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Day 91 of 280 · 13 weeks

Trimester two

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 6 sources · Plain-text version

Thirteen weeks: the second trimester begins. Today you write down what you hope changes over the next fifteen weeks, and date it.

Size this week
about the size of a peach
Length this week
around 7.4 cm from head to bottom
A South Asian woman in a loose t-shirt and leggings on the front steps of a house in bright morning sun, writing in a small notebook on her knee, a coffee cup beside her, the faintest hint of a bump.

Thirteen weeks. A new trimester starts today, on paper at least. Today is a short note to yourself about what you hope the next stretch brings, sealed and dated.

Your baby

One ripe peach on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around now your baby is around 7.4cm long, about the size of a peach (NHS). The ovaries or testes are fully developed inside, and the final changes are happening on the outside (NHS). The movements are jerky and random at first, and become more deliberate (NHS); you may not feel any of it until around week 17 (NHS).

Your body

The second trimester runs from week 13 to week 28 (NICHD). Not everyone draws the line in the same place: MedlinePlus starts it at week 14 (MedlinePlus). Wherever the line sits, the description is the same. Nausea and fatigue usually ease, the abdomen expands, and you may feel movement before the trimester ends (OWH). A small bump may become visible as the uterus grows (NHS).

Some things are new rather than easing. Stretch marks, carpal tunnel syndrome, and darker patches on the face are common in the second trimester (OWH). Expect a prenatal visit about once a month through this trimester (MedlinePlus).

Try today

  1. The second-trimester welcome

    Time: 10 minutes

    1. Write today's date and "13 weeks" at the top of a page.

    2. List three things you hope ease. The sources back two of them: nausea and fatigue usually do (OWH). The third is yours.

    3. List one thing you're looking forward to. If it's movement, write the honest date next to it: perhaps not until around week 17 (NHS).

    4. Seal it, and keep it with the week-3 scorecard.

    5. Set a reminder to open it at 28 weeks, the trimester's last (NICHD).

    Make it work:

    Hopes aren't predictions. Writing "I hope the sickness goes" doesn't make it your fault if it lingers.

Watch for

  • Normal

    a little puffiness in warm weather or at the end of a long day.

    Call your provider

    for sudden or extreme swelling, which can signal preeclampsia (OWH); extreme swelling of your hands or face is on the CDC's urgent list (CDC).

  • Normal

    tiredness that's easing, but not gone (OWH).

    Call your provider

    for overwhelming tiredness; it is on the same urgent list (CDC).

  • Normal

    round ligament pains as the uterus grows (NHS).

    Call your provider right away

    for moderate to severe cramping or low abdominal pain (MedlinePlus).

For you

If nobody can tell yet, that's typical. The NHS says first pregnancies often don't show until about week 12, and later ones may show sooner (NHS). You can be thirteen weeks along, in your usual jeans, and entirely on schedule.

A new trimester is also a reasonable moment to ask for what you didn't ask for in the first. The NHS's week-4 list says plainly to ask for help if you're anxious or low (NHS), and that advice hasn't expired.

If you're the partner: write your own sealed note. What you hope changes for you in the next fifteen weeks is allowed to be on it.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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