Week 19 of Your Pregnancy
Baby’s Development–It’s time to accept the fact that those hideous maternity jeans may be the only viable option! This week, the top of your uterus should reach your belly button and the bad news is, it’s going to start to grow an inch a week from this point on. Your old skinny jeans are just not going to cut it any more…
Inside your swiftly expanding belly, your fetus is experiencing a period of peak sensory development. All of the five senses that will serve her in the future are forming and taking their places in the appropriate portions of her brain. Her body is concentrating so hard on this process that nerve cell production is starting to slow down as the emphasis becomes on the proper connections rather than quantity.
All your fetus’s organs are continuing to grow and its systems start to practice. The heart still pumps blood, the kidneys make urine and the chest expand and retract. Arms and legs will start to twitch more than ever as your baby enters an extremely active 10 week period. Prepare for some sleepless nights and shocking sensations as your little one learns the limitations of the womb and of his body!
Your Body and Emotions–Now that you are ever broadening, you might start to find yourself clumsier than usual. This is due to two important factors. The first is that your centre of balance is shifting as your body changes shape. In essence, you have to relearn how to move now that you are growing steadily outward. The second factor is that you simply aren’t used to maneuvering a pregnant body around. You may find yourself unable to squeeze through turnstiles or sit behind the steering wheel as you used to. Allow yourself some time to get used to your changing body. Before you know it, you’ll be carting your melon sized bump around like a pro.
Your growing belly may also be causing you to experience a vertigo-like sensation known as postural or supine hypotension. Your body is working exceptionally hard to push your new volumes of blood around your body and as a result, you may experience low blood pressure. If this feeling of vertigo occurs when you change positions suddenly, it’s known as postural hypotension. If you only feel it when you are lying down, it’s supine. Both situations are not threatening to you or your baby, but will probably quite alarming when you first experience it. Take it slow when you’re changing positions. If you experience supine hypotension, it’s due to the extra pressure your growing uterus is putting on your aorta or vena cava where they run along your spinal cord. Many women find that lying on their left side puts the pressure off almost immediately and the sensation ceases.
Dad’s Tips–As your partner’s pregnancy progresses, you may be noticing some changes in your lifestyle already. Your relationships with friends who don’t have kids may start to feel a little strange, as the monumental occurrences happening in your life may hold no interest for them. Their nighttime exploits, conflicts at work and drinking stories, although still interesting, may seem to be a little trivial to you as well. Don’t worry – all good relationships whether with men or women, move in cycles of closeness. You may feel disconnected from a friend or two now, but eventually you may come back together with a common bond.
If you aren’t already, you may want to consider saving drinking or smoking for times when you are not with your partner. If she enjoyed these vices with you on a regular basis, she may start to resent the fact that you are still lighting up and slurping your cocktails around her. Don’t make any rash promises like, “I’ll quit drinking too.” because due to the stress you’re under, they’re bound to break. Rather, promise to avoid these things when she’s in your company. It will make these nine months easier for her and therefore, a little easier for you. |
