A woman goes through three stages of pregnancy after she conceives. The stages start from the first day of her last period. All the stages require 37 to 42 weeks or typically around 40 weeks or 9 months to complete a pregnancy from the beginning to the ending. Each of the three trimesters covers around 12 to 13 weeks or 3 months. During each of the stages of pregnancy, her body goes through changes to develop the pregnancy. To get ready to give birth to a new baby. The three stages are called the first trimester, second trimester, and third trimester. Below we outline your expectation of the signs as a pregnant throughout all three trimesters or stages of pregnancy.
First Trimester
The first Trimester of pregnancy starts on the first day of your last period and ends on the 12th week of your pregnancy. Your body will go through many changes and there will be many effects on your body. There will be some signs of your pregnancy during the early stage of your pregnancy. The first sign of your pregnancy is missing your period. Then, your breasts may feel fuller and tender. And your nipples and the surrounding area which are called areola may seem darker. Since your womb gets bigger, and it presses on your bladder. You will more likely to pass urine more often than usual. Because of all the new changes introducing to your body, you may feel very sleepy and tired.
During this time, your womb gets bigger and stretches the surrounding ligaments. As a result, you may feel pain around the sides of your abdomen. You may feel like you will vomit which is called morning sickness though it can happen any time in the day. This kind of sickness is more often during the early stage of pregnancy that can be checked by taking less food and by blending your foods. The passage of food and your digestive system slows down during this time. As a result, you may get constipation. To check this problem, drink plenty of water, fluids, and fiber.
Second Trimester
The second trimester of pregnancy starts on the 13th week and ends on the 27th week. This stage of pregnancy is the trimester when your pregnancy. Physically visible though it varies from woman to woman. But in most cases, women show the visibility of their pregnancy from the 20th week. Your developing baby, the placenta, the fluids in your womb, breasts. Your extra fluids, and your extra fat stores necessary for your pregnancy will increase your weight by around twenty to twenty-five pounds. As your abdomen and breasts increase in volume, you will see stretch marks on the skin of your breasts and belly. It a quite natural and will fade away after your pregnancy. By the time you are sixteen-week pregnant, morning sickness will get better. Pregnancy hormones and the extra weight you are carrying will cause you to suffer from back pain and pelvic pain and will find difficulties walking. As your baby gets bigger and stronger, you will feel it move in your womb that usually happens for the first time. During 18 to 20 weeks of pregnancy but if it is not your first pregnancy, it may happen earlier.
Third Trimester
The third trimester of pregnancy starts on the 28th week and may end on the 40th week. As your baby grows, you may become breathless and tired which sometimes may be caused by anemia. During this trimester stages of pregnancy, you should be given blood tests by your doctor to check. Whether you are suffering from anemia or not. Because of the size of your baby, you may feel uncomfortable in this last stage of your pregnancy that may cause you to disturb your sleep. You will need to go to the toilet more often than ever, even during the night which will effectively harm your sleep that will ultimately make you tired. You may experience womb contraction starting from the 30th week which will make you uncomfortable. The common heartburn during pregnancy will affect you most in the third trimester. Take bland foods and little servings more often plus consult your obstetrician if you can use medicine as an antacid to reduce your heartburn.
Swelling in the legs, feet, and arms is another sign in late pregnancy but if it gets suddenly worse. In these cases contact your midwife as it is a symptom of pre-eclampsia or high blood pressure in pregnant women. The flow of blood around your legs will slow down and your breasts will start to produce and leak some milky fluids called colostrums towards the end of your pregnancy. As your baby descends into your pelvis, you will pass urine more along with losing bladder control especially when you sneeze or cough.
Surrogate Pregnancy:
The fertility clinics (clinicas de gestacion subrogada) do not set any strict age limits for those who want to become surrogates. That is why the old peers can go to the fertility clinics directly instead of going to the surrogacy professionals. The fertility clinics will conduct certain tests on the would-be old peers and then will predict their acceptability as surrogates in old age depending on the results of the tests. In most cases, the old peers are suitable to start as a surrogate after the test result from analysis in the fertility clinics if there is no major problem.
Independent Surrogacy and Pre-Surrogacy Screening
As a surrogate (madre surrogata) or old peer over forty, the best option for you is an independent surrogacy. In this process, you will need to find out your intended parents of your own. After you are able to locate would-be parents, you and the intended parents will need to undergo pre-surrogacy screening to make sure that both of you are physically and mentally fit for the challenges and rewards of the surrogacy journey.
Risks of Carrying Child for Old Peers
Every woman who is over the age of forty has some risks carrying their child. The complications before pregnancy are trouble getting pregnant, preexisting diabetes, gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, preeclampsia, and during pregnancy are premature birth, low birth weight, being pregnant with multiples, birth defects, down syndrome, needing to have a c-section, miscarriage, and stillbirth.
Parenthood for Old Couples:
You have to interview the intended parents by yourself as an old peer. There are some intended parents who are agreed to accept the old peers as a surrogate. They know the risks and possibilities of caring for a child at the age of 40 and have no obsession with the young surrogates or superstition to the old surrogates. Interviewing the intended parents on your own may seem a heavy responsibility to you. But if you are committed to your profession as an old peer, you can easily handle it.
Although you are over 40, you can determine your potentiality as a surrogate through medical screening. A reproductive endocrinologist will evaluate your reproductive organs and overall health. If you get clearance from them, you can boldly move forward to become a surrogate mother as an old peer.
Solutions of Carrying Child for Old Peers
Despite having the risks or complications of carrying their child at the age of 40 or over, there are always solutions that can help the would-be surrogate mothers or the old peers deliver a healthy baby. Prenatal tests, preconception checkup, talking with your healthcare provider about your family health history, vaccinations, getting treatment for any health conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and depression, taking folic acid, healthy food, and physical exercise, avoiding smoke and alcohol, and reducing stress are the positive steps before pregnancy. Flu shots, safer medicine for your baby and pregnancy, gaining the proper amount of weight during pregnancy under the regular checkup of your doctor are the positive steps during pregnancy that will take your surrogacy into success in your old age.
Final Words:
As you go through the above signs during the stages of pregnancy or first trimester, second trimester, and third trimester, you suffer more or less as it is obvious to become a mother through you can significantly lessen the sufferings through being aware of the signs that will help you to bring necessary changes to your lifestyle. Each of the signs during the trimesters has its individual characteristics that you will experience not only as sufferings but also as enjoyment of pregnancy and motherhood. At the end of the stages, a baby is ready for the birth that will make you and your partner happy.
