Pregnancy, parenting and babycare news and products.

The second trimester of pregnancy is commonly known as the middle stages or the fourth, fifth and sixth months of your pregnancy. This is usually the best time of a woman’s pregnancy, as most women recover from morning sickness and you haven’t yet put on too much weight to feel uncomfortable.

With all of my pregnancies, I absolutely loved the second trimester.  I felt really well and happy and excited about being pregnant.  All three pregnancies were different at the beginning and the end but my second trimester of pregnancy was very much the same.

Common Symptoms of the Second Trimester

There are a few common symptoms of the second trimester of pregnancy but all women are different, so if you have any concerns at all, please see your doctor. Some of these may include

• Larger Breasts
• Weight Gain
• Growing Abdomen                                     
• Skin colour changes
• Stretch Marks
• Leg Cramps
• Cravings for particular food

During the second trimester you should also start feeling your baby moving.  I remember vividly when I  felt my first baby move for the first time.  I was around 18 weeks pregnant and it felt like little butterflies in my stomach.  It was a fantastic feeling and that’s when it really hit home that I had a baby growing inside of me.

What Does Your Baby Look Like in the Second Trimester of Pregnancy?

By around four months into your pregnancy, your baby will be around 4 1/2 inches long or close to 12cm and weigh around 110 grams.  It should be apparent what sex it is by around the 15th week and he will be starting to develop bones in his skeleton.   The eyes and ears will be moving to their final position and your baby should now be starting to make sucking motions with his mouth.

By the end of your second trimester,  your baby would have grown rapidly to around 9 inches and weigh close to 820 grams.  Their vital organs will be developing and they will be covered with fine hair.  Your babies hands are fully developed and he will have grown fingernails.  They will also be getting very active and like to have a kick around inside.

I hope you enjoy your second trimester of pregnancy as much as I did and keep well. You are over half way.

Until next time,

Jackie Stenhouse

Following on from my previous post of first stages of pregnancy, I would like to tell you a little about what you may expect in your next pregnancy stages.

Week by week you will notice your  body changing as your baby grows inside of you.   After about the 12 week stage of your pregnancy, your uterus will grow up and out of your pelvis and you will start to notice a small bump and your clothes getting a little tighter.  Don’t be alarmed,  as this  is very normal and will allow your baby to grow.  Others who don’t know you,  may still not realise you are pregnant though so don’t be disappointed when people aren’t congratulating you yet.

As you are now in your second trimester, you should be feeling a lot better. Your morning sickness should have subsided and you may not be feeling as tired and ‘wrung out’. The chances of miscarriage are also considerably less after the twelfth week and a lot of women feel a lot less stressed and start enjoying their pregnancy journey.

Pregnancy and Your Doctor

At this stage of your pregnancy, you should be seeing your doctor around once per month.  If you have complications, they will want to see you more often though.  The doctor will check your blood pressure, monitor the growth of your baby by measuring your stomach and discuss your general health and well-being.  If possible, it may be a good idea if your partner accompanied you on these visits, so they feel more connected to the growing baby inside of you.

This is also the ideal opportunity to discuss anything which is worrying you.  If you are unsure about anything, please don’t be shy – ask the doctor.

What Does Your Baby Look Like

At the 13 week stage of your pregnancy, your baby should be making a fist and able to suck his thumb. Their eyelids are fused shut as his eyes develop and his bones and skull are solidifying.  Your babies intestines should be developed and inside his tummy and even their tooth sockets are formed and ready for when they start growing teeth at around six to seven months of age.  His vocal chords and larynx are fully developed ready to let out that first cry when they finally pop out into the world and they now have a gag reflex and developed nose and nasal passages.

Your baby should be weighing around 20-50 grams and be 3-4 inches long and will start growing rapidly at this stage.

Your pregnancy stages week by week should now be more noticeable and more enjoyable as you start to feel excitement about the growing baby inside of you.

Until next time,

Keep Healthy and Happy.

Jackie Stenhouse

The first stages of pregnancy is commonly called the First Trimester.  This is such an exciting time for most women, especially if you have been trying to get pregnant for some time.

You will always remember the time when you found out for the first time, you were going to have a baby.  I have had 3 children and still remember the feeling of excitement and apprehension I felt when I knew for sure I was pregnant.  All 3 were planned babies and all 3 were different.

I just want to tell you what to expect in the first stages of pregnancy to help you quell any fear you may be feeling.

What to Expect in Stage One of Your Pregnancy

The first thing you need to do if you have done a home pregnancy test or want to find out if you’re pregnant, is go and see your doctor.   They will give you a thorough check up which may include blood tests to check your iron levels and overall health.  It is also important to note when your last period was,  as this is the date they will start your 40 week gestation from.

Usually a woman won’t even know she is pregnant until she is officially 5 weeks on,  so if you are trying to become pregnant it is vital you look after yourself well and refrain from drinking alcohol, taking harmful drugs or smoking cigarettes, as these may harm your baby before you even know you are actually pregnant.

