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OK, now that you’ve calmed down some from the initial excitement, wiped out the pregnancy shelf at your local bookstore, and made a down payment on a new maternity wardrobe, it’s time to focus on the most important thing here (and no, it’s not the wallpaper pattern for the nursery): your health and the baby’s health. Your first assignment: Pick up the phone and call your doctor and make an appointment. It’s time to begin prenatal care.
Studies find that babies of mothers who don’t get prenatal care are three times more likely to have a low birth weight and five times more likely to die than babies born to mothers who do get care. Need any better reason?
In a normal pregnancy, you will see your health care professional every month until about the sixth month; then every two weeks during the seventh and eighth months, and then weekly until labour.
During the first visit, your health care professional will take a full health history, including a history of any previous pregnancies. You will also receive a full physical exam and have your blood pressure taken and your urine tested. Your health care provider should also test for any sexually transmitted infections. You will get a due date, officially called the “estimated date of delivery,” typically 266 days from the first day of your last period if you have regular menstrual cycles. Otherwise it is customary to assign the due date based on ultrasound.
During every future visit, you will have your blood pressure taken, have your urine tested for protein or sugar (signs of potential complications), and, most exciting, hear your baby’s heartbeat.
Near the end of your first trimester and early in the second trimester, your health care professional will talk with you about a variety of prenatal tests to assess the health of the fetus. It’s up to you which ones you have done. For instance, if you have no intention of terminating the pregnancy if the tests do find a problem, you may want to skip them. However, even then, you may want to have the test so you can prepare yourself emotionally for the possibility of having a special-needs child.
Although you may want to send an e-mail to everyone in your address book, post to your Facebook account and shout your pregnancy from the proverbial rooftops, we urge you to relax and take a deep breath.
The first three months are the most common time for miscarriage; so give the baby time to get settled. Plus, you need time to adjust to the news, to discuss options with your partner (Keep working? Work part-time? Quit your job?) and decide how to break the news to your employer, if you’re employed.
Make a list of questions regarding benefits and maternity leave to discuss with your employer after your first trimester. Also, develop a plan for how your job will be handled while you’re out on maternity leave and for your post-pregnancy employment. The more on top of things you are, the better things will go with your manager/employer.
Most women get 4 months of unpaid maternity leave. They then get to apply for Unemployment Insurance (UIF) during this time. However, every company is different. The only way to know what goes on in your company is to talk to your human resource department or your manager/employer—after your first trimester.
So how are you feeling? If you’re like most women, the answer is exhausted and nauseous. Let’s deal with the fatigue first. Do you have any idea what your body is doing right now? It is building a home that can nourish and protect that baby for the next nine months—that is, the placenta. This is very hard work. It takes a lot of energy—your energy. So stop being superwoman for once and listen to what your body is telling you. That means:
Now, about that nausea: They call it morning sickness, but for many women it lasts all day. You may never throw up—just feel like you’re occasionally (or continually) seasick—or you may throw up every morning as soon as your feet hit the floor. Don’t worry. This is normal. There is even some evidence that the nausea is nature’s way of protecting the baby from potentially harmful foods.
Most morning sickness disappears by the end of the first trimester. Until then:
I’m nine weeks pregnant, and I can’t keep anything down. Should I worry
Some women experience a severe form of morning sickness called hyperemesis gravidarum. If you experience any of the following, you may have more than just “morning sickness” and should call your health care professional:
You know you’re supposed to follow a “healthy” diet during pregnancy (think lots of fruit and veggies, low-fat forms of protein, high fiber, etc). But do you know why? Beyond the obvious—maintaining enough calories to keep you healthy and ensure the baby keeps growing—we’re learning that in-utero nutrition, including whether the mother is overweight or has pregnancy-related diabetes, can impact a child’s health throughout his life.
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