to throw away a pack of cigarettes. For the well-being of the baby, it is better to encourage the expectant mother to either stop smoking altogether, or at least significantly reduce tobacco consumption. It's never too late to quit smoking, just like to reduce tobacco consumption! Your baby will immediately feel a favorable change. And you, the future dad, if you smoke, force yourself to quit to support your mom in this, or reduce her passive smoking to a minimum.

“How does a gynecologist calculate the date of the upcoming birth?”
Doctors determine the duration of pregnancy by weeks of amenorrhea, that is, the absence of menstruation. The duration of the pregnancy is 41 weeks, counting from the first day of your wife's last menstrual period (this is an average figure that may vary because we do not know how to determine the duration of fertilization). To summarize: to calculate the approximate date of birth, you need to add 41 weeks to the date of the beginning of the last menstruation. The first ultrasound, which is performed between the 12th and 14th weeks of amenorrhea, will confirm or correct the due date if there is any doubt.

Hello, dad, baby says!
Oh, if your baby could speak! He would tell exactly what he looks like, what he feels, what he does in his soft and comfortable "universe" ...

FIRST MONTH: big upheaval

“At the end of the first month, I look like an elongated comma, dad says that I look like a shrimp. It's true, I look like god knows what, but have patience! I have a lot of little notches everywhere that will become vertebrae very soon. I still have all the organs mixed up, but my heart is already beating.”

Dimensions: A bean-sized embryo weighs 1 g and is 2 to 5 mm long.

SECOND MONTH: "construction work"

“Yes, I know: I look like a bean, my huge head almost stuck to my stomach. But the arms and legs, which until now were just barely noticeable thickenings, now look like small bumps. And they are growing, growing! First shoulder, forearm, hand. Ears and nose are taking shape, my face is already looming ... Spinal cord, kidneys and fingers are being formed. There is, as it is called, ossification of the skeleton.

Dimensions: at the end of the second month, the embryo weighs 10 g with a length of 30–40 mm.

THIRD MONTH: a real explosion

“Call me mister baby! This is no joke: my size has tripled and my weight quadrupled. My angelic head now takes up a third of my body. The organs are formed, the muscles are in place. Handles like real ones, toes like a fan. You saw me open and close my mouth."

Dimensions: It weighs 50 g and is about 12 cm long.

FOURTH MONTH: head held straight

“My legs are longer than my arms. As a result, the head seems more proportional. My body is covered with fluff. My eyes move, although they are closed, I can frown my eyebrows ... My heart beats at a rhythm of 180 beats per minute ... Well, yes, three times faster than in an adult!

Dimensions: He weighs 200 g and is about 20 cm tall.

FIFTH MONTH: very brainy baby

“Done, my neurons fell into place. Mom notices how I move. I must say, I kick to show that my muscles are much stronger than before. My hair and nails are growing, and my ears are rounded with a pretty border. Yes, now I have papillary lines and I can leave fingerprints.”

Dimensions: He weighs 500 g and is 30 cm tall.

SIXTH MONTH: baby hears

“Yes, I’m still thin, but less angular. When I'm in shape, I do 20 to 60 movements in half an hour. The rudiments of my teeth exude dentine, then enamel. I must confess that I hear external sounds.

Dimensions: He weighs 800 g and is approximately 33 cm tall.

SEVENTH MONTH: The senses awaken

“The eyes open, the ears are cleaned, the hands are sensitive to touch ... The only catch is that I feel cramped. When I move, my mother clearly sees the bumps on her stomach ... She can even notice how I hiccup.

Dimensions: the baby weighs 1.7-1.8 kg with a height of 40 cm.

EIGHTH MONTH: real baby!

“I have the look of a real chubby baby. All my organs are working ... Except for the lungs. Now is the time to try on the position in which I will be born, otherwise then I will be too big, it will be difficult for me to turn upside down, booty up. I am swimming in a liter of amniotic fluid, I am more and more independent, and I also love petting, singing ... and delicious food.

