6 months 3 weeks
2nd Trimester
13 more weeks to go
Well done, mum! You are finishing the second trimester and beginning the third. The baby is looking like it would at birth, but is still skinny. He loves listening to your voice. Little jumps in your belly might be happening on account of the baby's hiccups. Even light physical activity may make you breathless so take it easy! Also, mind your posture: walk straight so that your lungs get space to expand. Since the baby is growing, your heartburn, weight gain, back pain, and swelling might increase.
षष्ठेमासि गर्भस्य बलवर्णोपचयो भवत्यधिकमन्येभ्यो मासेभ्यः। (चरक् संहिता शारीरस्थान ४/२२)
Ayurveda says manifestation of स्नायु (ligaments), सिरा (vessels), रोम (hairs), नख (nails) and त्वचा (skin) takes place this month.
The baby is listening to your stories. But, the sounds may be muffled, though, because the ears are still covered with vernix, the thick waxy coating that protects the skin from becoming chapped by the amniotic fluid.
At this stage the baby has close to 15% fat on her body, but this will be closer to 30% by the time she is born. So, keep sending good nutrients to the baby with your diet.
The baby is developing muscle tone from all that kicking, rolling and punching he's doing. The baby’s brain is also more active than ever. The neurons and synapses (where the brain cells meet) are forming and making a system of complex connections throughout the areas of the brain.
He’s also starting to smile, especially when he’s sleeping. If you are lucky, you might spot it on the ultrasound. After being fused shut for more than four months, your baby's eyelids can open again. He can see the lights and shadows around him.
As you know by now, your facial and body hair grows faster when you're pregnant, possibly because of an increase in hormones called androgens. You might spot some growth. Don’t use any chemicals to get rid of it!
Your growing breasts could be painful and also give you backache. You could also get stretch marks and big blue veins on them. As usual, your hormones are to blame, along with the extra blood that's now circulating around your body.
Normally, breast size is determined by the amount of fat tissue in the breast. When you're pregnant, it's the milk-making tissue that is growing in preparation for your baby.
During pregnancy, hormones cause certain joints and ligaments to loosen — this is your body preparing itself for labor. The joint connecting the two halves of your pelvis becomes more flexible around this time, and this can sometimes cause pelvic pain. Try to avoid standing for long periods of time, and don't do any heavy lifting.
It’s not uncommon to have weird dreams during pregnancy, especially in the third trimester. These can be entertaining but may sometimes interfere with getting a good night's sleep. To help you snooze more soundly, have a high-protein snack before bed to keep your blood sugar levels up.
Fluid retention can cause the carpal tunnel in your wrist to swell, putting pressure on the nerves. Physiotherapy can be very effective, so can a wrist splint, especially, if you are working on a laptop.
Nutmeg Tip for Dreamy Zzzzzs
Add a pinch of nutmeg powder in a cup of warm milk and have it before bedtime.
As you reach the third trimester a lot of physical issues like muscle pain, sleep disturbances, anxiety, palpitations , digestion issues pop up.
Nutmeg has amazing properties to soothe the nerves and calm the system. It helps to improve digestion and reduces vata in the body relieving bloating and gas. An ingredient from this fruit is a natural sleep inducer.
Careful- The quantity is very important here. Do NOT exceed it. 1/16-1/8th of the teaspoon /day
Your doctor’s appointments will increase in frequency toward the end of the third trimester, but at week 27 your appointments are still spaced out, probably around 4 to 5 weeks apart.
Call your doctor if you encounter the following symptoms in week 27:
Magnesium plays an important role in nerve and muscle function and helps to maintain normal blood pressure. It also helps your baby build strong teeth and bones. Magnesium also keeps your heart rhythm steady, blood sugar levels balanced, and your joint cartilage healthy. It helps your body make protein, bone, and DNA. Magnesium supports muscle relaxation and optimises blood pressure levels, thus making delivery less painful. It also prevents the possibility of premature contractions, and enables the growth of strong bones and teeth in your baby. Magnesium deficiency leads to chronic fatigue, muscle cramps, and even premature uterus contractions, thus affecting the delivery of the baby. Foetal development is also affected by magnesium deficiency, and muscle twitching is experienced by pregnant mothers due to a lack of sufficient magnesium in the blood. Here are the Magnesium requirements in Pregnancy Pregnant women 18 and under: 400 milligrams (mg) per day Pregnant women ages 19 to 30: 350 mg per day Pregnant women ages 31 to 50: 360 mg per day Breastfeeding women 18 and under: 360 mg per day Breastfeeding women ages 19 to 30: 310 mg per day Breastfeeding women ages 31 to 50: 320 mg per day Nonpregnant women ages 14 to 18: 360 mg per day Sources of Magnesium are roasted pumpkin seeds, cumin (jeera) seeds, chia seeds, roasted almonds, spinach, boiled, wheat cereal, sunflower seeds, coriander seeds, cashew nuts.
Crackling Spinach is an Indian Chinese dish of crisp fried spinach ribbons. Topped with sesame seeds, it is salty with a hint of sweet and pleasantly crunchy.
What amounts to the weight you gain in pregnancy? Only a small amount is body fat. The other things include:
Your appetite will probably increase quite a bit in these last few months, as your body uses up more energy. So, you have to be even more careful about eating healthy. By week 27 of pregnancy, you should have gained between 8 to 11 kgs (not more!) from the start of the pregnancy. A healthy amount to gain during the entire pregnancy is around 12.5kg.
Keep up the good work, mum. Avoid eating junk, processed sugars and highly salty foods. Avoid skimping on sleep. Your baby needs you to sleep well. To make your nights comfortable, avoid excessive liquid consumption in the evening.
Definitely avoid a sedentary lifestyle. Exercise regularly and get up and walk around if working at a desk. Also, avoid using digital devices an hour before bedtime.
You’re probably tired of hearing this - but, really, toning up your pelvic floor muscles is worth it.
It can be helpful to link your pelvic floor exercises to something you do often, such as waiting for a document to load or while waiting for the pressure cooker’s whistle! This will make it easy to remember to do them.
If pregnant with your second baby, you don’t need to exercise.
Each pregnancy is different and no two deliveries are alike. KEep exercising for abdominal strengthening, flexibility, and managing aches and pains.
Replace shallow breathing with deep, really deep breathing, at least once a day. This pranayama will spring forth a lot of good hormones in your body that will reach the baby. The deeper you breathe, the happier the baby will be. Breathing improves the oxygen supply to the brain cells reducing the fatigue and providing nourishment which improves the concentration of the mother.
Not only that, babies also recognize relaxed breath patterns, the rhythm and sound of your breath. They feel relaxed, too. And, what’s even better is that it facilitates the bonding between you and baby. Once born, the baby will love cuddling to feel your deep breathing that he had become familiar with when inside the womb.
Do not underestimate the power of breathing, mum! You can transform your breath-benefits with iMumz yoga and pranayam sessions.
We have weekly yoga sessions to help mums to connect with babies for their all-round development.
The award-winning iMumz App is helping 350,000 + women make their pregnancies healthier and happier.
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!
Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.
