Baby Stages Week by Week: Weeks 19 and 20

Congratulations, you have reached the halfway stage! If you’ve been following your baby development week by week you’ll know that at week 19 she is around 6.5 inches in length (17cm) and 9 ounces in weight (250gm). Her whole body will be covered in the greasy white substance known as Vernix Caseosa. This is made up from a mixture of lanugo (fine, downy hair), oil and dead skin cells. It is vitally important for protecting your baby in the womb from the effects of lying in amniotic fluid 24/7. Just imagine what your skin would look like if you sat in a bath for nine months. Well this greasy protection – which some babies are born with - prevents her skin turning prune-like. This is an important period of your baby development week by week because the nerve cells in her brain responsible for taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing are forming complex connections. She also looks more like a baby now with her arms and legs in situ and in proportion. You’ll most likely find that from this stage on you also grow quicker and really start to feel pregnant with some of the not so pleasant side effects. You may have a few aches and pains caused by stretching of the abdominal ligaments that support your uterus. Contact your GP if they become persistent or severe. Increased oestrogen in your body may be causing unpleasant changes in your skin; it may become dry or spotty or dark pigment patches called chloasma may appear on your face. Around week 19 your nipples and any existing freckles or scars may get darker as well as the ‘linea nigra’ (dark line) that goes from your pubic bone to your naval becomes more visible. This pigmentation is natural side effect and disappears soon after giving birth. Week 20 At week 20 your baby will weigh about 11 ounces (310 gm) and be about 7inches (17cm) long. At this stage of your baby development week by week she will have permanent second teeth forming behind her milk teeth. Your baby will now be making meconium, the sticky, black-tar-like matter which will form her first bowel movement and is made up of amniotic fluid, digestive waste and dead skin cells. At this half way mark baby will be swallowing a lot - which is good training for the digestive system and his or her genitals will be formed. By now you should have gained around ten pounds in weight (putting on a further pound or two a week now until delivery). At this stage of your baby development it is important to have sufficient iron in your diet for the production of haemoglobin in red blood cells. Try eating more red meat, prunes, green leafy vegetables and soya-based products.