Pregnancy

Second Trimester of Pregnancy

Physical and emotional changes are different during the t second trimester, when you will start to feel less tired, less anxious and experience a sensation of overall well being, and the idea to begin wearing maternity clothing can inspire many pregnant women.

Your pregnancy will become more noticeable everyday with a steady weight gain if you are eating a healthy diet. Avoid eating "for two" resulting in 35 to 40 pounds of extra weight or eating too little, generating less than 15 to 25 pounds of weight gain during your entire pregnancy.

Your obstetrician or health care practitioner will help you to determine the range of healthy weight gain you need. Eagerly awaiting fetal movement, this can be felt between 18 and 22 weeks, the fourth month, although some mothers-to-be do not feel the baby until the fifth month of pregnancy.

By this time, the movement is unclear, feeling like fluttering. Your baby moves in the so-called quickening movement and the baby can now hear your voice, despite the baby is only around 7 inches long, weighing approximately 5 ounces.

When you are beginning the second trimester of pregnancy, you may be hungrier and crave certain foods. Remember, eating for two does not mean eat twice the servings of every food you find. The fifth month makes you look radiant and less fatigued, but the risk of constipation remains. Keep drinking plenty of water and both constipation and morning sickness will be under control

The fifth month is also the right time to have an ultrasound if you desire, because your baby is now awake, and it is possible to see the hands moving to the mouth or the baby's mouth open. By the end of the fifth month, the baby is approximately ten inches long and weighing a pound.

Although the radiologist will be able to tell you the gender of your baby by means of a ultrasound scan, many parents-to-be prefer to wait until childbirth to discover the sex of their new baby. Second trimester goes from week 13 to 26, and it is the 20 th week when you can hear the baby's heartbeat.

As the sixth month approaches, make sure you are listening to your body, avoiding hyper-activity. Despite your progress making you slow down, you are also motivated to try to do too much, so remember activity is good for your health, but you still have to get plenty of rest.

Low back pain is the most common symptom at the end of the second trimester of pregnancy, when the baby is also more active, rolling and turning upside down and back again, and sucking his/her thumb. By this time, your baby is approximately 12 inches long, weighing near a pound and a half.