Your pregnancy - second trimester

“When I was pregnant, I loved to run a deep warm bathand fill it with cream bath. Half an hour's soak and I feel ready to face the world again.“ Mums' Choice member Amanda Hardie, mum to Emilia, 5 and Scarlett, 2

Month 6: Twinges and stretches

You: You’re probably feeling really pregnant now, as your body continues to grow steadily. You will also be much more aware of your baby moving around. You may feel twinges as your ligaments stretch in order to make it easier for your baby to pass through your pelvis when you’re giving birth. This can make your back more prone to injury. Antenatal yoga is a good form of exercise for you at this stage, and can also help you with breathing techniques that may help you later on during labour.

It is also a good idea to practice pelvic floor exercises now. The pelvic floor muscles wrap around the underside of your bladder and rectum, and making these muscles stronger can help to prevent stress incontinence (urine leaks as a result of sudden extra pressure, like coughing) later on. Stress incontinence is extremely common after giving birth, but doing pelvic floor exercise before and afterwards can help.

Your baby: Measuring between 11 and 14 inches and weighing about 453 grams (1lb), your baby now looks like a small but perfectly-formed little person. His skin at this stage is reddish in colour and slightly wrinkled, and veins are visible.

His toe and fingerprints are also visible and it is at this stage that his eyelids part and his eyes begin to open. Your baby may also respond to particular sounds now, and when he hiccups, you’ll probably notice. With more developed facial features, he will be trying out more and more expressions, like frowning and opening and closing his mouth.