Week 13: Pregnancy Week by Week

Week 13: Common concerns in the second trimester and the pregnancy food groups

The body has its own way of knowing, a knowing that has little to do with logic, and much to do with truth, little to do with control, and much to do with acceptance...

-Marilyn Sewell

What's Happening in Your Body?

You may begin to notice an increase in your appetite. For most women, nausea is beginning to subside, although food cravings may increase and continue for some time.

What's Happening with Your Baby?

Due to muscle development, movement has increased and your baby is now capable of kicking vigorously. Women experiencing a second pregnancy may begin to notice faint signs of movement. If this is your first pregnancy, you probably won't discern the baby's activity for a few more weeks.

Nothing Fits!

The second trimester brings new physical changes as well as emotional ones. These are usually less dramatic than the symptoms of the first trimester. Some women will still feel remnants of early symptoms, such as morning sickness or fatigue. Generally speaking, though, the second trimester tends to be the most energetic part of pregnancy. Follow the link for more details about Second Trimester Common Concerns.

Nourish Yourself

Check out this Food Guide, which we have modified from the United States Department of Agriculture Food Guide Pyramid to suit the needs of pregnant women. This guide takes some of the more recent research about nutrition into account.

Body Wise

Here is a Pilates exercise that can help to strengthen your outer and inner thigh muscles:

Lie on the floor, on your side, on a comfortable mat or carpeted surface. Align your hips and legs so that they are directly one on top of the other. You can rest your head on top of your outstretched lower arm, or bend the arm and cup your head in your hand. Use your top arm to lightly support yourself in front of your body - but try not to rely too much on it. Stabilizing yourself from your core is part of what make Pilates effective.

Now begin to slowly raise your top leg until it is somewhere between 90 and 45 degrees in the air. Slowly lower it back to the lower leg. Imagine, as you continue this movement, that you are moving your leg through very thick mud and that it is extremely difficult to raise and lower it. Do not allow your hips to shift from side to side as you move. Repeat several times, then roll over to the other side and repeat.

Natural Soothers

The Language of Flowers

In the 1930s, British homeopath and medical doctor, Edward Bach, began to treat the mental and emotional symptoms of his patients with the essences he derived from flowers. The use of flowers in healing has numerous historical precedents, but Bach was the first modern physician to use them. He developed a repertory of 38 remedies from native or naturalized plants in rural England. Find out more about one of our favorites: Rescue Remedy.

Higher Ground

Visualization
This simple visualization exercise helps to replace negative images about weight gain with positive ones. Using it can help transform deeply ingrained cultural beliefs about being thin into a healthier set of expectations that work for pregnancy.

Image by Durga Yael Bernhard

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