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Changes come about so rapidly based on data from week to week throughout pregnancy. The first and foremost trimester is a very delicate evolution of pregnancy, investing in rapid fluctuations happening to both mother and baby. This is the trimester when pregnancy symptoms are at such a peak. Although most any woman’s pregnancy is different, a little symptoms are felt by most – especially a missed period! Weeks 1 to 3 The first two weeks of pregnancy do not actually involve a fetus. A baby is actually conceived some time around the third week.can t Get Pregnancy

A pregnancy is counted from day 1 of a woman’s last menstrual period for dating purposes, however, no baby actually exists until week 3! Ovulation should occur some time around the third week, after which conception can take place. One of the first pregnancy symptoms may be implantation bleeding, which can happen when the fertilized egg implants itself into the wall of the uterus. This bleeding should be very light, and perhaps pink in color.

Other symptoms that can start may include: nausea, bloating, tender/swollen breasts, and of course, a missed period. some symptoms may not appear until a little later in the first trimester. some symptoms may actually last throughout the entire pregnancy. Weeks 4 to 7 A home pregnancy test taken around week 4 or 5 will show a positive result.

A blood test can detect the pregnancy hormone earlier than a home pregnancy test, which can show a positive result even before the next menstrual period is due. These few weeks involve rapid growth of the baby. The cells are rapidly dividing, and the placenta is being formed. The baby’s heart actually starts beating around week 6 or 7. The eyes and umbilical cord are also underway. Pregnant Week

Weeks 8 to 10 by week 8 of pregnancy, the baby’s heart can be heard through an ultrasound. The sex of the baby is determined at this point, as either testes or ovaries will develop. The mother’s uterus is probably the size of a grapefruit by now! This would be a good week for a first prenatal appointment. on week 9 on a pregnancy calendar, the baby’s bones and cartilage begin to form. Arms and legs are developing, as are webbed fingers and thumbs. by week 10, a pregnant woman will probably start to ’show’ as her uterus continues to enlarge and rise.

She will also most likely begin to experience bleeding gums and nose, due to the increased volume of blood flow. The baby’s tail should have disappeared by now, and he or she will begin moving around in the mother’s womb. Weeks 11 and 12 The baby is just about fully developed by the end of the first trimester, although her or she still needs to grow and strengthen all the organs and systems. The baby’s heart beat is very rapid – beating anywhere from 140 to 160 beats per minute. An ultrasound is usually carried out at this point to determine if the baby is growing properly, and to date the pregnancy.

Certain prenatal tests may be conducted at this time, especially if the mother is over the age of 35. Tests such as chorionic villus sampling may be done around this time to detect any chromosomal abnormalities – such as down Syndrome – or genetic disorders. These tests are not mandatory, and can be opted out of by the mother if she so chooses. by the end of the 12th week, pregnancy symptoms should be much milder, and should be starting to subside. can t Get Pregnancy

There are some unfortunate women who may experience certain symptoms for months. The threat of miscarriage is drastically reduced by the end of the first trimester, which is why many women choose to wait until this time before announcing their pregnancy. Start raising a family! Get Pregnant Today by getting Pregnant Week ebook now!

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Check out 4 clips from THE BACK-UP PLAN which stars Jennifer Lopez, Alex O’Loughlin, and is directed by Alan Poul.

The Back-Up Plan Synopsis: After years of dating, Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) has decided waiting for the right one is taking too long. Determined to become a mother, she commits to a plan, makes an appointment and decides to go it alone. On the day of her artificial insemination, Zoe meets Stan (Alex O’Loughlin) – a man with real possibilities.
Trying to nurture a budding relationship and hide the early signs of pregnancy becomes a comedy of errors for Zoe and creates confusing signals for Stan. When Zoe nervously reveals the reason for her unpredictable behavior, Stan commits fully and says he’s in. Never before has love seen a courtship where a wild night of sex involves three in a bed – Stan, Zoe and the ever-present massive pregnancy pillow. or, where “date night” consists of being the “focal point” at a near-stranger’s water birth which does for kiddie pools what “Jaws” did for swimming in the ocean. the real pregnancy test comes when both of them realize they really don’t know each other outside of hormonal chaos and birth preparations. with the nine month clock ticking, both begin to experience cold feet. anyone can fall in love, get married and have a baby but doing it backwards in hyper-drive could be proof positive that they were made for each other.

The Back-Up Plan will be released to theaters on April 23, 2010. Watch the clips below. you can also watch the trailer here.

THE BACK-UP PLAN 4 Movie Clips with Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin

It’s late already and I really and truly have NO time to write a post tonight. Tomorrow is Day 90 of my challenge to read through the Bible in 90 days, and I was a bit behind so I have been focusing on reading instead of being online! I am caught up and on track to finish tomorrow now, wheee!

Anyway, chart-y stuff!

