ABCs of pregnancy: E is for…

E is for Ear… you’ll be doing a lot of listening for sounds of baby breath  after your little one is born.

E is also for:

Epidural: An epidural is a way to numb your body from the waist down so you can manage your labor pain. A needle is inserted into your lower back and a small tube, a catheter, is threaded in. Through that catheter, you will receive anesthetic medication.

Ectopic pregnancy: The egg, ova, is fertilized in the fallopian tube after it leaves the ovary. The fertilized egg then makes its way to the uterus to implant into the uterine lining. However, sometimes the egg implants itself in the fallopian tube or somehow makes its way outside of the whole reproductive system. This is called an ectopic pregnancy. This is most often an emergency because women don’t know they have an ectopic pregnancy until they start to feel pain. If they ignore the pain, the fallopian tube could rupture.

Edema: You may be experiencing some (or a lot!) of swelling in your feet and maybe your hands. This is called edema. It’s an accumulation of water in the soft tissues of the body.

Effacement: As your body prepares to deliver and the cervix is dilating, the canal walls begin to thin. This gives the baby more space to pass through and this is what the nurses and doctors mean by saying if you are effaced.

Embryo: About two weeks after the egg has been fertilized, the unborn child is called an embryo. This term stays until about 8 weeks of pregnancy, when the embryo becomes a fetus.

Episiotomy: There is a lot of debate in the healthcare circles as to whether episiotomies are good or bad. An episiotomy is a small incision (cut) that the doctor does to make the vaginal opening wider for the baby to pass through. The idea is to prevent the tissue from tearing.

Image: iStock

~~~~~