Half way there! A 20 week baby should be between 9 and 10 ounces and well over 6 inches long. Now is the time to fill up on red meat, poultry, fish, lentils, spinach, and iron-fortified cereals. At this point Iron is very important for the development of your baby’s red blood cells. You will probably be feeling your baby now, they are big enough now to make an impact that you definitely cant miss. A good thump now and then is a great comfort because its a good sign that all is well in there with baby.
You may have noticed you are getting less graceful as you continue on in your pregnancy, this is only going to get worse! If you were less than graceful prior to pregnancy be sure you wear good shoes that wont trip you up, just say no to platforms, high heels and flip flops. Personally I can (and have) tripped myself barefoot so good shoes can only go so far.
Vernix is developing to protect baby’s skin now, its a greasy white coating, if your baby is born early they will be born with this still covering them. My youngest son was born just two weeks early and had a lot of his vernix still on him. Since the baby is living in water this coating works as a sort of sealant to keep their skin soft and healthy.
Meconium has also begun to accumulate inside your baby’s bowels. Its made up of digestive secretions and amniotic fluid, when your baby has their first dirty diapers that is what you will be seeing. Those first diapers are very unusual, they meconium is tar like and very sticky and is almost black! These pass within the first couple of days and will be replaced with more normal dirty diapers.
One of the most common complaints during pregnancy is back pain or back discomfort. Its expected, after all you are gaining a good 10-20 pounds straight out infront of you. Not to mention your body is preparing for labour by loosening up all the joints in the body. Hip pain is also very common, there is afterall a kid inside your body and they can put a lot of pressure on certain bones and joints. If you can find a good chiropractor who specializes in adjusting pregnant women he or she will become your best friend. The same goes for a good prenatal massage. They are worth their weight in gold. I find that running or walking on an incline at a good speed really helps with my lower back discomforts but I have a lot of stiffness and pain in my upper back and shoulders. Hot baths are definatly out for pain relief, they can raise your core temperature too a dangerous level for your little baby. Hot showers are do-able, since you arent submerged. But I usually have two little boys pounding on the bathroom door so my hot showers are never very relaxing. Even if you cant find or afford a proffessional massage a good back rub from any willing person is definatly helpful. I pester my husband constantly to rub my back, especailly my very lower back, just above my tail bone and my upper back between my shoulder blades. Those are the places that hurt me the most. I have found for me laying on my back on the floor really helps with the discomfort, the pain and tension really melts away but I cant stay in that position long before starting to hurt. Of course good posture and good supportive shoes go a long way to help keep the back pain away. I try to fix my posture as often as possible but the shoe issue is where Im very guilty. I hate shoes, if I am not running or working out I wear flip flops, year around- possibley the worst shoes you can wear besides high high heels during pregnancy. So keep those sneakers on, back straight tummy ‘in’ and shoulders relaxed and that will go a long way to preventing back pain during your pregnancy.
Im 19 weeks two days and weighed 164.4lbs this morning. As of today I am up almost eight and a half pounds, not bad. Ive been feeling my little Hailey kick like crazy since last night. She is really bouncing around in there now. Its wonderful feeling those little thumps. Its a nice reminder that she must be doing well in there. While I was laying in bed last night I could feel her thumping around. I told my husband and he put his hand on my tummy and tried to feel, but no go, as soon as he touched me she stopped kicking. Im almost half way through my pregnancy already! Im hoping the next twenty weeks fly by as fast as the last twenty. Tonight I am supposed to run some intervals. I havent done any during this pregnancy except for before I took a pregnancy test. Hopefully they go well. I know my back could definitely use a good run!
Im almost halfway there! Today I am 19 weeks pregnant and weighed 163.6lbs this morning. The past two weeks Ive packed on a little over 2 pounds I think. I ate really bad today I felt hungry all day but my tummy was really uncomfortable. Im not sure whats up with that. I hope it passes soon or Ill gain 50 pounds by November.
At 19 weeks pregnant baby Hailey is a good 6 inches long and wieghs about 7ounces. She is kicking up a storm. I dont feel her as strongly as I did the boys at this stage but Im not concerned since her placenta is at the front of my uterus so Im not expecting to feel much up front. Most of the time I feel her kicks to the sides of my uterus and occasionally I feel a good jab to my bladder.
The skin on my tummy is starting to get itchy so Ive broken out the lotion to help that little problem out. My back has also really been bothering me. My ran four miles the other day and that really helped with my back pain. I am schedualled to run 35 minutes tonight so hopefully once again that will give my poor back a break from all these pains!
Pregnancy can bring stretch marks and before I go any further if you are going to get them you are going to get them. Period. Its genetics unfortunatly. My first pregnancy my tummy was covered in them fairly early on. I wish I could find my old pregnancy journal so I knew exactly when they started. I remember my first one it was to the right side of my belly button and it was horizontal, it was about a half an inch long and I was so sad when I saw it. I figured I would get them, I have them on my hips and breasts from puberty so there was that possibility. My mother also got a bunch while she was pregnant. I gained a LOT of weight in a short period of time with my first pregnancy- about twenty pounds in a span of about 4 weeks. Thats a lot of wieght to put on and it definatly wasnt all baby or even baby related I know that went a long way to my stretch mark explosion. A slow and steady weight gain will minimize your stretch marks. A huge gain is going to make things worse! If you are prone to stretch marks try to keep it slow and steady and that is your best bet on keeping them to a minimum. My second pregnancy my skin was already badly scarred from the previous pregnancy and I didnt get any additional stretch marks until very late in my pregnancy. Unfortunatly stretchmarks will never go away, they will fade from a bruise or red color to a silvery white (if you are caucasian) Mine are currently silvery scars, there are hundreds of them, Im not exagerating. My entire stomach below my belly button is covered completly by stretchmarks, some were a half inch wide when I was pregnant. Some people find their stretchmarks ache or itch. A good body lotion or body butter will help with that. Keeping your skin moisturized will help reduce that itchiness as it stretches. To pick a good lotion look on the ingredients list, try to find a lotion that has an oil or butter high on the list.
Right now at 19 weeks pregnant my stretch marks havent started to get worse but one is really bothering me. Im putting lotion on my tummy twice a day to try and help that out. That discomfort drives me up the wall!