How Long Is a Baby at 20 Weeks
What's happening in my torso?
Y'all may have your anomaly scan this week. The sonographer will be checking your baby's development and will also examine your placenta (that'south the pancake-shaped organ that feeds your babe and removes waste material).
Y'all might find yourself being woken up at nighttime by sudden precipitous pains in your calves. It's probably cramp, which is common in pregnancy and caused by muscular spasms. Rub the muscle hard or pull your toes upwards towards your talocrural joint. Exercising more in the solar day could assistance you avoid this and you could try these pes exercises.
Whooping cough jab
Whooping cough is on the rise – but you can protect your baby from this dangerous condition past having a vaccination. The NHS recommends that all pregnant women should accept the jab, ideally between sixteen and 32 weeks. The immunity that you get will be passed on to your babe through the placenta and then offer protection until the routine jab that well-nigh babies accept at two months. Discover out more about the whooping cough vaccination.
Your Maternity Document
Ask your doctor or midwife for a Maternity Document, too known every bit a MAT B1 course. It'due south issued from twenty weeks onwards, and y'all'll need it to merits motherhood pay and benefits.
Second trimester pregnancy symptoms (at 20 weeks)
Your signs of pregnancy this week could include:
- tiredness and sleeping problems
- stretch marks
- swollen and haemorrhage gums
- pains on the side of your belly, acquired by your expanding womb (known every bit "round ligament pains")
- headaches
- nosebleeds
- bloating and constipation
- indigestion and heartburn
- sore breasts
- leg cramps
- feeling hot
- dizziness
- swollen hands and feet
- urine infections
- vaginal infections
- darkened skin on your confront or brown patches – this is known equally chloasma or the "mask of pregnancy"
- greasier, spotty skin
- thicker and shinier pilus
- symptoms from earlier weeks, such every bit morning sickness, weird pregnancy cravings, a heightened sense of odour, mood swings, a white milky pregnancy belch from your vagina and light spotting (seek medical communication for any bleeding)
Tommy's, the baby charity, has a further listing of common symptoms.
What does my babe look like?
Your babe, or foetus, is effectually 25.6cm long, which is the size of a banana. Measurements are now taken from caput to heel. In earlier weeks, babies are measured from the caput to the lesser considering the legs are curled up and hard to see. Your babe weighs effectually 300g. That's approximately the weight of iii apples.
Your infant is at present covered in a white, greasy layer of "vernix". Information technology'due south idea that this protects their delicate skin from drying out in the amniotic fluid. This slippery layer also helps babies to make their way down the birth canal.
Your baby will be getting more than active each day. Likewise every bit kicking, punching and turning effectually, your infant could exist sucking their thumb – this develops their sucking reflex, which they'll demand to feed one time they're built-in.
You may commencement to feel a bubbling or fluttering in your belly – this could exist your baby moving around.
Action stations
This week you could:
Yous don't take to tell your employer for several more than weeks, but every bit presently as you do, you will have maternity rights and can attend antenatal appointments during paid piece of work time. Y'all can too inquire for a risk assessment of your work place. If you want to expect, the latest yous can leave it is 15 weeks before the baby is due, which is around calendar week 25. It volition probably be rather obvious by and so anyway!
It'south a good fourth dimension to tone upwardly those muscles "downward under". Gentle exercises can help to preclude leakage when you laugh, sneeze or cough. Go the muscles going past pretending that you lot're having a wee and stopping midflow. Visit Tommy's for more than ideas.
Enquire your midwife or medico about online antenatal classes – they may exist able to recommend i. The charity Tommy's has lots of useful information on antenatal classes and preparing you lot for nascency.
Ask your partner if they would similar to accept function in the antenatal classes. Fifty-fifty if you've had children before, they're nevertheless worth going to as you can meet other parentshoped-for. The NCT offers online antenatal classes with pocket-size groups of people that live locally to you lot.
We can commonly get plenty vitamin D from sunlight, but between October and March it's best to take a vitamin D supplement every day. Just 10 micrograms is all you need (information technology's the same for grown-ups and kids). Information technology'due south worth checking if you're entitled to costless vitamins.
It's recommended that pregnant women do 150 minutes of exercise throughout the week. You lot could start off with just x minutes of daily exercise - perchance have a brisk walk exterior. Check out Sport England's #StayInWorkOut online exercises (scroll to the pregnancy section). Heed to your torso and practise what feels right for you.
Don't eat for two! Eat for you. You don't demand any extra calories until the tertiary trimester, which starts in week 28. Endeavor to eat healthily, with plenty of fresh fruit and veg, and avert processed, fatty and salty foods. You lot may be able to get complimentary milk, fruit and veg through the Healthy Start scheme.
How Long Is a Baby at 20 Weeks
Source: https://www.nhs.uk/start4life/pregnancy/week-by-week/2nd-trimester/week-20/