Information About 10 Week Of Pregnancy

Congratulations! You are now in the final stages of the first trimester. This means the morning sickness will soon be gone and you can start sharing your happy news if you haven’t already done so. By now the risk for miscarriage has decreased significantly and you should be already be taking prenatal vitamins.

Most new moms to be won’t start planning or look at baby names until the first trimester. Now, that is coming close, you can start enjoying your pregnancy and stop worrying so much. At this stage of pregnancy, your OB/GYN should have all of the family history and any knowledge of medical conditions in either the mother or the father’s family.

At week ten, you should already have a plan of exercise and perhaps an adjusted diet plan. You don’t have to work like a madwoman but take it slow and don’t over do it. Stay away from activities like skiing, horseback riding and high impact aerobics. If you are now sure what exercises you should be doing, most video stores sell DVD exercises routines geared towards pregnant women. Or you can consult your doctor as to what exercises will also help you relax more.

Baby’s Development

Though he’s barely the size of a kumquat a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature.

He’s swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) are in place and starting to function, though they’ll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.

If you could take a peek inside your womb, you’d spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.

In other developments: Your baby’s limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby’s forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he’s about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size to nearly 3 inches.

Week 10 Pregnancy Symptoms

Fatigue

You probably still feel as if your get-up-and-go has gotten up and gone, but don’t worry in about a month you’ll be feeling less tired. In the meantime, don’t be super mom-to-be. Ask for help, get some rest, and work in some exercise when you can. Yes, it seems counterintuitive to go out for a walk when you want to crawl into bed, but you’ll feel peppier (promise!) and you’ll sleep better.

Nausea And Vomiting

What’s the worst thing you can do if you’re feeling queasy? Skip a meal. (Missing a meal just makes those queasy feelings more intense.) But if eating anything is really turning your stomach, try acupressure or seasickness bands. And sucking on ginger candy (or drinking real ginger ale) will help, too.

Food Cravings And Aversions

Between those queasy feelings and food aversions, you’ve probably kept your weight gain down. And that’s okay your baby’s nutritional needs are minuscule at this point. But even so, you don’t want to go crazy on the cravings. It’s okay to indulge once in a while, or eat a bite-sized piece of chocolate instead of a brownie, but if your cravings are getting out of hand, try some distractions: Call a friend, read a book, head to the gym, or go for a walk.

Heartburn And Indigestion

A good way to prevent heartburn? Don’t eat while you’re lying down or don’t lie down right after eating a big meal (even though the bed beckons you!). And use pillows to prop up your head (about six inches) when you sleep. That should keep those gastric juices down.

Flatulence

As your hormones continue to relax all your muscles, the muscles in your gastrointestinal tract are relaxing too, which means more indigestion (see above) and more intestinal gas. Your best bet is to stay away from foods that produce the most gas. You may find it helpful to keep a record of what you eat to see whether there’s a connection between certain foods whether it’s fried foods or broccoli or beans and gas. Then you can avoid those triggers (or at least warn your partner!).

Increased Vaginal Discharge

You’ve got more blood flowing to the pelvic area (good for your sex life) thanks to the pregnancy hormone estrogen, as well as more mucus. The result is a thin, milky-white discharge that you may be seeing now. It’s harmless, so don’t bother with special wipes or washes these could change the delicate balance of your genital tract and lead to irritation

Occasional Headaches

What accounts for these new pregnancy headaches? Blame hormones (they’re a convenient scapegoat!), but other triggers include fatigue (check), hunger (check), and stress (check).Your doctor will probably okay acetaminophen but not ibuprofen. It’s also worthwhile to try other ways to soothe your savage head: Lie down in a dark room, put a cold compress on your face or neck, or take fresh-air breaks.

Occasional Faintness Or Dizziness

Your body is still getting used to all that blood pumping through it, so it’s no wonder you feel dizzy occasionally. Be sure to sit or lie down as soon as you feel light-headed (so you don’t fall). To decrease dizzy spells, carry healthy snacks around for a quick blood-sugar boost and stay hydrated.

