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The first week of pregnancy isn’t actually “pregnant” at all. Your uterus is shedding the rich lining to prepare for new life.

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Second week the ovaries release an egg to prepare for conception. Great visualization for anyone with PCOS or who is trying to conceive!

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This week, sperm has met egg and, voilà! Your baby was created! While many people believe that the egg passively waits to meet the flood of sperm, recent research shows that eggs are actually quite picky. They choose which sperm to let in.

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Sperm and egg fuse and rapidly begin dividing and multiplying into a ball of cells that floats down the fallopian tubes (tubes that connect the ovaries to the uterus) to nestle and implant into the lush uterine wall.

This is probably about the earliest you would be able to have a positive home pregnancy test. Your little embryo has now travelled to the uterus and implanted in the lush, fertile uterine wall.

As your baby nestles into its new home, you may start to notice more "pregnancy" symptoms including:

• Mood swings

• Nausea/morning sickness

• Feeling bloated

• Tender breasts

• Feeling tired

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Even though your baby is tiny, they are already starting to develop their internal organs such as:

• heart

• lungs

• kidneys

• nervous system

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Your baby has already started to circulate blood and is continuing to grow vital organs and structures. Your baby's arm and leg buds are forming and starting to protrude from your baby's body.

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Your baby is cushioned by a bubble of amniotic fluid that protects it and gives it room to grow. This bubble, protected by the amniotic sac, will continue to grow with your baby and is created by your baby.

Your baby's brain is already rapidly growing! 100 new brain cells are created every minute.

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Your baby is cushioned by a bubble of amniotic fluid that protects it and gives it room to grow. This bubble, protected by the amniotic sac, will continue to grow with your baby and is created by your baby.

Your baby's brain is already rapidly growing! 100 new brain cells are created every minute.

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Your baby's bones are growing within their body and are starting to ossify (harden). Soon your baby's paddle-like hands and feet will resemble more like fingers and toes. Your baby is starting to look less like a tadpole and more like a human baby.

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Reproductive organs are forming which will determine whether your baby has male or female genitalia, though they are too tiny to see. Your baby is also developing their own sweet facial features.

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Congratulations, your baby is no longer an embryo, they are officially a fetus! This is the next stage of development where the existing organs your baby created continue to develop and grow.

Fingernails are forming and hair is starting to sprout on top of your baby's head. Your baby's brain is rapidly forming as well, as many as 250,000 neurons are created every single minute!

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Your baby is starting to inhale and exhale small amounts of amniotic fluid which help the lungs to develop. Your baby is also starting to form the beginnings of teeth.

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Congratulations! This week is the last week of your first trimester! Though you can't feel your baby's movement yet, your baby is starting to kick, roll, and squirm in response to your movements. Your baby's intestines have been forming in their umbilical cord because there wasn't enough room inside their body, but now those intestines have enough room to start moving into their tummy.

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Your baby's facial features are looking more and more human and the limbs are lengthening to more recognizable proportions. Soon your baby may be able to suck their own thumb!

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Your baby's kidneys are starting to make urine and your baby is starting to grow peach-fuzz-like "fur" all over their body called lanugo. Lanugo helps to hold vernix on your baby's skin to protect them in their watery environment. Vernix is your baby's first "lotion:" A creamy, cheesy substance that helps keep your baby moisturized.

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Smile baby! Your baby is now able to make expressions!

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Sing a lullaby because your baby can now hear the sound of your voice! Your baby's bones are continuing to harden from rubbery cartilage to bone but will still be somewhat flexible to help them fit through the birth canal. If your baby is a girl, you now hold your future grandchildren inside your body. She is forming hundreds of thousands of tiny eggs within her ovaries.

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Your baby is growing muscle and fattening up a bit. This fat is important for storing calories and keeping baby warm. Your amazing placenta is about the same size as your baby and is nourishing and protecting them.

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Your baby is behaving like, well, a baby. Complete with hiccups, wiggling, sucking, swallowing, and facial expressions. The two things your baby hears most are the sound of your voice (and the voice of your partner/friend/family) and the whooshing noise of the blood coursing through the placenta.