Sooo I’m 8DPO today and look look LOOKIE at my temp again this morning!! I know you have already, but I’m still excited so I’m saying it anyway! ANOTHER 36.8! Since my temp had that huge jump after (unproven but likely) implantation at 5DPO, my temps have been completely flat – the same every day. the only charts that I’ve had like this before are ones where I’ve been pregnant. So yes yes, I know I’m only 8DPO but seeing that temp I couldn’t help myself! I ripped open my pack of 10 cheapy tests and peed on one! It’s negative (of course?) but I do see a shadowy line that’s barely pink, not greyish. Now, even though it’s TOO EARLY to be seeing a positive test (for at least 99% of women at this stage!), looking at that test stick suddenly reminded me of the last couple of cycles, having pregnancy symptoms and a chart that agreed, and getting those negative tests – and I felt unconfident suddenly, and started to second guess myself. I had the same faintish barely there line two days running last cycle and called them positives because the line was THERE and fat and pink, just so so so terribly faint that I couldn’t even do much with it in a photograph (though I tried, lol!). I kept them so I could compare this cycle in case it happened again, though they’re kind of old now.

Anyway I started to second guess myself and think that maybe what I was looking at the last time was just negative tests, and the shadow that I could see was just what would have been there if I took them mid-cycle with no chance of being pregnant at all! I am sure I was pregnant last cycle, but I say this so many cycles that I become unconfident in myself and start to wonder if I’m just kidding myself? I know at the time that I have clear symptoms that I am very familiar with after all this time and all these babies! And charting helps to confirm that too. but today, looking at that fainter than faint (too faint) line again, I became discouraged and rather unconfident of the outcome of this cycle. I know that’s silly because I’m only 8DPO, and LOOK at my chart (!!), and I have absolutely undeniable pregnancy symptoms right now (flashing static pains in my n*pples still, little tiny ligament “pulls” and “tweaks” inside my hips, frequent urination, slight gagginess, etc, which I never ever (ever) get at any point when I am not pregnant). I just worry that again I will say, “Oh I’m SO definitely pregnant!” and then keep on getting negative tests that I am convinced are faint faint positives, and then wouldn’t you know it? I get my period after all. I begin to feel silly and childish when I look at it from a distance, and hope that I don’t look that way to other people (because that could be the case!).

After I tested this morning I thought I didn’t really want to test again tomorrow. I thought I would wait till 10DPO. but, more realistically, I will see what my temp is in the morning. I’m still not really expecting a drop in temp as early as 9DPO (could happen at 10DPO or 11DPO though, if my period will arrive), so I guess it should still be raised. HOW raised, is the key though. if I see it right up there again, I KNOW I am going to want to test again! So we’ll see. I have plenty of tests and they were not remotely expensive so that’s not an issue. I should probably wait, but it’s no good trying to reason with me on that one because I am not a waiter! I get caught up in the moment and can’t stand the idea of being sensible and waiting, even if it slightly messes with my sanity as a result, haha!

Today I think has been quite a quiet, neutral day again as far as my body goes. it just feels calm and still and quiet in there somehow, and I know I am not even describing the feeling right, because I don’t mean silent or dormant at ALL. Like a calm before a storm type of feeling. but nice, not scary.

I have mild cramps on and off as yesterday. No BAD cramps yet, which are a sure sign of pregnancy in my luteal phase. Mild cramps I may have whether pregnant or not. my breasts are tender today and I’ve had more of that static that I mentioned before (pregnant!). my mood has really stabilised, although I’m a bit sensitive and overwhelmed still, just nowhere near as much as before (thankfully!!). I ate the pizza I couldn’t eat last night, heated up for lunch today, and it was okay. I felt a big gaggy by the end, but my tummy felt happier to eat it at that different time of day.

I’ve had a bit of a sore throat today, but not like I am getting ill. In fact I highly doubt I am getting ill, since it’s been nearly a week since I’ve been anywhere to catch anything! I’m BUSY at home all the time lately! the boys are all healthy and their outings are mostly to wide open spaces to RUN AND RUN and walk for miles (literally!) and play and hide. I know there is an actual search category at the FF chart gallery for “sore throat” and a LOT of pregnancy charts come up when you enter that – I read about that in a post there a few years ago, and was reminded of it when I had a slightly sore/scratchy throat that came to nothing in my LP when pregnant with Matthew, and again with Nathan I think, but not so much. it may be nothing to do with pregnancy of course, but being Crazy Obsesso-Woman, I wanted to note it!

Very little CM again, though I’m starting to feel the urge to check my underwear today, I guess now that I’m getting nearer to the end of my usual short luteal phase, or maybe it’s more to do with the sudden unconfident feeling I described above? Anyway, starting to spot check!

I have had a weird little “cracking” sensation (little flashes of sort of ultra quick ligament pains that almost feel like my skin cracking on the inside – weird, I I know but I don’t know how else to describe it) on the front of my tummy a few inches below my tummy button today, as I was holding Benjamin and rocking him at naptime. this really caught my attention because it’s something I have experienced time and time again when holding my babies or toddlers and rocking them either at naptime, bedtime, or during the night over the years. but only when I’m pregnant. I don’t even know what it is! All I know is that I feel it in that very same place, and higher up at the same central point as my bump rises up in the first half of pregnancy – I don’t get it in the 2nd half of pregnancy really – and only when holding a weight like a heavy older baby or a small toddler on my front in my arms, and shifting my weight about to rock them.

