Heinz - Tinytums

Second Trimester

At the start of the second trimester your baby is fully formed but still has lots of growing to do. Below we take you through some of the most exciting stages of your pregnancy.

Month four
Weeks 15-16
Your baby grows rapidly during this month.  Eyelashes, eyebrows and even their own unique fingerprint pattern are established.  The skin is so thin it’s transparent, showing the networks of blood vessels underneath, and a protective waxy coating, called vernix, is forming all over it.

Weeks 17-18
It’s thought your baby can hear by week 18 and may be soothed by your singing or startled by loud noises.  What they hear most clearly is your heartbeat.
 
You can now feel your baby moving because your growing womb is touching your abdominal wall. Women often say the earliest movements they feel are like having a butterfly in their tummy; while others say it's like having wind!

By week 18, your baby is approximately 12.5-14cm long and weighs about 150g.

Month five
Weeks 19-20
Around now you usually have a detailed routine scan to check the position of your placenta, your baby's major organs, confirm twins, triplets or more!, see whether your baby is growing normally and what sex he or she is.

You may have an idea about that already - according to research, under light hypnosis 25 out of 26 mums got their baby's sex right!

By 20 weeks, your baby can track with its hands a moving light source as it pans across your abdomen.

By week 20, your baby is approximately 14-16cm long and weighs about 250g.

Weeks 21-22
Hair appears on your baby’s head and teeth are developing in the gums.  Immunities, which you have developed, may be transferred to your baby now, through the blood, to give protection in the first weeks of life.

By week 22, your baby is approximately 19cm long and weighs about 350g.

Month six
Weeks 23-24
Your baby can hiccup and you can feel it – a delightful knocking sensation inside your bump – this is thought to be from drinking too much amniotic fluid which they can now swallow.

By week 24, your baby is approximately 21cm long and weighs about 550g.

Weeks 25-26
Your baby has still got its eyes shut, but the ears have 'moved', due to the lengthening neck, into their final position on the side of the head. The eyelashes are well developed and hair is growing well. 

Your baby is also increasingly aware of the outside world and of your emotions. If you have a bad fright, your unborn baby will know it and alternate between restlessness with a faster heartbeat and anxious immobility for some hours afterwards. Similarly, if you are calm, relaxed and happy, your baby should be too.

By week 26, your baby is approximately 23cm long and weighs about 950g