Baby Development
The Week 26 edition:
Welcome to the world little one or whatever you can see of it! This is the week when your baby opens its eyes. With a height of ~35.56 cm from head to toe and weighing ~793 grams, your baby is the size of a head of kale! They can hear better, taste better amongst a lot many other things! This is the week where a considerable amount of development is seen on every front.
Here is a well-rounded list of everything your baby is up to this week-
- Melanin, the skin colouring pigment, is starting to produce. It is responsible for giving your child their skin colour.
- The eye lashes are growing. They will soon be batted at you for chocolates!
- The eyes, which were shut all this while, have opened. Your baby is equipped to practice blinking.
- Their nails and hair are sprouting simultaneously.
- Your baby’s taste buds are now fully developed.
- If your baby is a boy, his testicles have begun their ascent to the scrotum.
- The lungs have now started to produce surfactant. The surfactant inflates the lungs, which makes it stronger with every practice breath your baby takes.
- Last but not the least, your baby is responsive to sound. I wonder if they will know how to tune out all the scoldings!
Mother
Track your growth, at Week 26.
You’re nearing the end of the second trimester. Isn’t that comforting? You are now only about 14-16 weeks away from birth! Your belly and breasts are growing continuously. The stretch marks you see around these areas will fade away soon. Don’t worry. The uterus is 2 and 1/2 inches above your belly button and your accumulated pregnancy weight rounds upto 7-10 kgs. It is the right time for you to start looking for a doula, to help with delivery and through the postpartum period. Please have a keen eye on your food, eat healthy for you and your baby. Start looking for safe co-sleeping methods with all the safety measures in mind.
Here is the list of changes in your body this week.
- Say hi to your belly button! Your navel has now protruded.
- Pelvic pain is very rampant during this stage. This shoots up every time you walk or climb the stairs. Lift both your legs together for relief. Avoid standing for longer periods of time.
- You may find yourself losing some sleep at night.
- Women with a history of migraines may find it aggravated. It is only normal.
- You may have dry eyes with lesser production of the tear hormone, the eye gets irritable. Take eye drops to help with this.
- Intense pregnancy dreams are a recurrence during this time. Do not stress about it, it is not uncommon.