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Hello baby! Around the 18th or 19th week of pregnancy you may feel the flutters and stirrings of your baby's movements. If you have an anterior placenta (a placenta that implants at the front of your uterus) you may have extra cushioning that makes it difficult to feel your baby's movements until later. Don't worry if you don't feel anything yet!

Your baby's heart is beating about double what yours is (120-160 beats per minute). Your baby's first "moisturizer," called vernix, is forming on your baby's skin to protect it and help them keep in body heat.

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Congratulations! You've reached 20 weeks, roughly the half-point of your pregnancy. Your "due" date is calculated at the 40 week mark, but baby is considered full term at 37 weeks. A normal range for pregnancy is 37-42 weeks. That's a window of over a month that your baby could be born in! Don't get too attached to your "due" date (call it a "guess"date), it's not an expiration date! On average, people pregnant for the first time tend to go about 10 days past the "guess" date.

Often you will have a 20-week ultrasound that will check to make sure your baby is growing normally and all their organs and systems are where they are supposed to be.

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Your baby's eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed, though they still remain closed. They are also starting to make meconium in their bowels, a thick and tarry first stool (poop) that your baby will usually pass in the days following birth.

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Up until this point your baby's skin has been pretty see-through. Now, as they are filling in, the skin becoming more opaque (you can't see through it). Your baby also is starting to have sleep/wake cycles, just like a newborn!

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Your baby's lungs are starting to produce surfactant, a substance that helps your baby's air sacs to inflate after birth. Your baby looks very much like a miniature baby, just not as plump as a newborn.

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Around this time you may have your glucose screening test to test for Gestational Diabetes. Typically, you are asked to fast (not eat) and then consume a set amount of sugar. Exactly one hour later, your midwife or doctor will draw your blood to check your glucose levels. If you "fail" your first test, try not to worry. The first test usually has a high false-positive, meaning you may test positive for Gestational Diabetes and not actually have it. This would mean you need to go in for a three-hour glucose test which is more accurate, but more inconvenient so they don't recommend every person do it.

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At this point you are likely feeling lots of kicks and rolls as your baby explores their watery world. They are also learning which way is up and which is down and may babies will migrate towards a head-down position to prepare for birth. While most babies present head-first, some babies decide butt first is the way to go. This is called breech presentation. While there are different risk factors to consider with a breech baby, it is possible for baby to be born vaginally with a skilled care provider.

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Your baby is building their immune system, soaking up your antibodies. Your baby already has eyelashes, even if the eyelids aren't open yet.

Breathe a sigh of relief! Although not ideal, babies born at this week or after have a pretty good survival rate, though it may require weeks in the NICU and other medical interventions. The longer your baby can stay in the womb up to 42 weeks the better!

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Congratulations, you're through your Second Trimester! Your baby's eyes are continuing to develop, forming their retinas, and the membrane that covers the eyes is splitting to create eyelids. Soon your baby will be able to open their eyes in the womb, though it's dark and watery.

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Your baby's skin is starting to smooth out as they put on more fat in preparation for life on the outside. Your baby eyes are now open!

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Your baby's getting stronger and stronger, building it's tiny muscles as they kick and squirm in your belly.

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From this point on your baby should gain about a half pound per week!

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By now all of your baby's organs are fully functioning, except the lungs which still need to develop a bit more as you tick closer to your birth.

If your baby were born now they would have an excellent chance of thriving with just a little medical help, but of course it's best for babies to cook at least until 37-42 weeks. Labor is usually started by a chain reaction of hormones started by the baby when the lungs develop, so it's best to let baby decide when to be born if there are no other complications.

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Your baby looks less like a miniature alien and more like a tiny newborn as they add some more chubby fat. Your baby can now tell the difference between light and dark, though it's still pretty dark inside.

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Your baby's bones are now completely formed. The bones of your baby's skull aren't fused together yet. These plates form indentations in their skull called "fontanelles" or "sutures." This helps baby fit through the birth canal and is why many babies appear "cone-headed," but don't worry, their heads don't stay that way for long! The bones of the skull don't fuse until early adulthood when your kid's brain has stopped growing.

