Pregnancy Period

A missed period is often the first way a woman may notice she could be pregnant. Typically, this is about the time that she may be able to use a pregnancy test to predict whether she's pregnant or not. However, many women say they feel a change in their mood well before they miss their period. In fact, some of the premenstrual symptoms that women associate with their coming period are also early signs of pregnancy.

A woman's pregnancy technically begins with her period. The chances of a woman conceiving are highest about two weeks after the first day of her last period, which prepares the uterus for fertilization. When a fertilized egg becomes a zygote and finally a blastocyst, it implants in a woman's uterine wall, and she may bleed a little from this. This is sometimes misconstrued as a light pregnancy period.

In another sense of the word, a pregnancy period is a nine-month commitment to developing a child in a woman's uterus. It is split into three trimesters of child growth. The first trimester is a time when a woman's body is going through so many hormonal changes and experiencing a slew of physical discomforts because of it. Perhaps one of the most common is nausea and food cravings or aversions. The second trimester is signaled by a subsiding of the first trimester's symptoms and some weight gain. This is also the time when a woman finds out the child's gender. The third trimester is a time of rapid weight gain, during which the child and woman's body prepare for delivery.