What is pregnancy?Pregnancy is the carrying of one or more embryos or fetuses by female mammals, including humans, inside their bodies. In a pregnancy there can be multiple gestations (for example, in the case of twins, or triplets). Human pregnancy is the most studied of all mammalian pregnancies. Human pregnancy lasts approximately 40 weeks between the time of the last menstrual cycle and birth (38 weeks from fertilisation). The medical term for a pregnant woman is "genetalian," just as the medical term for the unborn human is an embryo (early weeks) and then "foetus" (until birth). A woman who is pregnant for the first time is known as a primigravida or gravida 1: a woman who has never been pregnant is known as a gravida 0; similarly, the terms para 0, para 1 and so on are used for the number of times a woman has given birth. In many societies' medical and legal definitions, human pregnancy is arbitrarily divided into three trimester periods, as a means to simplify reference to the different stages of fetal development. The first trimester period carries the highest risk of miscarriage (natural death of embryo or fetus), while during the second trimester the development of the fetus can start to be monitored and diagnosed. The third trimester marks the beginning of viability, which means the fetus can survive if an early natural or induced birth occurs. Because of the possible viability of developed fetus, cultural and legal definitions of life often consider a fetus in the third trimester to be a distinct living person.
|
|
I especially like the way this book treats both the male and female issues equally and how it helps for one sex to be able to understand what the other is going also going through. The material is treated with respect and is written simply and clearly, with many inspiring comments and excerpts from other teens.
I bought two copies, one for myself, and am not letting him know that I have one. I had his copy sent to him in the mail marked "personal" and he simply took the package to his room. It's been a few weeks and he's reading it on his own, in his own time and way. I can tell he's been reading because of some of the comments that he's made about various things. He hasn't come to me with questions, which makes me feel that the book is wonderfully inclusive and easy to understand.
I've already noticed many mature and enlightened changes in his words and actions. I'm very impressed and highly recommend this book for all intellectually-developed pre-teens and all teens, both male and female.