Dimensions: he weighs 2.5 kg with a height of just over 45 cm.

NINTH MONTH: the hour of "X" is approaching!

“I keep growing. There's not enough room for me and I cross my arms and I fold my legs. I devote the last few days to preening: my fluff disappears on my body, my skin becomes so beautiful, milky-pink ... I know, I'm such a darling!

Dimensions: At birth, an infant weighs between 3 and 4 kg and has an average height of 50 cm.

"When can I announce my pregnancy?"
When you feel right! Often they wait for the third month to break the news to everyone else, sometimes due to superstition. However, the risk of miscarriage is indeed highest in the first three months.

Therefore, many prefer to wait than to share the sad news if things suddenly go bad. Nevertheless, in difficult cases, family support can be useful, given that friends and relatives sometimes do not know how to respond, do not live up to the expectations that young parents place on them, who cannot understand the situation, and they have worries. not at all the same.

And I had it
Eric, 21, dad of 9-month-old Tiffany:

“One day my parents invited me to dinner. I was about to announce the upcoming birth of a child to them, bought a large head of cabbage, stuck some roses in it and placed it in front of my father and mother's plate. My father immediately understood everything and even shed a tear. It took the mother a little longer to get into the situation.”

“Is it really something to talk to your stomach?”
A hundred times - yes! Of course, at first the baby does not hear you, for this you have to wait until the beginning of the sixth month. But even when he starts to hear you, he does not understand you. But it will help you build your parenting relationship, bond with your baby.

Talk to him calmly, but if you want to be heard, do not go over to a whisper (yes, this crumb is in a protective bubble that smooths out everything, including sounds). But there is no need to shout either - peace is important to him. When you talk to him, put your hand on his wife's stomach, stroke him, so he can understand that you are talking to him. You yourself can feel the response in the form of small jolts. Start with the simplest phrases: "Hey baby, I'm your dad." And then you will see that the words will flow by themselves.

Calendar for two
To share the key moments of pregnancy with your wife, make a calendar, focusing on which you can accompany her to the doctor, to ultrasound sessions, and track the development of pregnancy. This will be a great opportunity to immerse yourself in this very important period of your life, to live it much more vividly.

"Is there the most comfortable position for sex during pregnancy?"
You yourself have to invent it in order to continue to share tenderness with your beloved, despite the roundness that has appeared. Let's say that the "teaspoons" position is very good. A small repetition lesson: you both lie on your side, you press tightly against your wife's back (isn't it true, the image of spoons nested in each other is very close?). When you have comfortably settled down, neither you nor she has nowhere to rush: she - to surrender (her heavier uterus in this position does not press on the stomach), you - to gently stroke and kiss her.

This интересно!
Amazing uterus

A symbol of femininity and motherhood, this hollow organ in the form of a truncated cone, top down, is divided into two parts: the neck and body.

Before pregnancy, it is located in the pelvis (in the lower part) between the bladder in front and the rectum in the back. In a pregnant woman, at a period of 2 months, the uterus rises to the upper border of the pubis, at a period of 3 months it is already 8 cm higher, at 4.5 months it reaches the navel and at the end rises by 33 cm.

Her muscles are soft and elastic, but during contractions they harden.

Before pregnancy, she weighs 50 g, with a period of 13 weeks - 200 g, at the end of pregnancy - 1200 g.

The neck resembles a cylinder 4 cm long. It has two holes: the outer one goes into the vagina, the inner one opens at the level of the uterus. The cervix is ​​in tension and is directed towards the far end of the vagina. It closes the uterine cavity and prevents miscarriage and premature birth. During labor, it almost flattens out, losing its thickness, and expands, opening the uterus.

"Is it risky to make love if there is a risk of premature birth?"
If your wife's pregnancy is not close to due date, and studies show that there is a high risk of preterm labor, then the ob/gyn may advise, for example, to use a