Hey Mama, welcome back to parently. So excited to have you here. And today we are going to talk about your body changes in the second trimester, as well as the baby developing inside of you in the second trimester. So Dr. Boyd talk to you in the first trimester about all of the different body changes that are occurring. And he explained why the hormones that change your body, the joints that start to loosen the increased blood volume from your heart and into the rest of your body, the headaches that can happen. So now you're into your second trimester.

Hopefully at this point, your nausea and vomiting has decreased and you're feeling pretty good. This is uphill from here, or downhill whichever way you want to look at it. But you should be feeling better. second trimester is an amazing time. I loved the second trimester of my pregnant See, I felt great. I had so much energy.

I traveled with my husband and family all throughout my second trimester. But there were a few things that kind of got me. I was still tired a lot, not compared to my first trimester. But by the end of the day, I was ready to get in bed. When I would get in bed, my legs were pretty jumpy, I had some leg cramps, I have a little back pain in my lower back from carrying the developing baby that was growing within me. And at this point, my belly was starting to pop out, which is going to change the curvature of my spine a little bit in the way that I held myself.

So don't be alarmed if your back and legs start to hurt a little bit. At this point in your pregnancy, you're going to possibly notice some skin changes on your face. On your belly, you might start to see a line that goes straight down your belly called your linea niagra might be a dark line. Don't be alarmed by that I was a little bit alarmed, but my doctor assured me that it was completely normal during pregnancy. You might get some redness around your cheeks or over your nose. That's completely normal during pregnancy as well.

Towards the end of your second trimester, you're going to notice some major swelling, especially if you're on your feet a lot throughout the day. I went out of the country during my second trimester, and on the plane ride back, I looked down at my feet, and they were bigger than I ever seen them in my life. And my husband take a picture because I had to document how big and puffy my feet were. Luckily, once I was on the ground for a couple days, that swelling went down that fluid redistributed throughout my body, and I saw my ankles again, that might not happen, you might experience the swelling that stays until you deliver. But don't be alarmed. Talk to your healthcare provider about it.

We want to make sure that your blood pressure isn't too high that you're not developing a condition called preeclampsia that can cause a lot of swelling throughout your body. At this point you might start to experience Something that feels like a contraction and it probably is. These are called Braxton Hicks contractions. Your body is gearing up for delivery. So it has to start practicing. So these are practice contractions.

Don't be alarmed at first Braxton Hicks are not regular and they don't increase in pain. So once you start to feel those contractions start to time them. If you start seeing a pattern and the pain increases, that's when you should be concerned and you need to call your healthcare provider or go to the hospital. But if they're just random, every now and then contractions, that's just your body practicing. Alright, so now let's talk about the little baby that's growing inside of you. You're in your second trimester and we're going to talk about what happens by week 16.

Your baby is about the size of an orange. Your baby has hair and eyebrows and fingernails and she or he is doing a lot with their little hands and feet. On sonogram many times we can see the baby sucking his or her thumb. It is so cute. Also, when you go for your sonogram from 16 to 20 weeks your anatomy scan, your physician or healthcare provider should be able to tell you whether you're having a little boy or a little girl. I'm so excited for you to know what you're having.

Alright, now let's get forward to week 20. Your baby is about the size of a banana. And this little baby is moving around a lot inside of you. You might be able to feel baby move, and this is called quickening. By the 20th week your baby has a coat of vernix around him or her. This is a cheesy coating that protects the baby's skin.

While baby is still in utero, all that liquid around the baby. Something needs to protect the skin so that it doesn't get all pruney by the time you get close to delivery, that vernix is starting to come off the baby If you deliver past your due date, the baby might actually look a little bit more wrinkled than if you had delivered before your due date. All right, now let's get forward to week 24. Your baby is about the size of a papaya. Baby's moving and jerking and hiccuping inside of you and you as the mama are probably feeling baby move by now. So here's your second trimester.

You are having a lot of changes going on in your body, but you're feeling pretty good. And baby inside of you is having a lot of growth happening at this point. So enjoy your second trimester. Try to go see some places you've never seen before. Spend some time with your partner and have fun being pregnant.