The news of the pregnancy of some women is taken by surprise, while others have been waiting for this event for many years. First, excitement covers them, then curiosity. Despite the fact that the first three months the stomach still remains the same size, and outwardly the woman is no different from the rest, grandiose changes occur inside her every day.
How to determine the gestational age
The first question that the expectant mother faces is how to determine how long she is pregnant. Modern mothers immediately take to calculate pregnancy by weeks of the calendar. If critical days are expected on the calendar, but there are none, then this is an occasion to do a pregnancy test. In some cases, a woman knows the date of conception because she is planning a pregnancy. However, do not exclude those cases when it occurs unplanned.
In any case, doctors use one method: they specify the start date of the last menstruation and count the number of weeks from the date of treatment from it. If the pregnancy is confirmed (gynecological examination, rapid test, results of an ultrasound study), then the obstetric period of pregnancy is established.
The numbers can be adjusted after the results of an ultrasound study, on which you can determine the exact gestational age. The specialist compares the period indicated by the doctor with the fetal development parameters and can tell if it coincides with the real picture.
Conception of gestation
If the couple is planning a baby, then most likely the woman measures the basal temperature, controls the dates when there was sexual intercourse, calculates the pregnancy calendar by weeks, or rather its timing. Knowing the date of conception, we can talk about the exact timing of gestation.
However, doctors do not take these numbers into account. The exception is cases when pregnancy occurs due to IVF. In this case, the date of ovulation, the day when fertilization occurs, is precisely known. Accordingly, the calculation is based on more accurate data.
Calculate the date of birth
The easiest way to calculate pregnancy by week, date of birth - in the calendar, mark the first day of the last menstruation and add seven days. Then take away three months. The obtained value will serve as an approximate date of childbirth or in short - PDR.
During the third screening (ultrasound), the doctor will be able to say exactly how much the child is "ripe" for childbirth. This will be understandable both by the degree of maturity of the placenta, and thanks to the data obtained on the height of the uterine fundus.
In practice, the onset of labor after the onset of the 36th week of pregnancy is considered normal, since the baby is considered already viable and fully developed. Therefore, do not forget that childbirth can begin earlier than the set time.
Thanks to the Internet and mobile applications, you can calculate the term of delivery in two accounts. A weekly pregnancy calendar tells you that the baby is ready to be born as soon as the 40th week arrives. Of course, if until this time the woman does not give birth.
Determining the gender of the child on the calendar
The second question that interests any parent is the gender of the unborn child. In some cases, this is not about mere curiosity. This may be due to religion, the presence of older children of the same sex, the likelihood of transmitting a rare hereditary disease.
When using the pregnancy calendar for weeks, it is possible to calculate the sex with a probability of 50 x 50. In order to confirm or refute the data, it is better to check with the specialist during an ultrasound scan whether the baby shows his gender. True, this can be done no earlier than the second screening, which falls on the 17-19th week of pregnancy. It happens that nothing can be taken apart on the monitor, or the baby turns away and hides his genitals with his legs. Judging by the reviews, this is what girls do, boys are most often shown to parents in all their glory.
Chinese tables and the gender of the unborn child
There is a Chinese table that allows you to calculate the gender of the child. In the vertical column, the woman needs to find her age, and in the horizontal row - the month of conception. This method allows you to predict a good month for conception of a child of a certain gender. However, it should be borne in mind that there are border months when the conception of a boy is possible in one, and girls in the other. If the monthly cycle in which conception is planned falls at the end of one and the beginning of the other, then you can not guess with the gender of the child.
Other ways to determine the sex of the unborn child
The method of updating the blood is one of the ways to predict the gender of the baby. It is generally accepted that if the future father updated it more often and, therefore, is considered younger than the mother, then the heir should be expected. In the opposite case, most likely, a girl will be born.
In order not to suffer with memories when the last time the future father lost or donated blood, you can resort to mathematical calculations. For this, the age of the future dad is divided into four, and mothers - by three. The least value indicates that its owner has younger blood.
Since ancient times, when there were no calendars of pregnancy and the Internet, gender was determined by the shape of the abdomen. It was believed that the owners of the round form “wear” the girl, and the elongated, like a ball, the boy.
Methods for maintaining a pregnancy calendar
Modern information technology has transferred the world of knowledge from books to mobile devices. They are always at hand and provide information here and now. Therefore, there is no such problem as keeping a pregnancy calendar using publicly available free resources.
Most of the thematic sites offer the option of keeping diaries, the properties of which include reminders of what week the pregnant woman is, about the planned consultations with the doctor and much more.
You can even start a diary that contains brief recommendations for each week of pregnancy, at the end of it there is a list of necessary things for childbirth.
Pregnancy calendar, first trimester
To compile an accurate pregnancy calendar by week, calculate the date of future births using various methods, programs and simple calculations. They allow the pregnant woman to imagine how the baby develops. The expectant mother is interested in how he develops, looks that he already knows how.
Particularly exciting is the first trimester, when the question of whether to be pregnant when the state of the pregnant woman is constantly changing is being decided. To help the baby form correctly, lay the foundations of future internal organs and the nervous system, a woman independently tries to calculate the date of birth. A weekly pregnancy calendar helps her with this. It clearly shows the entire cycle from conception to childbirth.
