As we mentioned in the previous post, as of week 14 we have already entered the second trimester of pregnancy. We continue with our pregnancy calendar week to week.
It is said that it is the trimester that the mother enjoys most since the discomforts of the first weeks have almost disappeared and the baby's weight still does not bother her daily tasks.
At this stage of pregnancy the physical changes of the mother are evident. The gut already has a considerable size and it is possible that you have increased between 4 and 6 kilos compared to the weight you had before you became pregnant. Your posture has changed to counteract the extra weight of the gut. You may not notice it, but it is a change for which the women's body is programmed.
Let's review how the baby grows week by week.
In the week 17 of pregnancy, that is to say at 15 weeks of life, the baby measures one 13 centimeters from the head to the buttocks and its weight of almost 200 grams. His movements are increasingly noticeable, he puts his fingers to his mouth, moves his arms and legs, grimaces and swallows amniotic fluid to start training the digestive system.
The umbilical cord that connects the baby with his mother to transport nutrients and oxygen continues to grow and widen. His nails are thin transparent sheets and the hair of the head and eyebrows becomes thicker.
It is around the week 18 when the mother begins to feel the movements of the baby inside the uterus. What until now was just a bubbling sensation becomes the certainty that the baby moves. But it is not a mathematical rule, some women may begin to notice it a little earlier, especially if they have had previous pregnancies, and others, a few weeks later.
The baby starts to move a lot since he is still tiny and has room to camp at ease, even turns around on himself. Its skeleton, which until now was cartilaginous, begins to solidify, so it is very important that you include calcium-rich foods in your diet.
In the week 19 (baby 17) It measures about 15 cm and weighs about 250 grams. The ears and eyes are almost in their final position. It's amazing, but if you're expecting a girl, her little ovaries that won't be bigger than a button already contain primitive eggs that will give rise to the ovules.
The sense of hearing is already developed so that you can hear through the amniotic fluid the sounds that your body produces like that of the stomach when digesting food, the beating of your heart and of course, your voice, which already distinguishes from that of others.
In the week 20 It measures 16 centimeters and about 350 grams. His lungs begin to practice the exercise of breathing and his digestive system does the same by swallowing amniotic fluid. His brain has 30,000 million neurons and is developing areas for the senses of taste, smell, hearing, vision and touch. The baby's skin begins to be covered with a white and fatty substance called “vernix caseosa” that, in addition to protecting it, facilitates the baby's passage through the vaginal canal at the time of delivery.
Until now, the baby's size was measured from the head to the tailbone since the legs were very close to his body, but as of now, measurements are made from the crown to the feet. Thus, at 20 weeks the baby measures between 22 and 25 centimeters.
Surely, between week 18 and 22 they will perform a high resolution ultrasound called morphological ultrasound in which the specialist thoroughly analyzes the baby's organs to detect possible abnormalities.
We have arrived at week 20 of pregnancy calendar, that is, exactly to half of pregnancy, the equator of pregnancy. During the second half of pregnancy the baby will increase 10 times its weight and double its size.
