Your Baby's Development
Until now, the embryo has been a mass of cells, but by this point in your pregnancy a distinct shape begins to form. The neural tube, which will eventually form into the spinal cord and brain, runs from the top to the bottom of the embryo. A bulge in the center of the embryo will develop into your baby's heart. At this time, the placenta develops. It is through the placenta and its fingerlike projections, called chorionic villi, that an embryo receives nourishment from its mother.
Your Body
Even if nausea hasn't hit you yet, you'll want to steer clear of certain foods when you're pregnant. Foodborne illnesses, such as listeriosis and toxoplasmosis, may cause birth defects or even miscarriage. Here are some foods you'll want to avoid:
* soft cheeses such as feta, goat, brie, Camembert, and blue cheese
* unpasteurized milk and juices
* raw or undercooked meats, including hot dogs and deli meats
* raw eggs or foods containing raw eggs, including mousse and tiramisu
* raw shellfish
* paté
Toxoplasmosis can also be spread from soiled cat litter boxes, so try to have someone else clean the litter box during your pregnancy.
Showing posts with label development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label development. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Week Four
Your Baby's Development
Four weeks into your pregnancy, your baby (called an embryo) consists of two layers of cells — the epiblast and the hypoblast — that will eventually develop into all of your baby's organs and body parts. Two other structures that develop at this time are the amnion and the yolk sac. The amnion, filled with amniotic fluid, will surround and protect the growing embryo. The yolk sac will produce blood and help to nourish the embryo until the placenta takes over that role.
Your Body
This week your baby continues to implant in your uterus, burying itself deep within the endometrium. Once implanted, your baby starts to produce a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which helps to maintain the lining of the uterus. It also sends a signal to the ovary to stop releasing an egg each month, which stops your monthly periods. Some women experience slight cramping and spotting of blood during this week while implantation is taking place, and they may mistake this for a period, as it often occurs around the time their monthly period was due.
hCG is the hormone that is measured in pregnancy tests. This week a pregnancy test will probably be able to detect your pregnancy! hCG also causes the symptoms of pregnancy, which can appear this week. Fatigue, tingling or aching breasts, or nausea might lead you to believe your period will be starting any day because the first pregnancy symptoms resemble premenstrual syndrome (PMS). But by the end of this week, your expected period will not take place. Your pregnancy is well on its way!
Four weeks into your pregnancy, your baby (called an embryo) consists of two layers of cells — the epiblast and the hypoblast — that will eventually develop into all of your baby's organs and body parts. Two other structures that develop at this time are the amnion and the yolk sac. The amnion, filled with amniotic fluid, will surround and protect the growing embryo. The yolk sac will produce blood and help to nourish the embryo until the placenta takes over that role.
Your Body
This week your baby continues to implant in your uterus, burying itself deep within the endometrium. Once implanted, your baby starts to produce a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which helps to maintain the lining of the uterus. It also sends a signal to the ovary to stop releasing an egg each month, which stops your monthly periods. Some women experience slight cramping and spotting of blood during this week while implantation is taking place, and they may mistake this for a period, as it often occurs around the time their monthly period was due.
hCG is the hormone that is measured in pregnancy tests. This week a pregnancy test will probably be able to detect your pregnancy! hCG also causes the symptoms of pregnancy, which can appear this week. Fatigue, tingling or aching breasts, or nausea might lead you to believe your period will be starting any day because the first pregnancy symptoms resemble premenstrual syndrome (PMS). But by the end of this week, your expected period will not take place. Your pregnancy is well on its way!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Week Three
Your Baby's Development
Even though you may not feel that you're pregnant yet, you have a baby growing and developing inside of you! Although your baby was just conceived, he or she is working overtime. The fertilized egg goes through a process of cell division. About 30 hours after fertilization, it divides into two cells, then four cells, then eight, and continues to divide as it moves from the fallopian tube to the uterus. By the time it gets to the uterus, this group of cells looks like a tiny ball and is called a morula.
The morula becomes hollow and fills with fluid — it is then known as a blastocyst. Near the end of this week, the blastocyst will attach itself to the endometrium, the lining of the uterus. This is called implantation. The implantation in the uterus creates an essential connection — the endometrium will provide the developing embryo with nutrients and will remove wastes. Over time, this implantation site will develop into the placenta.
Your Body
Adequate intake of certain nutrients, such as folic acid, protein, calcium, and iron, is essential for nourishing your baby. A folic acid supplement — which, ideally, you've been taking since before you conceived — is particularly important because folic acid helps prevent defects of the neural tube (the structure that gives rise to the brain and spinal cord), which forms very early in pregnancy.
