First trimester
Anatomy scan A detailed look at the baby's organs, growth and the placenta
- 24 to 28
- weeks
- Glucose test Screens for gestational diabetes
- About 28
- weeks
Blood tests Checks iron and, for Rh-negative parents, antibodies
Call your care provider, or your local emergency number if you cannot reach them and it feels urgent, if you have:
Bleeding from the vagina at any stage.
Severe or one-sided pain in your belly, especially with shoulder-tip pain, dizziness or fainting in early pregnancy.
Vomiting so often you cannot keep fluids down for a day.
A severe headache, blurred vision or flashing lights, pain under the ribs on the right, or sudden swelling of the face, hands or feet.
Fluid leaking from the vagina before 37 weeks.
Regular tightenings or period-like cramps before 37 weeks.
Your baby moving less than usual, or a change in the pattern of movements, once you have started feeling regular movements.
A fever of 38 °C (100.4 °F) or higher.
Burning when you pee, pain in your back on one side, or itching all over (especially hands and feet) without a rash.
Thoughts of harming yourself, or feeling unable to cope.
Keep your care provider's number, the after-hours line, and your birth unit's number saved in your phone and written on the fridge. The full list, with more detail, is in the quick reference at the end of this book.
First trimester
The first trimester runs from the first day of your last period to the end of week 13, days 1 to 91. In these thirteen weeks a single fertilized cell becomes a fetus about 7 cm (3 in) long, with every major organ in place. For many people it is also the hardest stretch to feel good in: nausea, tiredness and worry often arrive before any visible bump does.