Your month-by-month pregnancy guide: month 4-6

You've made it through your first trimester! Congratulations!

Month four

Where did you get all this energy? One day you went to sleep, exhausted again, and the next you sprung out of bed ready to run a marathon (don’t!). Officially in the second trimester, you’ve entered what is referred to as the “Honeymoon Trimester.” Those early months of added hormones have stopped wrecking havoc on your body and you feel refreshed, and may even have that “pregnancy glow” (due to increased blood flow), not to mention thickening hair that looks healthy and radiant, an added hormonal plus.

But the honeymoon name also refers to the increased sex drive you’ll feel these next few months. No, sex won’t harm the baby, so enjoy it now before you get too big and tired in the third trimester to want to have any!“All my complaining, the exhaustion, the aches, the pains, the swelling...when I hit the second trimester, I felt great,” says Cory (last name withheld), a first-time mom and morning DJ on Country 92.5 in Hartford, Conn. “I got my energy back. The second trimester was fantastic!”

The only downside is those hormones may cause your gums to bleed and the risk of periodontal disease increases seven-fold during pregnancy. If you already have early signs of periodontal disease, the condition only worsens, and infections caused by the disease pose serious health risks to the baby, so it’s important to continue seeing your dentist during pregnancy and floss regularly.

Month five

Finally! You’re starting to look pregnant. And no more frumpiness—you can officially fit into maternity clothes. “I was so happy when I finally looked pregnant. Before I just looked fat. It took five and a half months to show and I was so excited,” says Cory.

On the down side, you may have “pregnancy brain,” where remembering simple words and tasks can become difficult. Your head is in the clouds and you can be a little ditzy these days. Ah, life is but a dream (or at least it feels that way).

This is also the month when you may feel a tickling sensation in your belly or butterflies in your stomach. These are your baby’s first movements. “It felt like bubbles were going up through my belly,” says Kelly.

About this time, pregnancy cravings may occur—you may want a food you’ve never liked, or something you loved is now repulsive to you. Some say this is because your body knows what nutrients your baby needs or is missing, causing you to crave these items, says Hoffman, but in actuality, “food cravings are more related to deficiencies the mother may have, not the baby. For most vitamins and minerals, such as iron, the baby acts as a sink and they will preferentially go to the baby—to the point the mother becomes deficient in the vitamin or mineral. A craving for ice, for example, is a sign of iron deficiency.”

Month six

Although the last two months you’ve only put on about five pounds, you’ll put on up to four pounds this month, a big month for change. To begin, heartburn may have you popping Tums all day, like Kelly, who would even wake at night feeling nauseous.

“Heartburn is frequent for a few reasons, the biggest of which is the growing uterus pushing up into stomach area. Also, there is the release of a hormone called relaxin, which aids in the relaxation of joints and ligaments in the pelvis to allow for the delivery of the baby, as well as relaxing the cardiac sphincter, which is the muscle around the top of the stomach that contracts to prevent gastric acid from escaping up into the esophagus,” says Hoffman. “To help alleviate heartburn, elevate the top of bed (not just pillows), don’t eat less than three to four hours before bed and stay away from spicy foods, citrus juices and anything that has given you trouble before pregnancy. Maalox, Mylanta and Tums work, too.

Added hormones may also bring out noticeable skin pigmentation this month. Maybe it’s a vertical stripe that descends down your stomach. Maybe you’ll notice that from your belly button down, your skin looks darker, in general. Maybe your nipples will darken. Or maybe you’ll develop the “mask of pregnancy,” which is dark spots on the face that typically fade after your baby is born. And that growing belly, pigmented or not, may begin to itch due to the stretching and drying out. Be sure to lather on plenty of lotion, especially cocoa butter, which many women claim keeps away the stretch marks.