So, there are a lot of pregnancy sites out there which give you an essay of information for each day of your pregnancy. Kinda a lot to read when you just want a brief overview to help with writing, so I thought I'd condense it a little for you all :)
Remember that pregnancy is different for everyone. This is only a rough guide of some common experiences - you don't have to stick to this at all.
pregnancy on shaman
At the moment, pregnancy on Shaman is 9 months, or 6 RL weeks/1 and a half RL months. When you breed, you are given a due date; this is a rough estimate of when you should get your character to give birth. Pregnancy on Shaman is comparitively long to other games in order to give you a chance to let your character experience the emotional/physical changes which will help develop their personality/history.
Two weeks in real life is three months (one trimester) on Shaman, which makes one real life week six weeks in Shaman time. You can use this to help you judge when your character should be moving through the trimesters.
trimesters
Pregnancy is broken up into three trimesters. Please note that your character will not necessarily get all the symptoms bullet pointed here - these are just some of the common ones in real life which you may or may not want to incorporate into your posts.
first trimester
The first trimester is from conception to 12 weeks (3 months), which is 2 real life weeks. People usually work out that they're pregnant after 2-3 months, after they've missed two periods (missing 1 period is just considered an irregularity; missing 2 tends to get people's suspicions up ^^). In this period there usually isn't much growth in the belly, but there are plenty of hormonal changes which you can use to develop your character, such as:
• Nausea and vomiting.
• Loss of sexual drive.
• Food aversion and cravings.
• Heartburn and indigestion.
• Tender and swollen breats.
• Change in complexion.
• Frequent urge to urinate.
• Constipation.
• Dizziness, headaches and fatigue.
Changes in habits, like frequent but small meals, nutritive diet, no smoking or alcohol, light exercise, drinking plenty of water, and taking adequate rest will mitigate the problems of first trimester.
second trimester
This is the kind of "golden stage" of pregnancy, when your character will feel at her best. This period is about 12-15 weeks, which is about 2-3 real life weeks. Some common symptoms are:
• A cute little bump starts to develop.
• Return of the sexual drive. Huzzah.
• Initial symptoms like nausea and fatigue will abate.
• The baby is beginning to grow rapidly. This is the time it will probably be the most active and may move around a lot in the womb.
• Body aches begin to kick in here, including back, groin, belly and thigh aches.
• Ankles, fingers and face may swell.
• Itching in the abdomen, palms of the hands and soles of the feet.
• Numb or tingling hands.
• Patches of darker skin, usually over the cheeks, forehead, nose, or upper lip. Patches often match on both sides of the face.
Light exercise, good personal hygiene, nutritive diet adds to the healthy growth of the baby at this stage.
third trimester
This is the last leg, when the baby does most of its physical growth in size. This period, again, is about 10-12 weeks - so roughly 2 real life weeks, depending on how long you played the second trimester. If you had a long 2nd trimester and you want more time in the 3rd, you can always make your baby overdue by a week or so. Common symptoms of this stage are:
• That cute little bump will turn into quite a large lump.
• Breathing may be more difficult; your character may feel out of breath more easily when exercising.
• More frequent urges to urinate.
• Trouble sleeping (many women suffer from sleep deprivation before their baby is born).
• The baby "drops", or moves lower in the abdomen, towards the end of the third trimester.
• Contractions, which can be a sign of real or false labour. Many women on their first pregnancies have false labour/childbirth scares.
Deep breathing helps to get more oxygen to the foetus.
viability
When the baby is viable, that means it can survive outside of the womb on its own. With medical help, in the real world a baby can be viable from 20 weeks. However, while Shaman is magical it distinctly lacks hospitals and intensive care wards, so babies here are considered viable from 37 weeks which is when the organs are fully developed and functional.
pregnancy appearance by weeks
pregnancy appearance by months
pregnancy appearance for twins
pregnancy appearance for triplets
how the baby develops
first trimester
At 4 weeks:
• Brain and spinal cord begin to form.
• The heart begins to form.
• Arm and leg buds appear.
• At the end of 4 weeks, is an embroy 1/25 of an inch long.
At 8 weeks:
• All major organs and external body structures have begun to form.
• Heart beats with a regular rhythm.
• The arms and legs grow longer, and fingers and toes have begun to form.
