Pregnancy is almost always a celebrated occasion in one’s life. If you are one of those hyped and super excited about your pregnancy or about others’ pregnancy, you might find these facts and details very useful and sometimes trivial.
Nonetheless, it won’t hurt you big time if you know some nerdy information at hand when it comes to pregnancy, labor and childbirth.
- Fertilization happens after 24 hours following ovulation.
- The placenta is formed on the 10th week of pregnancy and only becomes functional after two weeks.
- Depending on the woman herself, weight gain commonly ranges from 22 to 28 pounds. A little more than that is permissible so it is best to ask your doctor.
- There have been several cases of neural tube defects and these defects are attributed to lack of folic acid. Folic acid is mostly sourced out from green leafy vegetables. Simply, if you are pregnant, you have to consume foods that are rich in nutrients. Ditch that value meal!
- A mother is able to feel her baby at 20 weeks while an ultrasound will be able to detect the movement of the baby at 11th week.
- A baby’s heart beat, termed as fetal heart rate may be heard by using a Doppler during the 10th week. Meanwhile, on the 16th week, it can be heard using a fetoscope and on the 18th week, it can then be heard using the stethoscope.
- There are clear and obvious signs when one is truly in labor and about to deliver. Firstly, true labor is when there are regular and progressive contractions felt by the mother, when the duration of the contraction increases and the intervals decrease, and finally, when a gird-like pain is reported by the mother. So, if the contractions are not that regular yet, you know that it is still not your time and you can still resist to instruct the cabbie driver to drive you fast to the hospital.
- After giving birth to your baby, you will still have vaginal discharges. Much like a healing wound, the color changes from time to time. For the first three days, you will have to note reddish discharge. Between the 4th and 7th day, you’ll have pinkish to brownish discharge. On the 10th to 14th and until the discharge is gone, you’ll have yellowish to whitish discharge.
- To counter blood loss, you should not loss more than 500 ml of blood.
- There are some people specifically celebrities who have admitted to suffering from post-partal blues. This episode refers to that overwhelming feeling of sadness right after birth because of the hormonal changes in the body. The problem with post-partal blues is when it transcends to that point where the mother feels extreme sadness leading to psychosis. Nevertheless, a mother can always seek consultation.
- When your baby is cut away from you, the medical personnel attending to your notes will have to note two arteries and one vein in the umbilical cord.
- The colostrum, that yellowish liquid you produce is not at all dirty or toxic or harmful. Give this to your baby because it is not only easily digestible but it is also very healthy for your baby.
There you go. These are but some tidbits that you might find very engaging to help you out in understanding more when it comes to pregnancy, labor and childbirth. Hopefully, the next time you bump onto someone pregnant or when you are pregnant yourself or if your partner is pregnant (supposing you are a would-be father), you will be able to appreciate the given information.