Your Pregnancy - Week by Week

You are in the second month of your pregnancy. This week, your hCG hormone levels are high enough to show a positive result on a home pregnancy test, and you may have early symptoms like fatigue and nausea.

Your baby's heart beats about 105 times a minute. Her nose, mouth, fingers, toes and ears are forming and begin to take shape.

At 7 weeks, your embryo is now 10,000 times bigger than it was when it arrived in your uterus! Your baby is growing rapidly and generating new brain cells at a rate of 100 per minute.

If you haven’t seen a doctor yet, now is the time to go. You will have a number of regular antenatal visits with your doctor, regularly throughout your pregnancy.
It’s important to look after your own health when you’re pregnant.

Your 'baby bump' probably won’t be visible just yet, but you may start putting on some weight. Remember, you don’t need to ‘eat for two’ so you don’t need any extra calories at this stage of the pregnancy. You just need to make sure you eat the right foods, with enough nutrients for you and your baby.

You may hear your baby's heartbeat on a fetal Doppler during your next prenatal visit. It's much faster than an adult heartbeat – it sounds like galloping horses. You may want to take your phone out and record it.

Many women find morning sickness starts to settle down by week 11, although some don’t feel better until about week 14, when the pregnancy hormones decrease and the placenta starts to support the baby.

This is a big week for your baby: Your little one's key body systems and vital organs have formed!

This is about the time when most people share the biiig news with the world. Talk to your partner and be ready for all those wishes...

Now you’re feeling more energetic, doing more physical activity will help keep you in shape for your pregnancy. Exercising will prevent you from putting on too much weight and is also good for your mood.

During the second week of your second trimester, your baby's features are beginning to take shape.
Meanwhile, by week 15 of pregnancy, your morning sickness could very well be gone— but you might be experiencing some other unpleasant symptoms, like bleeding gums.

You're officially 4 months pregnant!
As your second trimester hums along, your baby's growing rapidly, and you might start seeing changes to your own body, too — so if you haven't already gone shopping for maternity clothes, now's the time.

Many women have lots of energy at this stage. As the baby moves up in your abdomen you won’t need to go to the toilet as often, and if you had nausea, it is hopefully now a thing of the past.

Between 18 and 20 weeks, you will have an ultrasound to check your baby’s development. This is called a fetal anomaly or morphology scan. It checks the size of the baby and measures physical features including the heart, brain, spine and kidneys.

Sometimes, expecting moms worry they look more pregnant or less pregnant than they really are. But there's no set formula for how and when you start to show. As long as your healthcare provider says your baby is developing well and you're on track with weight gain, there's no reason to worry.

Some women find their changing shape affects how they feel about themselves and their relationships. Open communication is the key to negotiating any fears, stress or changes to your sex life that pregnancy might bring.

The second trimester is a good time to travel since you may not be able to do so later in your pregnancy. If you decide to go on a baby moon then you can plan now, just make sure to talk to your doctor before travelling.

You may start to feel Braxton Hicks contractions around now, although they may have started earlier or may not start until later in your pregnancy. These are a type of contraction where the muscles of your uterus tighten and your bump goes hard.

The birth might seem like it’s a long way off, but now is the time to start preparing for being a parent. Having a baby will change your life. If possible, plan not to have any additional upheaval in the first few months after the baby is born, such as changing your job, renovating or moving house.

At some time between 24 and 28 weeks, you might be offered a test for gestational diabetes. Some women develop this type of diabetes that develops in pregnancy and goes away once the baby is born.