Week by Week: The Second Trimester – Your Pregnancy Calendar
The 14th to 27th Pregnancy Weeks at a Glance
Welcome to the second trimester! Your body is now fully attuned to pregnancy, and the hormonal shift is complete. For many, this is the best time in their whole pregnancy. Hence, our tip: Enjoy this time to the fullest!
Here, you will learn week by week, which development steps your unborn child undergoes, and what tips we have for you for each week of pregnancy.
The 14th Week of Pregnancy
By now, you should have developed a small baby belly. Your unborn baby is growing every day, and also gaining weight. Womb and placenta are also expanding, and the amount of amniotic fluid is constantly increasing. When it has been a while since you have seen your dentist, you should make an appointment now. Dental care is particularly important during pregnancy. As one effect of the hormonal shift in the body, the gum is becoming softer. This could lead to a swollen and lightly bleeding teethridge. Careful dental hygiene is mandatory now. Otherwise, periodontitis bacteria might get into the blood stream and trigger complications during pregnancy.
Size and weight of your baby are now comparable to a hen’s egg. First eye movements take place, but the eyes remain shut for now. However, your baby can already distinguish light from dark. And it is already reacting to stress. When you are in a stressful situation, the corresponding messenger substances will also end up in your baby. As long as everything stays within reason, there is nothing to worry about. Unborn children are very forgiving little beings.
The 15th Week of Pregnancy
We have already mentioned the importance of a balanced diet, but never has it been more important than now. When you take in healthy food you provide your child with all the needed building blocks for growth. And it really needs that now as it is growing rapidly.
By now, it measures about 10 cm. Its proportions are becoming more and more human. The head is no longer the biggest body part. Your gynecologist can now determine if it is a boy or a girl. If it is a girl, miniscule ovules are forming in tiny ovaries, so that she can become a mother herself one day.
If you haven’t started looking for a midwife yet, it is about time! While there are still 25 weeks to go before birth of your child, you might want to start collecting information about nearby hospitals.
The 16th Week of Pregnancy
In this week, your baby undergoes another growth spurt. And you might even feel it. Maybe, you perceive an unpleasant dragging sensation going from the left and the right of your navel down to your groin. This comes from your ligaments being stretched. Some women start producing pre-milk (colostrum) now. Don’t worry. It’s not too early, but an indication that the milk production in your breasts has started.
Your baby’s legs have become considerably longer, and the bones are becoming increasingly harder too. The nerve tracts start interconnecting, enabling your baby to kick its legs, turn around and do somersaults in the amniotic fluid. Yet, you still will not feel much of that, as it is weighs only 100 grams and has also still a lot of space inside the womb.
The 17th Week of Pregnancy
Exercise is good for you and your child. Endurance sports like dancing, water gymnastics, yoga or Pilates are ideal during pregnancy. Regular sports will improve your posture and prevent issues like back pain, phlebostasis and cramps in the calf. Additionally, your child will be particularly vital when arriving in this world, and the swinging and rocking inside the womb supports the development of the sensory organs.
After the birth of your child, you can even leverage this effect in a targeted way. Our full-automatic swing2sleep supports the motor and cognitive development. Furthermore, it helps your little angel fall asleep, without constant and cumbersome manual pushing.
In this phase, your unborn child receives a double layer of skin. The Lanugo hair is also growing now. This is delicate hair that grows all over the baby’s body. And a coating of sebum, water and skin cells forms on the skin, the so-called vernix caseosa. Both protect the skin against the amniotic fluid. The thin hair falls off only shortly before birth, and the vernix is also disappearing for the most part.
The 18th Week of Pregnancy
From the second trimester of pregnancy on, many women tend to suffer from heartburn. Hormones could be responsible for that. They have a relaxing effect on the muscles in the body. Unfortunately, that also includes the sphincter that prevents reflux of the stomach contents into the esophagus. Small, low-fat snacks over the day might help against heartburn, but well-chewed hazelnuts or almonds might work too. Chew until you have turned the hazelnut or almond pieces to a mush and swallow it. It binds excess gastric acid.
Hands and feet of your baby are now fully formed. They even have tiny nails. The baby can now already grab the umbilical cord with its hands. It can even bring its fingers to its mouth to suck its thumb. All these movements stimulate the brain with sensory input which is required for the baby’s development. By the way: In the next week of pregnancy the next ultrasound will be due, so you can look forward to another sonogram of your child.
The 19th Week of Pregnancy
The 19th week of pregnancy sees the next major prenatal visit. When your baby’s position allows it, your gynecologist can now determine the child’s sex. Your womb and placenta are growing constantly. Also, the amount of amniotic fluid and the volume of blood in your body are rising.
Your baby measures now 15 cm and weighs as much as a packet of butter. First hair grows on its head.
