Your baby
The head is the size of a marble, the fists the size of a pea. All that splashing about in the amniotic fluid makes your baby's muscles steadily stronger. Your baby can now make a fist and bend arms and legs, and can open the mouth and press the lips together. You cannot quite call it sucking yet, but it is beginning to look like it.
Your baby now regularly swallows amniotic fluid. And because the kidneys are already working, your baby passes small amounts of water too. Your baby's waste products are carried away regularly.
The limbs and internal organs have all formed. From now on it is only a matter of growing and maturing. That maturing matters a great deal: your child is complete in outline, but could not yet stay alive outside the womb.
You
Your breasts are nowhere near as tender as they were in the first three months, but they are probably still large — perhaps a whole cup size larger. A maternity bra that gives good support is something you really need. A maternity bra is not only firm; your breasts can also 'grow' inside it.
Your breasts will grow further over the coming months as the milk glands prepare for breastfeeding. You may already see blue veins showing through the skin, and under the influence of pregnancy hormones your nipples become larger and darker.
The amount of blood in your body increases as well, to meet the demands of the growing womb and placenta. A full litre and a half is added: five litres becomes six to six and a half. Blood plasma in particular is produced.
Because you have more blood, your heart has to work harder to pump it all around. It now beats fifteen to twenty times a minute more than before. You may already leak a few drops of milk from your breasts. That is perfectly normal and does no harm. It usually stops again until the last weeks before your due date.
Booking an antenatal course
If you are planning to take an antenatal course, now is the time to sign up, because some courses fill quickly. Most start at around 24 to 28 weeks, but there are plenty you can join at around 15 weeks.
You can find information about the various courses through the local home care organisation or your midwife. There is plenty about antenatal courses online too.
Second trimester