• The sex organs begin to form.
• The eyes have moved forward on the face and eyelids have formed.
• The umbilical cord is clearly visible.
• At the end of 8 weeks, is a foetus nearly 1 inch long and weighs less than 1/8 of an ounce.
At 12 weeks:
• The nerves and muscles begin to work together, allowing the baby can make a fist.
• Eyelids close to protect the developing eyes. They will not open again until the 28th week.
• By the end of 12 weeks, head growth has slowed and the baby is much longer. Now, at about 3 inches long, the baby weighs almost an ounce.
second trimester
At 16 weeks:
• Muscle tissue and bone continue to form, creating a more complete skeleton.
• Skin begins to form. You can nearly see through it.
• Meconium (mih-KOH-nee-uhm) develops in the baby's intestinal tract. This will be the baby's first bowel movement.
• Sucking reflex develops.
• By the end of 16 weeks, reaches a length of about 4 to 5 inches and weighs almost 3 ounces.
At 20 weeks:
• Becomes more active. Your character might feel slight fluttering.
• Is covered by fine, downy hair called lanugo (luh-NOO-goh) and a waxy coating called vernix. This protects the forming skin underneath.
• Eyebrows, eyelashes, fingernails, and toenails have formed. Your baby can even scratch itself.
• Can hear and swallow.
• By the end of 20 weeks, the character is halfway through their pregnancy. Their baby is about 6 inches long and weighs about 9 ounces.
At 24 weeks:
• Bone marrow begins to make blood cells.
• Taste buds form on the tongue.
• Footprints and fingerprints have formed.
• Real hair begins to grow on the head.
• The lungs are formed, but do not work.
• The hand and startle reflex develop.
• Baby sleeps and wakes regularly.
• If a boy, his testicles begin to move from the abdomen into the scrotum.
If a girl, her uterus and ovaries are in place, and a lifetime supply of eggs have formed in the ovaries.
• If the baby is level two, the wings will be fully developed. If the baby is level 3 or higher, the wings will only be partially developed.
• By the end of 24 weeks, baby stores fat and has gained quite a bit of weight. Now at about 12 inches long, he/she weighs about 1 and a half pounds.
third trimester
At 32 weeks:
• Bones are fully formed, but still soft.
• Kicks and jabs become more forceful.
• The eyes can open and close and sense changes in light.
• Lungs are not fully formed, but practice "breathing" movements occur.
• Baby's body begins to store vital minerals, such as iron and calcium.
• Lanugo begins to fall off.
• If the baby is level three or higher, the wings will be fully developed but not yet strong enough to support the baby. The baby won't be able to fly until several months after birth.
• By the end of 32 weeks, he/sheis gaining weight quickly, about half a pound a week. Now, he/she is about 15 to 17 inches long and weighs about 4 to 4 and a half pounds.
At 36 weeks:
• The protective waxy coating called vernix gets thicker.
• Body fat increases. The baby is getting bigger and bigger and has less space to move around.
Movements are less forceful, but your character will feel stretches and wiggles.
• By the end of 36 weeks, the baby is about 16 to 19 inches long and weighs about 6 to 6 and a half pounds.
Weeks 37-40:
• Organs are ready to function on their own.
• As you near your due date, the baby may turn into a head-down position for birth. Most babies "present" head down.
• At birth,baby may weigh somewhere between 6 pounds, 2 ounces and 9 pounds, 2 ounces and be 19 to 21 inches long. Most full-term babies fall within these ranges, but healthy babies come in many different sizes.
giving birth
Childbirth is split into three stages.
first stage
The first stage is when the cervix dilates. The first stage of labor starts classically when the effaced (thinned) cervix is 3 cm dilated. There is variation in this point as some women may have active contractions prior to reaching this point, or they may reach this point without regular contractions.
This stage can be any length of time from 5 minutes to 5 days. For women having their first baby it is typically eight hours and for women who have already had a baby, it is typically about four hours. This is often the stage which takes the longest.
second stage
This begins when the cervix is fully dilated and ends when the baby is born - basically, it's the "pushing" stage. The length of time varies.
third stage
In the third stage, the placenta (afterbirth) is expelled, usually within 15-30 minutes of the baby being born. This is a relatively short stage.
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