The 20th Week of Pregnancy
This is the time in which you will be able to actually feel your baby for the very first time and perceive its movements. This, of course, depends on a number of factors: Is this your first pregnancy or the second? Or even the third? Do you have an anterior or posterior placenta? Are you petite or big?
From now on, your gynecologist will measure your baby’s length not from crown to rump but from head to feet. However, your doctor will rather use the following measurements for orientation as they deliver a better understanding of the development of your child’s health.
- FOD: Fronto-Occipital Diameter = the diameter of the head from the forehead to the back of the head
- AC: Abdomen Circumference
- BPD: Biparietal Diameter = diameter of the head from temple to temple
- HC: Head Circumference
- TAD: Transverse Abdominal Diameter = distance from the left to the right side of the abdomen
- HL: Humeral Length = length of the humerus
The 21st Week of Pregnancy
If you plan to take a prenatal course, it is now time to look for one. You should consider what kind of course you would like to attend: a course for couples or one for women only? Would you prefer an evening course or a course at weekends?
The skin layer of the baby is permanently getting thicker. It is not nearly as transparent as it was only two weeks ago. The pulmonary alveoli form which your baby needs for breathing. Spleen and liver start producing white blood cells. The dental ridges for baby teeth form. Sounds are perceived. This could be your voice, music, or the voice of daddy.
The 22nd Week of Pregnancy
Have you already made plans as to how you want to give birth to your baby? Should it happen in a perinatal center or rather in the nearby district hospital? Other options are a birthing center or even a home birth. Talk to your partner and start to collect information about the various possibilities on the Internet.
During the previous weeks of pregnancy, the olfactory cells in the nasal mucosa have formed which now commence their work. Additionally, your baby develops a high number of taste buds on the tongue and the palate, in fact more than adults have. It can already taste what you eat. In this week, it weighs about 500 grams.
The 23rd Week of Pregnancy
Don’t be surprised if you suffer from back pain more often now. The progesterone pregnancy hormone softens all ligaments, tendons and muscles, also in your back. On top of that, your belly is becoming bigger and heavier. This changes your body’s center of gravity and lets you automatically assume a posture that forms a hollow back. In this case, it might help to relax more often or make targeted exercises for your back. There are simple exercises for the pelvic floor too. This way, you can counteract the risk of developing a pelvic floor weakness after birth.
By now, your baby measures about 30 cm. It is becoming more and more agile and kicks its legs a lot. And this is becoming increasingly perceptible to you. Your baby takes in increasing amounts of amniotic fluid which it excretes via the kidneys and the bladder.
The 24th Week of Pregnancy
Many things that went without any problem before pregnancy are turning into a real challenge. One vivid example would be the car seat with the safety belt, as the belt’s routing was not necessarily designed for spherical shapes. Here comes a small hint: Run the lap belt as low as possible between your thigh and your belly and pull it tight.
Your baby is developing its sleep-wake rhythm. Per day, it spends 16 to 20 hours sleeping. The remaining time it listens to your voice, enjoys the up and down swings in the amniotic fluid or does somersaults and flailing arms and legs. The skin growth is accelerating. In consequence, your baby is looking a bit wrinkled. It still lacks the padding layer of subcutaneous fat, which is forming only slowly under the skin.
The 25th Week of Pregnancy
If you have already undergone the second major prenatal visit, you will have noticed that you have been subjected to another Coombs test. This is a mere precaution to ensure that you have not developed any intolerances. Because, if your rhesus factor is negative, your body might develop anti-bodies when the rhesus factor of your child is positive, and that could pose a threat to your baby.
You child has reached a weight of 750 grams now. It can also open its eyes as its visual nerve has developed fully. But only one percent of the exterior light makes it through your abdominal wall. Yet, it is not completely dark inside your body. If you point a flashlight on your belly, your baby might react by moving.
The 26th Week of Pregnancy
Some countries might have Maternity Protection legislation in place. It might determine which activities you are or are not allowed to perform and include the prohibition of certain activities or working times.
The lung matures further, and the baby is developing its own personality. Research has found that children show indications of left or right handedness long before they are born.
The 27th Week of Pregnancy
Is finding the right sleeping position becoming more of a strain for you? If yes, we have a great hint for you: Use a nursing pillow. When you toy with the idea of getting one anyway, you should not wait. It will help you support your belly in lateral position making it easier to find a comfortable sleeping position.
By now, the baby weighs about 1000 grams at a length of 35 cm. All these are averages. So, don’t worry if your baby is a bit shorter or bigger, lighter or heavier.
In the wake phases, your baby starts to look around and observe. Only little light makes it through the abdominal wall giving everything in the womb a reddish shimmer. Your baby now also enjoys sucking its thumb a lot.
Would you like to know what developments your baby undergoes in the third trimester and what hints we have for you for the last leg of your pregnancy? If so, read the blog article „Week by Week: The Third Trimester – Your Pregnancy Calendar“.
