- Category: Pregnancy Month by Month
When you are newly pregnant there are undoubtedly many questions about the months ahead. What should you expect? How will your body change? What’s happening inside you? Our month-by-month pregnancy guide is meant to help birthmothers understand the changes in her body as the pregnancy progresses so she can be smart, confident and prepared.
Month 1: Weeks 1-4
At this point in the pregnancy you may not even know you are pregnant! In fact, you haven’t even missed your period yet. By week 3, you still won’t know you are pregnant, but changes are starting to happen on the inside. Your embryo is tiny - about the size of a pinhead. Your baby doesn’t look like a baby (yet) but rather a group of about 100 cells multiplying and changing rapidly.
Week four is when you would normally be expecting your period. If you miss it, that’s the first indicator that you may be pregnant. All that talk about morning sickness, backaches, headaches and loss of appetite? Nope, you won’t feel that yet! At this point you’ll still be feeling like yourself, other than nerves due to the fact that you missed your period!
Many women experience light spotting in place of a missed period. This may lead the woman to think she has her period and is in fact not pregnant. While this could be true, don’t jump to conclusions. The only way to know for sure is to take a pregnancy test.
By the end of the first month, your baby is about 1/4 inch long -- smaller than a grain of rice! But what does it look like? Now, your baby is starting to develop into a tiny person. A face takes form with large dark circles for eyes. The mouth, lower jaw, and throat are developing.
In just a short time, you will start feeling the initial signs of pregnancy.
