Pregnancy Week 20 - Successfully Accomplished Half The Journey

Congratulations! Till now you have completed half the path in your pregnancy and you need to complete another half.

Eating healthy, childbirth lessons, drinking enough water, petite maternity clothing, proper workouts, enough rest and a supportable maternity pillow can be the weapons to complete the remaining half journey.

What are the physical changes that occur in your body during pregnancy week 20?

During this time, engaging in a Lamaze course is a great way to get relief. This course will teach you a wide range of alternative breathing and birthing techniques. If you are already under the course, then do these activities along with yoga or swimming courses.

The Lamaze classes will teach you essential coping strategies for labor, along with focused breathing, labor support, positioning, relaxation, massage [pregnancy massage], hydrotherapy and also the use of heat and cold therapies.

Both of these pregnancy exercises will help you in focusing your breathing patterns and at the same time they will increase your strength, flexibility and energy flow. Now the size of your uterus is approximately 18-22 cm. You feel slight itching because of the wide stretching of your body.

You can also hear your baby’s heartbeat with the help of a telescope called Delee stethoscope. Some health care providers use this type of device instead of a Doppler device. Now, your partner can also hear the baby’s heartbeat by placing his ear against your lower abdomen.

After the pregnancy week 20, your uterus will reach your bellybutton. Typically, the growth begins regular from this point of time, so you can observe the regular changes in your belly. Your physician will measure the regular changes of your belly in order to know your baby’s growth and development.

Despite of the tiredness and dreadful requirement to sleep, there are various sleepless nights that you will encounter. For all these tricky situations, the solution is buying a supporting body pillow.

If you are a first time pregnant, the baby will drop or hold into the pelvis for few more weeks before birth and from then the situation will be normal. For the second pregnancy, this will not be the case until the birth.

What are the changes that occur in the fetus during pregnancy week 20?

• By this week, your baby is about the size of 10.5 inches in length and weighs about 10.5 ounces.
• Your baby’s bones continue to ossify and become tight, while their toe pads and fingers are finishing up.
• Now, your little one has the teeth buds, but they are hidden under the gum line.
• The baby’s limbs are very near to reach their relative proportions.
• Your little one’s cute lips are now more defined and they help in prenatal thumb sucking.
• If your baby is a boy, then the tiny testes of the baby is about to descend, however they do not yet exceed the abdominal wall.
• Now, the baby’s eyebrows and eyelashes are visible and at this point of time, the little baby looks like a miniature baby.
• By this week, heat producing brown fat is already begun to develop on your baby’s chest, neck and in crotch areas. Your baby will have well developed sleep and wake patterns.

Fact for pregnancy week 20:

Consult your doctor for regular blood checkups. The blood pressure reading allows your doctor to know the safe level of you and your baby during pregnancy and also when you will be in labor. Generally, the blood pressure more than the range 140/90 is considered as high.