July 29, 2009

Health Tip: Your Pregnancy in the Second Trimester

(HealthDay News) -- By the time you're in your second trimester of pregnancy, your body already has undergone significant change. But you're certainly not through.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says here's what pregnant women can expect in the second trimester:

• Nausea should subside and your appetite should return.
• Your belly gets bigger as your uterus expands. As the end of the second trimester nears, your uterus will nearly reach your rib cage.
• Your skin may feel tight and itchy as it expands across your belly and breasts. Stretch marks may appear.
• Your belly may ache as ligaments that support the uterus are stretched.
• A dark line called a linea nigra may appear down the center of your belly.
• Brown patches of skin (chloasma) may appear on your face, and the areolas (darker skin near the breast nipples) may darken.
• Some swelling of the feet and ankles.

-- Diana Kohnle

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