Symptoms You May Be Feeling

Some women are very lucky and don’t have any symptoms during their first stages of pregnancy, but if you are like me and many thousands of other women, you may experience nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, tender breasts, fatigue, swelling and generally unwell.  These symptoms usually only last during the first 3 months and will vary in levels of discomfort, but it is very important if you are worried about anything, to check with your doctor.

Your body is going through an amazing process of growing another human being, so it is expected to have some side effects while this is happening.

You may also find that some foods will trigger the nausea, and I know myself I couldn’t bring myself to eat green beans – even though these are my favourite vegetable.  I also had to revert to bottled water, as I found the water from the tap gave me severe diarrhea.

What You Can Do to Help Yourself Through the First Stages Of Pregnancy

The most important thing to remember is if you feel unsure of anything, no matter how silly you think it is, go and check with your doctor. It is definitely better to be safe then sorry.  Below I have set out a few points for how you can get through your first stages of pregnancy while helping keep your baby happy and healthy:

• If you are a smoker, you really do need to try and quit or at least cut back. It is a known fact that  smoking really can harm your growing baby.

• Check with your doctor before taking any drugs at all, whether they be over the counter or subscription drugs.

• Limit your alcohol intake, as drinking too much alcohol can cause Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and birth defects.

• Try and get as much rest as possible.  I know this may be difficult if you are working full time or have other small children, but its important to look after yourself.

• Eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.  These will help  give you the vitamins and minerals you need to grow a healthy baby.

• Most of all, enjoy this time of your life and keep the stress levels down.

In my future posts,  I will be talking about the next stages of pregnancy, what you may be feeling and how to best manage your changing body.

Until then, keep happy and healthy and most of all, enjoy these first stages of pregnancy.

Jackie Stenhouse

Theres nothing more exciting then decorating your babies nursery and the easiest and cheapest way to do this is by using wall stickers.

Nursery wall stickers are versatile and can easily be changed as your baby grows.  No longer do you have to spend days repainting the whole room to change the theme, you can simply pull the nursery wall stickers off and put up new ones which match your childs interest and age.

These are a fantastic idea for when you are renting and you really want to add a personal touch to your babies room, as they are cheap and can easily be removed without damaging paintwork when the time comes for you to move out.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RANGE OF NURSERY WALL STICKERS

Choices are Endless for Nursery Wall Stickers

The biggest problem you may have is choosing which wall stickers you will use on your babies nursery.   There are so many choices available so you may have to think about what theme you want to achieve.

You can choose from very large wall stickers which will brighten up any room to small designs which will provide a finishing touch to the nursery.

Below I have provided a few examples of nursery wall stickers.

This Giraffe Growth nursery wall sticker will grow with your baby. You can also track your little ones growth.

Includes:

2 sheets
2 giraffes 10½” x 20½” to 16¾” x 44¼”
11 birds 2½” x 2¾” to 4″ x 4″
2 branches 16½” x 5¼” to 11″ x 4″
27 leaves 1½” x 1″ to 2¼” x 3¼”

Includes:

1, 27 Inch wide cloud

4, 13 Inch wide cloud

3, 9 Inch wide cloud

8 decal per package

The designs are made of vinyl with a matte finish. The matte finish looks like they have been painted right on your walls.

Includes:

One 22’ sun wall decal with 16 rays

(9” to 16.5” long),

8 clouds,

112 stars

For the full range of Nursery Wall Stickers simply CLICK HERE

Thanks for Reading,

Jackie Stenhouse

Sorry for going off topic for my regular blog about babies, but Sean Rasmussen made us do it. He is running a competition at the moment giving away heaps of cash and prizes and each week is setting tasks to earn points.  Who is he I hear you ask?  Well read on and I will fill you in.

Sean Rasmussen is a top Aussie bloke who lives in Bunbury, Western Australia with his beautiful wife and two very talented boys. With a passion for affiliate internet marketing he has taught hundreds of people to successfully create an income online by having no money, no product and no website.

Yes it sounds crazy, but Sean Rasmussen can and will teach you how, and better still, he has enough information in his online free blogs to get you going.

I first heard of this young fella a couple of years ago after he had created $7 million of sales online.  I thought to myself “he obviously knows what he’s on about and he loves Clint Eastwood so what other endorsement do I need?” I purchased his book and joined his online coaching forum and have been moving forward (yes very Julia Gulliard like) ever since.

Sean Rasmussen or Clint Eastwood – Who Would You Choose?

Well it’s obvious, Sean Rasmussen of course, unless you want a lesson in how to make a western. But if its internet marketing you want to learn about, then he is your number one man.  He genuinely wants to help anyone who will listen create financial freedom and prosperity by using free tools of the internet.

And Thats Not All

At the moment Sean Rasmussen is giving away the ultimate twitter guide which will show you how to make twitter work for you plus free access to his online coaching forum (which I happily pay for) where you will be able to get your hands on all of his latest webinars to teach you how to make money online.

To find out more CLICK HERE and fill in your details (please no billing information though as this is completely free) and you will have access to all of the above.

This will shut down soon though so get in quick.