When the Placenta "Takes Over"

MrsL2B

What the heck does this really mean for me? I keep reading about how the placenta takes over hormone production at the start if the second trimester, but I can't find any practical information (only either really dumbed down non-info or jargon-heavy medical journal articles) about how this affects how I'm going to experience this part of pregnancy. I'm hoping it means that the crazy hormones stay in the placenta with the baby and stop bothering me. Or maybe it means that I am losing my ability to google anything efficiently. Anyone have a good handle on this?

wearenutts

My OB told me that the placenta is not fully developed until the second trimester. That is why we get exhausted and hormonal (more than normal) because our body is trying to make a baby and placenta. I assume that is what it means by it "takes over" during the second trimester. It's fully developed and can start functioning properly? Maybe. 

SusieBW

Is this why I started throwing up again right at the beginning of second tri?  Because my hormones are swinging back to normal now?

Emerald27

Unless I'm mistaken, "takes over" means that the placenta will be feeding and supplying oxygen to baby now...whereas baby used to be being fed by the yolk sac. I think it does affect hormones in some ways, but I just don't know enough about it. :-??

MuffinMom14

Wait. Does this mean MAYBE I won't have thousands of zits? MAYBE? Please please please.

I have been very lucky. No morning sickness whatsoever. My only real symptoms are my (well-documented on this forum) poop issues, acne, and sore boobs. But. I'd sure like the acne to go away so I can get on with the "glowing" everyone says will happen.

lrobi13

Bring on the glow!  Last week (13 weeks) I had a mild breakout so maybe that was a sign of the switch?  All I know is that I keep exchanging symptoms for different ones.  Not really rid of everything yet.  Hoping the next few weeks are kinder to us all!

MrsL2B

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's clueless about this. This phrase gets dropped like even my bachelor uncle should know what it means.

keenkamsmom

Not sure if this helps, but I found this online.

A milestone in your baby's development-the placenta takes over from the yolk sac to provide your baby with nutrients. Just like your baby, the placenta has needed to grow and develop a circulation to support the ever-increasing demands that are being placed on it.

One week into the pregnancy, the placenta formed a distinct inner and outer layer of cells that gradually penetrated the lining of the uterus, with fingerlike fronds. You may have noticed a very slight bleed at this implantation stage (see You are 3 Weeks and 5 Days). More and more fronds spread out into the lining of the uterus, which itself undergoes a transformation process that enables each frond or villus to be bathed by small pools of maternal blood, enabling oxygen and nutrient transfer to take place.

Up until now, this blood flow has been limited by plugs of tissue, but at this stage of pregnancy these plugs begin to disappear. This means the placenta is sufficiently developed to withstand the pressure of maternal blood on each delicate villous. Villi will continue to branch out until around 30 weeks of pregnancy.

kimberlymacrae

The only thing I know about this, or that I have been looking out for, is this is when you can start testing your glucose levels to see if you may develop GD this go around. Up until this point GD is not really a threat. But besides that I am not sure of the significance.

Justabean3

This isn't exactly what your asking but I found this pretty informative about placenta function

https://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n1/placenta

Dee30024

Week and half away.. I'm almost there. My goodness, can't wait for it to take over. Feel more human. Except I am getting really tough headaches .....

persephonerose

For IVF the placenta taking over is extremely important. Once the placenta takes over it creates all the progesterone needed to support the pregnancy. Before it takes over IVF patients may not create enough progesterone on their own to continue pregnancy.  Right now I am tested every week to see if my placenta(s) has started creating enough progesterone so I can stop taking progesterone supplements.

Surromel

I stopped taking progesterone at 10 weeks, but we could see the placenta was almost ready at the 8 week ultrasound, it was really pretty cool. However the sudden change in hormones led me to feeling more queasy than normal, but I think it's finally leveling back out. So hopefully all the ladies with MS will feel some relief soon!

AmandaJean12

I'm on progesterone as well. I believe "takes over" mainly refers to taking over creating the hormones and making the pregnancy self-sustaining.

Tho I'm still a little petrified to stop taking the pills this week.

knicoletti

I am so confused by this.  I know what the placenta does, but rather the timing of it all.  The last 3 times I did IVF I was directed to continue my progesterone suppositories until the 12th week BUT this time I have a stop date of April 5th.  This will only out me at 10 weeks...  I am worried.

Dubsgirlie

knicoletti said:

I am so confused by this.  I know what the placenta does, but rather the timing of it all.  The last 3 times I did IVF I was directed to continue my progesterone suppositories until the 12th week BUT this time I have a stop date of April 5th.  This will only out me at 10 weeks...  I am worried.

Until around 10 weeks, your corpus luteum in your ovary makes progesterone, which is what sustains a pregnancy. At that point, the placenta "takes over". Some doctors keep patients on progesterone until 12 weeks to have a little overlap just to make sure.

Surromel

Dubsgirlie said:

I am so confused by this.  I know what the placenta does, but rather the timing of it all.  The last 3 times I did IVF I was directed to continue my progesterone suppositories until the 12th week BUT this time I have a stop date of April 5th.  This will only out me at 10 weeks...  I am worried.

Until around 10 weeks, your corpus luteum in your ovary makes progesterone, which is what sustains a pregnancy. At that point, the placenta "takes over". Some doctors keep patients on progesterone until 12 weeks to have a little overlap just to make sure.

This! Some doctors want to be extra careful. The RE I used always has his patients stop at 10 weeks, and he has a very high success rate, so I'm not worried at all. But I know other RE's suggest it for the extra two weeks "just in case." Still, it'll be nice to hear the heartbeat again at my next appointment and know that things are okay.

ladolcevita25

I want to know where my "glowing" skin is!! I feel like I am going through freakin puberty again! LOL

duckr

dorothyzbornak97 said:

I don't know everything about it, but from what my doctor told me, the placenta "takes over" nourishing/supporting the baby at that time. For me, I had to take progesterone supplements throughout the first trimester until the placenta was formed because my body was not producing enough of the hormone to support the growth of the baby and the placenta. That progesterone in the first tri is behind a lot of the more unpleasant symptoms. 

THIS! I don't know about you but @dorothyzbornak97 but those progesterone supplements made me SICK.