Outwardly, the woman has not changed yet, but a mechanism has been launched inside her body, which for nine months will lead to visible changes. In the first three months, a small cell passes the development path to an eight-centimeter embryo. During this important period, all vital organs will be laid, and by the end of the trimester, tooth rudiments will form.
To calculate the week that a woman is on the pregnancy calendar, just enter the date of the last menstruation, and the system will automatically generate an answer. This is very convenient, since such programs provide answers to frequently asked questions of pregnant women. In a visually designed pregnancy calendar for weeks (with photo), calculated by specialists during the study of intrauterine development of the fetus, a woman can find answers to frequently asked questions. This also applies to changes that occur in her body, including the likelihood of disturbing symptoms. Therefore, you should not take such programs only as encyclopedic data.
Troubles in early pregnancy
As a rule, this is a period of strong change. You can understand that a woman is in a position by changing eating habits. I want something very sweet, then categorically turns away from salty. It happens that taste preferences change from week to week. This condition does not pass in one day, but the approximate duration of this period can be calculated. A pregnancy calendar by week allows you to look ahead and understand that by the end of the first trimester, all unpleasant symptoms stop.
Toxicosis is not as terrible as a possible threat of miscarriage. At this stage, it is important to cross the line at ten weeks, when the fetal heartbeat becomes apparent. It happens that there is no toxicosis, and the woman still does not know about her situation, then the question remains how to find out how many weeks of pregnancy. A doctor can also calculate on a calendar, but even before his visit, a woman wants to understand at what stage of development her child is. Using the calendar, you can imagine what changes will happen in the near future in the mother's body and in the fetus. The main alarming symptom is discharge, which can be from light brown to scarlet. You should immediately consult a doctor, because the reason may be a lack of progesterone, a hematoma or untreated erosion
Attention, on the calendar the second trimester
With the passage through the threshold of thirteen obstetric weeks, you can already breathe a little more freely. In most pregnant women, toxicosis recedes, taste habits return to normal, uterine tone returns to normal. If a woman has not yet managed to calculate the date of birth, the week of pregnancy on the calendar, then there is still the opportunity to do this. During these three months, the baby will grow from 10 to 37 cm, and his weight by the end of the second trimester will be about 1200 g.
Such growth will not go unnoticed, the belly of a pregnant woman will increase with each week, which will increase the load on the internal organs. This period is the second screening. You can find out about its onset by the pregnancy calendar. By weeks, after calculating the gestational age, the doctor will issue directions for conducting blood tests, and if necessary, he will also appoint additional specialists, for example, for future mothers over 35 years old - a geneticist.
According to the calendar - the period of movements
In the second trimester, many begin to feel the first distinct movements of the baby. This does not mean that before he was in the womb in a stationary state. Due to its small size, it was comfortable for him to swim in amniotic fluid. But over time, the growing baby becomes cramped, even despite the increasing size of the uterus and the presence of amniotic fluid.
According to the pregnancy calendar for weeks to calculate the weight, and if necessary, and the growth of the baby, you can only approximately. It summarizes the data specific to this period. During the ultrasound examination, a specialist can more accurately tell how much weight and height the baby has.
Activity inside the womb allows the mother to control periods of sleep and wakefulness. You can notice how the child reacts to fresh air, or determine that he, on the contrary, lacks oxygen.
The calendar is the third trimester
This is almost the finish line, and it can be more accurately said that there are not so many weeks left - and childbirth. According to the pregnancy calendar, you can also calculate the time when it is time to go to the hospital. But while there is still 2-3 months left, and the baby goes through the final stages of fetal development, gains weight, takes the correct position of the body. Most likely, it will remain so until the time of birth. True, in practice it happened that the baby turned over during childbirth.
An interesting fact: by the 34th week a child develops taste habits and what his mother eats is familiar to his taste. The sucking reflex is well developed, so immediately after birth, the baby will eagerly begin to suck breast milk.
If suddenly a woman discovered a water leak, which can happen at any time at this stage, this indicates the onset of labor. In this case, it is impossible to procrastinate, since the child cannot be inside for a long time without water, it is time to gather in the hospital.
What may bother you at this time
A growing belly makes itself felt, and it becomes difficult for a woman to move long distances, stand on her feet for a long time, and dress herself. The likelihood of swelling increases if you do not follow the nutritional rules, drink a little liquid.
Drawing pains, closer to the end of the term, cramping, which indicate that the body is ready for the upcoming birth. Any unpleasant discharge should alert. If the thrush made itself felt, then before the start of real fights, it is necessary to get rid of it. Harbingers of childbirth are abundant transparent discharge with streaks of blood. So the mucous plug leaves, which covers the entire cervical canal for the entire period. True, this does not mean that childbirth will begin any minute. She may begin to go out a few days before the real bouts.
In other cases, for example, the appearance of blood should alert and serve as a reason for going to the doctor. As well as ongoing pulling pains, increased tone of the uterus, decreased motor activity of the baby, worsening well-being.