Second Trimester: Getting Down to Business

The second trimester is when the growing baby inside of you takes center stage. Your pregnancy becomes visibly obvious to others and you begin to bond with your unborn child as the reality of what’s going on inside you becomes apparent.

This is a time of leaps and bounds for your child, as he or she goes from being just a few inches long and less than an ounce heavy to weighing about two pounds. Let’s take break down what’s going on inside you week by week. On the 13th week of pregnancy, tissue that will eventually become bone is continuing to grow. Your child may also begin moving about so expect to feel a few kicks as your baby explores his or her environment.

Moving into week 14, your child’s sexual organs are developing. Boys get a prostate gland. Girls form ovaries and these organs move into the pelvis. The roof of your child’s mouth also forms at this time.

On the fifteenth week of your pregnancy,  things get hairy but in a good way. Eyebrows and scalp hair may make their debut during this week and if your kid is going to have dark hair, his or her hair follicles will begin pigmentation. This week also features big development in skin and bone growth. Bone and marrow make big strides during the fifteenth week and the ears continue to develop.

The sixteenth week features some muscular development as the muscles in the face form more fully. At this point, your unborn child may be able to make expressions. There’s also been some overall growth going on as your child is now about three to five inches long and weighs about three ounces.

Your baby begins to chunk up a little in the seventeenth week. Fat stores begin to accumulate. Don’t let your lifelong fear of the “f” word get you down. This fat is necessary to provide your unborn child with energy and to keep him or her warm after birth.

• By week 18, your baby’s hearing should be online. The nerve endings connecting the brain to the ears are fully formed and thus your baby is now able to hear. He or she may even be surprised or startled by noises coming from the outside world.
• Although potty training is still years away, by week 19 your baby’s kidneys are making urine. For now, the urine is excreted to the amniotic sac which forms a protective layer around your child. Lots of motor development is going on and if you haven’t felt your baby move yet, you soon will. Also, your baby’s skin is now covered with a pasty white film called vernix. The vernix helps protect your baby as he or she grows.
• At week 20, you’ve reached the halfway point of your pregnancy. The kid weighs about nine ounces and is about half a foot long. He or she is probably swimming all around, frequently moving. Under the protective layer of the vernix, your baby’s skin is toughening up and layers of skin are forming. Also your child’s limbs have become more well developed.
• On the 21st week of pregnancy, your baby will begin receiving some nourishment from the amniotic fluid. Previously, all nourishment had come from the placenta. The bone marrow also begins its job of producing blood cells. Before this point, the liver and the spleen had been doing the work.
• By your 22nd week of pregnancy, your baby has a sense of taste, as his or her taste buds have developed. There’s also some development of the girl and boy bits, as boys testes descend from the abdomen and girls now have formed a uterus and ovaries.
• As week 23 approaches, your baby’s body begins to gear up for life on the outside world. The lungs continue to develop and form the substance that allows them to inflate and deflate without sticking together. The skin becomes more developed and fat production ramps up.
• When you’ve reached the 24th week and the end of the second trimester, if your baby was born at this point, there’s a good chance he or she would be able to survive with the help of medical technology. Your baby has a developed inner ear, giving him or her a sense of balance and has developed waking and sleeping cycles that most moms will be able to notice. Your child weighs about 2 and a half pounds and is about 14 inches long. Your child also has a startle reflex at this point so don’t be surprised if you feel a sharp kick if a loud noise is heard in your vicinity.

As you can see, the second trimester is when the rubber really hits the road in terms of development. During this period it’s important for you to see your doctor regularly, follow his or her advice and follow healthy eating and lifestyle habits.