Written By: Debjani Arora | Updated : December 14, 2014 5:25 PM IST
You are now very close to completing your second trimester and entering the third one. Remember, you need to be more cautious and careful with your diet and health as whatever you do now will affect your baby s growth and development exponentially.
Here is what happens to you during this week:
Your hair grows in volume: While your uterus stretches to accommodate the fetus growing inside your womb, your hair grows in volume. Yes, there is a direct correlation with the two. The hormonal changes that are responsible for almost all the functions of the body during pregnancy, arrest hair fall during this stage. This is the reason why many pregnant women feel that their hair becomes lustrous and gains volume during pregnancy. However, this is just a temporary state. Post delivery when the body restores its normal hormonal patterns new mothers experience excessive hair fall, termed as pregnancy-induced alopecia.
Your skin might become irritated: Due to the various hormonal changes you may also experience hot flashes especially under the folds of your skin along with increased dryness. It is also common to feel some amount of itchiness and dryness in the stomach area due to stretch marks. Regular moisturizing can help deal with the problem. However, there are ways in which stretch marks can be prevented during pregnancy. Apart from this, you may also experience dryness in your eyes and sensitivity to light.
You might experience backache: As your uterus grows in size, your back takes the maximum toll on it. This is more evident for women who are too lethargic to exercise during pregnancy dismissing its various health benefits. Moreover, bad posture could further exacerbate the pain.
You could suffer from hemorrhoids: This is the most common pregnancy problem that many women face, however it can catch up with you with a vengeance during this week. This is because the expanding uterus presses on the rectal area resulting in swollen, itchy veins leading to pregnancy-induced hemorrhoids. This can be downright painful and cause rectal bleeding.
Apart from these above mentioned symptoms, you could still experience the other common pregnancy problems like edema, acne, constipation, lower abdominal pains, vaginal infection, etc.
Development of your baby
Here is what happens to your baby inside the womb:
Your baby gets fat deposits under the skin: Till now your baby s physical features were developing along with limbs and hands growing in proportion with the body. This week onwards fat tissues start to get deposited under the skin and make your baby look more like a newborn. Your baby will appear more human-like and not a miniature skeleton, if you can see through a 3D scan.
Increased fetal movement: Many mothers feel increased fetal movements starting from week 24. Know that this is a good sign during your pregnancy, which means that your baby is healthy, growing and developing at the right pace. However, increased fetal movements don t mean that you would give birth to a hyperactive child.
Your baby follows a routine: If you have been very observant about fetal movements, you might notice that your baby remains active during some hours of the day and rests during other times. This is because even in the womb your baby can follow a sleep-wake pattern of its own. Many expectant mothers feel that babies are most active right after their meal.
Respiratory system develops: While all the other major systems of your baby are developing and functioning on their own, this week the development of the lungs takes a step ahead. The lungs have already developed surfactant, a substance that will help them to expand while breathing after the birth. Now, blood vessels start to develop in the lungs bringing them a litter closer to maturity. Apart from this, your baby s nostrils open to help breathe in air. Since there is no air inside the womb, your baby will be breathing in amniotic fluid, which turns to be a good practice for breathing after birth.
This week your baby can weigh anywhere between 600 to 650g and measure around 350 mm from crown to heel.
What you should do:
Image source: Getty Images
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