First Trimester Of Pregnancy
How do I determine my baby's due date?
Well, there's two ways that you can do that. One is if you have an accurate mentstrual cycle then you can take the first day of your last menstrual period and you subtract 3 months and add 7 days. If you told me your last menstrual period was May 2oth, then I would tell you your due date is February 27th based on simply that rule. Now, that's not always accurate because not all women's menstrual cycles are exact like that. So, typically we have you come in, we do an ultrasound and the measurement in the first trimester specifically in the first eight to ten weeks is pretty consistent with the due date. If you came in at eight weeks and had a baby that measured with a due date of February 27th but you didn't know the first day of your last menstrual period, we'll tell you it was somewhere around May 2th.
What medical exams occur in the 1st trimester?
In the first trimester, the medical exams that typically occur are an ultrasound, a blood test to determine a generic panel that we draw, and possibly some genetic testing if you meet that match. Then we typically do a pap smear and vaginal cultures to check for various sexually transmitted infections and just the routine yeast and bacteria infections that are possible.
How much will my baby develop during the first trimester?
Your baby does quite a bit of development in the first trimester, and it's actually developing quite heavily before it's even detected on ultrasound. The baby is actually initially a plate, and then it forms a tube, kind of rounds itself off. That whole process takes place in the first six to eight weeks of pregnancy. So, there's a lot of development that occurs in the first trimester; in-fact, most of the development occurs in the first trimester. It's the second and third trimester where the baby is simply just growing in size, because most things have developed at that point and it's the size that's going to increase at that time.
What will happen at a routine exam during my pregnancy?
When you come in for a routine exam, at maybe 12 weeks, your doctor will then discuss with you the next visit, and at the next visit, they will say, 'Between 16 and 18 weeks, we typically do the following screening blood tests.' They describe it to you. When you come in at the 16 to 18 week routine visit, they then say, 'At the next visit I will typically do an ultrasound and look at the anatomy of the baby,' and they'll inform you at your current visit what to anticipate at the next visit.
How do I alleviate my nausea during my pregnancy?
Nausea in pregnancy can be alleviated in several different ways. Sometimes the aroma of simply massaging a citrus fruit in your hands will alleviate nausea and make you feel better. People wear the wristbands for sea sickness, those pressure point wristbands to alleviate nausea in pregnancy. Those can be very helpful. Ginger products tend to be helpful with motility in the intestinal tract, so ginger snaps, ginger ale, or even chewing on ginger can alleviate nausea in pregnancy. All these things are techniques to alleviate nausea in pregnancy. Some make you more nauseated so it's a kind of a trial-and-error thing. But there are also many medications for nausea during pregnancy that are on the market that your physician can recommend to you. There's also Unisom that people can take for sleep aid. It can be helpful. Vitamin B6 is another thing that helps nausea in pregnancy. Those are the main techniques that people usually refer to when they have nausea in early pregnancy.