I am not sure what to do if I’m NOT pregnant this cycle. I think perhaps I will start to wonder if I’m going crazy! I KNOW that I am pregnant, and yet I am starting to feel foolish for “knowing” each cycle recently and never actually getting past the end of my luteal phase before a period comes anyway. I know I do get chemical pregnancies until my luteal phase is long enough to support a pregnancy (and IS it, this time?? I’m suddenly unconfident…), but I still look back and start to wonder if I’m just going crazy here!

Well I am sure there was more, but I should stop now and go to bed. oh! but another weird little coincidence – when I was waiting to find out if I was pregnant with Benjamin (well, only about 4DPO actually), a friend who I hadn’t been in touch with for a while sent me an out-of-the-blue message at Facebook, pouring out her heart to me because she and her husband had been trying for a baby for a while and were having no success. I felt so conflicted about writing a reply to her, because I knew (in my knower!) that I was pregnant and just waiting to find out for sure, but the timing seemed horrible for her, and I didn’t want to crush her with news of my pregnancy soon after. I was just honest with her in the end, and it was okay. She has since had a baby boy Anyway, so the day before yesterday I got a message at Facebook from a school friend I haven’t heard from in ages, saying that she just had an ectopic pregnancy and has been trying for a baby with her hubby for a long time and is feeling so sad that it isn’t happening! Again with the horrible timing for my sweet friend, if I’m pregnant! :S I hate my happy news to hurt others who are struggling in this area, whenever I announce that I’m pregnant. Anyway, that was an uncanny similarity to last time I was pregnant (and actually really pregnant too! ).

Ohhh I woke this morning from a REALLY vivid dream (another good sign of pregnancy for me, late in my LP usually and beyond). it was soooo detailed and in long sections, and very emotional, and I remember it all so clearly. I gave birth to a baby boy (my 5th child, so hmmm!…) and the dream then got so weird and the storyline is way to complicated and drawn out to go into here really, but basically Neil wanted me to cycle places to get things with him the same day I gave birth, and I struggled and we argued, and I got lost when we parted ways to find the right route, and then there was a fire in our house (somehow I was there again!) and I put it out with the fire extinguisher, and that made the batteries in the recharger explode (?!), and then I got kidnapped by a gunman along with various other people, and we were walking through an airport and I was getting more and more breathlessly exhausted and kept begging them to let me go, saying that I had just given birth that morning and my baby needed me. When they said I could go I started to “ugly” cry and just didn’t stop for aaaages, and woke up doing dry snorty sobs! Weirdness. I was just so relieved to be allowed to go to my baby, because I was so anxious about him crying for me or being hungry (he didn’t want to feed after he was born, and then somehow I was separated from him for the rest of the dream). Neil noted (when I told him about it) that the gunman aspect is often part of my dreams when I’m pregnant. I have had some HORRIBLE violent and terrifying “gunman” dreams when pregnant before, and I STILL see some of them clearly when I even cast a thought in their direction, from Arthur’s pregnancy. I actually die of gunshot wounds (sometimes slowly) before waking up in some of them. Urgh.

Anyway!! So, weird dream – also a pregnancy sign in itself.

Must go to bed! I will update my chart asap in the morning. this morning I temped and updated my chart RIGHT AWAY in the bedroom a good 30 minutes before I had chance to take the pregnancy test, and then I didn’t get the chance to update the chart with the result till Benjamin napped a bit later, so that’s why I updated with my temp and yet no test result for a while. if I test tomorrow, it might be the same order of events, but I will post it as soon as I’m able, later in the morning hopefully!

Oh and as far as the “5″ on my chart that is on a line called “stats” – the stats line is just to show, based on all the previous charts I’ve entered (ie, my history, or stats) when I’m likely to ovulate (the green squares along that line show the window that I might expect to ovulate in – there’s such a long line of them because I have such a HUGE range in the cycle day that I ovulate over the years!), and when I might expect my period to arrive. there are red squares for the days when my period might show up, based on past history of what cycle day my period has showed up on before. then they take my normal average luteal phase (which is 12 days I think), and every time my chart records that I’ve ovulated, a WHITE square shows up in the stats line 13 days ahead. that is the recommended test day, according to FF! the 5 is the start of the 5,4,3,2,1 countdown to the white box nothing exciting really, since I test anyway even when it says “FIVE DAYS TO GO TILL YOU CAN TEST!!!” hahaha!

Okay, bed! Back tomorrow at NINE days past ovulation! I love seeing my LP getting closer to normal length again!

Alice's Pregnancy Journal: 8DPO

What is MTHFR gene?

