Office Visits
Your first office visit will often confirm your pregnancy, make sure the pregnancy is in the uterus, and the baby’s heart is beating. The doctor will take and review your past medical history. Your office visits will be less frequent during the first twenty-eight weeks, then the interval will increase during the last twelve weeks of pregnancy. The doctor will perform ultrasounds of the baby at your office visits to determine general parameters of the baby’s growth. These ultrasounds are usually not to test for any birth defects or other genetic disorders, until the end of the first trimester, when an early screening test involving an ultrasound for nuchal translucency and blood tests is performed.
Pregnancy Growth
By the end of the third month your baby has formed all of his/her vital organs such as the heart, lungs, and kidneys. The fetus has also formed his/her arms, legs, and the head. The baby weighs about one ounce and is three inches long. In addition, the placenta has formed. The placenta has attached to the inside wall of the uterus (womb) on one side and to the umbilical cord on the other. The umbilical cord then goes on to attach to what will be the baby’s belly button. Food or nutrition from your blood stream travels through the placenta into the blood stream in the umbilical cord and feeds your baby.
