Pregnancy & Baby 

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The second trimester

At the beginning of the second trimester you may wake up and realise that something is missing — morning sickness. Not only can you keep down a meal, but your long-lost energy returns.

Your uterus is not yet big enough to cause some of the uncomfortable symptoms that may happen in the third trimester. On the other hand, it may be depressing that you feel huge and your clothes don’t fit, but no one seems to notice that you're pregnant. Don’t worry — this stage is short lived. Some time during this next month, a total stranger will make your day by enquiring, ‘When are you due?’

One reason for the return of your energy is that the arduous work of foetal organ development is mostly complete. By week 14, your baby is four and a half inches long from head to toe and weighs about 45 grams. He or she is quite active, doing somersaults in the amniotic fluid. You will probably feel these movements as a fluttering sensation that begins between weeks 18 to 22.

The second trimester of pregnancy may involve test-taking anxiety for some women. If you are over the age of 35 or had disturbing results from other tests, your doctor will recommend an amniocentesis, which checks for such conditions as Downs syndrome. While one in 200 women experiences problems as a result of the amniocentesis, which could, potentially, lead to a miscarriage, the odds of having a Downs syndrome child are higher. As long as the technician performing this procedure has solid experience, you can further lower your chances of complications.

A common blood test called the Maternal-Serum Alpha-Fetoprotein (MSAFP) screening, which is offered to women between weeks 16 to 18 of pregnancy, is also used to identify potential problems with the foetus. In some cases results can be misleading and cause needless worry: 50 in 1,000 women will have poor results and only one or two of the original 50 will go on to experience problems. One common reason for unusual results is that the pregnant woman is, in fact, carrying multiple foetuses. However, for many women test results will bring great relief.

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