What’s happening to my baby?
Congratulations! You’ve made it to the halfway mark of your pregnancy journey! Survival chances due to premature birth start to increase from here, and your baby is now over 16cm in length – about as long as an average hand.
If you haven’t been able to tell already, an ultrasound at week 20 will be able to show your baby’s genitalia. However, sometimes the position of the foetus can make this difficult for a technician to determine.
Your baby’s heartrate should be coming down, but at 120-160 beats per minute it’s still over double your own resting heartrate.
What’s happening to me?
As your uterus expands, you might feel the pressure on your heart and lungs. Sometimes your breaths can become a bit short, so make sure to take it easy if you need to.
It’s important during this time to ensure you’re getting enough iron in your diet to account for the increasing demands on your expanding blood supply, and to ensure all the oxygen is getting around both your bodies to where it’s needed.