Second Trimester of Fetal Development

My wife is pregnant right now, so he wanted to know the development of the fetus from month to month. After searching for information for some time, I finally found it. This is information that I found:

4 Months pregnant, end of week 16

Length: 4.7 inches (120 mm), top to bottom
Weight: 3.7 ounces (104.5 g)

• This month, the face has become more "human." The eyes have moved from the sides of the head to the front. The ears have moved from the neck to the sides of the head.
• By the end of 14 weeks of pregnancy, sex organs are starting to develop. It will be a few weeks before you can tell a boy from a girl with an ultrasound.
• By now, your fetus may have started thumb-sucking, and is rolling, kicking, and moving around a lot.
• If this is not your first pregnancy, you might be feeling your fetus move. The first flutters you feel are called "quickening." It takes a little longer to happen in a first pregnancy.
• You might now be able to hear the heartbeat with a Doppler heart monitor.

An important time for testing

• When you are 15 to 20 weeks pregnant, you can get a triple or quad serum screen. This is a simple blood test for signs of a possible birth defect.
• When you are 15 to 20 (usually around 16) weeks pregnant, you can have an amniocentesis to check for birth defects and genetic problems.

*****

5 Months pregnant, end of week 20

Length: 6.3 inches (160 mm), top to bottom
Weight: .66 pound (304 g)

• This is a time of very rapid growth, especially from 15 to 18 weeks of pregnancy.
• By now, the head is no longer so big compared to the rest of the body.
• You can see bones on ultrasound by the end of week 17.
• At this size, your fetus is still small enough to change position a lot—from head-down to feet-down, or even sideways.
• If this is your first pregnancy, you will start to feel your fetus move. The first flutters you feel are called "quickening."
• At the end of this month, the fetus starts building up body fat.

An important time for testing

• When you are 15 to 20 weeks pregnant, you can get a triple or quad serum screen. This is a simple blood test for signs of a possible birth defect.
• When you are 15 to 20 (usually around 16) weeks pregnant, you can have an amniocentesis to check for birth defects and genetic problems.

*****

6 Months pregnant, end of week 24

Length: 8.3 inches (210 mm), top to bottom
Weight: 1.33 pound (598.5 g)

• This month, the fetus is still building up body fat and starting to put on a lot of weight.
• At this size, a fetus is still small enough to change position a lot—from head-down to feet-down, or even sideways. You will feel more movement or less movement at certain times of the day and night.
• At 23 weeks of pregnancy, the eyes show rapid eye movement.
• In rare cases, babies survive birth at 22 weeks, but generally, the lungs cannot yet breathe air.

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source: http://health.msn.com/pregnancy/fetal-development.aspx

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