As the second trimester nears its end, your baby is now halfway through its biggest growth stage.
As your baby gets bigger, it will no longer have the ability to move inside you. Your doctor will be checking the position, or lie, of your baby to make sure it is facing the right way for birth.
Your baby now has skin that is opaque but still fine. The skin is still very wrinkled in preparation for the fat that will be deposited before birth. At the beginning of this trimester your baby's eyes closed, so that they many layers that makeup the muscle of the eye could develop. Now, nearly three months later your baby's eyes should reopen sometime.
Eyelashes and hair are nearly fully developed. Your baby can still move within the uterus but is more restricted than before. You will be able to feel your baby kicking as it responds to loud noises. Frequently a baby will remain unsettled for several hours after being upset.
Your baby will also be grabbing at its surroundings and the umbilical cordA flexible structure that connects the fetus to the placenta during pregnancy. It carries blood, oxygen, nourishment and waste to the placenta. It is first formed during the fifth week of pregnancy and contains the yolk sac and body stalk.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions.. You can now see your baby's heart beating on an electronic fetal monitor at a rate of about 140 - 150 beats per minute. Your baby will probably have entered a sleeping cycle by now.
Your baby's brainwaves can be viewed with an electroencephalogramA monitoring device which uses electrodes placed on the head to measure electrical activity produced by the brain cells. The resulting lines, labeled alpha, beta, delta and theta according to the frequencies they record and which range from 2 to 12 cycles per second, are drawn on a sheet of scrolling paper. Brainwave activity can be used to measure differing neurological conditions, psychological states and varying levels of conciousness. Often abbreviated to EEG.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions. (EEG). You will be able to see your baby responding to sound. Your baby is slowly developing conscious thought.
Most of your baby's internal organs are more developed than the lungs which are still filled with amniotic fluidThe liquid, which is produced by both the fetal membranes and the fetus that surrounds the baby during pregnancy. The liter of fluid at term serves to protect the fetus during pregnancy and also provide active chemical exchange.
The amniotic fluid consists of maternal and fetal plasma in varying concentrations. The pH of the fluid is almost neutral and clear, although lipids and desquamated fetal cells can make it cloudy.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions.. Your baby is also swallowing and excreting the amniotic fluid in which it is surrounded.
As your baby grows, the blood vessels (villi) in the placentaThe placenta is a large disk shaped membrane responsible for providing nourishment to the fetus during pregnancy. It consists of three parts, the fetal part made up from the chorion membrane surrounding the fetus, the maternal part, formed from the decidua basalis layer of the uterine lining, and the intervillous space between the two plates. It is connected to the fetus by the umbilical cord and consists of tissue from both the mother and the embryo.
Its function is complex. It has been described as a simple organ that combines the functions of a kidney-dialysis machine, heart and lung machine and intravenous drip. It consists of enormous numbers of blood vessel branches that permit the exchange of nutrition and oxygen, from the mother's bloodstream to the fetus and the removal of wastes to the mother to be excreted. The placenta's remarkable quality is that it does so without the blood of the mother mixing with that of the baby.
It also is responsible for the production of vital hormones including, estrogen, progesterone, and human chorionic gonadotropin. After birth, the placenta is delivered, and is sometimes referred to as the afterbirth.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions. are thinning, permitting a greater exchange of nutrients and waste. The requirement for greater nutrition and the increase in the baby's size are making you tired.
Be aware of backache, bladder problems and sore feet. Do not pass up an opportunity to put your feet up. For best results raise your feet above the level of your heart. Wear comfortable shoes or slippers. Because you will be suffering from fatigue, plan your life to make things as easy as possible for you and your growing baby.
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