Visible Veins On Your Body

That increased blood supply is also responsible for the road map of veins crisscrossing their way across your belly and breasts. Those veins are doing the important work of taking nutrients and blood to your baby. So there’s nothing you can do but wait. They will disappear though!

Lower Abdominal Achiness

Like so many pregnancy symptoms, round ligament pain (which is just a fancy name for those growing pains in that burgeoning belly of yours) is probably something you never expected. What’s causing them? The ligaments that support your belly are stretching out (and getting thinner); and as your belly gets heavier, the weight pulls on the ligaments, causing pain (sharp or dull). The best thing to do is get off your feet and get comfy.

How Your Life’s Changing

You’re nearing the end of the first three months of pregnancy – your first trimester – and your uterus is about the size of a grapefruit, almost big enough to fill your pelvis (see our fetal development illustrations). You may even be able to feel your uterus above the middle of your pubic bone. Though you probably won’t need to go up a dress size for several more weeks yet, you may notice that your waist is thickening.

If you want to cut down on caffeine, you could swap to herbal teas. Make sure that the herbal teas you choose are safe to drink in pregnancy. You may find lemon and honey steeped in hot water appealing as an alternative. Try to drink eight glasses of liquid every day (tea, coffee and cola don’t count) but limit your fluid intake before bedtime so you won’t have to get up to go to the loo in the night.

If your sleep is disturbed for other reasons then you may be tempted to take a remedy but medication shouldn’t be your first course of action during pregnancy. Try our self-help suggestions for insomnia first, and avoid exercising just before you go to bed. Strange dreams are common during pregnancy and could also contribute to disrupted nights.

What To Expect At Your First Doctor Visit

What happens during your first doctor visit will depend a lot on the type of health care provider you select to deliver your baby. While I often toyed around with the idea of going to a midwife, and actually had a midwife for a short time while not pregnant, ultimately I decided to have an OB/GYN deliver my baby.

Around the same time I decided to have an OB/GYN deliver my baby, I decided I needed more than one tool to help me sleep better at night throughout my pregnancy. Typically I am the kind of person that likes to have four or more pillows even when I am not pregnant. Fortunately, I found the perfect solution, pregnancy pillows by Snoozer. A pregnancy pillow combines all the comfort and luxury of three pillows into one. Ask your healthcare provider what he or she thinks of using a pregnancy pillow.

Chances are he or she will approve of one if not two pregnancy pillows during pregnancy. If you can indulge, you can buy two pregnancy pillows, so you have one for each side of your body. This can help with shifting during the night. Who wants to have to try and lift a full body pillow all the time just because they need to change the side they sleep on? One idea is to have the Snoozer Full Body Pregnancy Pillow listed on your baby shower gift list. If you can’t afford one, the chances are high a good friend, family member or group will pitch in to help provide you with the comfortable support you need to get a good night’s sleep.

Who you decide depends on many things including whether you are at high risk for complications and whether you prefer natural birth or few interventions to a traditional birth environment. I preferred working with my OB as I felt confident I wouldn’t have to worry should something unexpected happened during my pregnancy.

During your first doctor visit, you can probably expect some of the same things regardless of the healthcare provider you choose. These may include:

• Medical history and evaluation
• Weight check
• Urinalysis
• PAP culture and screenings for STD’s
• Breast examination

Your doctor will also answer any questions you have about your baby, and will help you determine your expected due date. Some offices will also offer you a transvaginal ultrasound. If this is the case, you’ll be able to see your baby for the first time!

Tips/Advice

At this week in pregnancy, you can still continue to do everything you have been doing. There are no real changes that have to made yet. You want to discuss with your doctor a possible food list of items that you should be staying away from. We already know that smoking and alcohol are bad for the baby and if you consume either one, it should stop from the second that you find out that you are pregnant.

Now, is the time to read the baby books and see what you are in for. Choose one books because all the books basically say the same things. If you have any questions, refer to your doctor and not the book. The doctor is more familiar with your pregnancy. These pregnancy books are great references points but they cannot detail every woman’s situation.

You can join many forums on the Internet that are for new moms to be only. You can talk to other moms and you will see that many of them relate to everything that you are going through. It may help to talk to someone who is experiencing the same thing that you are.