Changes During Pregnancy - Week 19

Mother

If this is your first baby and you have not heard your baby's quickening in the previous few weeks, you may start hearing them now.

As hormonal changes continue to take place, you may find freckles or moles beginning to darken. You might see certain dark patches on your skin. This is called chloasma. You may observe a line called the linea nigra appearing between your pubic bone and navel. All these disappear or atleast become much less prominent in a few months after birth. You may also experience less hair loss and it appears thicker and shinier than usual.

Suffering from round ligament pain is common during this week. Like Week 18, you may have difficulty in balancing yourself and feel giddy due to postural hypotension. This is triggered by low blood pressure when you try to change your position very fast. Remember to change your position slowly and with care. When the uterus presses on the vena cava vein, supine hypotension makes you feel faint when you lie down. At this point, a pregnancy pillow will be very useful in helping the mother lay comfortably on her side. Another reason for dizziness is the blood sugar level fluctuation in the body. You must eat both healthy and right during pregnancy.

Baby

Your baby grows rapidly from this week. He is more alert to sounds. Parents can start talking to their babies and start playing soothing music for their baby. The classical music of Mozart is a favourite around the world. If your baby is a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes have developed by this time. If the baby is a boy, his genitals become distinct.

Your baby starts producing meconium at this stage. This is a type of bowel movement and is composed of excreted amniotic fluid and other substances produced during pregnancy. Throughout the pregnancy life cycle, he ingests and discharges the accumulated amniotic fluid. The meconium is usually excreted after delivery. However at times, the baby begins ejecting it while he is in the womb. This is a possible sign of fetal distress and the baby will be monitored more closely for other signs of distress. In some cases, the meconium can enter the baby’s lungs and cause complications when he is born. Your doctor will have to clear the baby’s lungs after your delivery. However, this is a very uncommon occurrence.

At this stage of pregnancy, your baby begins to generate a sticky outer coating to protect his skin from getting over hydrated. This protective coating is called vernix.