Everything you need to know about the coming nine months. With our dictionary you will not be intimidated or confused by any terms!
– Hi, I’m expecting a baby! – When the test showed two stripes, I decided to join the virtual company of the same people waiting.
– Hello, welcome, – they wrote back to me. And these were the only words that I understood at that moment.
– When is your PDR?
– Did you take hCG?
– Are you planning to do an ultrasound scan or 3D?
Startled, I typed in response something like “everything has its time”, and then the girls no longer paid attention to me, exchanging strange words: gestosis, Doppler, CTG, screening …
They talked, I googled frantically. Of course, I got scared, realizing that I didn’t know ANYTHING about carrying a baby. It was even somehow embarrassing: I did not calculate the day of ovulation, did not measure the basal temperature … I just got pregnant, and that’s it. How to continue to live with such an irresponsible approach?
Soon I myself was already using the terms “for my own” with might and main. And it turned out that there is nothing wrong with that. But the dictionary of the pregnant woman still compiled for herself. At least in order to understand what the doctors want to tell me. Or they don’t want to, but they write it on the map.
Obstetrician – not to be confused with a midwife! Doctors are very offended by this. Obstetrician-gynecologist – certified physician. A midwife is a mid-level health worker. And during the normal course of childbirth, it is she who will be with you almost all the time, she will also receive the baby. The doctor, as a rule, comes only to the final stage or when it comes to some kind of pathology. Many women believe that having a good birth midwife is the most important thing.
Amniocentesis – test study of amniotic fluid. They are recruited by piercing the anterior abdominal wall of the uterus with a needle. A puncture is done for those who have a suspicion of chromosomal diseases. But moms often refuse to study for fear of the risk of miscarriage after such an intervention.
Amniotic fluid – these are the very waters that depart as a signal for the onset of childbirth. Basically, this is the environment your baby lives in before birth. Their purity and quantity is an important indicator for a doctor. High water and low water are all about it.
Apgar – a scale for assessing the condition of a newborn. Five criteria – skin color, heart rate, muscle tone, reflexes, breathing. The score of each is from 0 to 2. Evaluated twice: the first time one minute after birth, the second one five minutes later. Good performance is more than 7-8 points. The result of the assessment must be communicated to the parents along with the height and weight of the baby.
Blastocyst – a developing embryo when it first finds its position in the uterus.
Pregnancy – the actual state that you have been enjoying for nine months. It happens to be multiple. You yourself understand what this means.
Intrauterine infection – a situation when a virus from an infected mother infects the baby even before delivery. Can lead to death of the fetus or to pathological disorders of its development. Therefore, women are sent for blood tests several times during pregnancy and asked to beware.
Dropsy of pregnant women – one of the forms of late gestosis. The expectant mother suffers from edema. In this case, a doctor should supervise her. I am glad that the swelling subsides almost immediately after childbirth.
Collar area – I first heard this term on an ultrasound. During the first screening, the diagnostician examines the area between the inner surface of the fetal skin and the outer surface of the soft tissues that cover the cervical spine. Normally, it should be no more than 2 millimeters. Its thickening may indicate the risk of congenital malformation.
Gestational age – the period that the child spent in the womb from the moment of conception. It is determined by the first day of the last menstruation, because a rare woman can say for sure on what day she became pregnant.
Gestational diabetes, aka pregnancy diabetes. High blood sugar content of the expectant mother. As a rule, after childbirth, everything returns to normal.
Gestosis – late toxicosis. Complication of the third trimester of pregnancy. High blood pressure, swelling, headaches, kidney problems. Stages – from dropsy to eclampsia. With gestosis, doctors prefer to hospitalize the expectant mother in the antenatal department and observe her until delivery.
Hormones – you need to know estrogen and progesterone. They increase during pregnancy. A decrease in the level of progesterone is fraught with the threat of miscarriage, therefore, very often doctors, even without special indications, prescribe drugs for women. So, for prevention.
Doppler ultrasound – a study showing the state of the blood vessels of the umbilical cord, the speed of blood movement and the degree of its saturation with oxygen. The last point is the most important: this is how it is determined whether the baby has oxygen starvation. You can also listen to the fetal heartbeat and determine the state of its cardiovascular system.
