A Tale of Three Trimesters - EditPro-Services

Chapter 3 – Your Second Trimester: Who’s in Charge Here?
Changing Body – Changing Baby
As you approach the end of your third month of pregnancy, you’ll start
to notice some real changes – some welcome and others not so much.
You are about to enter Phase II – the second trimester, usually defined
as weeks 13-27 of pregnancy. The seasick feeling you may have had for
the past 12 weeks should now start to subside. Somewhere around the
end of your fourth month, you’ll begin to develop a noticeable “baby
bulge,” and you may need to make a midnight run for some for
maternity clothes.
For many women, this is the “honeymoon” stage of pregnancy.
Morning sickness and exhaustion give way to a welcome surge of
energy in the second trimester. Your uterus has not grown enough to
cause much discomfort – just enough for people to realize you’re
actually pregnant and not just gaining weight. By this stage, your risk
of miscarriage has dropped considerably.
Some amazing changes have taken place in your body to make it a
nurturing home for your new baby. Your heart has actually enlarged
in order to handle your increased blood volume. It is now pumping
out 20% more blood than it did before your became pregnant.
What’s even more remarkable are the changes taking place inside your
womb. By the 15 th week of pregnancy, most of your baby’s internal
organs have formed. His heart and kidneys are in progress, and will be
complete by the end of the second trimester. Also at about week 15,
your baby can hear. She can hear your voice well and is learning to
distinguish it from other voices.
Around week 16 you will begin to feel something most exciting. It may
seem like a flutter – a little gas, maybe. But soon you’ll come to
recognize it. Your baby is busy in there! She has periods of sleep and
periods of wakefulness. Eventually, you’ll really know it when she is
awake. You’ll feel it when she turns, kicks, stretches, and even when
she has the hiccups!
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