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Hooray! A human to love unconditionally for the rest of your life is almost here – celebrate all you want. Pregnancy, for most of the women is a magical time. Imagine life budding inside you and your role in the in the same life that will begin soon. Women with their motherly instincts are on cloud nine when they hear this news, and this can quickly turn into an overwhelming experience if you do not stay careful. Pregnancy for couple and single mothers is a completely different experience, but moms’ regardless of their life’s circumstances make sure their child stays safe.

There is an extraordinary over load of information during these days. From your distant relatives ringing you to give advices to your neighbor bringing homemade stuff for you, this is the time you will feel closest to your community. While there are numerous perks of this new belongingness, it also offers false and misunderstood information. Whoever wants the best for their child will know that during pregnancy, organizing things is the key.

Pregnancy is a long period of nine months which is divided into three trimesters. Each trimester focuses on development of different areas in the baby’s mind. There is crazy load of information on the internet and books to comprehend all in your nine months. Pretty ridiculous to dump tons of information on a new mama who is struggling to come to terms with changes occurring in her own life and body. This is why obstetricians suggest following a week-by-week calendar.

Every mother has some preferences and a unique way of dealing with their pregnancy. The worst someone can do is judge a new mother in her ways; the only help you can offer is by giving the right information. Making a week-by-week calendar should be the mother’s job and if she selects an already established one, this is her decision as well. In these digital times, there are thousands of illustrated pregnancy calendars available for mothers and fathers.

All About Due Dates and Trimesters

Tracking baby’s growth and your symptoms become relatively easy when you have a place to write them down at. The first question anyone will ask you after staring a while at your baby bump will be about your due date. When you make the first prenatal appointment with your ob/gyn, they will help you get an expected delivery (EDD). The 40 weeks period of pregnancy is eventful, to say the least, and it begins from the first day of your last menstrual period (LMP).

From the first day of LMP, your due date is only your obstetrician’s best guess. Baby can pop out anytime during 38 and 42 weeks. Few women actually deliver their babies on their exact due date, the rest only get an idea for preparations from the determined date. Another big term during your 40 weeks of tirelessly experiencing changes in your body will be trimester. As you already know, 40 weeks are divides into three phases aka trimesters.

First Trimester: Week 1 to Week 12

Second Trimester: Week 13 to Week 26

Third Trimester: Week 27 to Week 40

When you have a proper tracking record of your baby’s development, you can easily go back and check the progress every week. This also helps you track things happening to you and then work on finding ways of countering the adverse effects that happened sometimes.

Pros and Cons of a Week-by-Week Pregnancy Calendar

You will know when you baby first kicked, or when you got the first post-ultrasound picture of your little blessing. You will track all the movements, mood swings, milestones and have a wholesome experience of pregnancy. There is nothing better than keeping a track of these little moments and then later remembering them for the rest of your life.

About cons – apart from being overly conscious about your baby, there is not a single con of tracking every single detail. Let’s be real – mother instinct is all about being overly conscious about their babies, even when they are out of their bodies. This is why making a calendar right from the start is so important.

What to expect during Week 1 to Week 12

Half of this semester might just go under the contemplating period; where you are still not sure if you are pregnant or not. As an embryo develops during these first 12 weeks, the baby’s growth is the most accelerated during this trimester. You can hear a heartbeat generally by 6 weeks and by the time this trimester ends, you baby is a whole organism with muscles, bones and organs. A tiny human aka fetus is evident at this time of your pregnancy.

At this time, mother herself experience many changes in her physical and mental health. Keeping up with your own mood swings and cravings and new sicknesses gets tiring pretty quickly. The charm wears off and you are left awake in the middle of the night battling the anxiety that comes with picking on a new life role. Whoever your consultant is, make sure you discuss all your mental health issues with them too!

What to expect during Week 13 to Week 26

This is the time to show off your cute little baby bump to the world. Let in all the congratulations and love from your closed ones and feel as good about this new change as you can. In the middle three months of your pregnancy, you will feel more energetic as you did earlier. All the anxiety, sickness and fatigue that first enveloped you will be elevated as you accept yourself more into a mother’s role. At the end of this trimester, you will start feeling the movements of your baby!

What to expect during Week 27 to Week 40

“Cannot wait to meet the baby” stage is here. This trimester makes mothers tired but this is the time they have to super alert. The excitement of meeting the baby might stop you from considering things from various angles. As you reach your due date, make sure to give some time yourself. As soon as the baby arrives, your life will revolve around him or her, this is the time you need to save for yourself. One important thing mothers forget – please take all the help that is being offered, there is strength even when you have helping hands!