23 Weeks Pregnant - Trimester 2

BABY DEVELOPMENT

The sex of your baby is now recognisable. If your baby is a girl, she has had ovaries for a few weeks, and her vagina is now hollow. If it's a boy, he already has a penis and a prostate. Though his testicles were formed in the 2nd month, they are still in his abdominal cavity. They’ll finish descending when they need to, whether just before birth or during the first few months.

At 23 weeks, your baby is around the size of an ear of corn and has more visible genitals so you'll be able to see whether they're a boy or a girl in an ultrasound.

YOUR BODY

Pregnancy can be a strain on how your body works, and for some women a condition called gestational diabetes results.  If you’re pregnant, have never had diabetes before, and have high blood glucose (sugar) levels (after a fasting ‘oral glucose tolerance test’ (OGTT)), you are said to have gestational diabetes. The insulin, a hormone your body makes, isn’t working enough to move the glucose from your blood into the cells where it can provide energy.  Most women with gestational diabetes don’t continue to have diabetes immediately after their baby is born. For this reason, it is thought that hormones from pregnancy are behind it all.  If you find out you do have gestational diabetes, your doctor will come up with a plan that’s tailor-made for you.  It can be managed with diet, exercise, and – if needed – medication.

NUTRITION

It is true that with many snacks, and the heavy hand that many of us have when seasoning our food, we commonly consume more salt than is needed by our bodies. Though you’ve probably been told to watch your salt intake, this doesn’t mean remove it completely from your diet. Sodium is essential to water balance in the body. This balance can be disturbed by pregnancy’s hormones and requires a suitable supply of sodium to be effective.  If you have any doubts or questions, talk to your doctor.

TIPS

To involve your partner in your pregnancy, especially now that the pregnancy is approaching its last trimester, go to an antenatal check-up or a discussion with your obstetrician or midwife together. The idea is to have you and your partner spend some good quality time before the baby comes. You don’t have to look after a baby at the moment and your bump is still “manageable!”