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If your baby is male, the testicles have probably fully descended. If your baby is female her clitoris is fully formed.

If you have a boy you are also faced with the decision to either leave your son intact or perform a circumcision. A circumcision is a cosmetic procedure that peels back your baby's foreskin (which is attached to the head of the penis with the same tissue that attaches your fingers to your fingernails) then cuts it off. The forskin has many sexual and protective functions. It protects the head of the penis, keeping it soft and lubricated, and has more nerve endings than in the entire penis. There is also an issue of consent since a newborn can't decide what's best for them. Should a person, male or female, have a say in what happens to their body and what their body looks like if the situation is not life-threatening?

For more information check out our Circumcision section.

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Your baby's sucking muscles are now strong, they are ready to nurse! Your baby is also swallowing amniotic fluid which will become meconium, your baby's first stool (poop). Meconium is brownish/blackish/greenish in color and has a tarry consistency. It is thought that meconium is sterile (does not contain beneficial or harmful microbes) because the baby hasn't been exposed to them through the vaginal canal or through breastmilk. Meconium is like a "placeholder," holding the bowels open as they develop.

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Congratulations! Your baby is now considered "early term!" This means your baby is term (ready for birth) but still on the early side.

• 37 and 38 weeks are "early term"

• 39 and 40 weeks are "full term"

• 41 weeks is "late term"

• 42 weeks is "post term" (baby will likely need to be induced if you reach 42 weeks)

You can give birth anywhere from 37-42 weeks. That's a 5-week window! Sometimes it's best to just assume that baby will be late and be pleasantly surprised if not. Most first time pregnant people will go an average of 10 days past their "guess" dates. For more about dates, visit Evidence Based Birth's article.

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Your baby's brain and muscles are functioning better every day! Babies that are born 39+ weeks have the best sucking reflexes. Your baby is actually hard-wired from birth to self-attach at the breast, isn't that cool? Letting your baby self-attach is a great way to imprint baby at the breast and stimulate your body to make milk. To see more, check out the "breast crawl."

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Babies during this time period are growing at different rates. Normal weights for babies range from about 5.5-10 pounds (2.5-4.5 kg). Don't be alarmed! Your baby's body is made to mold and maneuver the birth canal. Your pelvis isn't made of cement. It's connected with flexible cartilage so you can change positions and allow baby to have lots of space to move down.

Remember to keep doing your Spinning Babies daily exercises as often as you can!

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Congratulations, you've reached your "guess" date! As we've discussed before, this is not an expiration date. Many healthy births occur in the 40-42 week window, but of course many people feel very "done" at this point. Not being able to sleep, feeling uncomfortable… these all can make the last few weeks of your pregnancy drag on.

Try and practice some self care and relish the last few moments you have holding your baby inside your body. Sit in the sunshine, journal, take a bath, try and enjoy each moment as much as you can. Your baby will be in your arms soon!

Your baby looks exactly like a newborn. All the systems are in place and mature enough to work in the outside world. Now baby is just continuing to add fat stores to help them regulate their blood sugar and temperature after birth.

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At this point you may be wondering "will this ever really happen?!" Don't worry! You are still in the normal range of time for birthing your baby. Your baby is also ready to meet you!

During this week you may have a 41 week biophysical profile, a test to check in with baby to make sure all is well on the inside. This test usually entails an ultrasound to check amniotic fluid levels and may include a nonstress test (hooking you up to a monitor to listen to baby for a while).

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Hello baby! Your birth is truly around the corner and we can't wait to meet you! At the 42 week mark, most midwives and doctors want you to give birth soon, but some may be ok with going a few days past if you pass another biophysical profile. As human beings we are not machines. Many people grow babies faster or slower and cook babies at different rates.

A post-date pregnancy doesn't automatically mean your baby will be enormous either, many babies are 7-8 pounds at 42 weeks. Some "guess" dates might be off as well since your cycle may have been longer or shorter than the average, or perhaps you ovulated on a different day. See more info on "due" dates.