Itching of pregnant women – when everything itches so that there is no strength. Especially the skin on the belly, which stretches as the belly grows. I am glad that this passes after childbirth.
Cervical maturity – one of the indicators of the body’s readiness for childbirth. Leave it to the doctors, you still don’t check it yourself.
Cesarean section – surgical method of childbirth. The baby is removed (doctors still say that he is born) through an incision in the uterus and the anterior abdominal wall. It is done according to indications. The controversy over the differences between “naturalists” and “Caesarians” is one of the most scandalous topics on the Internet.
False contractions they are training, they are Braxton Hicks contractions – when it seems to you that you are about to give birth, but in fact it is not. These are contractions of the muscles of the uterus without opening it. The mechanism of occurrence is similar to normal contractions, but labor will not begin. It is important to understand that this is not dangerous. But there is an opportunity to practice correct breathing. But if these are late terms, the contractions are very strong, frequent, then it is better to go to the hospital after all.
Colostrum – something yellow is coming out of your chest, but it is not milk. Everything is fine! This is permissible from the second trimester of pregnancy. Moreover, in the first days after giving birth, you will also not have milk, but colostrum. And that’s great because it contains antibodies that can be important in protecting a child from disease.
Placenta – baby’s mini-world. Throughout pregnancy, it is his lungs, digestive system, kidneys and everything, everything, everything. Through this organ, nutrients are supplied to it, and excrement is also discharged through it. The condition of the placenta is an important indicator for doctors. Presentation (when the placenta partially or completely blocks the child’s exit), premature detachment (when it exfoliates from the wall of the uterus) – all these are abnormal conditions that need to be monitored, or even intervened by doctors.
Umbilical cord – the canal connecting the placenta with the fetus. After giving birth, it is cut.
Rh incompatibility – a condition in which the mother’s blood is Rh Rh-negative, and the child’s blood is Rh-positive. Previously, this phenomenon was fraught with miscarriage. Fortunately, this is not a problem for doctors today.
Rakhmanovka, it’s the same Rakhmanov’s bed – the chair on which women give birth.
Screening ultrasound – compulsory ultrasound, which is done three times: at 10-14, at 20-24 and at 30-34 weeks. On the first two, markers of chromosomal pathology are detected, on the second and third – malformations. And on the third, the general condition of the fetus is assessed.
Trimester – conditional division of the duration of pregnancy by three months.
Toxicosis – the state of the first trimester of pregnancy. Loss of appetite, nausea, weakness, drowsiness, change in taste preferences, vomiting. All this must be endured. In severe cases, consult a doctor. Those who do not have toxicosis often panic: they say, the fetus froze. In fact, this is not an indicator. Rather, you are completely healthy and your body easily rebuilt into a new regime.
Fetal movement – the feeling of a child moving within you. If the pregnancy is the first, you will feel it closer to the 20th week, those who have already given birth feel kicks starting from the 16th. By birth, you will have the feeling that a small elephant lives inside.
Cervix – the entrance to the uterus, which opens during childbirth, so that the fetus moves along the birth canal. The maximum opening is five fingers or ten centimeters.
Episiotomy – a surgical incision from the vagina to the rectum to expand the vagina during childbirth. This is done to avoid breaks. Still, the surgical incision heals more easily and easily.
Breech presentation of the fetus – when the baby is turned towards the exit with his buttocks or legs, and not with his head. May be an indication for cesarean.
Reading abbreviations
BT – basal temperature measured in the rectum. By its fluctuations, you can establish the date of ovulation or pregnancy.
KTG – cardiotocography, a technique for monitoring the fetal heartbeat.
HCG – a hormone, stands for human chorionic gonadotropin, during pregnancy its level increases.
DA – the estimated date of delivery. It is calculated based on the data on the menstrual cycle. It does not always coincide with the real one.
TORCH – the abbreviated name for frequent infections: toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus and herpes.
OAA – burdened obstetric history. So they write if a woman has abortions, miscarriages, complicated labor, placental abnormalities and other things associated with the abnormal course of pregnancy and childbirth.