Pregnancy: Month 1

Note: I'm going to start a series of posts dedicated to providing informative tidbits about pregnancy in a month-by-month fashion. If you are pregnant, I hope you can enjoy! By the way, the drawings are by me, so please be nice and don't steal them. I trust you.

Congratulations on your pregnancy! Here is a brief explanation of what you may be feeling and how your baby is developing.

Your body: As your fertilized egg implants itself, you may experience implantation spotting somewhere around a week after conception. You may also begin to notice some bloating and more frequent urination.

More than likely, though, you won't be feeling too much just yet. Well, you know, other than anxiousness as you wait until you may be able to take that pregnancy test. Nope, right now, it's just the waiting game!

One of the biggest obstacles I encountered with my pregnancy was terrible fatigue. This is extremely common, and it makes sense too. Think about it. Your body is building another human being! That takes a lot of energy!

If the fatigue hits you early on, here are a few things you can try to do to help:

• Make sure you drink plenty of water. This always helped to perk me up, way better than coffee ever could (which you should be avoiding now that you're pregnant). Dehydration can cause fatigue and it can also cause premature labor. So keep this in mind throughout your entire pregnancy. Drink water!
• Get some light exercise regularly. You may not guess it, but a little bit of physical activity can actually energize you. Go for a brisk walk or pick up a prenatal workout routine.
• Get the best sleep you can. You really want to make up for the sleep you'll be missing out on in nine months. So turn in earlier if you need to, but make sure you're getting your full night's sleep.
• Go easy on yourself. Of all times, this is the best time to give yourself a break. You deserve it! So don't overdo it.

Your baby: At this point, you've just conceived and your baby will transform from fertilized egg to blastocyst (bundle of cells that will travel down your fallopian tubes) to embryo (the finally implanted bundle of cells that will soon be a bundle of joy in your arms). What a great start!

Once this happens, your little bundle of cells will divide into a baby half and a placenta half, which is the part connected to you that will deliver your baby its nutrients through the umbilical cord.

Your little embryo is developing fast! So make sure you are taking your prenatal vitamins already to support that healthy growth from the beginning.

Go To Month 2 ->