When does 2nd trimester officially begin?

[Peasandyoghurt]

I've had a very stressful first trimester (mostly self-inflicted; I've just been terrified of miscarrying) and been just living and breathing for the big 12 weeks, thinking at that point I'd be able to relax a bit more.

I'm currently 12+5 but read a couple of weeks ago that actually the 2nd tri doesn't start til 13 and even 14 weeks! I know it's not a magical 'safety zone' that you tip over into overnight, but I'm just really looking forward to being able to say (mostly to myself) 'I'm in my second trimester'!

Does anybody know when this will really be?

I think officially your 13th week, but after 12 weeks and a positive scan the risks of something going wrong are dramatically reduced

Well, pregnancy is roughly about 39 to 40 weeks so each of the three trimesters has to be about 13 weeks in length - and that's the same length as three months (3 months = 13 weeks because 1 year= 43 months = 413 weeks = 52 weeks). So I would say second trimester starts when you're 13 weeks 0 days.

But - like lalabaloo says, it's the positive result on the scan that puts you in the safety zone, not the actual 12 week point. I had recurrent miscarriage and never bled until week 12 but the pregnancies had failed to progress beyond 6 weeks.

I suspect the reason they scan at 12 weeks is that most problems show up at about 5-8 weeks (they did with me anyway) so by 12 weeks there's no issue with ambiguity about dates or anything. By that time a good result is a good result!

Anyway now you have your good result you can think about yourself some... best thing about the second trimester is that mostly the sickness and tiredness starts to get better. I remember getting to 12 weeks and for the first time since the positive result I had the energy to cook, and the appetite to eat, a meal that wasn't toast or macaroni and cheese. Happy day...