2. Painless contractions of the uterus (or womb, within which the baby lies) begin during the early weeks of pregnancy and occur at intervals of five or ten minutes throughout the entire period. The expectant mother may not be conscious of these contractions during the early months, but later she can detect them by placing her hand upon her abdomen and feeling the uterus, beneath it, grow first hard and then soft, as it contracts and relaxes. But the probable signs of pregnancy, like the possible symptoms, may occur in women who are not pregnant, and accordingly the appearance of any one of them alone, is not of great significance.
The positive signs of pregnancy, of which there are three, are not apparent until the eighteenth or twentieth week. They relate to the baby, but with one exception they cannot be detected by the expectant mother. However, they are of such moment that you will be interested to know what they are.
1. Hearing and counting the baby’s heart beat is unmistakable evidence of the baby’s existence. The doctor sometimes hears this by resting his ear upon the mother’s abdomen and sometimes by listening through a stethoscope.
2. Ability to feel the outline of the baby’s body is also a positive sign of pregnancy, if the head, buttocks, back and extremities are unmistakably made out through the mother’s abdominal wall.
3. Feeling the movements of the baby is accepted as a third positive sign of pregnancy. There is some difference of opinion concerning the value of “quickening,” alone, as a positive sign, but if the baby’s movements are felt by the doctor, also, through the mother’s abdominal wall, or by vaginal examination, there can be no doubt that a baby is there. Feeling these movements some time after the eighteenth or twentieth week, by placing a hand upon the abdomen, is the one positive sign which the expectant mother may detect for herself.
Some Other Changes in the Mother’s Body While the Baby Grows. In addition to the signs and symptoms which we have just described, there are a good many other changes which will take place in your own body, in the course of the baby’s development, and you will want to learn about some of them in order that you may know what to expect.
The abdomen. Of course, the steady enlargement of the abdomen and the alteration in its shape, as pregnancy advances, is the change that you will be most conscious of. As the abdomen grows larger, the skin which covers it is stretched more and more tightly with the result that the tissues just under the surface sometimes give way, or split and form pale pink or bluish streaks. These streaks, which are called striæ, grow white and glistening after the baby is born, so that the abdomen of an expectant mother who has had children, will show silvery streaks from earlier pregnancies and also the bluish ones recently formed. These streaks are of no consequence and I mention them simply because you are almost certain to notice them and may wonder what they are. They may appear upon the hips, thighs and breasts as well as upon the abdomen, if the skin over these parts is greatly stretched.
The umbilicus (navel) is deeply indented during about the first three months of pregnancy, but afterwards the pit steadily grows shallower and by the seventh month, it is level with the surface of the abdomen. After this time the navel may protrude, in which state it is described as a “pouting umbilicus.”
An increase in the vaginal discharge is another change which you may notice during the latter months of pregnancy.
The changes in the skin consist chiefly of the increased discoloration over various parts of the body, which was mentioned among the possible signs of pregnancy. The degree of this discoloration varies with the complexion of the individual, as blonds may be tinted but slightly more than usual, while the discolored areas on a brunette may become almost black. As the skin glands become more active, there is also an increase in perspiration and sometimes the hair becomes much more luxuriant during pregnancy.