What Happens Before? -Thalia Gomez

We all know and talk about giving birth but do you all know what happens before? Before giving birth mothers have to carry a baby for nine months where they grow and develop in the uterus. But it all begins at conception where the egg and the sperm combine to form a one celled zygote.

Once a zygote is formed it has already started the

germinal stage

where the cell begins to divide, and five days later

you have blastocyst that implants itself in the

uterus and begins to form a placenta that will give

the future baby nutrients.

 

As the baby grows inside, the mother and the baby go through many stages. In the first month of pregnancy, the mother does not really have a belly but she does undergo go through a lot of nausea and the baby is still very small at an estimated size of 0.6 cm but its heart begins to beat, its eyes and ears appear and his or hers nervous and digestive systems are forming. In the second month the embryo is now classified as a fetus its facial features become visible and its fingers and toes appear. At the end of three months it is also the end of the first trimester, where the mother can also know the gender of her baby since its external genitalia appeared as well as its excratory system deeveloped..

During the second trimester the baby goes through a lot of growing, from 0.6 cm to 30 cm in length at the end of the trimester. Throughout the second trimester many important things happen like, the Integumentary system develops causing lanugo, fine air, to form over the baby’s body, rapid brain development, and the lung sacs develop(respiratory system) but are not mature.

Lastly the third trimester is when the baby is fully developed. At this point the size varies between each baby. The organ systems are fully developed and fat starts to accumulate on the body.

Though the baby’s go through many changes so does the mom. Before pregnancy all of the organs are in their correct spot and are not enlarged. But once the baby starts to grow and get bigger, the uterus expands causing it to push all of the other organs up. For example the heart is compressed up making it beat harder to supply blood for the mother and the baby. Her lungs are also compressed making it harder for her to breath. Her external anatomy also changes, for example breast become bigger and sore because of the growth they are growing by producing milk.

Overall the mother and the baby go through many changes. All of the learning has changed my perspective of pregnancy a lot. I view pregnancy as very important and very necessary. Pregnancy does help a lot in many ways and is very interesting to know how pregnancy affects the mother and the baby.