
Second Trimester (Second Trimester)
As your pregnancy progresses, you may have noticed that your baby is starting to look like a real person. You are amazed at how it changes from week to week. You can no longer fit into your favorite clothes because of your growing belly. As your body changes, your baby continues to grow at a rapid rate. Two months ago it was a simple cluster of cells. Now, when you go for a check-up, you can hear your baby’s heartbeat. Organs, muscles and nerve cells are working.
Week 13
Even if you can’t feel it, your baby is starting to move. He stretches his arms and kicks with his feet. It may even start sucking its thumb. The eyelids are closed to protect the developing eye. Your baby’s skull and the tissues around the bones of the arms and legs are beginning to develop. His ribs are starting to show.
Week 14
This week hormones start to take effect. In male babies, the prostate gland is developing. In baby girls, the ovaries move down from the abdominal cavity. Meconium, your baby’s first feces after birth, starts to form in the intestines. By the end of this week, your baby’s palate is fully formed.
Week 15
Your baby’s skin is becoming transparent. Their eyebrows and hair are starting to stand out. The hair follicles of babies who will have dark hair start to produce pigment. Bone and bone marrow continue to develop. The ears have also taken their final shape.
Week 16
This week, your baby is 20-22 cm long and weighs 80-90 g. He can now make fists with his hands. His eyes are becoming sensitive to light. He can blink and frown. She can even hiccup. Millions of eggs are formed in the ovaries of baby girls.
Week 17
Fat is starting to be stored under your baby’s skin. This store of fat will provide your baby with energy and keep them warm after birth.
Week 18
Your baby is also starting to hear. It can hear your heart beating, your stomach rumbling or even the blood flowing in the umbilical cord. It may startle at loud noises. From this week onwards, you will also develop the ability to swallow.
Week 19
Your baby’s delicate skin is covered with a white pasty protective layer called vernix. Under the vernix are fine quince hairs called lanugo. The kidneys begin to produce urine, which is released into the amniotic sac that surrounds and protects your baby. Hearing is developing a little more. Despite the amniotic fluid and the protective layer, her ears can now distinguish your voice. As the nerve cells in her brain develop, she will start to move her muscles. You may not feel them yet, but they will start soon.
Week 20
You are halfway through your pregnancy. Your baby is about 25 cm long and weighs 250-300 g. Now you are starting to feel his movements.
With the protection of Vernix, your baby’s skin is thickening and developing. Her eyebrows and hair are thin. His arms and legs are well developed.
Week 21
The placenta provides all your baby’s nutritional needs, but it also makes some use of the sugar in the amniotic fluid. This week, your baby’s bone marrow starts to produce blood cells. Until then, the liver and spleen were doing the job.
Week 22
Your baby now weighs around 450 g. The taste buds on your tongue are starting to form. His sense of touch is also developing. He can feel with his face and, as far as he can reach, with his hands. The testicle of a baby boy begins to descend down the abdomen. Girls’ uterus and ovaries settle in their own places. They have eggs in their ovaries that they will use for the rest of their lives.
Week 23
Your baby’s lungs are starting to produce a substance called surfactant. Surfactant is a substance that prevents the air sacs in the lungs from shrinking and sticking during breathing. Amniotic fluid enters and leaves your baby’s lungs during breathing movements. His skin begins to resemble the skin of a newborn baby, with less transparency and more oil production. In intensive care units, some 23-week-old newborn babies can be kept alive. However, there are risks such as cerebral hemorrhage and loss of vision. Progress in this area is increasing every day.
Week 24
This week your baby weighs about 600-650 grams. Fingerprints have formed. Since the inner ear is fully developed, it can now maintain its balance. It can feel which side of your uterus it is on. You can also tell when he/she is sleeping and waking up. Babies born at 24 weeks have more than a 50% chance of survival. However, the risk of complications is frequent and serious.
Week 25
Your baby’s hands are fully developed. But it still has a long way to go in terms of its nervous system. The inside of your womb will be the first place he will explore.
Week 26
Your baby weighs around 800-900 grams. Her eyebrows and eyelashes are well shaped. Her hair has also grown longer and thicker. Although his eyes are fully developed, he won’t be able to open them for another two weeks.
Week 27
This week marks the end of the second trimester. Your baby’s lungs, liver and immune system continue to develop. By the end of 27 weeks, your baby will be three or even four times the size it was at 12 weeks. If your baby is born this week, it has at least an 85% chance of survival. But there is still the possibility of serious problems.
Please note the list of do’s and don’ts listed below;
What to do:
Take vitamins prescribed by your doctor.
Make sure you gain weight properly.
Do the exercises recommended by your doctor regularly.
Eat a healthy diet.
Watch out for stress and other health problems.
Check regularly with your doctor.
They will not be made:
Avoid smoking and alcohol.
Do not take medication without consulting your doctor.
Like you, your baby is growing and changing day by day. Guess what these miraculous changes will bring you!