Pregnancy Guide: Week 22

Your baby’s eyes are still closed. In fact, his eyelids are sealed, but he can perceive light, so try a fun experiment. Shine a light on your stomach to see if it triggers movement to or away from the light. Your baby can hear you talking and breathing, and one of the sounds he will grow attached to and miss once he’s born is your heartbeat. He can now grab his ears, nose, or umbilical cord.

22 weeks pregnant is how many months?

At 22 weeks pregnant, you are five months pregnant. As you head into the sixth month of your pregnancy, you are officially over halfway done, even if you carry your baby for the entire 42 weeks. Congratulations!

Your Baby at 22 Weeks

Things like vision, hearing, and grip are stronger than ever now. Your baby can feel the sensation of touch and may start to grab his ears or nose for fun. He can tell the difference between light and dark and may move toward or away from it. He can also hear a lot of things in there, like your stomach rumbling, your heartbeat, your speech, and even your partner’s voice.

How big is a baby at 22 weeks?

Your baby is the size of a coconut now, at 28.8 centimetres long, and 478 grams.

Your Body at 22 Weeks

Your uterus is growing, but so are your feet. Many pregnant women experience an increase in shoe size during pregnancy. That’s because as your ligaments loosen, things like your hips expand to prepare for birth. Unfortunately, other parts may get bigger, too. Buy comfortable shoes with some room to grow and skip the heels, for now, so you don’t lose your balance. You may start to feel a little hot and bothered lately, or may be feeling cold while pregnant!

The size that you are now will probably mean you’ve already dealt with people who want to touch your growing tummy. Some people just can’t resist. If you do mind, though, speak up. 

Be polite, but firm, otherwise, other people may think it’s okay to do it again next time. If you genuinely don’t mind, or you do welcome the affection for your new baby, then enjoy how much everyone loves your cute bump.

Symptoms

Stock up on healthy snacks and portable versions, so that you have a pantry full of nutritious options when you’re feeling tempted to snack. It also makes it easy to grab something on the go when you know you’ll be hungry later, with no access to food. Your growing appetite will require frequent meals, but it can also help alleviate your indigestion and heartburn.

Constipation is still a bother because your uterus is putting even more pressure on your intestines. Digestion has slowed, and so have all the processes that go along with it. Continue to exercise and eat plenty of fibre to help manage this symptom.

Your uterus is also putting plenty of pressure on your blood vessels, restricting the flow and causing you to be light-headed. Drink plenty of water, stretch, and keep exercising to increase the flow. It will also help with those pesky leg cramps late at night.

Your stretch marks will continue to increase from this point on, so use some cocoa butter or moisturizer to help with the itching. Rubbing lotion on your skin can also be a welcome massage from your loving partner at the end of a long day.

If your belly button has inverted by now, roll with it. Your growing belly may push it out, but that’s normal, and it will return to its regular shape after you have the baby. Until then, keep laughing and document the moment in bump photos.

Tips/Things to do

Prepare yourself for Braxton Hicks contractions. You may already feel your uterus practising for delivery. While it can be uncomfortable or scary, relax. Just like your baby is practising sucking and swallowing, your body is preparing for the big moment, too. 

The flexing of your uterine muscles in preparation for delivery may cause these preliminary contractions as early as 22 weeks. If this is your first pregnancy, you may not feel them or know that it is what you’re feeling until much later.

If you are at risk for preterm labour, you may need to talk to your doctor about a fetal fibronectin screening. This screening will give you an idea of whether you need to worry about it.

To add strength to your baby’s bones, start taking a magnesium supplement. It can also help you control your blood sugar and regulate insulin, which is helpful when you have gestational diabetes. A magnesium deficiency will have you feeling tired and lacking strength, so a supplement could help prevent cramping, restless legs, or preeclampsia.

Take a moment to learn some relaxation techniques that will be beneficial for relieving stress now and making it through labour later. Yoga can help eliminate stress and aids in stretching your back and legs that have been hurting. Even if you only do the breathing exercises for five minutes each day, focusing on releasing tension will help more than you expect. You may consider pregnancy massage.

Continue with your low impact exercises, like walking or swimming. Avoid high impact exercises, lifting weights, biking, or anything else that could be dangerous while you lack balance. Exercising will improve your circulation and your mood as well as keep you and baby healthy.

As you focus on eating healthy, try out some store brands that may save you money while you’re eating for two. It often tastes the same but doesn’t require you to pay for the hefty price of advertising. Take the money you’re saving and start a college fund for your new little one.

Don’t just skip foods that don’t add nutritional value, avoid the fillers in your skin, too. Botox and other injections have not been studied through pregnancy, so there’s no evidence to support that they’re safe. At this stage of pregnancy, you have plenty of fluid retention to fill your face out nicely anyway, so you won’t show as many wrinkles.

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