Pregnancy Hormones

You're pregnant and pregnanacy hormones are taking over your body. Learning about pregnancy hormones is a good thing for expecting mothers. Hormones are responsible for many of the emotional, physical, and other mental changes your body is experiencing. It's best to embrace these changes now as they are going to stay with you over the next 9 months.

Below you will find information on the different hormones affecting your body and what they are doing.

Follicle Stimulating Hormone & Lutenizing Hormone

Follical Stimulating Hormone (FSH), stimulates your ovaries to start producing estrogen which helps to build the uterine lining. At the same time, Lutenizing Hormone (LH) is released to help stimulate the release of the egg from the ovary. At this point, the body starts pumping progesterone to further ripen the uterine lining and stop LH. The egg makes its journey down the fallopian tube to await the arrival of sperm. If no sperm are present, then you get your period. If sperm are present, then the ball gets rolling.

Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG)

hCG is the hormone measured in home pregnancy tests. It is produced by the cells in the developing placenta. This occurs the days after the egg is implanted and helps to stimulate the release of even more estrogen and progesterone. hCG will keep pumping into your bloodstream rapidly during the first few months of pregnancy.

Of the pregnancy hormones, hCG gets the blame for your morning sickness. hCG also suppresses your immune system to reduce the chance of your body rejecting the baby. It is the reason why you should make sure you get plenty of rest and vitamins while pregnant.

Estrogen and Progesterone

Estrogen and progesterone are the big two of the pregnancy hormones. They are vital hormones to the first and second trimesters of pregnancy.

Estrogen helps to the make things grow. It is first produced by the ovaries and then by the growing placenta. It helps to keep the placenta growing and maintain the uterine lining that cushions and protects the baby. Estrogen also triggers the growth of the baby's organs and regulates bone density.

Estrogen also increases bloodflow causing swelling in soft tissues and mucous membranes. This can often lead to sinus infections and a stuffy nose to the expecting mother as well as headaches and postnasal drip. You can blame your flushed face on estrogen.

Estrogen and progesterone also can cause skin discoloration and sensativity to sunlight.

Progestorone, the other of the two major pregnancy hormones, keeps the placenta functioning properly and the uterine lining nice and thick. Unfortunately, it also stimulates the growth of breast tissue. For those of you with smaller breasts, this could be a fortunate event for you. It also reduces the contraction of smooth muscle in your uterus to allow it to expand and grow.

Unfortunately, prgesterone also causes GI discomfort, heartburn, indigestion, and constipation. This can cause even more bloating in your stomach. Wonderful.

Progesterone also affects cartilage late in pregnancy and can cause you to have aches and joint pain. It also causes your gums to swell and bleed as well as increasing secretions in your sweat glands.

There are a few other pregnancy hormones, but Estrogen and Progesterone are the major two that are going to get you through your pregnancy. They are also the two that will cause you the most headaches (literally) throughout your pregnancy.

So now that you know about the pregnancy hormones you can keep reading more information about pregnancy at the pregnancy home page

"Achieving A Healthy Lifestyle For Women's Health and Fitness"