The MTHFR gene provides the complete instruction for the production of a metabolically important enzyme called 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. This enzyme catalyzes the conversion of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate to 5-methyltetrahydrofolate. Methyltetrahydrofolate is the biologically active form of folic acid, a very important vitamin in humans.

What are the Functions of the Methyltetrahydrofolate?

Methyltetrahydrofolate is needed in many biological reactions. The conversion of the amino acid homocysteine to methionine requires methyltetrahydrofolate. Methionine is among the many amino acids that build up protein.

Methyltetrahydrofolate is also important in gene silencing: a process of deactivating a particular gene so that it will not encode protein. Its methyl group (-CH3) attaches to a particular region in the DNA to deactivate it. Gene silencing is important in regulating the expression of a particular gene (e,g, oncogenes or cancer genes). if genes are not properly regulated, problems may occur like the development of diseases.

The methyl group of methyltetrahydrofolate is also required in the biosynthesis of nucleotides: the building blocks of DNA. Nucleotides are needed in DNA synthesis or the creation of new DNA strands. Rapidly dividing cells actively synthesize DNA for new cells formed; thus, they require a large amount of nucleotides.

How MTHFR Mutation causes Pregnancy Complications?

Methyltetrahydrofolate is not produced by the cells if there is a mutation in the MTHFR gene. MTHFR mutation results in the production of an altered/defective enzyme that cannot carry out its function efficiently or worse, the gene is completely inactivated that no enzyme is produced at all.

Inadequate amount of methylenetetrahydrofolate enzyme in the body due to MTHFR mutation could lead to homocysteinuria or the build up of amino acid homocysteine in the body. Homocysteinuria has a negative effect in the cardiovascular system and may cause pregnancy complications. According to a group of medical researchers, homocysteinuria is a risk factor in miscarriage because it triggers the formation of blood clots that obstruct the flow of blood towards the placenta.

MTHFR mutation also causes birth defects such as spina bifida (spine malformation) and anencephaly (malformation in the skull and brain). there is still no clear reason to explain the connection between the birth defects and MTHFR mutation. A research say that the birth defects occur because the gene called insulin-like growth factor is not properly methylated due to the inadequacy of methyltetrahydrofolate. Insulin-like growth factor gene is associated to the normal development of the nervous system.

MTHFR mutation also causes anemia to new born babies. This is because hematopoiesis or the production of new red blood cells is impaired. Stem cells of red blood cells cannot divide without new DNA synthesized caused by the absence of nucleotides.

Babies born with MTHFR mutation have low birth weight and small size. This is caused by intrauterine birth restriction due to MTHFR deficiency.

References

Genetics Home Center, National Institute of Health
Genetics Channel of Brighthub.com

MTHFR Mutation: Learn How It Causes Pregnancy Complications

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The first study of global patterns of death among people aged between 10-24 years of age has found that road traffic accidents, complications during pregnancy and child birth, suicide, violence, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) are the major causes of mortality. most causes of death of young people are preventable and treatable. The study, which was supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and published in The Lancet medical journal, found that 2.6 million young people are dying each year, with 97% of these deaths taking place in low- and middle-income countries.

There are more young people in the world today than ever before — 1.8 billion, accounting for 30% of the world’s population. until now, there has been very little information available on the causes of death among young people globally and by region. this study is intended to inform the development of policies and programmes to ensure that they improve the lives, and prevent the deaths, of young people.

Daisy Mafubelu, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Family and Community Health, said: “Young people are transitioning from childhood to adulthood – at the threshold of becoming productive members of society – yet they often fall through the cracks. It is clear from these findings that considerable investment is needed – not only from the health sector, but also from sectors including education, welfare, transport, and justice – to improve access to information and services, and help young people avoid risky behaviours that can lead to death.”

WHO recommends the following interventions to promote safe behaviours, improve health and prevent deaths among young people:

- Road traffic accidents can be prevented through speed management (for example, creating low-speed zones in urban settings, setting speed limits according to road type); strictly enforcing drink-driving laws that limit blood alcohol concentration to 0.05 g/dl with lower limits for young or novice drivers); increasing the wearing of good quality helmets, and increasing the use of seat-belts.

- Sexual and reproductive health can be improved by ensuring that young people receive sexuality education, have access to condoms and other contraceptives, safe abortion to the full extent of the law, antenatal and obstetric care, HIV testing and counselling, and HIV/AIDS care and treatment.

- Violence and suicide can be prevented by ensuring that young people have access to life skills training; promoting positive parental involvement in the lives of young people, reducing the use of alcohol by young people, and reducing their access to lethal means (including firearms, knives, pesticides and sedatives).

- The immediate and long-term consequences of injuries and violence can be significantly reduced by improving access to effective community-level care and emergency medical care, and providing treatment and support for young people exposed to child abuse, youth violence, and sexual assault.

Source: MediLexicon, 12 September 2009

Most likely ways to die before you're 25

Two Fayetteville gynecologists were issued public letters of concern by the North Carolina Medical Board after a woman who was not pregnant was induced for labor and given a cesarean section.

