Understanding your
trimesters
A typical pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, from the first day of your last menstrual period to the birth of
your baby. It is divided into three stages, called trimesters.
1st
First trimester
1 to 13 weeks
What you’ll experience
• Extreme fatigue
• Breast tenderness
• Nausea or morning sickness
• Cravings or aversion to certain
foods
• Mood swings
• Headache
• Heartburn
Your baby’s development
• Nervous system (brain and
spinal cord) has begun to form
• Heart has begun to form
• Fingers, toes and facial
features are developing
• Sex organs begin to form
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2nd
3rd
Second trimester:
13 to 28 weeks Third trimester:
28 to 40 weeks
What you’ll experience
• Morning sickness and
fatigue will lessen or go away
completely
• Abdominal aches due to
abdomen stretching
• Your baby bump will show
• Your baby moving
Your baby’s development
• Skin begins to form and is
nearly translucent
• Meconium develops in your
baby’s intestinal tract – this
will be your baby’s first bowel
movement
• Your baby is more active – you
You might feel movement or
kicking
• Eyebrows, eyelashes,
fingernails, and toenails have
formed – your baby can even
scratch itself What you’ll experience
• Abdominal aches
• Fatigue
• Heartburn
• Braxton Hicks contractions
• Stretch marks
• Backache
• Crazy dreams
• Clumsiness
• Frequent urination and lack
of bladder control
Your baby’s development
• Your baby’s bones are soft
but fully formed
• Movements and kicking
increase
• The eyes can open and close
• The protective waxy coating
(vernix) thickens
• Body fat increases