Pregnancy Stomach Week By Week

Submitted by Pregnancy and Baby Care team on January 18, 2012

Stomach Conditions During Pregnancy

Your body will experience several changes when you are pregnant. One of the places this change manifests in most conspicuously is your stomach. Over the course of your pregnancy, your stomach will start to expand and grow. This is because your stomach is stretching to accommodate your growing uterus. During the first few weeks of pregnancy, your stomach will feel similar to how it feels when you're expecting your period. This includes symptoms like bloating, abdominal...

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...cramps and uneasiness in the stomach. Conception will occur about two weeks after your period and around this time your belly may be a little bloated. At the start of the third week, the embryo may be implanting itself on the wall of your uterus. Around this time, you may experience abdominal cramps that are perfectly normal. In fact, at several times during your pregnancy, you may experience pain or discomfort in the stomach on account of the rapidly changing size of your fetus. However, severe pain and cramps are not normal and you should contact your doctor immediately if you are experiencing repeated, severe pain and cramps in your stomach or abdomen. In addition, rising hormones can lead to stomach discomfort and pain during pregnancy. Muscle pains may occur around the belly if the fetus is bigger than average. Other stomach changes during pregnancy include digestive problems like constipation, gas pains and heart burn. On account of a rise in hormones, the digestive process slows down during pregnancy. Therefore, it is advisable to eat smaller meals and softer food to help ease the digestive process. These digestive disorders may begin by week twelve at the end of the first trimester or earlier.

Other causes of severe stomach pain about six or seven weeks after fertilization could be an ectopic pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy is when the fertilized ovum gets transplanted outside the uterus. This condition should be detected and treated early as it can become dangerous for the mother. Around the third trimester, women may experience a lower abdominal pain accompanied by back pain commonly known as Braxton Hicks contractions. This kind of stomach pain is different from labor contractions and is generally infrequent and painless. Stomach discomfort from disorders like constipation and heartburn may become worse during the last stages of pregnancy, week thirty eight and thirty nine. This is because the growing baby exerts more and more pressure on the intestines during this time.

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