First Trimester of Pregnancy

In this article, you can examine your baby’s development week by week for the first trimester of pregnancy.

The pregnancy process continues for an average of 40 weeks. These 40 weeks are divided into 3 different periods of 3 months, and each period is called a trimester. Trimester is a word of Latin origin and means three different periods of pregnancy. These periods are:

First trimester: It covers the period between the 1st and 13th weeks.

Second trimester: Covers the period between 14th and 26th weeks

Third trimester: Between 27th and 40th weeks covers the period.

Your first acquaintance with the concept of trimester will probably be in the 4th or 5th week of this period, with the test you took as a result of a missed period. After that, after a doctor’s control and a blood test, the reason for your delay will be revealed. As you will learn from your doctor at your first doctor’s examination, the date of pregnancy is based on the first day of your last menstrual period, not your date of intercourse after your period.

You will be in the 1st trimester until your week is completed. This will be a fairly new and curious process for you. This is the period when the development of your baby and its organs begins, as well as the process of getting used to pregnancy and your changing hormones.

If we take a look at the first trimester week by week:

1. Week: The countdown for your baby starts this week. There is no baby yet, yes, you are not even pregnant. Then the question of how the countdown begins may come to your mind. Here is the reason why the first week of pregnancy is determined before your baby is born; Since it is not easy to detect the day you get pregnant, that is, the day that the sperm combine with your eggs (the sperm and egg may not be together, because the sperm can spend a few days in your body before they come together with your egg), the first day of the last menstrual period is counted as the start day of pregnancy. Today it is called LMP. The LMP date is taken as the starting day of the exciting 40-week pregnancy period. Therefore, when you decide to stop being protected and have a baby, it is very important to write down your menstrual dates.

2. Week: Yes, you are still not pregnant. But just because you’re not pregnant this week doesn’t mean your body is on vacation. Your body is working hard to prepare for the moment when you will get pregnant. He is in a very feverish preparation for the day of ovulation. The lining of your uterus thickens so that it becomes a comfortable bed to accommodate the fertilized egg. Your ovarian follicles are maturing and the egg in the maturing follicle is waiting to meet with the rapidly running sperm to be fertilized.

3. Week: Yes, you are pregnant! After a while (approximately 40 weeks), you will be holding your baby on your lap, which you will not want to leave your lap for even a moment. You don’t even know about its existence yet, but it’s almost time for you to find out.

4. Week: The group of cells that you will soon be aware of, that you will call your baby, but for now called the embryo, has now reached your uterus and is ready to embark on a journey that will last until birth in the inner wall of the uterus. After it is firmly attached to its place, this group of cells undergoes a division.

Your embryo, which is only the size of a poppy seed at the moment, has come a long way to come here and will continue to develop rapidly. In this week, your baby’s water bladder and the food (yolk) sac that will be included in your baby’s digestive system in the future will be formed. The embryo consists of three separate layers, and each layer begins to develop and form special parts of the body. The inner layer, the endoderm, will form your baby’s liver, lungs, and digestive system. The middle layer, the mesoderm, will form your baby’s heart, muscles, bones, kidneys, and genitals. The outer layer, the ectoderm, will form your baby’s skin, hair, eyes, and nervous system.

5. Week: During this period, your baby has not yet taken the form of a baby. It’s growing pretty fast and is likely to be the size of an orange seed right now. Your baby’s heart is starting to take shape this week. His heart and circulatory system will be the first to start working.

6. Week: Your baby is 5-6mm long on average this week. When measuring his height, the length from the top of the head to the rump is considered, because he is just beginning to form and his tiny legs are curled up, making it very difficult to measure the exact length.

Tiny indentations on either side of his head will form his ear canals, and little black dots on his face form his eyes. The little bump on the front of his head will also become a nose in a few weeks. Also this week, your baby’s liver, liver and kidneys are starting to take shape. His heart beats 80 times a minute and this heartbeat will get faster day by day.

7. Week: This week, your baby’s tongue and mouth are forming. At the same time, the protrusions that will form the legs and arms begin to form, and they are divided into hand, arm, shoulder and foot, leg and knee parts. Their kidneys have formed and they are now in place. They prepare to perform their urine production and excretion duties.

8. Week: Your baby continues to grow rapidly. By the time you reach the 8th week, it is over an inch in length. His lips, eyelids, nose, back and legs continue to take shape. Heart rate increased to an average of 150 beats per minute. The arm and leg protrusions started to move little by little, even though you couldn’t feel it.

9. Week: This week, your baby is no longer called an embryo, but a fetus.

His head continues to develop and his tiny muscles are starting to form. In this way, he can now move his arms and legs. Of course, you can’t feel these movements yet, there is a little more time for that.

10. Week: Your baby has reached almost 3.5 cm in length. Bone and cartilage began to form. Small indentations on her legs develop and turn into knees and ankles. Tiny buds began to form under her gums to form her teeth. His stomach is secreting digestive juices, his kidneys are producing more urine, and if he’s a man, he’s already starting to produce testosterone.

11. Week: In this week, your baby’s body has started to open up and his body has started to lengthen. Hair follicles are formed, as well as the places of finger and toe nails are formed. In a few weeks, her nails will begin to develop as well. Although her gender is not yet known in the ultrasound examination, if she is a girl, her ovaries are starting to form. It now has a more distinct human appearance in shape.

12. Week: Your baby has grown pretty fast in the last three weeks. Its height is about 6 cm and its weight is about 15 grams.

The digestive system begins to work its contraction movements. Bone marrow begins to produce white blood cells, and the pituitary gland, located at the base of his brain, begins to secrete hormones. In this way, your baby will one day be able to have a baby of their own.

13. Week: You are in the last week of your first trimester. Your baby has reached approximately 7.5 cm in length. The intestines, which had developed in the umbilical cord until this time, are now taking action to take their permanent place. Also, your baby’s vocal cords are starting to develop this week.

1. What You Will Feel During the Trimester:

Weakness, drowsiness and exhaustion In the trimester, the dual screening test is performed between the 11th and 14th weeks. During this screening test, an ultrasound exam and blood test are performed. First of all, the thickness of the thin layer of liquid (NT) accumulated on the baby’s neck is measured. Then, blood analysis is done and PAPP-A and hCG values ​​are checked.