CHANGES TO MUM
The second trimester starts from the 14th week of pregnancy, therefore this may be one of your favourite weeks of pregnancy as the outlook of having a successful pregnancy has gone from a very low chance to a less than 3% risk of miscarriage. You will most certainly feel much more relaxed now knowing that you chance of delivering your baby to term has increased significantly.
Most first-trimester miscarriages are believed to be out of anyone’s control and there is rarely the cause can be located. Likewise this means that preventing miscarriage is highly unlikely and is out of anyone’s control.
Some lifestyle factors may play a part in why a miscarriage occurs so it is advised to find out all risk factors to the baby as soon as you know you are pregnant so you can adjust accordingly to decrease your risk.
Your Sense of Smell Might Be Working Overtime Causing You to Feel Sick
As you enter the second trimester, with most of the hard work done for your baby and the organ development almost complete, you may regain your energy and begin to feel much better.
The nausea will most likely have subsided however your senses might be working overtime. Some food smells can cause you to want to run the opposite way.
Nearly 85% of pregnant woman will find that at least one food will cause this sort of reaction. You may have loved the food before you were pregnant but the overpowering nauseating smell will make you find the food completely unappealing.
It is said that this reaction is at its peak when your hormones are fluctuating and should subside as you progress through the second trimester.
Another change to your body that you may not know of is your cardiac output has reached almost the maximum level. This is the level that will be maintained throughout the remainder of your pregnancy.
As a result, your arteries and veins in your extremities relax to lower your blood pressure. This means that nearly always your hands and feet will be warm.
CHANGES TO BUB
For those that are not first time mums you may start to feel the vigorous movements of your baby and a fluttering feeling in your tummy. However do not worry if you cannot feel this sensation just yet, especially if this is your first pregnancy. A few more weeks and you should start to feel the movement or “quickening” as it is referred.
Your Baby Will Be Responding to What Happens Outside the Womb
Your baby will be responding to what happens outside of the womb, for example if your tummy is poked, your baby will try to wriggle and squirm away. Your baby may even experience hiccups at this stage of development.
The baby’s head by 14 weeks is looking very large compared to the rest of the body; in fact it is about one third of the whole length of your baby’s body.
Head growth will begin to slow during this period, and your baby may even have some hair on its head! While the hair that grows on your baby’s head may be appearing, fine hair also covers the baby’s whole body.
While your cardiac output has increased your baby’s heart is beating between 110 and 160 times per minute and the circulatory system is continuing to establish. By the end of this month (14 weeks) the baby’s crown to rump length will be about 9 cms long and will weigh 48 grams.
