What to expect with you are expecting - The Second Trimester!
Advice from The Insta Midwife Cara McCarthy
Hello!
Well done!! You are now a third of the way through your pregnancy! From around 13 weeks you hit the second trimester and you are probably starting to feel a little better if you have been suffering with sickness and fatigue!
You may even start to see a bump appearing! Your uterus will start to move up and pop over your pelvic bone now and this may take the pressure off your bladder meaning that you may get relief from needing to wee so often!
Your body will go through many more changes this trimester, as your uterus grows and stretches you may find you get some weird pains and aches. Your uterus is attached to the pelvis by ligaments that keep the uterus in place, but these ligaments start to stretch as the uterus grows and this can cause some stitch like pains, or shooting pains in your sides or pelvis. If you experience these, they should be short lived and you can take some paracetamol to help, however, if you are in any doubt, always consult your midwife or obstetrician.
You may find that your gums become sensitive or start bleeding when you brush them. This is a common pregnancy symptom and it is advisable that you visit your dentist during your pregnancy for a check up. Make sure you brush twice a day and use a softer brush if this is happening.
Now that you are possibly feeling better, you may want to think about preparing your body for growing this tiny human, and you can start to get active with some daily walks or some pregnancy friendly exercises whether outside or at home. There are lots of pregnancy yoga videos available on YouTube or you can pay subscriptions for specific courses. You can research your local area to see what is available to you, there are lots of online options whilst in this unprecedented global situation. Exercise is not only good for your body, it is also really good for your mind, the release of endorphins really do help with that feel good feeling!
You might start to feel flutterings of movements from around 16 to 24 weeks too, this can start to feel like bubbles in the early days and then they get stronger as the weeks go by. Keep an eye on movements and see if you can notice times of day that baby is more active! For information on fetal movements, I recommend you take a look at www.tommys.org
Good luck and enjoy the next few months!
Cara The Insta Midwife
Cara McCarthy is a qualified Midwife providing antenatal and postnatal online support and evidence based advice.
We are very pleased that Cara has joined our group of Resident Experts at Style My Kid and hope to bring you lots of advice her and from all our brilliant ladies on our Blog pages.
You can find out more about Cara and follow her on instagram @the_insta_midwife and watch her tutorials on You tube.
