Week 20 Of Your Baby’s Development!
Your baby is the size of a banana
Congratulations. you’re officially half way! Measuring about 6.5 inches from crown to rump(about the length of a banana) and weighing about 10.5 ounces, baby’s main past time is turning somersaults and practicing swallowing. Baby is continuing to explore her new found skills, curling her fists, grabbing with them, flexing her legs and arms and kicking out.
Appearance wise, the more finer details are emerging. Her hair is growing out and so are her eyebrows, eye lashes and nails.
Her body is still producing meconium which is a combination of the fluid she has swallowed, dead skin cells and other waste. This is excreted via baby after birth as her first bowel movement, or sometimes, during birth if she becomes stressed.
Week 20 Of Your Health, Mind & Body Changes
The ligaments supporting your womb are being worked harder than ever before and this may be causing some aching in the stomach area. Pregnancy related pain in the pelvic area is also common and if it gets too bad, ask if you can use a girdle or other support garment.
Sitting or standing for long periods can get uncomfortable now because you just can’t seem to find a comfortable position but this is most problematic when you are settling down for the night.
Tip: Pregnancy pillows may help, especially the large horse-shoe shaped varieties. Lying on your side is best at this point to relieve pressure off your artery’s and circulation. A pillow between your legs can also help relieve pressure and provide more comfort.
You may be feeling both anxious about the childbirth and excited about getting to see your baby soon, with anxiety winning out when you are feeling your achy muscles. Just know, this phase will not last forever and it won’t be long until you’ll see (like everyone probably keeps telling you) it was all worth it. Yes, those cliche’s are all true!
Week 20 Of Your Next Steps!
- This is a good time to be looking at your options for childbirth classes as there are a few. If you’re going to be birthing in hospital you could opt for the hospital run class. Or, if you would like to try for a more natural birth, ‘Lamaze’, ‘The Bradley Method’, ‘Hypnobirthing’ and ‘Birthing From Within’ all offer valuable techniques and information to help women be more calm, in control and aware of what will happen during birth and how to navigate through the experience with less anxiety.
- This is the time when your caregiver will start measuring the ‘fundal height’ (distance from the pubic bone to the top of your uterus). This helps them monitor whether your baby is too large, too small or just the right size. It’s only a guide though, so don’t stress if your baby is measuring bigger or smaller. If your caregiver is concerned, they’ll order some additional tests.
- You should be getting your second trimester scan this week if you haven’t already – it’s just magical getting to see your little love on screen moving around.
- Now is a good time to start looking at baby names, especially if you’re going to be finding out the gender at the second trimester scan. Something so important takes time (and a lot of negotiation if you and your partner have different ideas about what constitutes a nice name!)
“We sat with each of our chosen names for a whole day, referred to the baby as that name, and that then gave us an idea if the name ‘felt’ right. We soon narrowed down our list quite quickly!“ Kendall
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