What’s Happening With Mom?
The hormones which are ruling your life right now continue to increase. By the end of your pregnancy, progesterone and estrogen levels will be 10 times higher than they were before you were pregnant.
In early pregnancy, progesterone is the dominant hormone. By this week, estrogen has caught up, and soon it will overtake progesterone levels. The switch in dominant hormone, and the ever-increasing amounts of both hormones, continue to affect your baby, your body and your moods.
Many women find that their sex drive increases around this time, and if you are one of them, make the most of these few weeks and have fun, before your belly gets even bigger and the whole endeavor becomes even more awkward.
You are still gaining about one pound a week, but soon you’ll start gaining weight even faster.
What’s Happening With Baby?
Baby is preparing for life in the outside world, independent of you. They won’t be asking for their own cell phone yet, but give it time. Baby’s systems are preparing, one by one, to be able to work on their own.
Baby’s tongue has taste buds, and baby’s nerves are connecting to baby’s brain, so baby has the sense of taste and touch. Baby is experimenting with the new senses, perhaps by sucking their thumb, or feeling their face or the uterus walls. It’s preparation for texting.
Most of your baby’s nutrients still come from you, via the blood in the umbilical cord. By this week, baby’s digestive system has developed enough to absorb simple nutrients. Amniotic fluid contains small amounts of sugars, and when baby drinks the fluid they can now digest that sugar.
Tags: digestive system development, estrogen, hormones, nerve development, progesterone, Second Trimester, sex drive, taste buds, weight gain
