 |
| Photo ©iStockphoto.com/alvarez |
You are getting bigger and you may feel breathless sometimes. You may notice your thighs and buttocks are bigger too.
You may have a stuffy nose and nose bleeds.
You may experience heartburn and itchiness as well as an increase in vaginal secretions.
What to do:
Breathlessness – Rest as much as you need to.
Heartburn - Try to cut down on food that produces a lot of gas like onions, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, beans and spicy food that takes a long time to digest. Also, don't lie down immediately after a meal. A pregnant woman might feel tired and lethargic but it's also good for her to walk around after a meal because it helps with the circulation.
Itchiness - Drink lots of clear fluids to flush out the toxins in the body that have been building up. Another method that has been known to work with some women, but is not in the the text books, is to go and dip themselves in the sea. Or if not, buy the bath sea salts and apply that. This is especially for those who have rashes as it has been known to help some women.
Increased vaginal secretions - Anti-fungal ointment; no oral medication.
Your baby:
Your baby is now about 15cm (6in) from crown to buttocks – this is almost half the length he or she will be at birth.
Your baby now has the same number of nerve cells as an adult. He or she is increasingly sensitive and aware of what goes on around him or her.
Your baby's tastebuds are developing and the skin is becoming sensitive to touch.
Sometimes your baby might hold on to the umbilical cord.
Hair has started to grow on baby's scalp.
For baby girls, the vagina starts developing now. For baby boys, the scrotum is still forming.
Baby can grasp one hand with the other and can form fists now.
Although baby's eyes are still shut, baby can move her or his eyes from side to side.
Baby's bones in the ears are hardening – he or she starts hearing the world outside the uterus.