At around 22 weeks pregnant, some women may be noticing that her body is changing more and more everyday to accommodate the growth of her child. Though your child still has a lot of growing to do, the degree to which her organs, facial expressions and other systems have developed is absolutely astonishing. During your regular appointments with your physician, make sure to talk through this growth with your doctor. Not only can it help parents-to-be feel more in touch with their child, it can also help take some of the discomfort out of the more unpleasant side effects of pregnancy.
After your child has been developing for 22 weeks, she will weigh almost one full pound. While that does not sound like much, it represents a big change from where she was just a few weeks ago. Not only does your baby now weigh far more than she did just a few weeks ago, she will now be almost 11 inches long. This is about half as long as she will be when she is delivered, and her long length often means that she will be easier to feel when she moves around in the womb.
In addition to the changes in his size, your child will hit many other developmental milestones. Most children will begin to grow fingernails at around 22 weeks. These fingernails will continue to grow while they are in the womb, and may even be a little long for your taste when your baby is born. Your may also notice that your child is beginning to form eyelids and above them, eyebrows. Some parents may begin to see some family resemblance in the face of their child, and begin speculating at this stage about what their baby will look like.
Though the changes that you are seeing in your child may be exciting, some women are less thrilled about the changes that they are noticing in themselves. As your uterus expands to accommodate your child, you may begin to notice some signs of stretch marks around your stomach. There are some creams that claim to help reduce their redness, but many women simply accept these marks as a natural part of a pregnancy. In addition to those that may form around the stomach, some women may notice them in other parts of their body where weight gain has been most pronounced.
If you are in a position to do so, consider scheduling a doctor’s appointment at 22 weeks pregnant so you can see some of these amazing changes in your child for yourself.