33 Facts About Pregnancy
Early Pregnancy/First Trimester Facts (weeks 1-12)
Your uterus will stretch from the size of a small peach to the size of a watermelon, that's about 500 times its original size!
Blood volume will increase up to 50% to help supply oxygenated blood to your growing baby.
Due to increased blood production, many moms-to-be experience bloody gums and bloody noses.
Your voice can change while you are pregnant due to an increase in fluid around vocal cords.
You may notice a change in your skin tone or suffer from dry skin.
To accommodate a growing baby, your heart will increase in size in order pump more blood for your baby!
Between weeks 9 and 12, baby’s fingerprints are formed.
Pregnancy brain is real! Around 80% of women report memory impairments during pregnancy.
Second Trimester Facts (weeks 13-26)
9. By week 20, you begin to pass antibodies to your baby through the placenta to protect your baby and help build their immune system.
10. Your ultrasound could capture fun images of your baby from sucking their thumb, to clasping their hands together, or even resting their hands behind their head.
11. Between weeks 16 and 22, your doctor will likely perform an anatomy ultrasound to determine the gender of your baby.
12. In utero, baby girls develop millions of eggs. Baby boys don't develop sperm until puberty.
13. Babies cry in the womb! Thankfully you can’t hear them because of all of the fluid!
14. 3 out of 4 women develop a linea nigra during pregnancy. The linea nigra (Latin for "black line") is a dark, vertical line that runs down the abdomen. It usually goes away after birth.
15. Pregnancy hormones can cause thick, long, healthy hair and nails. After baby arrives, some women experience temporary hair loss.
16. Women need an extra 340 and 500 calories in the 2nd and 3rd trimester, respectively. While no extra calories are needed in 1st trimester.
17. Due to the hormone relaxin, you are more prone to broken bones during pregnancy. This hormone is responsible for loosening your joints to make room for baby.
Third Trimester Facts (weeks 27-40/birth)
18. 10% of women will experience gestational diabetes during pregnancy. It is important to monitor your glucose to keep this under control.
19. Did you know you can opt for a week of blood sugar testing instead of the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test.
20. Pregnancy does not always last for the typical nine months. The record for the longest pregnancy is 375 days which is over a year!
21. Some women lactate in late pregnancy at the sound of a baby crying.
22. Around week 26, your baby can open it’s eyes and is able to see and respond to bright lights.
23. Babies yawn in utero by week 28.
24, 1 in 3 women will give birth via Cesarean section. This number has tripled in the last 10 years!
25. Hormones cause your joints to soften late in pregnancy so that your hips and pelvis can open up for birth.
26. Babies in utero develop hair all over their bodies called lanugo. It looks like a fur coat! They usually shed this hair before they are born.
27. Your partner may suffer sympathy pains and weight gain. Pregnancy really is a team sport.
28. Babies can be been born with teeth, known as natal teeth. They are usually extracted due to the potential choking hazard.
29. At the end of your pregnancy, your placenta will produce the same amount of estrogen a non-pregnant woman produces in 3 years!
Postpartum Facts
30. Babies are born without kneecaps. They don’t develop until age 2.
31. Newborns usually have blue or gray eyes for the first 5 or 6 months. Their permanent eye color becomes apparent around 8 months.
32. Some women can become “allergic” to future pregnancies due to the Rh factor in her blood type.
33. For the first month after birth, a newborn does not cry tears, due to blocked or immature tear ducts.