MONTH THREE

Week Nine

Your Baby
Your baby is now approximately 25mm long and their fingers and toes will now be visible around this time. By week nine, your baby's liver is producing red blood cells that are being pumped around their body by their little heart.

You
You may start to notice some small changes to your body such as increase in your breast size, and a thickening of your waste.

Week Ten

Your Baby
By the end of week ten your baby will now be referred to as a foetus (it was previously considered an embryo). It is important to consider that your baby will now be able to pick up on your emotions, such as stress, anger, happiness and calmness through the hormones which cross the placenta.

You
You are now a quarter of the way through your pregnancy and nearing the end of your first trimester where the period of risk of miscarriage is coming to an end.

Week Eleven

Your Baby
Your baby has now been growing quite rapidly and has doubled in length since week nine! Your baby's external genitalia have begun to form (although you won't be able to pick this up on an ultrasound just yet). The organs in their body begin to function during this week and the pancreas is producing insulin and the kidneys are producing urine.

You
By week eleven you may have gained around 900g to 1.3kg which is approximately 10% of your total estimated weight gain.

Week Twelve

Your Baby
Already at about 6.3 centimetres in length, your baby's bones are beginning to form, as well as their hair. Their fingers and toes are now separated and their pituitary gland has begun to produce hormones. From this time you should be able to hear your baby's heartbeat on your next visit to the doctor.

You
At around the twelfth week you may start to feel hotter due to the additional blood circulating in your body and your uterus will become too large to remain in your pelvis and it will push up above your pelvic bone. At the end of this week you will be through your first trimester - sufferers of morning sickness should see it start to ease off from this week onwards. It is around this time that you may start to experience cravings for certain foods.

Week 13

Your Baby
Your baby will begin to look more like a little person with eyes and ears moving into their correct places during week thirteen. Your baby's intestines will be drawn into their abdominal cavity (they have been developing outside the body within their umbilical cord). Your baby is highly active during this time and won't stay still for more than around 15 minutes during the day or night. While your baby's lungs, liver and kidneys develop, the placenta will act as a substitute.

You
This is now the beginning of the second trimester and this should be the easiest and most comfortable of the trimesters for you. If you are feeling tired at this stage make sure that you listen to your body and take rest when you can - your body is working extremely hard at the moment!

Telling The World

Announcing your pregnancy to others usually means acknowledging and coming to terms with it yourself. The first person most women tell is their partner and together go on to make the decisions of who and when to tell. This may involve a mixture of positive and negative feelings as you both go through a rollercoaster of emotional adjustments.

Who you tell is a very personal decision and is completely up to you. Some will tell as soon as they find out, others will wait for that magic 12 weeks to be over in case something goes wrong. This may be the case if you have been trying to conceive for a while or have experienced a previous miscarriage or stillbirth.

At least fifty percent of pregnancies are unplanned and may come as a bit of a surprise. This can bring up feelings of being overwhelmed which is a very common reaction. It can help for you and your partner to talk to someone outside the family circle such as a counsellor who may be able to help you sort out your feelings before you are ready to share your news with others. You will have plenty of time to tell people when it feels right.

TESTS AND SCANS

Physical examinations

These may include:

• Feeling and measuring your belly. Your 'fundal' height (the height from the top of your public bone to your belly button) may indicate how old your baby is. It will be a guide only and is not always accurate.
• Listening to your baby's heartbeat with a Doppler machine or a special stethoscope.
• Discovering the presentation and position of the baby.
• Under normal circumstances you should not need an internal examination.

Urine tests

Your urine can be tested for a variety of things and most are carried out at your doctors surgery by passing urine directly onto a 'dipstick'. How, when and why your urine may be tested will vary between health professionals and hospitals. It may be a standard routine procedure done at every visit or something that is only done for some women to investigate possible concerns about their health. Urine tests may include:

• Pregnancy test - to confirm your pregnancy
• Urine infections - to test for bladder or kidney infections
• Protein - if found in the urine at high levels can indicate high blood pressure or kidney disease

Blood tests

Some standard blood tests may include:

• Blood Group and antibodies
• Iron and platelets or Full Blood Count
• Rubella, syphilis or VDRL
• Hepatitis B

Some additional, optional blood tests may include:

• Hepatitis C
• HIV/AIDS
• Glucose Tolerance Test

A few women will require further blood tests after 28 weeks of the pregnancy. One of the tests at performed routinely at 28 weeks is a full blood count (or FBC), which looks at a woman's haemoglobin level (or 'Hb'). This relates to iron levels and the possible need for iron supplements. If your blood group is Rhesus negative, you will also need to have a group and antibodies blood test repeated to continue to screen for antibodies at around about 34 to 36 weeks of the pregnancy.

Vaginal swab - GBS

Most caregivers offer women a low vaginal swab test to screen for a bacterium called 'Group B streptococcus' (also known as 'Strep B' or 'GBS') at around 35-37 weeks of the pregnancy. The testing and treatment for group B strep during pregnancy, labour and after the birth varies widely between hospitals and caregivers and is thought to be controversial by some. In recent years it has become a more routine test because of the small possibility (about 1-2%) that the bacteria will be passed onto the baby during pregnancy, labour or birth.

Ultrasounds

Your caregiver may order an ultrasound at various times during the pregnancy, for different reasons. If the pregnancy is progressing normally, routine ultrasounds are not compulsory (and many women decline them). If you are over the age of 35 and are at a higher risk for Down's Syndrome you are recommended to have a "nuchal translucency" scan at around 12 weeks of the pregnancy. A nuchal translucency uses ultrasound to visualise and measure a fluid filled sac at the back of the unborn baby's neck during early pregnancy that estimates if the baby is at increased risk of a chromosomal defect.

The most common routine ultrasound is usually scheduled for around 18 to 20 weeks of the pregnancy and is aimed at checking the development of the baby, size and location of the placenta and the baby's sex if you wish to know. Only a few women will require further ultrasounds after their routine 18 to 20 week scan. Ultrasounds performed during the 3rd trimester may be done to:

• Measure the growth of the baby, and perhaps estimate the baby's size
• Check to see if a previously low lying placenta has moved up, further away from the cervix (often done at 34 to 36 weeks as a follow up to an 18 to 20 week ultrasound that showed a low lying placenta)
• To check the baby's position if your caregiver is unsure where the baby is lying
• To check the wellbeing of the baby and the blood flow through the baby's cord if you go overdue.

Month Four