What's happening when you're 27 weeks pregnant? This week marks the end of the second trimester – which means you’re two-thirds of the way there, mama! But you’re not the only one who’s come a long way. Your baby has, too. Now tipping the scales at over two pounds, your wonderful work-in-progress has doubled in weight in the past month. Better her than you, right.
What’s new in the height department? Actually, a whole lot, including how that height is calculated. Those crown-to-rump measurements are now officially being traded in for the easier-to-picture head-to-heel measurement. So how tall is your ever-bigger baby bun at the dawning of the third trimester? A full 15 inches – more than a foot long!
What’s on baby’s menu these days? Lots and lots of amniotic fluid, which your little gourmand ingests in large quantities. Around a pint of amniotic fluid passes through baby’s digestive system per day into her now fully functioning kidneys and back out into the amniotic fluid as urine. And this ingestion-excretion cycle happens every three hours.
The amniotic fluid also serves as a two-way radio, thanks to the conductivity of fluid. You already know that your little listener can hear your voices, but it goes the other way, too. If your partner patiently presses his ear to your belly, he may be able to hear that most precious sound of all – the thumpety-thump of your little one’s heartbeat.
Did You Know?
If you didn’t know yet, some time prior to labor you will lose your mucous plug (this is exactly what it sounds like: a plug made of mucous in your cervix that protects the entrance to your uterus). Women that have had a previous pregnancy tend to dilate earlier thereby losing their mucous plug earlier on… even before real labor sets in.
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