Dr. Dorrette Grant and Dr. Gerianne Geszler received the letters in January regarding a patient suffering from pseudocyesis, a disorder in which a patient has a false pregnancy that can be caused by emotional factors, tumors or an endocrine disorder.

The incident happened at Cape fear Valley Medical Center in November 2008 when a woman exhibiting signs of pregnancy went to the hospital with her husband asking for a cesarean section, Geszler said Tuesday.

Geszler was the attending on-call supervisor at the time. A resident in her charge made the pregnancy diagnosis, Geszler said.

As a result, Grant attempted to perform a C-section on the patient after a failed attempt at inducing labor, the board letters said.

The letters said the resident did not have enough experience to make the diagnosis and that the board is concerned that Grant and Geszler’s management of the situation had “fallen below the standard of care.”

Dena Konkel, a spokeswoman for the Medical Board, said the letters to Grant and Geszler amount to a formal notice expressing the board’s concern about a practitioner’s conduct.

The two doctors will be allowed to continue practicing, with a warning from the board that similar complaints could lead to formal disciplinary proceedings, Konkel said.

Geszler said it is not uncommon to see women with false pregnancies but she was surprised the resident was not able to make a correct determination after examining the patient.

“It wasn’t something I thought I’d have to check behind somebody on,” Geszler said. “The bottom line is the woman convinced everybody she was pregnant.”

In pseudocyesis, a patient can have all the signs and symptoms of pregnancy, including abdominal and breast enlargement, nausea, food cravings and cessation of menstruation.

Some patients have even tested positive on pregnancy tests, experts have said.

Geszler said the hospital has instituted new guidelines for cases such as this.

“It will never happen again,” she said.

Grant practices at Women’s Health Haven Obstetrics & Gynecology, according to her profile on the Medical Board’s Web site. she could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Geszler practices at Breezewood Family Healthcare. at the time of the surgery, she was practicing at Women’s Wellness Center.

Geszler said Tuesday she has since stopped practicing obstetrics and now focuses on anti-aging medicine at Breezewood’s Center for Health and Restoration. Both doctors maintain their admitting privileges at Cape fear Valley, according to the Medical Board’s Web site.

No previous infractions were reported for either doctor on the board’s Web site.

Staff writer Jennifer Calhoun can be reached at calhounj@fayobserver.com or 486-3595.

Doctors cited in handling of false pregnancy

Colorado Gov. bill Ritter signed a law Monday that bans providers of individual insurance policies from charging different rates to men and women for identical products.

House bill 1008 — sponsored by Reps. Sue Schafer, D-Wheat Ridge, and Beth McCann, D-Denver — puts Colorado into the majority of states that have similar laws. Though controversial when Schafer first introduced it in 2009, the legislation eventually got the backing even of insurance companies and passed the House 59-2 before getting its OK from the Senate by a largely partisan 20-13 count.

“It’s past time that women were not considered in the private individual insurance market as a pre-existing condition,” Schafer told a crowd of some 75 people gathered on the Capitol’s west steps to watch the bill-signing.

Because the cost of health care can be more expensive for women, especially younger women, insurance companies traditionally have tended to charge more for their policies. The practice has been banned in the group-insurance markets for nearly half a century, but individual insurers carry it on — and can charge premiums up to 40 percent higher for females in Colorado, said sponsoring Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora.

That statistic remains true even for women who buy health care that does not include coverage of female-only conditions like pregnancy, Schafer said. Because females are more likely to work jobs in which they are not covered by employer-sponsored group insurance, HB 1008 will affect as many as 140,000 women in Colorado, she said.

Senate Republicans still questioned whether bringing down the cost of health care for women would lead insurance companies just to raise the cost of insurance policies for men to even things out. And Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, in trying to make a point about gender discrimination, unsuccessfully tried to add an amendment to ban the common practice of auto insurance companies charging more to young male drivers than to females.

In the end, though, Ritter said that the new law will work in conjunction with the recently enacted federal health care reform to get more women insured and to make it cheaper for women to get health care.

“We must remain committed to improving access, quality and cost containment,” the Democratic governor said before signing the bill. “This new bill will make health care more affordable and more accessible for women purchasing insurance in the individual market.”

Ritter signs law for gender equality in Colorado insurance rates

A Joyride with Some Common Discomforts

Mar 25, 2010Lopa Banerjee

Have you just discovered a couple of weeks back that you are expecting a new baby? Are you going through the constantly wavering extremes of delight, anxiety, exhilaration and exhaustion of your new physical and emotional state of being? the initial excitement as well as the physical and emotional stress of discovering pregnancy, whether it is your first time or if you have already gone through it before, can be really overwhelming for new parents.

It is especially quite challenging to the new mother who is trying to cope with a number of factors – the unborn baby’s health, her adjustments to attain motherhood, and the constant physical, emotional and financial demands of raising the new baby. while these are a few factors that keep occurring to you during the entire period of your pregnancy, the first trimester is one of the most trying times when your body, your hormones and your entire being is going through an amazing transformation that is going to shape up your life for a long time now.

