My belly is definately growing now, though I really just feel a bit fatter than usual. Andrew often talks to the baby, giving it information on life needs such as how to do handbrake turns and explains how things work. He also often tells it to kick me, particularly if he wants it’s input in a vote….”if you want mummy to buy daddy a remote control helicopter, kick your mummy”. Baby movements are also much easier to feel…they are definately getting stronger!

I feel like we’re really organised as far as baby gear goes. I thought we’d be buying all the bits and pieces much later in the pregnancy, but we have a cot and pram on layby (so we don’t have to store it just yet) purchased during a sale, a change table that we bought on Ebay that we have to pick up next weekend, a friend is giving us a bassinet and some small baby clothes, another friend is loaning us their baby bath…so I think we have most things covered already. Now it’s just a matter of converting the study to a baby’s room, which is proving more difficult than we thought it would.

Info from Birth.com.au

You are now 22 weeks pregnant and at the beginning of week 23. Your baby is around 26 cm long from head to toe and weighs about 550 grams. Your baby’s nervous system is now completely ‘connected’. The vital link between their brain and spinal cord (the brain stem) has matured and many nerve cells make vigorous connections. Now your baby is capable of recognising warmth, light, sound and pain. While primitive brain waves have been detected in unborn babies as early as 7 weeks, it is not until 22 weeks that sustained patterns can be definitely recorded. Some women will now notice that their baby jumps with a loud sound.

Unborn babies at this stage typically like to lie in a transverse position (or crossways inside your belly), with their feet and bottom on one side, and their head on the other side. Your baby’s placenta is now processing about 1 litre of blood per hour and by 40 weeks this increases to about 12 litres per hour.

Physical changes, swelling. About 65% of healthy pregnant women develop fluid retention or swelling (called oedema), even though their blood pressure is normal. This may be noticed any time after 20 weeks of pregnancy and can happen in the legs, feet and hands. Normal pregnancy swelling is generally more noticeable at the end of the day, although it may be worse on hot days, after a plane trip or if you are on your feet for long periods of time. NOTE: If you notice sudden swelling, you should have your blood pressure checked by your caregiver or local doctor to make sure it is NOT related to high blood pressure.

Emotional reactions. Most women are feeling quite comfortable with their pregnancy by this stage, both physically and emotionally. Thoughts may now turn towards giving birth to your baby and making preparations for this and after the birth. Partners may also feel the pregnancy is becoming more tangible as they watch the woman’s belly grow and hopefully soon will be able to feel their baby move as well!

I’ve been feeling the baby moving now for a couple of weeks, but it isn’t every day. It still feels like the inside of my belly has little twitches every now and again. Last weekend I didn’t feel it move at all, and so both Andrew and I were a little concerned. But I felt movements again yesterday morning. I think Andrew was still a bit worried, until last night when I was in bed and I got him to put his hand on my belly and he actually felt the baby kick! He was so excited about it! It’s just so nice for Andrew to be able to feel the baby and know it’s still wriggling around in there.

I also booked us into a baby class called ‘Having a baby – active’. The midwife we saw last week suggested it as being a good one if we planned to do classes. It starts November 7 and runs for 3 hours every Wednesday night until December 5. It should be interesting. 🙂

I also had to go shopping last week to get some pants that are more comfortable, since my jeans were no longer comfortable. I got a black pair of maternity pants that are very stretchy. At the moment they keep falling down a little, but I guess it won’t be long until I have more of a belly to hold them up. I also got another pair of loose pants (not specifically maternity pants) and some tops just because all the ones I’d been wearing were old and looked quite ratty.

One last piece of information, in the last 5 months I’ve put on 2 kg. I’m guessing that the next 4 months will see my weight increase quite a bit. It’s the only time I’ve ever been happy be heavier every time I stand on the scales. 🙂

Info from Birth.com.au

You are now 21 weeks pregnant and at the beginning of week 22. Your baby is around 25 cm long from head to toe and weighs just under 1/2 a kilogram. Most women have definitely felt their baby move inside them now, although the sensations may still be sporadic and infrequent. A few women are still waiting!

Your baby’s skin is being increasingly covered by vernix. This is a thick, white, greasy cream that protects their skin in their watery environment. Vernix disappears by about 40 weeks, but if your baby is born at 39 weeks or less, you will notice it is still on their skin. Your baby’s eyelids are still fused shut but the retinas of their eyes are fully developed and they now have distinct eyelashes and eyebrows. Your baby’s hair follicles are now pigmenting to give them hair colour, looking dark, fair or red!

