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CHAPTER FOUR

CONTINUING THE PREGNANCY

THE FIRST THREE MONTHS

     If you continue your pregnancy, you will want to do everything you can to produce a healthy baby and take care of your own health at the same time.

The most important thing to remember about the baby's health is that everything a pregnant woman eats, drinks, breathes, or takes into her body in any form can affect her baby.

The baby will take most of what it needs from her body. If the mother doesn't have enough for the baby and herself too, the mother's body may be harmed.

This is easy to understand if you know about the changes that take place in the body during pregnancy. Before a woman misses even one period, the fertilized egg divides into a mass of cells. This tiny embryo attaches itself to the inner wall of her uterus, where it continues to grow by absorbing food from the tissues of the uterus. The cells of the embryo keep dividing and redividing, forming layers of tissue that will become the different organs of the baby's body. By the end of the third month, the group of cells (now called a fetus) has the beginnings of human features. It is about three inches long and weighs about an ounce. While the embryo is being formed, two other structures are growing around it. One is the placenta, a thick cushion of cells on the lining of the uterus. The fetus becomes attached to this by its umbilical cord, which contains blood vessels. The blood of the fetus passes through this cord to the placenta, where it picks up oxygen and nourishment and drops off waste products before returning. This is the way the developing baby gets what it needs from the mother's body.

The second structure growing around the embryo is a tough skinlike sac with fluid inside it (amniotic fluid). This is what people call the "bag of waters". It protects the baby from injury and keeps the baby comfortable, as if floating in a cradle of water. It stays at just the right temperature, not too hot nor too cold. The baby not only floats in this amniotic fluid but also drinks some of it and empties it's bladder into it.

Teen mothers-to-be who do not take care of themselves during pregnancy risk having a premature baby (one born before it has developed enough to live on it's own outside the mother's body) or an under-normal weight baby. They are also in danger of getting high blood pressure or toxemia of pregnancy. Toxemia is a dangerous combination of high blood pressure and waterlogged body tissues.

There is no physical reason why a healthy woman in her mid-to-late teens cannot have a safe pregnancy and deliver a healthy baby if she sees a doctor as early as possible in her pregnancy and follows up the doctor's advice. Whether she plans to keep the baby or give it up for adoption, a young woman who continues her pregnancy needs to learn how to take the best care of herself and her unborn child.

     Whether you go to a doctor, a hospital or a clinic, some of the things that happen will be the same. Many women feel more comfortable if someone who cares for them is along on this first visit. A boyfriend, husband, or parent is a good person to have along.

At the desk, before you see any medical doctor, you will be asked your name, your address and phone number, your age, and other identifying information. They may ask whether you have medical insurance or they may ask you to pay for the visit while you are there.

You may also be asked many questions that you have a hard time answering, such as what diseases, allergies, injuries, and operations you, your family, and the father's family have had. Even so, these are important questions, and you should have the answers or someone along who can answer them for you. Who the father is may be hard to talk about, especially if you don't know for sure. How you will pay for your care may be another hard question. You will also be asked the date of your last period, whether your periods are regular, whether you smoke or drink, and what medicines or drugs you are taking. If you smoke pot, for example, be sure to say so since this can cause false results from a pregnancy test.

If you have something private to say to your doctor, you can ask anyone else to leave the room. The time to do this is either before you undress for the examination or after you put your clothes back on.

Visits during the first three months are very important because they allow the person taking care of you to check on your weight and blood pressure, to measure your pelvis, and to test your urine and blood. In order to test your urine, you may be asked to bring a sample with you in a clean jar or to urinate into a bottle or paper cup and pour some of it into a test tube or small jar.

Urine is checked for sugar and albumin, among other things. Sugar in your urine can be a sign of diabetes, which sometimes develops during pregnancy. Albumin or protein in the urine is a sign of toxemia of pregnancy, which can be controlled if found early enough. Pus in the urine is a sign of infection.

For a blood sample, a tiny bit of blood will be taken from the tip of one finger and some blood will be taken from a vein in your arm. The blood will be tested to see what type and group it is and whther you have syhphillis or AIDS. It may also be tested for other diseases. This is done so that anything that needs to be corrected can be taken care of before you go on with the pregnancy. The blood sample will also show how well your body is producing red blood cells, since pregnancy puts an extra demand on this. If you aren't getting enough iron and folic acid for red blood cell production, for example, you may become anemic. Anemia makes you feel tired most of the time and increases your chances of getting sick.

You will also be given a thorough physical. You will be weighed, and your blood pressure will be checked, your breasts will be examined, and you will be given an internal exam.

After the examination, you will probably be given some instructions about drugs, diet, rest, and exercise and maybe a prescription or two for vitamins, iron, and calcium. You will also be told when to come for your next visits, which will probably be about once a month through the seventh month, an then more often. If you are having any problems, be sure to mention them.