In the first trimester, you just get to discover that the journey towards attaining motherhood has just begun. it can be a long-awaited moment, or a complete surprise. it can be your first pregnancy, or your second or third. whatever it is, each time your experiences will be unique and different.

What to Expect in Your Body in the First Trimester

The first 13 weeks comprise the first trimester of pregnancy. the first trimester can be a really turbulent time for expecting moms. during this period, they have to cope with a multitude of physical symptoms, including morning sickness, minor aches and cramps in the abdominal region, as well as unexpected transformations in the entire body.

While for new mothers, it is quite difficult to know and understand what to expect, it is not the same for those who have walked the road before. Nevertheless, for all expecting mothers, it is a challenging task to deal with the different physiological changes and discomforts caused by the increased levels of hormones in the body and by the fetus that starts its life cycle in the womb.

Vital Physiological Changes that Come with the First Trimester

While in the first few whirlwind weeks, you suddenly discover missed menstrual period and ensure that you are expecting your little one, you must be prepared to experience a sea of changes inside your body within another few weeks.

For many women, tenderness and enlargement of the breasts due to increased hormone production is a common experience, while some may not feel it during the first trimester. however, another common physical symptom, frequency of urination is experienced by almost all expecting mothers in the first trimester. it is very natural to expect this change as your uterus is growing to create space for the growing fetus, and as a result is pressing on your bladder.

The discomfort of frequent urination eases out in many women in the second trimester, as the uterus rises out of the pelvis. while high levels of estrogen during this period can be instrumental to the growth and support of the growing embryo, it is also due to these high levels of estrogen production in the body that you can experience increased vaginal secretion, and can also expect changes in your digestion and metabolism.

The feeling of nausea and vomiting during early pregnancy, which has been famously known as “morning sickness,” and which is a common experience for some expecting mothers, can also be attributed to these increased levels of hormone production to the body. Sometimes it is common to experience this morning sickness at any given time of the day, coupled with the discomforts of indigestion and heartburn. These discomforts are mainly due to the increased levels of the hormones relaxin and progesterone which control the intestine and slow down the process of digestion during this period.

It is important to remember here that the first trimester is a vital period of your pregnancy when your growing fetus is developing almost all of his/her vital tissues and organs. By the end of this trimester, the little one, although still a tiny creature (two and a half to three inches long and weighing about an ounce by the 12th week), will be throbbing and pulsating with life. By this time, his heart, kidneys and liver already start to function. it is also important to remember that statistically, most of the miscarriages happen during the first trimester of the gestational period.

Therefore, to ensure that you are caring for your health and well as that of your little one, it is important that you continue consulting your gynecologist, health care practitioner or midwife every step of the way for proper prenatal care and guidance. it is pivotal to the health and overall wellness of the new mother and the unborn baby that you follow a healthy diet rich in protein and vitamins, take regular dose of prenatal supplements, follow a healthy exercise regimen and abstain from alcohol and recreational drugs to maintain a healthy pregnancy. after all, your body is growing and nurturing a new being, and you must rejoice in the wonders of its creation inside you!

Sources:

Mayoclinic.com, “First Trimester Pregnancy: what to Expect” (Accessed March 25, 2010)

Pregnancy-info.net, “Pregnancy First Trimester” (Accessed March 25, 2010)

Pregnancy-period.com, “First Trimester of Pregnancy–What to Expect (Accessed March 25, 2010)

AskBaby.com, “First Trimester Pregnancy-Signs, Symptoms, Ultrasound Scans” (Accessed March 25, 2010)

Naturaleco.com, “The First Trimester–The Adventure Begins” (Accessed March 25, 2010)

Experience the First Trimester of Your Pregnancy: A Joyride With …

However, the study of 2,752 breast cancer patients by Australian researchers found that if the breast cancer was diagnosed while the women were pregnant, their risk of dying was nearly the same as other, non-pregnant women diagnosed with breast cancer — only three percent higher.

Assistant Professor Angela Ives, a research fellow at The University of Western Australia, said that the findings suggest that the cumulative effect of pregnancy may play a role in breast cancer prognosis and this, along with whether a woman breast feeds, needs further investigation.

“It is important to stress that our findings should not discourage women from breast feeding as we know that this is beneficial to both mother and baby in a number of ways. while most breast symptoms or abnormalities identified in young women are benign, it is important that when a woman is pregnant or breast feeding any symptoms or abnormalities are not assumed to be due to the pregnancy or breast feeding, particularly if the symptoms persist,” she said.

It is important that both health professionals and young women are breast aware, even during pregnancy and breast-feeding, and promptly have symptoms investigated to allow early diagnosis.

“For women who are diagnosed with breast cancer after pregnancy, they and their clinicians may wish to consider different forms of treatment to improve survival”, Ives added.