Your intake of protein, which is used to create new tissue, should increase during pregnancy. In addition, calcium is necessary for the development of bones and teeth, so make sure you're getting a good dose of dairy products, leafy green vegetables, and legumes. Iron is essential during pregnancy as you support the continual increase of your baby's blood volume. Good sources of iron include red meat, legumes, eggs, and leafy green vegetables.
Even though you may not feel that you're pregnant yet, you have a baby growing and developing inside of you! Although your baby was just conceived, he or she is working overtime. The fertilized egg goes through a process of cell division. About 30 hours after fertilization, it divides into two cells, then four cells, then eight, and continues to divide as it moves from the fallopian tube to the uterus. By the time it gets to the uterus, this group of cells looks like a tiny ball and is called a morula.
The morula becomes hollow and fills with fluid — it is then known as a blastocyst. Near the end of this week, the blastocyst will attach itself to the endometrium, the lining of the uterus. This is called implantation. The implantation in the uterus creates an essential connection — the endometrium will provide the developing embryo with nutrients and will remove wastes. Over time, this implantation site will develop into the placenta.
Your Body
Adequate intake of certain nutrients, such as folic acid, protein, calcium, and iron, is essential for nourishing your baby. A folic acid supplement — which, ideally, you've been taking since before you conceived — is particularly important because folic acid helps prevent defects of the neural tube (the structure that gives rise to the brain and spinal cord), which forms very early in pregnancy.
Your intake of protein, which is used to create new tissue, should increase during pregnancy. In addition, calcium is necessary for the development of bones and teeth, so make sure you're getting a good dose of dairy products, leafy green vegetables, and legumes. Iron is essential during pregnancy as you support the continual increase of your baby's blood volume. Good sources of iron include red meat, legumes, eggs, and leafy green vegetables.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Week Two
Your Baby's Development
This may sound strange, but you're still not pregnant! Fertilization of your egg by the sperm will only take place near the end of this week — read more about fertilization in the Your Body section below.
Although you'll have to wait to find out what color to paint the nursery, your baby's gender will be determined at the moment of fertilization. Out of the 46 chromosomes that make up a baby's genetic material, only two — one from the sperm and one from the egg — determine the baby's sex. These are known as the sex chromosomes. Every egg has an X sex chromosome; a sperm can have either an X or a Y sex chromosome. If the sperm that fertilizes your egg has an X chromosome, you'll have a girl; if it has a Y chromosome, your baby will be a boy.
Your Body
Your uterine lining, which will nourish the baby, is developing, and your body secretes follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), which stimulates an egg to mature. At the end of this week, you will be at the midpoint of your menstrual cycle (if you have a regular 28-day cycle), and ovulation will occur (your ovary will release an egg into the fallopian tube).
This is when you're most likely to conceive. If you have sexual intercourse without protection around the time that you ovulate, you can become pregnant. After your partner ejaculates, millions of sperm travel through the vagina, and hundreds make it to the fallopian tube, where your egg is waiting. One sperm generally succeeds in penetrating the egg, and fertilization takes place. When that happens, you will be pregnant — although you will not be feeling any body changes just yet.
This may sound strange, but you're still not pregnant! Fertilization of your egg by the sperm will only take place near the end of this week — read more about fertilization in the Your Body section below.
Although you'll have to wait to find out what color to paint the nursery, your baby's gender will be determined at the moment of fertilization. Out of the 46 chromosomes that make up a baby's genetic material, only two — one from the sperm and one from the egg — determine the baby's sex. These are known as the sex chromosomes. Every egg has an X sex chromosome; a sperm can have either an X or a Y sex chromosome. If the sperm that fertilizes your egg has an X chromosome, you'll have a girl; if it has a Y chromosome, your baby will be a boy.
Your Body
Your uterine lining, which will nourish the baby, is developing, and your body secretes follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), which stimulates an egg to mature. At the end of this week, you will be at the midpoint of your menstrual cycle (if you have a regular 28-day cycle), and ovulation will occur (your ovary will release an egg into the fallopian tube).
This is when you're most likely to conceive. If you have sexual intercourse without protection around the time that you ovulate, you can become pregnant. After your partner ejaculates, millions of sperm travel through the vagina, and hundreds make it to the fallopian tube, where your egg is waiting. One sperm generally succeeds in penetrating the egg, and fertilization takes place. When that happens, you will be pregnant — although you will not be feeling any body changes just yet.
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