregnancy. Changes in your body’s hormonal patterns is the primary cause of headaches during pregnancy. Other conditions like lack of sleep, poor posture, stress, dehydration and low blood sugar levels may also worsen of cause headaches.

3. Dizziness and fainting spells:
Due to the lowered blood pressure in your body during pregnancy, blood flow to the brain may cause dizziness and fainting spells in serious cases.

4. Mood swings:
With your hormones raging, it is common for women to feel cranky during their pregnancy. It takes some time to settle into your new life by adjusting to all the changes in your body and lifestyle.

5. Fatigue
If you feel exhausted and experience some or all of the symptoms mentioned in this article, you have a good chance of being pregnant. Hormonal changes are usually the main cause of fatigue followed by the additional weight you have to carry around.

6. Food cravings:
Craving for food that you normally would not eat could be a sign that you are pregnant. Normally, women report cravings for salty and sweet food during pregnancy while others report a peculiar desire for spicy or fatty food.

7. Weight gain and bloating:
The combination of your baby’s growth and your increased food intake will cause you to put on weight and your clothes to fit tighter than usual. As most women put on weight mainly on their hips and thighs, an mysterious increase in the size of your waist could indicate that you are pregnant.

8. Heartburn:
Hormones created during pregnancy may relax the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), which opens the valve to allow stomach acids to flow up into the esophagus causing a burning sensation.

9. Lower back pain:
Lower back pain occurs because your growing baby causes your spine to be thrown out of alignment as the additional weight constantly pulls on your back. This is why proper posture, regular visits to the chiropractor and prenatal yoga are especially important during pregnancy.

10. Constipation:
Hormonal changes during pregnancy slows down the movement of food through your digestive system which results in constipation. This could be a sign of pregnancy if you do not experience constipation frequently.

11. Constant urination:
Your growing baby in the uterus puts a lot of pressure on your bladder and you may find yourself visiting the ladies room more frequently than usual.

12. High Basal Body Temperature (BBT):
If your BTT stays in the high range for 18 days or more, it is very likely that you are pregnant.

13. Cramping:
Your growing uterus stretches to accommodate your new baby and this causes menstrual-like cramps to occur.

14. Spotting:
Slight bleeding occurs when the fertilized egg begins to implant itself into the uterus any time from 3 to 6 days after fertilization. A lot of women confuse this with their period but this happens usually before the period starts and the discharge is lighter than normal.

15. Darkening of the areolas:
Your areolas could darken and increase in diameter during pregnancy. This is a natural process by which your breasts are preparing themselves to produce milk for your baby.

16. Tender or swollen breasts:
It is common for women to have sore, tingly, tender or swollen breasts during pregnancy. This feels like a amplified version of how your breast feels before your period.

17. Missed periods:
If you have been sexually active and you missed a period, it is a good indication that are you are pregnant. A pregnancy test should be taken to confirm if the missed period is really caused by your pregnancy.

18. Positive pregnancy tests:
Pregnancy tests like urine and blood tests are a good way to find out if you are pregnant. However, these tests are not 100% accurate all of the time, therefore you might want to visit a doctor to conduct further tests.

It is possible that you may have some of the symptoms above and not be pregnant. Only a positive pregnancy test and a doctor’s examination (or childbirth) can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are pregnant.

About the author:
Visit Natalie’s Pregnancy101.net to find out what are the top eBooks on pregnancy to help you get pregnant, stay slim during pregnancy, lose weight after pregnancy and have an easier birth.

Buy the Book: I’m Pregnant, A Week By Week Guide

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