Prof Ives said that because very little is known about gestational breast cancer (breast cancer that is diagnosed while a woman is pregnant or up to 12 months after completion of a pregnancy, including terminations or miscarriages) she and her colleagues decided to find out more so that women could make informed choices about their breast cancer management and pregnancy outcome.

Using the Western Australia Data Linkage System, they identified a group of 2,752 women, aged less than 45, diagnosed with breast cancer in Western Australia between January 1982 and December 2003. They followed them to December 2007 or to their date of death, if earlier.

“The WA Data Linkage System is one of only five comprehensive record linkage systems in the world. It brings together population-based hospital morbidity data, birth and death records, mental health services data, cancer registrations and midwives’ notifications, linked back to 1980. In this case we have been able to identify all cases of gestational breast cancer diagnosed in WA and all other cases of breast cancer in similar aged women to identify what is different about them,” she said.

The researchers took account of additional factors such as age at diagnosis, histological tumor grade, stage of disease and whether the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes. From the total number of women, 182 were diagnosed with gestational breast cancer, 55 while they were pregnant and 127 after the end of the pregnancy.

Prof Ives found that, as might be expected, histological tumor grade, disease stage and lymph node involvement were all associated with a worse survival for all the women. The finding of the increased risk of death if breast cancer was diagnosed after pregnancy remained after adjusting for lymph node status, disease stage at diagnosis, histological tumor grade and age.

“It has been assumed over many years that actually being pregnant at diagnosis led to poor survival, but this study has shown that it might be the amount of time that a woman is pregnant and her body’s responses to being pregnant that encourage the growth of a breast cancer. another explanation might be that the changes in the breast while pregnant and then breast feeding mask a breast cancer, which is, therefore, more advanced when it is diagnosed. It could be a combination of both,” Prof Ives said.

“In addition, we do know that pregnancy and breast-feeding reduce the long-term risk of a woman developing breast cancer, but we also know that, in the short term, having been pregnant may increase the risk of developing breast cancer. There needs to be further research into these possible explanations for our findings.”

Prof Ives and her colleagues are now investigating what might be happening at cell level with the way tumors grow (angiogenesis) and the role played by the body’s immune response. They are also carrying out further research on the cumulative effect of pregnancy and breast-feeding and time from conception to date of cancer diagnosis on survival.

In a second study [2], Dr Salma Butt (M.D. and a PhD student at the Department of Surgery, Malm? University Hospital, Sweden) examined the link between the length of time that women breast-fed and the different types of breast cancer they subsequently developed. she found that although the risk of developing breast cancer was the same regardless of the duration of breast-feeding, women who had breast-fed for six months or longer had a statistically significant risk of developing more aggressive types of breast cancer.

However, Dr Butt and her colleagues do not know yet whether this means that these women are more likely to die from their cancer.

“Several previous studies have investigated the association between breast-feeding and breast cancer risk, but, to our knowledge, no studies have investigated breast-feeding and risk associated with different types of breast cancer. furthermore, no study has investigated the association between breastfeeding, types of breast cancer and survival yet,” Dr Butt said.

“Our findings need be followed by studies on survival to see if these more aggressive breast tumours actually lead to a higher death rate or not, because we do know that breast cancers that do not have aggressive characteristics can also have high rates of mortality if they are diagnosed late. This is something that we intend to study next,” she added.

Dr Butt and her colleagues examined data collected prospectively from a group of 17,035 women in The Malm? Diet and Cancer Study. They evaluated 622 cases of breast cancer for a range of factors that indicated how aggressive the tumours were (e.g. invasiveness, tumour size, axillary lymph node status, HER2 status, Ki67, which is an indicator for tumour proliferation, etc).

They analysed the duration of breast feeding for each child, total amount of time a woman had breast-fed, and the average time of breast-feeding per child; the average duration of breast feeding was divided into four groups: less than 2.2 months, less than four months, four months or more, and 6.2 months or more.

“We found a statistically significant risk of grade III tumours in women with an average time of breast-feeding of 6.2 months or more. The risk of tumours expressing higher levels of Ki67 was also significantly associated with longer duration of breast-feeding. we concluded that long duration of breast-feeding was associated with more unfavourable types of breast cancer,” Dr Butt said.

She stressed that these findings should not discourage women from breast-feeding as there were several strong studies that showed that breast-feeding could reduce a woman’s overall risk of breast cancer, and that longer breast-feeding times were good for both mother and baby.

“The most important thing would be to identify women with a higher risk of aggressive types of breast cancer and offer them intensified screening, in order to identify their tumours early.”

She said the study was an epidemiological one that could show risk associations but not causes. “The biological mechanisms behind this are still to be identified. What is known is that breast-feeding reduces the number of ovulatory menstrual cycles over a lifetime, thereby reducing the impact of hormone levels present during normal menstrual cycles and, in particular, reducing the progesterone exposure.

This may explain the finding in previous studies of a reduced risk of breast cancer in women who had breast-fed. however, breast-feeding stimulates the production of prolactin, a hormone that has been reported to have tumor-promoting effects. But the relation between breastfeeding, prolactin and breast cancer is complex and not fully understood.”

