ADVICE RATING |
 5.00 (Highly recommend) from 4 votes (311 Visits) |
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20 weeks |
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by mcm  (April 2008) (rank 5th) |
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You are now officially halfway. Congratulations!
It is believed if your belly button is going to pop out then it would have already. Mine is usually very deep but now not so much. It has never come out in any of my pregnancies.
Your baby is protected by
a lot of liquid called amniotic fluid. It helps to protect baby not unlike a shock absorber as well as regulating his/her temperature. It is also an ideal environment for baby to develop his muscles with the resistance it provides (not unlike going for a swim!) Baby also swallows the fluid and eliminates too in practice. This fluid is contantly being filtered and being made so its always fresh. That is interesting to me.
This amniotic fluid may leak or gush out before you have your baby. It may be the first sign of labour or as happened in all my labours, my waters only broke less than an hour, even minutes before my babies were born. Because of the risk of infection, its important to be checked out by a health provider, if your baby doesn't come within 48 hours of your waters breaking.
You may notice changes in your breasts and nipples. Colostum is being produced and you make leak a small amount. This is a valuable liquid for your baby to consume in the first few days after birth before the milk comes in. I leaked early on with my first pregnancy but in subsequent pregnancies I didn't. I have noticed in this pregnancy I have had a feeling of let down. Let down is when it feels like milk is coming down through the milk ducts in your breasts. It feels like tingling feeling to me. Its important you have a well fitting bra as this will be much more comfortable especially if your breasts have grown in size. It is not unusual to go up one cup size or two and for your breasts to feel fuller.
I recommend breastfeeding your baby. Its the easiest, cheapest, most convenient and natural way to feed your baby. But it does take time to learn. The first 6 weeks is an essential time for you and baby to bond and establish a breastfeeding routine. If this is your second or subsequent baby, you may experience afterpains while feeding. this can be very painful but is a sign that your uterus is going back down to size and may lessen the time you bleed post partum.
This is a note for myself but may help others. Eat for hunger and drink for thirst.
