The stick turned blue, or you got that second line or a plus, or a smiley face, or whatever, the thing is that you just found out you will be a mother, for the first time or not. It doesn’t matter. You have a little bun in the oven, which is making you the happiest. As you should be.
Pregnancy is one of the most beautiful experiences for a woman. Yes, it’s hard, you are constantly nauseous, your feet look like you wore a pair of uncomfortable shoes for the last 3 days, you make 74 trips to the bathroom each day, you cannot tie your shoelaces at some point and you, let’s not forget, that towards the end, you can challenge Jupiter on a “Who’s Bigger” contest. But, in the end, you get a baby. That little pink thing is what you’ve been expecting for the last nine months. You endured all that, for a 6-pound bundle of joy. And you know what? It was worth it!
It’s a rough path for some women, for some it is not, but there are a lot of things that happen to your body during your pregnancy. All of them are equally important and must not be ignored or overlooked. Thanks to the mighty Internet, a woman can know just about anything there is to know about pregnancy. No matter how reliable is the information you get online, you must remember that your doctor remains the surest source of information. Every single pregnancy is unique. What happens to you may not occur to most women and vice versa. Don’t panic if you can’t suddenly stand the smell of bacon and your pregnant friend is stuffing her face with it.
One of the most important things is the ultrasound. Besides the fact that you must get one after your home pregnancy test comes back positive, we highly recommend it you get one periodically, according to what your OB-GYN tells you. An ultrasound can show a lot, if not everything, about your baby’s development in the womb. And, that covers most of your concerns.
Of course, the ultrasound does not cover every aspect of your pregnancy. You must also do some blood tests, and urine tests, depending on what your doctor recommends and how far are you willing to go to know everything there is to know about your baby. Here I’m talking about amniocentesis, a procedure that most women fear, but is extremely useful in some cases such as genetic diseases. If you want to know if your baby is going to inherit a disease that runs in the family, amniocentesis is the way to go. The popular opinion amongst women is that the procedure hurts the baby, but it is not true. If done right, nothing wrong is going to happen.
Anyway, these things don’t come all at once. You won’t have to do all these tests right the moment you find out you are pregnant. It comes in stages. That is why I am writing this. I am going to do my best to guide you through every step of pregnancy. I am going to speak mostly about ultrasounds because that is my primary interest, but I am also going to include small pieces of information about some other things that may concern you. Hopefully, I can be of use.
Last Updated on January 26, 2023 by Marie Francis