Post-Pregnancy Breast Cancer Hikes Death Risk in Patients

The comments may not have been tactful, but the Los Angeles mom caught herself wondering if they were true. Was the adorable, easygoing preschooler overweight? During the child’s first year of life, she had been smaller than 95 percent of children her age, according to pediatric growth charts, weighing about 17 pounds on her first birthday. but her weight had increased, and kept increasing, until she was 43 pounds at age 3 1/2.

“All of a sudden she’s was on the 50th percentile, then the 75th, then 99th,” Levin recalls. “You say, ‘Wait a minute. Something’s not right.’ “

Risk FactorsBefore Birth

Today, one of every three U.S. children is overweight – but it’s much easier to prevent obesity than to treat it. That’s why pediatric obesity experts now say intervention should begin early – very early. the risk of becoming overweight or obese, it increasingly seems, begins before a child is born, establishes roots in infancy and may be entrenched by the time a tot starts kindergarten.

In recent studies, researchers concluded that some risk factors for childhood obesity exist even before birth. Further, they’ve found, obese 3-year-olds already show the signs of inflammation that is linked to heart disease in adults.

The notion that a person’s lifelong weight trajectory might be programmed early in life is startling – and potentially revolutionary, says Dr. Nicolas Stettler, an associate professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania.

“If we can identify a short period of time where an intervention can have a long-lasting effect, that could be very promising,” he says.

So far, most of the evidence that the early years affect weight into adulthood comes from observational or epidemiological studies. There are few randomized, controlled trials to indicate cause and effect, says Dr. Elsie M. Taveras, an assistant professor of population medicine and pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. but she points out, “We have pretty strong observational studies for a good number of risk factors in the prenatal, infancy and early childhood period.”

In her paper, published March 1 in the journal Pediatrics, Taveras and her colleagues summarized more than one dozen factors in the prenatal period through age 5 that can increase the likelihood of later obesity. the research was based on a study of 1,826 mother-child pairs from pregnancy through the child’s first five years of life.

Many were behaviors that are often passed down through generations and are more likely to be found in black and Latino families than in white families, possibly accounting for the high rates of obesity in those communities. For example, black and Latino infants are more likely to be fed solid food before 4 months of age and to sleep less as infants.

Each of the three early-life stages – prenatal, infancy and early childhood – comes with its own risk factors. but each also comes with the chance to intervene, breaking a lifetime cycle of obesity and dieting before it starts.

Several risk factors likely begin with the mother – even before she’s a mother.

Overweight Mothers

Almost half of U.S. women today begin pregnancy overweight or obese, automatically increasing the likelihood that their babies will be born either too small or too large, both of which increase the risk of obesity for the child later in life.

Studies show that how much weight a pregnant woman gains and whether she develops gestational diabetes both can influence her child’s weight in adulthood.

The odds of being overweight at age 7 were 48 percent higher for children of women who gained more weight than recommended during pregnancy compared with women who met weight guidelines, according to a study by Stettler and colleagues published in 2008 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

“What we find is that these things set up children for a lifelong risk of obesity,” says Asheley Cockrell Skinner, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. “These factors don’t just make them overweight; they become barriers to helping them change when they get older. it becomes the story that never ends.”

A newborn’s weight is noted on birth announcements and never forgotten by his or her mother.

First-yearWeight Gain

But perhaps it’s a baby’s weight at age 1 that matters more, experts say. Weight that is too high for the child’s height – for example, being at the 75th percentile for weight but the 30th percentile for height – can spell trouble.

Another study from Taveras’ research group, published last year in Pediatrics, found that rapid increases in weight-for-length measurements during the first six months of life were associated with a greatly increased risk of obesity at age 3.

No one is sure why rapid weight gain in the first year is important. it could be that when a baby is fed more than it needs, the brain’s development is affected so that it signals the need for excessive amounts of food, Stettler says.

Likewise, too much food might program an infant’s pancreas, and the body’s response to insulin, in a manner that leads to obesity.

Whatever the cause, Taveras says, “excessive weight gain in those first six months of life is not baby fat that is going to go away. We’re going to have to change perceptions about what’s healthy and what’s not healthy.”

Whether a baby is breast-fed (and for how long) or bottle-fed, when it begins eating solid food and how much it sleeps have also been linked to obesity risk.

But studies on breast-feeding are an example of a weakness in the argument that the early years influence future weight, Stettler says.

For example, one study randomly assigned the mothers of infants to a program that encouraged breast-feeding and compared them with women who did not receive the breast-feeding promotion program.

More babies were indeed breast-fed in the first group. but when the children in both groups reached age 6, there were no differences in their weight. the paper was published in 2007 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

“We know that families that choose to breast-feed are very different from families that do not,” Stettler said.

They may have higher incomes or feed their children more healthful food. Thus, it’s hard to say whether breast-feeding or other family characteristics affect a child’s future risk of obesity.

Obesity Risk in Children Begins Early