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First Trimester
During this stage, the mother gains up to 3 kilos of weight. The weight gain is usually due to the enlargement of the breasts and the development of the placenta. The 1st trimester is composed of the 1st 12 weeks of the pregnancy. By the 3rd and the 4rth week of pregnancy, you may have experienced various signs of pregnancy, but you may have not yet missed a period and therefore may not yet be too suspicious of a pregnancy. It is usually in the 5th week after you have missed a period that you start to suspect. A pregnancy test may confirm your suspicion at this stage. On week 7 to 9, you may start feeling tired and fatigued. It would help to get as much rest as possible during this stage. You may also experience a lot of mood swings and food craving and aversions. This is often caused by the changes in your hormonal levels. By week 10 to 12, you pregnancy may now start to show and you will find that your clothes are getting tighter. It is also in these weeks that Morning Sickness starts to disappear.
Second Trimester
The second trimester lasts from week 13 to week 28. It is during this time that your baby starts to rapidly develop and you will start feeling movement at this stage. At Week 13 to 16, your belly will now be more noticeable. You may also experience changes in concentration (you may seem clumsier and forget things more often) because at this point the blood volume in the body starts to increase and your doctor may start to monitor your blood pressure regularly as there is a danger of developing Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH). Week 17 to 24 may start experiencing outward signs of pregnancy like pigmentation changes, as well as dental, nasogastric and gastrointestinal problems. You may also experience painless contractions called Braxton-Hicks contractions – this is not something you need to worry about. From the 25th to the 28th week your baby will continue to grow and it is best to follow a healthy diet plan in order to have proper nutrition for your infant and not gain too much weight.
Third Trimester
During this stage, you may start to feel an increase in pressure on your internal organs and the urge to urinate may also increase during this trimester. You may experience backache as well as you may notice your spine is bending more towards the rear in order to accommodate your growing belly. Braxton-Hicks contractions may also still be present at this stage and often increases in intensity and frequency. By the last weeks of the third trimester, your baby may start to descend to your pelvis and increase pressure on your bladder.
Most first time pregnancies extend 1 or 2 weeks past their due dates. This is a normal phenomena, some mothers during their second pregnancies deliver 1 to 2 weeks earlier than their due.
The Three Major Stages of Pregnancy
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