Second Trimester
The second trimester begins with fourth month. During the second trimester, you may feel less moody and more up to the challenge of preparing a home for your baby. Strike while the iron is hot! Check into childbirth classes. Find a health care provider for your baby. Read about breast feeding. If you plan to work outside the home after the baby is born, get familiar with your company’s maternity leave policy and investigate child care options.
Hear the beat
In the first few months, the baby’s head was larger in proportion to the rest of his body. The rest of his body will catch up in the coming weeks. Early this trimester, the foetus may not look very human, but towards the 26th week, it will start to look very much like the baby you may have imagined. The bones will solidify and be recognizable on ultrasounds and the baby will have his own time schedule - periods of wakefulness and sleep, as well as of listening and swallowing. Your baby’s eyes begin their formation on the sides of her head and well below on the neck. In this trimester, they will move closer together. The foetus’ skin is covered with hair which will disappear before she is born. By this time too, the foetus’ lungs will grow more developed and by 24 weeks, the lung cell secrete a chemical substance called surfactant - which enable them to stay expanded. Your baby will open her eyes between 26 and 28 weeks and her central nervous system matures remarkedly as well. Once hit the fourth month, you baby’s heartbeat should be much more louder than before. If your partner hasn’t heard your baby’s heart beat in the previous visits to the gynaecologist, make sure he does not this time round. This simple yet unforgettable experience will make him feel closer to the baby. In this month, your gynaecologist will discuss the prenatal test screen and detect birth defects.
Seeing double
Your doctor may suspect that you’re having multiples if: you’ve watched your diet but keep putting on more weight than expected; you’ve have had all the symptoms of pregnancy in double doses; your uterus is larger than usual at this stage of pregnancy and you have a family history of multiples. Also, if your more than one heartbeat on the Doppler, there is a chance that you may be have multiples, but don’t get too excited just yet. The heartbeat of one foetus cab sometimes be heard at several locations.
Let the games begin!
When you observe your baby on ultrsounds now, you’ll be able to see coordinated foetal movements. The gentle flutterings you’ve been experiencing within youin the past few months give way to full-on rolling, rocking, twisting and turning that often starts the minute you lie down at night.
