14th week
LET'S GET MEASURED!
Size of baby: 80 - 93 mm
Baby's weight: 25 grams
Welcome to the second trimester of your pregnancy! Many beautiful things are still ahead ...
The baby can now frown, make faces, urinate, even suck its thumb! Due to stimulation of the brain, its microscopic facial muscles "train" in making expressions. Its kidneys produce urine, which circulate into the amniotic fluid, a process that will last up to the birth. The ear flaps start to form. The intestines are now inside its belly. Its body is growing faster than the head and its neck is now distinct. By the end of this week, its hands, unlike the feet, which continue to elongate, will have grown in length in proportion to the rest of the body. Soon you will be able to feel tiny pokes in your tummy! Now, a very thin layer of fluff has started to develop (known as lanugo) all over its body. The baby's liver begins to produce bile and spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells.
DID YOU KNOW THAT?
...This week you must have some necessary tests, i.e. hematocrit test to check anaemia, pregnancy blood sugar test, and general urine test to detect any disorder of the kidneys or urinary tract infection?
Now and in the coming weeks, we will have a test on anaemia to check the levels of hemoglobin in blood, of the hematocrit as is known.. If blood tests show any iron deficiency anaemia, a common type of anaemia, your doctor will probably recommend that you take an iron supplement. This blood test is usually repeated during the third trimester. Also, do not forget to check for gestational diabetes. Other tests to be done are for sexually transmitted infections such as chlamydia and gonorrhoea (and in some cases tests for syphilis and HIV), because if there is any chance of carrying any infection, this should be taken into account early enough to reduce through treatment the probability of transmitting it to the baby.
In the second trimester, you experience less nausea and vomiting (it happens to most pregnant women) and breast pain is reduced. Don't worry if you still feel this uncomfortable puffiness; be a little patient and it will get better. The odds are in your favour!
You may notice some erythroses in your ankle area. These are tiny blood vessels in formations that look like tree branches or spider web, close to the surface of your skin, which usually have no symptoms, neither do they cause discomfort and usually disappear after childbirth. Daily exercise, putting your feet up (whenever possible), and even choosing to sleep on your on left side (yes!), can help prevent or minimise the various problems in lower extremities.
Advice
Writing down about my parents! Share your opinion about your parents, with your partner's opinion about his parents. Try creative writing as an exercise: Each one of you will make two lists, one with the title "My mother always ..." and one with the title "My mother never ...". Then, do the same for "My father always ..." and "My father never ...". It's a great way to learn more about each other, something that will help you decide together on the subsequent conduct toward your child.
Have a pleasant week... and good notes!
Source
http://www.paidorama.com
