Getting pregnant: Conception
Pregnancy is an amazing journey and if you come to think of it, you really do not know when it begins. The exact moment of conception cannot be known. Conception happens when two microscopic cells fuse to become one and from there begins the journey of multiplication. This is primary and most important stage of getting pregnant. After around 9 months, they have multiplied and become cells of organs, hair, teeth, bones, etc. and have formed into a whole new being. The new-life (baby) does have semblance to parents but is still a unique in its own way.
This journey that begins with conceiving and ends in delivery spans nine months. This period of nine months is heavily orchestrated and follows an exquisite pattern where each stage leads to the other.
Today with advancement of modern science we know a lot more about the process of giving birth than what our forefathers knew. Today, doctors can look at the womb, take photographs, count fingers, visualize breathing motion, measure beating of heart, and observe development of fetus. They can even extract blood samples of the baby. Despite this progress, we still are far away from absolute understanding of this miraculous journey of formation of life during nine months.
Getting pregnant: Physiologic and emotional changes
Pregnancy constitutes complex and interrelated changes that occur in the entire body. These may be both physical and psychological and whilst some of them become obvious in early stages of pregnancy, others do not become noticeable until pregnancy is well advanced. It must also be remembered that there are many minor alterations in bodily functions of which the pregnant woman is completely unaware. Doctors can understand only some of these changes, many are inadequately understood and there are still some, mostly minor, about which very little or nothing is known. It is all the more confusing because one woman will demonstrate one particular change more than another and the same woman during another pregnancy will exhibit absolutely different phenomena. You frequently hear a woman saying 'I feel much more tired in this pregnancy than in the last one' or 'During my first pregnancy, I felt sick in the morning and during my second pregnancy, I had no nausea at all, and during this one, I feel sick in the evening.'
There is a very close relationship between the physical and psychological reactions to getting pregnant and pregnancy and, although it is a normal physiological process, it must also be accepted that some women will undergo a profound change in their emotional state as well in their psychological balance.
It is important to appreciate that neither the physical nor the psychological changes end with the onset of labor or even with delivery. It is accepted in India that psychological changes associated with pregnancy may continue for at least six months after delivery, and it is probably true that the physical and psychological equilibrium of the mother does not return to normal until up to a year after delivery, particularly if she breast feeds for several months.
To understand what is happening during pregnancy is half way towards enjoying a happy and successful pregnancy, the major part is support of your husband and your family.
The importance of information is paramount. If you understand about your pregnancy and what is happening to your mind and body, you will have more confidence in yourself and in your ability to produce a baby. Furthermore, you will not be afraid of the unknown, of your labour or delivery.
Doctors can only do a certain amount to guide and help you. The more you know about the whole process of producing a baby, the easier will be for them in performing their duty of caring for you, because you will understand what they want you to do and why. This will make you more cooperative and understanding.
On emotional front, a woman's basic personality will not be changed during her pregnancy, but subtle and minor alterations will certainly occur during pregnancy and the process of getting pregnant. All women tend to become emotionally unstable at times when their hormone levels are either changing or at their highest, such as puberty, pregnancy, the menopause and also immediately before the onset of each menstrual period. It is well known that the majority of impetuous actions and crimes committed by women occur during the week immediately before menstruation. Here, on this website, we will discuss everything about pregnancy. We do this through information and sharing of knowledge so that you can deal with things effectively as and when they happen.
