| A | B |
|---|
| Pregnancy | The period during which a fertilized egg grows and develops into a human being inside the mother’s body |
| Trimester | A period of about three months |
| Ovum | A woman’s egg |
| Ovulation | Once a month a woman’s egg is released from the ovaries |
| Sperm | Male cell needed for reproduction |
| Conception | Sperm and ovum unite; also known as fertilization |
| Zygote | Fertilized human egg; the zygote stage lasts from conception to two weeks |
| Embryo | The developing baby from about the third week of pregnancy through the eighth week |
| Fetus | The final stage of pregnancy from the ninth month until birth |
| Prenatal Development | All development that occurs between conception and birth |
| Amniotic Fluid | A fluid that cushions the baby against possible injury, allows the baby to move around easily, and regulates the baby’s temperature |
| Amniotic Sac | The sac that holds the amniotic fluid |
| Umbilical Cord | A flexible cord that contains blood vessels and connects the baby to the placenta |
| Placenta | A special organ that functions as an interchange between the developing baby and its mother providing nutrients and blood to the fetus |
| Blastocyst | A hollow ball of cells from the fertilized egg that implants itself into the uterus lining |
| Lightening | The process or time during late pregnancy when the fetal head begins to descend into the mother’s pelvis, resulting in a lessening of pressure on the diaphragm |
| Quickening | To move and be felt moving in the womb |
| Uterus | A hollow muscular organ in the pelvic cavity of the female, in which the embryo is nourished and develops before birth |
| Braxton Hicks Contraction | Sporadic uterine contractions that start about 6 weeks into pregnancy, although one would not be able to feel them that early. One probably would not start to notice them until sometime after mid-pregnancy, if noticed at all. The name comes from John Braxton Hicks, an English doctor who first described them in 1872. |
| Lanugo | Soft prenatal hair, usually shed in the 7th to 8th month |
| crowning | When the widest part of the baby's head is passing through the vagina |
| vernix caseosa | Waxy or "cheesy" white substance found coating the skin of newborn humans |
