Some changes you may notice in your body in the second trimester of pregnancy stages:

• Back, abdomen, groin, or thigh aches and pains.
• Stretch marks on your abdomen, breasts, thighs and buttocks.
• Darkening of the areolas (skin around nipples).
• A line on the skin running from belly button to pubic hairline (linea nigra).
• Patches of darker skin, usually over the cheeks, forehead, nose, or upper lip. This is sometimes called the mask of pregnancy (melasma, or Chloasma facies).
• Numb or tingling hands (carpal tunnel syndrome).
• Itching on the abdomen, palms, and soles of the feet.
• Swelling of the ankles, fingers, and face.

Like you, your baby continues to develop:

• The musculoskeletal system continues to form.
• Skin begins to form and is nearly translucent.
• Meconium develops in the baby’s intestinal tract. This will be your baby’s first bowel movement.
• Baby begins sucking motions with the mouth (sucking reflex).
• The baby is now about 4 to 5 inches long and weighs almost 3 ounces.

At about 20 weeks in the second trimester of pregnancy stages:

• The baby is more active. You might feel movement or kicking.
• The baby is covered by fine, feathery hair called lanugo and a waxy protective coating called vernix.
• Eyebrows, eyelashes, fingernails, and toenails have formed. Your baby can even scratch itself now.?
• Your baby can hear and swallow.
• Now halfway through your pregnancy, the baby is about 6 inches long and weighs about 9 ounces.

By 24 weeks more changes occur in growing baby:

• The baby’s bone marrow begins to make blood cells.
• Taste buds form on the baby’s tongue.
• Footprints and fingerprints have formed.
• Hair begins to grow on the baby’s head.
• The lungs are formed but do not yet work.
• The baby has a regular sleep cycle now.
• If the baby is a boy ?, his testicles begin to descend into the scrotum. If the baby is a girl, her uterus and ovaries are in place, and a lifetime supply of eggs has formed in the ovaries.
• Baby stores fat and weigh about 1½ pounds, and is 12 inches long.?

The third trimester of pregnancy stages is the final stage of pregnancy. Discomforts that started in the second trimester will likely continue, along with some new ones. As the baby grows and puts more pressure on internal organs, you may find difficulty breathing and have to urinate more frequently. This is normal and temporally.

• Swelling of the ankles, fingers, and face.
• Hemorrhoids
• Tender breasts, which may leak a watery pre-milk called colostrum.
• Your belly button may protrude.
• The baby drops or moves lower in the abdomen.
• Contractions can be a sign of real or false labor.
• Other symptoms you may notice in the third trimester include shortness of breath, heartburn, and difficulty sleeping.

Other changes are happening in your body during the third trimester of pregnancy stages that you can’t see. As your due date approaches, your cervix becomes thinner and softer in a process called effacement that helps the cervix open during childbirth.

At 32 weeks in the third trimester, the baby’s development continues:

• The Baby’s bones are soft but fully formed.
• Movements and kicking increase.
• The eyes can open and close.
• Lungs are not fully formed, but practise “breathing” movements occur.
• Baby’s body begins to store vital minerals, such as iron and calcium.
• Lanugo (fine hair) begins to fall off.
• The baby is gaining about ½ pounds a week, weighs about 4 to 4½ pounds, and is about 15 to 17 inches long.

At 36 weeks of pregnancy stages, as, the due date approaches, your baby continues development:

• The protective waxy coating (vernix) thickens.
• Body fat increases.
• Your baby is getting bigger and has less space to move around. Movements are less forceful, but you will still feel them.
• Your baby is about 16 to 19 inches long and weighs about 6 to 6½ pounds.

Finally, from 37 to 40 weeks the last stages of the baby’s development occur:

• By the end of 37 weeks, your baby is considered full term.
• Your baby’s organs are capable of functioning on their own.
• As you near your due date, your baby may turn into a head-down position for birth.
• The average birth weight is between 6 pounds 2 ounces to 9 pounds 2 ounces and the average length is 19 to 21 inches long. Most full-term babies fall within these ranges, but healthy babies come in many different weights and sizes.