I’ve been trying for 3 weeks to feel some movement of the baby, and I’ve had some weird feelings that I haven’t been able to identify.  They didn’t feel like the fluttering or bubbles that people describe, and so I put it down to stretching of ligaments as what I was feeling was more like little pains than anything else.  On Sunday, however, I felt something a bit different.  It was like little twitches, or maybe pokes, so the only thing I can think it might be is the baby moving!!  It was very exciting, and when I told Andrew he was so happy and he got a grin on his face that lasted the rest of the day!!  I felt the same thing again yesterday, just briefly.

Info from Birth.com.au:

You are now 19 weeks pregnant, which is the beginning of week 20. Your baby now measures about 22 cm from head to toe and weighs about 340 grams. The bones in your baby’s inner ear and their nerve endings are now developed to the point where it is possible for them to hear sounds (although their ears are not structurally complete until 24 weeks). Studies carried out on the reactions of unborn babies to sound have shown that a few babies start responding to noise as early as 19 weeks, but by 26 weeks all babies will respond. The sounds an unborn baby can hear include your heartbeat and breathing, the wind sounds from your intestines and the sound of your voice, as well as other sounds around you. It is thought that if a pregnant woman is constantly exposed to very loud noises, this may have an adverse effect on her baby’s hearing.

Aches and pains. Many women experience sharp groin pains during the middle of their pregnancy. These are usually caused by straining the round ligaments that support the growing uterus. Walking, sudden movements, coughing, sneezing or exercise such as swimming can trigger pains. As the pregnancy progresses into the middle months, various emotions can surface in both positive and negative ways. For a few women, their pregnancy feels like just an essential physical process they must endure in order to have a baby. These feelings may come as a surprise if you expected to enjoy being pregnant but in reality have found this not to be the case. Despite society’s expectation that all pregnant women should feel happy and ‘glowing’, for some women these feelings are far from the truth.

Childbirth preparation classes are not compulsory and you may prefer just to read books, talk with friends and relatives or use Internet sites to prepare for your baby’s birth. However, many prospective parents choose to attend face-to-face classes to help them prepare, as well as to meet other pregnant women and their partners. Childbirth classes fill up quickly, so we recommend booking them soon, even though they may not start until 28 to 30 weeks. In more recent years, childbirth classes have incorporated early parenting, breastfeeding and perhaps techniques for settling a crying baby. Often separate classes are provided to specifically address special areas.

Again there’s not much to report from this last week.  The last couple of days I seem to have lost most of my appetite, so I don’t eat much for meals and then a couple of hours later I’m hungry.  It’s rather weird.  So I eat some more of my dinner, but it doesn’t take much before I’m full again.  I didn’t think the baby would be big enough to be affecting my stomach much yet, but maybe it is. 

I’m looking forward to Tuesday morning next week when we have our ultrasound where they check out the baby’s internal organs and external features.  It’s always nice to have confirmation that things are still going along ok.  And then a week later is the appointment at the Birth Centre. 

Info from Birth.com.au:

You are now 18 weeks pregnant, which is beginning of week 19. Your baby is now 20 cm long from head to toe and weighs approximately 310 grams.

Your baby has a fine layer of hair covering their body, called lanugo. This helps protect their skin and is only shed a few weeks before they are due to be born.

Andrew has now been photographing my belly each week for 2 weeks, so we have 3 lots of photographs. It does seem that my belly has changed shape ever so slightly in that time. I haven’t outgrown any of my clothes yet, except my bras but I did that ages ago but am too lazy to be bothered buying any new ones yet.

There’s not really much else to report. I haven’t weighed myself in the last week, so I don’t know what’s happening weight wise. I’ve been having some little intermittent pains low down, more in the pelvic area, but I don’t know what’s causing them. I don’t know if it’s the baby moving, just general stretching, or something else.  Every morning and every evening I lie on my back in bed and concentrate on my belly, but so far I haven’t been able to identify anything as being the baby moving.  I guess it’s just early days yet, there’s plenty of time to feel the baby kicking.  Andrew keeps telling it to kick me, but so far it’s not listening to him either.  Mind you, it can’t hear yet, so maybe that’s part of the problem.  hehe.

