The beginning of a new life must go through these three events, which are known as conception, pregnancy and childbirth. For life to strive and continue, all lifeforms are to mate with the opposite sex, so they can pass down their genes to the next generation and keep the lifeform’s population from going extinct. If lifeforms were not able to reproduce, every living thing on this planet would had already become extinct or life couldn’t have even started from the beginning. Nevertheless, that is not true. Lifeforms can reproduce, therefore, leads to these three events known as conception, pregnancy and childbirth that must take place for human beings and many other lifeforms out there in order to prevent the coming of extinction.
Conception for human beings is when the ovum and sperm cell join together after sexual intercourse between a male and female. Only one of several hundred ova in females at a time matures up and has the access to getting fertilized by one of millions of sperm that is produced by males during one average ejaculation. For ova, they carry the X sex chromosome while a sperm can either carry a X or Y sex chromosome. Boys are born when the ova, which has a X sex chromosome is joined together by a sperm that carries the Y sex chromosome. On the other hand, girls are born when the ova is joined together by a sperm that carries the X sex chromosome.
Although there are millions of sperms that are ejaculated into the vagina, not every sperm will make it to the finish line where the ovum is. Millions of sperms are killed by the vagina’s acidity and some can swim into the wrong fallopian tube that doesn’t contain the ovum. Even when going into the correct fallopian tube, only very few sperms are able to swim the next few inches to reach the ovum that is inside the tube. One benefit that helps the millions of sperm on their blind journey to the ovum is that they are attracted to a scent that the ova makes. Therefore, can lead the one of the lucky sperms right to the ovum and fertilization can then occur inside the fallopian tube.
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After conception has occurred and with the process of fertilization between the ovum and sperm, females would not know if they are pregnant until they miss a menstrual cycle, also known as a period. Pregnancy test from local pharmacy can confirm whether a female is pregnant or not by testing for human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), which is a hormone that is produced after conception that can be tested in her urine usually by the 10th day of pregnancy. There is also a blood test that can be done to test for human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), which is called beta subunit HCG radioimmunoassay that can test for pregnancy by the 8th day of pregnancy.
Morning sickness is also a sign of pregnancy. It usually occurs throughout the day where a pregnant woman can vomit, have food aversions or be nauseous. The morning sickness is said to come by during the 12th week of pregnancy for most women. Also, in some cases, when a woman is pregnant with twins, morning sickness can be a lot worse and could last longer compared to only being pregnant with one child. Greater fatigue can always happen during the early weeks, which usually results them to sleeping longer and falling asleep quicker than normal. Pregnant women also have the need to urinate more often due to the swelling uterus causing pressure to the bladder.
After conception, the single cell that resulted from the joining of the ovum and sperm begins to divide into multiple cells and therefore, is the beginning of the prenatal development. Prenatal development is divided into three stages, which is known as germinal stage, embryonic stage and fetal stage. The germinal stage is usually during the first 2 months after conception. After several days, the cell mass of the cells multiplying becomes known as a blastocyst. During this time, the cells have begun to separate into groups that are going to be becoming different structures. The embryonic is a plate-like inner part of the blastocyst with two distinct layer of cells that are going to form the embryo. The outer part of the blastocyst is called the trophoblast, which are membranes that will eventually make of the amniotic sac, placenta and umbilical cord.
The embryonic stage occurs during the 8th week of pregnancy, which is the beginning of the major organ systems. There are two trends for the development of the embryo, which is known as cephalocaudal and proximodistal. As the embryonic stage continues on, organs, hair, nails, teeth and the outer layer of the skin starts to develop from the ectoderm. The head and blood vessels begins to form during the third week of the stage and following the fourth week, the heart begins to beat. All of these events that are happening is inside the mother’s uterus called the amniotic sac where the embryo and fetus are floating-like inside the sac in the amniotic fluid. The placenta is where the waste and nutrients are exchanged between the mother and embryo through the umbilical cord.
During the ninth week, the fetal stage begins, and it goes until birth. The fetus at this time can respond to noises from the outside by moving. Major organ systems, fingers and toes and external genitals are formed by the first trimester. At this time, the sex of the fetus can be visually determined. In the second trimester, the fetus grows along with its organ system maturing. The fetus weight jumps from an ounce to 2 pounds and continues to grow in length until birth. The brain is also now able to regulate the body functions. Into the third trimester, the organ systems continue to mature and enlarge.
In the 7th month, the fetus begins to turn upside down with its head facing down towards the uterus until delivery. By the 9th month, the fetus settles its head into the pelvis, which is known as dropping. The tissues that were there to plug the cervix are forced out of position and therefore, results in a discharge. Usually after this, the amniotic sac will rupture or burst, which will result in the woman going into labor. Subsequently, when labor is over with, we now have childbirth.
If living lifeforms were not able to reproduce, there would be nothing living on the planet right now. For life to strive and continue, males and females must be able to reproduce new generations. Although it is safe to say that human beings and all other living lifeforms can reproduce. To start a beginning of a new life, human beings and all other living lifeforms must go through conception, pregnancy and childbirth in order to reproduce, therefore, avoiding extinction.
