Pregnancy

1. Whether the mother is carrying twins or triplets (multiple births).
2. The health of the fetus
3. The health of the pregnant woman.
4. The method used to calculate the due date of the baby’s birth.

a. The Naegele’s rule – assumes that the woman has a regular menstrual cycle. The due date is calculated at 40 weeks after the first day of the last period cycle. Hence if your last period started on July 1st 2009, for e.g., your baby would be born on approximately the 7th of April 2010, with a week to give or take.

b. An Ultrasound scan – can be used to measure the growing baby to calculate your due date.

Neither of these two methods are always 100 percent accurate and hence babies can be born a bit early or late. Babies born between the window of 39-41 weeks are considered normal births.

The first time you go for your ultrasound towards the end of second or third month of your pregnancy the doctor or the Sonologist may show your baby on the screen and you will be able to make out the shape. Request him for a picture and most would oblige.

Pregnancy and birth are supposed to be the most amazing events in any couples life. With a lot of information to absorb and several decisions to be made it can sometimes be quite an overwhelming experience.

For convenience, the stages of pregnancy have been roughly divided into three different parts. These are the first, second and third trimester. In this article, we will have a general look at these 3 stages of pregnancy and try to answer some of the immediate questions that arise in the minds of an expecting parent.

"All the time we wondered and wondered, who is this person coming/growing/turning/floating/swimming deep, deep inside" - Crescent Dragonwagon

What's that on the telly?
It's an angel sent from God...
Growing in my belly...
Like a sweet pea in a pod! - Melissa Hatcher