02 Oct Preggo Now What! Your Pregnancy timeline.
BABE! Yay your pregnant!
Now what?!
It can be a little overwhelming after you take that preggo test – It’s all YAY then you think OK what happens next? The first step is going to the doctor to confirm your pregnancy. They will do a blood test and look at your HCG levels. HCG is a protein-based hormone that the body produces during pregnancy. It helps maintain the production of important hormones such as progesterone to support the healthy growth of the uterus and fetus.
HCG is not something you usually worry about but as someone who has had a loss – I know It’s important to see the numbers growing and not decreasing.
Normal HCG levels are below and vary a lot depending on each individual woman.
3 weeks: 5 – 50 mIU/ml
4 weeks: 5 – 426 mIU/ml
5 weeks: 18 – 7,340 mIU/ml
6 weeks: 1,080 – 56,500 mIU/ml
7 – 8 weeks: 7, 650 – 229,000 mIU/ml
9 – 12 weeks: 25,700 – 288,000 mIU/ml
13 – 16 weeks: 13,300 – 254,000 mIU/ml
17 – 24 weeks: 4,060 – 165,400 mIU/ml
25 – 40 weeks: 3,640 – 117,000 mIU/ml
Non-pregnant women: <5.0 mIU/ml
Postmenopausal women: <9.5 mIU/ml
Now you need to find a midwife. We are so lucky in New Zealand and you can go direct to this website and find someone who suits you. http://www.findyourmidwife.co.nz/
When to call your midwife.
Your midwife will give you her phone number so you can text her if you have any concerns (she may not reply if she is at a birth or out of office during the evenings or weekends)
Call if URGENT.
Urgent means: You are bleeding.
You haven’t felt you baby move for more than 2 hours (after 28 weeks) and you have spent the last hour laying down somewhere quiet concentrating on the movements.
You are experiencing severe pain.
If you think your waters have broken (before 37 weeks).
Next you’ll need to purchase some folic acid and take it every day. This is a pill that contains many vitamins and other nutrients that help your body stay healthy. ** Talk to your health care professional about this. Bio Oil for your belly! I used this every day from the very beginning and I have zero stretch marks.
There’s so many Pregnancy Apps out there too which can help map your entire pregnancy. I’ve used both of the below apps, and adored them both. Glow is a more international app where you can chat to others and post in a group, they also have a timelapse feature + helpful tips a long the way. Sprout is a NZ app which shoes your baby every step of the way. I love this for my second pregnancy as It shows the progression of growth of your little one which my son really loved looking at! Check them out.
- Sprout.
- Glow Nuture
What you can and can’t eat changes every minute (I swear!!) So right now this is up to date (2021) but may change in future. But this is an easy list of what to avoid.
Vaccines
You’ll also be offered a whooping cough/flu vaccine at some stage of your pregnancy. This is totally up to you to get if you want. You can find our more info here.
Ultrasound Screenings
- Early pregnancy assessment 8 Weeks.
- First trimester screening for Down Syndrome & other conditions 12 weeks.
- From 15 weeks you can now get a gender scan (new!!) YAY and I did this in Hamilton at The Ultrasound Clinic!
- 20 week Anatomy scan
- Growth scans after 20 weeks your midwife will discuss with you.
Ultrasound scans are painless and non-invasive. There are no known risks to the baby or the mother from having an ultrasound scan.
Antenatal Classes are super amazing in your first pregnancy. I learned so much and made some amazing friends who were all due at the same time & we went through everything together! In Hamilton they do these classes at River ridge birth center. After bubs is born theres also a group called space which is great for friends & learning about your new babies. https://www.health.govt.nz/your-health/pregnancy-and-kids/services-and-support-during-pregnancy/learning-about-pregnancy-birth-and-parenting
Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that occurs in pregnancy. You should be offered a test to check for gestational diabetes when you’re between 24 and 28 weeks pregnant.
More info here.
Paid parental leave
When you have a baby and usually work 10+ hours a week you are eligible for Paid parental leave.
(In 2021) 26 Weeks Paid – $606.46 a week before tax.
More info here
Labour
If you go to antenatal classes they will talk to you about your labor /signs It’s happening / pain relief that New Zealand offers. I get heaps of questions about this but the best option is to talk to your midwife or doctor. I have the PCA during my labor. Happy to speak to you about my own personal experience.
More info here on Going into Labour
Pain relief during labour
More info on pain relief here
Hope this helps with your pregnancy journey!
Shan xx
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