Twins | Twin Pregnancy
Second Trimester
The second trimester of a twin pregnancy, week 13-27, will see your babies change dramatically as they become foetuses and are growing in leaps and bounds.
Great news for you is that typical pregnancy side-effects will decrease in the beginning of your second trimester, which means this will be a much more enjoyable time for you. You will however start showing sooner than women going through a singleton pregnancy, as your uterus is expanding drastically daily in order to accommodate two growing babies.
Weeks 12-16 see your babies’ kidneys starting to function, and towards week 16 water in their stomachs and urine in their bladders may be detected via ultrasound. There’s by now lots of movement happening, but it’s unlikely that you will start feeling it just yet.
By the end of week 20 your two bundles of joy will be fully formed and it’s believed that they are now aware of each other. You will more likely than not feel tiny fluttering movements and kicks and will definitely start to look very pregnant. Apart from experiencing constipation you should be feeling much better and have increased energy.
In your second trimester you should also be able to determine your babies’ sex during a scan. And towards the middle of the trimester they develop hearing, so you can start talking to them and playing music for them.
By the end of week 24 your twins will measure around 30cm each and weigh around 5-600g each – continuously fighting for position and moving around. Typically lying in the foetal position, your twins are now covered in downy hair (lanugo) and a cheesy coating (vernix) to protect their delicate skin.
The last month of your second trimester will see both your twins grow even more rapidly. In fact, they will just about double in weight! Because of the incredible advances in care for premature infants, by the end of week 28 your twins’ rate of survival is very strong. Their lungs are now developing and they start practising breathing. Unique fingerprints have formed and your babies should be able to grimace and squint by now.
With your uterus growing and stretching you’ll unfortunately see many side-effects of pregnancy return towards the end of your second trimester – such as frequent urination, swollen feet, fatigue, haemorrhoids and ligament pain.
Click here to read about your Third Twin Pregnancy Trimester
[...] Click here to read about your Second Twin Pregnancy Trimester AKPC_IDS += “2236,”; You may also be interested in these articles: [...]