Once a woman enters the second trimester, she may find it easier than the first. Her nausea (morning sickness) and fatigue may lessen or go away completely. Let us see, how is the fetus development in second and third trimester
However, she will also notice more changes to her body. That “baby bump” will start to show as her abdomen expands with the growing baby. By the end of the second trimester she will even be able to feel she baby move!
Table of Contents
Fetus Development In Second and Third Trimester
Fourth month
The baby may suck its thumb now. By 14 weeks the baby will be about 9-10 cm long. Its body is now covered with a layer of fine hair called lanugo.
By 16 weeks its face is becoming more human in appearance, although the chin is small and the mouth is quite wide. Between 16 and 24 weeks the mother should feel her baby move for the first time — it may at first feel like butterflies.
Fifth month
The rapid growth that the baby has been experiencing now begins to slow a little.
By week 20 the baby measures about 18 centimetres from crown to rump and is half as long as it will be when born. The legs are now in proportion with the body and the fingernails are well developed.
Faint eyebrows are visible. At this stage, a mother will feel her baby moving about a lot, often when she lies down.
Between 18th to 20th week of pregnancy, an anomaly scan is performed to ensure the structural development of the fetus is normal.
Sixth month
By 24 weeks the baby’s organs are fully formed. The baby now has the face of a newborn baby, although the eyes are rather prominent because fat pads are yet to build up in the baby’s cheeks.
The eyelids are fused until weeks 25 to 26 when they open. The growth of the baby at this stage can be checked with fetal growth scan The skin is wrinkled, red and thin with little underlying fat. The skin is covered with a waxy substance called vernix, which protects it while it is floating in the uterus.
The body is well muscled, but still thin. The baby has become better proportioned, with the size of the body catching up with the size of the head. The baby’s hearing is also well developed by this stage; the baby will respond to noise.
Third Trimester: Changes a Woman May Experience The third trimester is the final stage of pregnancy. Discomforts that started in the second trimester will likely continue, along with some new ones.
As the baby grows and puts more pressure on the mother’s internal organs, she may find difficulty breathing and have to urinate more frequently. This is normal and once she gives birth these problems should go away.
Seventh month
By 28 weeks lanugo hair has almost gone and hair is present on the head. Fat is being deposited under the skin.
Eighth month
The baby is becoming plumper.
By 30 weeks the toenails are present and by 32 weeks the fingernails have reached the ends of the fingers. The baby’s eyes will be open when the baby’s awake.
By about 32 weeks the baby will have settled into a downward position as there is no longer enough room left in the womb for it to move about freely. The mother will feel occasional vigorous jabs of the baby’s arms and legs.
Ninth month
Sometime between 36 and 40 weeks, the baby’s head will engage — that is, the head will be lying just on top of your cervix. The lanugo hair that had covered the baby has now mostly disappeared, although some hair may remain low on the forehead, in front of the ears and down the centre of the back.
The toenails should have reached the tips of the toes.
Full term
By full-term, the baby should weigh about 2.7 to 3.5 kg, although full-term babies can weigh anything from 2.5 to 5 kg, and measure 35 to 38 centimeters from crown to rump and 44 to 55 cm from the baby’s head to its toes.
These are just average figures, though, and there can be wide variation in the measurements. So now, 38 weeks after conception, the baby has all its organs and body systems ready for the big moment when it is born into the world. Check here to know about the development of the baby in first trimester.
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