What is the difference between first and second trimester

A pregnancy is divided into trimesters:. To get started, simply click below on the week of pregnancy you'd like to view. Many of the articles include links to other pregnancy and newborn articles with more information.

Check back every week of your pregnancy to see how your baby is developing and to find out what changes you can expect in your own body, too! It is important…. Visit The Symptom Checker. Recovering from Delivery Postpartum Recovery. Breast changes Your breasts may not be as tender as they were in the first trimester, but they will continue to grow. Skin changes As your body grows, some areas of skin may become stretched tight.

Common skin changes include: Dry, itchy skin, especially on the belly Increased sensitivity to the sun. This means you might burn more easily.

Make sure you wear a strong sunscreen when spending time outside. Body changes Your body is changing quickly to adapt to the growing baby. Leg pain. You may have leg cramps, especially when you sleep. These may be related to the pressure your growing baby puts on the nerves and blood vessels that go to your legs.

Make sure you sleep on your side instead of your back. Another leg condition, deep vein thrombosis DVT , can be serious. DVT is a blood clot that forms in a vein and causes pain and swelling in one leg.

Contact your doctor right away if you have these symptoms. Your ankles, hands, and face may swell during the second trimester. This happens because your body retains more fluid for the baby. You also have slower blood circulation. Aching back, pelvis, and hips. The job of supporting your growing belly puts stress on your back.

Your hips and pelvis may begin to ache as pregnancy hormones relax the ligaments that hold your bones together. Your bones move to prepare for childbirth. Stomach pain. The muscles and ligaments supporting your uterus stretch as your uterus grows. These can cause mild pain or cramping. However, you may experience a whole new set of symptoms, such as back pain, abdominal pain, leg cramps, constipation and heartburn.

You have now reached your final stretch of pregnancy and are probably very excited and anxious for the birth of your baby. Some of the physical symptoms you may experience during this period include shortness of breath, hemorrhoids, urinary incontinence, varicose veins and sleeping problems.

Many of these symptoms arise from the increase in the size of your uterus, which expands from approximately 2 ounces before pregnancy to 2. UCSF Health medical specialists have reviewed this information.

The absence of correlation among different marker levels suggests that the information supplied by the first and second trimester tests is different. Integrating first and second trimester markers in a single test could pose the ethical problem of withholding first trimester results and thus denying the possible advantages of an earlier pregnancy termination.