A guide to your second trimester
Thursday, February 17th, 2022
You are 14 weeks pregnant when you enter the second trimester. Each trimester is roughly 14 weeks long. The discomfort and the sickness experienced during the early weeks gradually surface down making it the smoothest phase of pregnancy. Even though this time allows you to enjoy your pregnancy to the fullest, there are things that you need to be mindful of and abstain from. Before jumping into that directly, let us understand what are the changes that come in the second trimester.
What is happening inside me?
During this time, your strawberry-like alien starts developing distinct child-like details. Your baby now has visible facial features. Both of you are already trending mumma-baby goals by sleeping and being active together. Well, if you bond a little more you might as well get to hear a tiny heartbeat.
What is up with the drastic changes in my body?
You are going to experience drastic body change during your second trimester. The larger the baby gets, the more the area around it expands. However, it is not compulsory to have a big tummy to comprehend a big baby. You basically relate to a panda more than anybody else – always hungry and sleepy.
Dos
- Enroll with your partner in prenatal classes and learn about pregnancy. Understand how labour happens, how to ease it, when should you rush to the hospital, etc. Most importantly, read up on postpartum depression and be head-on with how to tackle it.
- Make weekly visits to your doctor. Address the things that are worrying you and share anything that you feel is unusual.
- Maintain a healthy and a balanced diet. Shedding off any extra weight during the final stages of pregnancy can be crucial and might create complications.
- Drink plenty of water. Your body needs additional fluids to produce amniotic fluid and extra blood. Staying hydrated also helps prevent brain fog, dizziness, etc.
- The second trimester is the most comfortable period during pregnancy. It is the best time to exercise and improve your muscle strength and endurance level. Besides, working out trains your body for labour and delivery.
- Imagine, you are in the hospital and you need large pads, medicine or the outfit which you wanted to be your baby’s first. You had it well-planned but you could not execute it. Be a smart mommy and pre-prepare a hospital bag.
- Babyproof your home. Make it child-friendly and ready for a tiny little member.
- Talk to people who you might need during delivery to offer comfort and assistance.
- Watch birth giving Have an idea on the different ways and find out which one will be more comfortable for you.
- Visit nursing homes and pre-book.
Don’ts
- You probably must know about this one. But avoid alcohol intake in any form.
- Pregnancy makes women more prone to infections and diseases. You are a walking touch-me-not. Keep your surroundings clean and avoid things that have a higher transmission rate.
- Do not make any dental appointments. Dental X-rays and medications can be harmful for the baby.
- Abstain from caffeine-rich food.
- Raw or half-cooked meat.
Baby’s health is directly linked to its mama’s health. If you eat right and practice a well-balanced lifestyle, your baby is just going to be fit and healthy and so will you.