Your partner isn't the only one who is pregnant. What's more, your job didn't end at conception, rather that's when it began. You may only have a vague notion of what pregnancy entails and how it affects you. Thankfully, you have found yourself at thefunkystork.com, a website that offers a wealth of pregnancy information to expectant fathers. This article will tell you what you need to do throughout the pregnancy to ensure that you are involved and well-informed. After you have read all parts this article, browse through the site to learn more. After all, it was created just for you! By the way - you can click on any word that is underlined to bring up a glossary box with a simple definition. For example, click on baby.

TRIMESTERS EXPLAINED
Pregnancy can be confusing. It lasts for about nine and a half months, but is often measured in weeks. To confuse things even more, the pregnancy is divided into three unique parts called trimesters. You, your partner, your physician, friends, family and foes will be referring to both weeks and trimesters throughout the pregnancy, so familiarize yourself with these terms.

First trimester (From week 0 to week 13):
You probably won't know that your partner is pregnant until a week or so after she has "missed" her period. Typically, this is around the fifth or sixth week of pregnancy, which means that she'll be nearing the middle of the first trimester.

Most of this trimester is devoted to building a home for your baby to live for the next thirty-odd weeks. This includes building the umbilical cord and the placenta, which is essentially a sac that will feed your baby throughout the pregnancy. During this period, all of your baby's basic bodily structures are created: from the eyes to the brain, and from the feet to the arms. This can be a rough time for your partner as she will likely experience plenty of fatigue and morning sickness. During these early weeks, you will be responsible for educating yourself about what's ahead.

Second Trimester (From week 14 to week 26):
This trimester is also known as the "honeymoon phase". Your partner will begin to feel much better largely because the placenta has taken over the task of nourishing the baby. The levels of free-flowing pregnancy hormones running amok with her emotions and her body will reduce, thereby alleviating her morning sickness and fatigue. Your baby will begin a major growth spurt.

Third Trimester (From week 27 to week 40):
Your baby continues to grow rapidly, gaining about a half-a-pound per week and growing another 10-inches in length. Your partner will also undergo a major growth spurt of her own. Her fatigue and irritability will likely return (but not the morning sickness) and her ever-growing belly will make every day tasks a challenge. As you can imagine, this is where you'll come in handy by helping out around the house.

To help keep you abreast of what is going on at each stage, the staff at thefunkystork.com has prepared a PREGNANCY WEEK BY WEEK  reminder to help you track your partner's pregnancy and a TRIMESTER CHEAT SHEET for you to print out and refer to throughout the 40 weeks of pregnancy. Not only will it give you a better understanding of what your partner is going through, but it will also highlight some of the major decisions that you and your partner need to make in each week and trimester. For more details on things to think about and things to know, read through our PREGNANCY 101.