20 Weeks Pregnant - Trimester 2

BABY DEVELOPMENT

Your baby is growing increasingly fast, especially when it comes to brain development, which is quite accelerated right now. Their little body has really grown which makes the head seem less big. If your baby is a girl, her ovaries are equipped with enough cells to produce 7 million eggs! But from this stage of development on, that number will start to reduce, plateauing off at around 2 million at birth.  By this week, you could actually see eyebrows and any hair on their head.

At 20 weeks, your baby is around the length of a banana and their body will seem more in proportion to their head. There'll be lots of brain development continuing this week. 

YOUR BODY

Have you felt your baby move yet? What a wonderful moment! To get the most enjoyment from it, lie down or sit down and relax. Then you will be able to feel the movement most clearly. While your baby will sleep quite a bit during the day, their activity when awake will start to increase and at the beginning, you will probably feel nothing more than a gentle twitching or jerking. The kicks against the belly become more pronounced from around the 25th week onwards and it will be several weeks before another person can feel this too.

NUTRITION

Chances are, you’re aware of the importance of fluoride for both you and your baby’s future teeth. Fluoride is important for the maintenance of tooth mineralisation and the good news is that the majority of Australians have access to fluoridated tap water. Fluoride is also found naturally in some mineral water, and added to toothpastes.  If you don’t drink these waters or use fluoride toothpaste talk to your healthcare professional.

TIPS

Cats have been given a bad rap in relation to pregnant women. Could your cat transmit the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis - to the baby? While there is no need to send your pet away until the baby is born you do need to take certain precautions, as cat faeces can indeed transmit the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis. It can be common to get this as an adult without symptoms, but it is dangerous to your unborn baby. To avoid the risk, wash your hands regularly after touching your cat, empty and disinfect kitty litter trays daily, and if you can, entrust all cat litter maintenance to a third party.