Info from Birth.com.au:

You are now 17 weeks pregnant which is the beginning of week 18. Your baby measures about 19 cm long from head to toe and weighs about 280 grams. Many women elect to have a routine ultrasound between 18 to 20 weeks (usually at 19 weeks). Unborn babies need to be at least 18 weeks gestation for the ultrasonographer to clearly see the normal physical structures of their body, including their heart, lungs, kidneys, brain and spine. An experienced ultrasonographer may even be able to tell if your baby is a girl or a boy by this stage (although this is not always 100% accurate!)

Your baby’s skin is still fine, transparent and slightly wrinkled because they do not have a layer of fat yet. The many blood vessels flowing underneath their skin makes it appear purply-red. The scant whiskers of hair on various parts of your baby’s body have now become a fine layer of down covering them all over (called ‘lanugo’). This hair helps protect your baby’s skin and is only shed a few weeks before they are due to be born.

Your baby will now explore their own body with their hands and if you are having twins or more they may try and locate each other, by touching and exploring the body of their brother or sister. There is plenty of fluid around your baby at this stage, allowing it to turn, twist and change position frequently. Some women definitely feel their baby move now (called ‘quickening’), however for many others, this exciting event is not experienced until 20 to 22 weeks.

I seem to have stopped itching, thankfully.  I don’t know what that was about, I was itchy for weeks!  Otherwise, my belly seems to be starting to grow, though I’m definately not at the stage where anyone would look at me and think I’m pregnant!  So far I haven’t put on any weight from my pre-pregnancy weight, even though it has fluctuated a few kg up and down in the last few months.  But I seem to be back to my starting point now.  I guess it will start going up soon. 

From Birth.com.au

You are now 16 weeks pregnant, which is the beginning of week 17.  Your baby is about 17 cm long from head to toe and weighs approximately 200 grams.

Andrew took the first photo of my belly on the weekend. It’s a shame that we don’t have a really early photo so we can see the difference. I don’t particularly like having photos taken of me, and to bare my belly for photos is even worse. But I’m sure that one day I’ll appreciate that we have them. Andrew is under strict instructions not to let anyone else see them though!

I am still feeling well, this pregnancy thing is a bit of a breeze so far! I’m a little nervous about the appointment with the doctor next week though. I hate the thought that my blood pressure might still be high…I don’t want high blood pressure!! It also means they may not let me go to the Birth Centre, but I guess all I can do right now is wait and see.

Info from Birth.com.au:

You are now 15 weeks pregnant which is the beginning of week 16. Your baby has grown to around 15 cms in length from head to toe, or about 10cms from ‘crown to rump’. It probably weighs about 120 grams and are more in proportion physically, but it’s head still accounts for about 1/3 of their body.

When lying down, the top of your uterus (or fundus) can now be felt hearly half way between your pubic bone and belly button. Women who have had a baby before may start to feel small sensations of their baby’s movements this week, but this is more common between 18 and 22 weeks.

A few women start producing colostrum from their breasts after 16 weeks to 20 weeks of pregnancy (although this does not happen for every pregnant woman and is not a reflection of your ability to breastfeed your baby). Colostrum is the first fluid a woman’s breasts produce. It is a clear or creamy-yellow substance that is syrupy in consistency. It may be possible for you to hand express drops of colostrum from your nipples during pregnancy. Or you may notice colostrum leaking.

Your baby’s vocal chords are now formed and they now make different facial expressions. They can grasp with their hands and suck their thumb and may explore the inside of your uterus with their hands. If your uterus is pressed from the outside, this may produce a small startle response in your baby. One of the many normal newborn reflexes present after birth.

The amniotic fluid increases around your baby, so they move freely, floating like an astronaut in space and their umbilical cord is now completely mature. The cord contains two arteries and one vein, enclosed and protected by a thick gristle-like substance called ‘Wharton’s Jelly’. This makes the cord slippery and allows it to move freely around your baby and avoid compression.

There’s really nothing to report.  I feel fine.  I’m not really sure what my belly is doing…Andrew says that it’s poking out a bit more than it used to, but I’m still wearing my normal clothes.  I usually go for the comfy fit, so maybe that’s why I’m not noticing anything yet.  🙂

 From Birth.com.au:

You are now 14 weeks pregnant, which is the beginning of week 15. Your baby measures about 12 cm long from head to toe and weighs approximately 85 grams.

Your baby’s placenta is now fully functional but remains larger than the baby (until about 16 weeks). The placenta supplies your baby with oxygen, fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals as well as removing carbon dioxide and waste materials, by filtering them through the placental tissues attached to the uterus. This intricate process of diffusion makes these exchanges possible because the tiny blood vessels of mother and baby are incredibly close together, yet remarkably always separate.