A big growth spurt begins this week that will take the baby to double its size over the next month or so. A water bottle needs to be your constant companion: the water you drink actually helps form the amniotic fluid. Make sure that your weight gain is in the right range and take an honest look at how much salt is in your diet. This week, you may start to get rib pain as your rib cage expands to accommodate your bump. You could be feeling a bit more breathless than usual as the growing baby puts pressure on your lungs.

Garbha Vriddhi

पञ्चमे मनः प्रतिबुद्धतरं भवति मांसशोणितोपचयश्च ।। ( अष्टांग् संग्रह शारीरस्थान २/२३)

According to Ayurveda, मांस (muscle tissue layer) and मेद (fatty tissue layers) are developing fast here onwards

Your Baby's Development

Baby's skin and organs

Baby's skin has a fine, translucent sheen and appears reddish as arteries and veins are developing underneath. It is loose also since fat deposits will appear later, plumping him up. The baby is forming little nipples at this stage.

Baby’s sleep patterns

The baby is taking longer naps. Most of her snooze time — about 80 percent of it, actually — will be spent in what’s called rapid eye movement sleep, or REM sleep. During REM sleep your baby’s eyes move and her brain is very active.

Brain cells

Billions of brain cells will develop in your baby's brain over the next couple of weeks.The will now manage all of baby's movements and sensory, and basic life functions like breathing. A few major changes are going on with your baby's lungs. Surfactant is being produced, a substance that enables the air sacs to inflate and the lungs to fully expand. Right now she's still breathing amniotic fluid, but when she's born she'll be ready for air.

Finger and Footprints

Fine ridges are forming in the palms of hands and soles of feet which create foundation for fingerprints and footprints.

Bonding with Mum and Dad

With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. When you drink hot or cold beverages you will see an immediate response. Also, since baby’s ears can hear only low pitched sounds, she can hear dad’s voice more clearly than mum’s voice.

Digestive skills

The wave-like movements that propel food along the digestive tract (peristalsis) begin. As with swallowing, it's just practice for your baby's system at this point since there's no actual food to move.

Your Pregnancy Symptoms

Feeling of fullness

Progesterone may be giving you the feeling, ‘Why did I eat so much?’ even after a nibble. The hormone causes the gastrointestinal tract to relax and slow down digestion, so nutrients have more time to enter your bloodstream and reach your baby. Drink more water to help keep things moving.

Prickly fingers

The swelling or edema can put pressure on nerves in the wrists and cause the aching and tingling associated with carpal tunnel syndrome. If you work at a computer, take frequent breaks to rotate wrists and stretch your fingers. Make sure your wrists are straight and elbows aren’t higher than your hands when you’re typing.

Swollen hands and face

While a certain amount of edema in your lower extremities is normal during pregnancy, excessive swelling may be a sign of hypertension or preeclampsia. You need to go to the hospital if you notice severe or sudden swelling of your feet or ankles, more than slight swelling of your hands, swelling in your face, or puffiness around your eyes.

Eyesight

Extra fluid in the body and hormone changes during pregnancy can lead to eye and vision issues. Symptoms you might experience include:

• Blurry vision
• Changes to your eyelids
• Dry eyes
• Irritation or pain from your contact lenses

Darker skin

Some skin discolouration could appear from this week. Some instances are darker shades of areola, deeper tone of the freckles on your arms and legs. There could be darker spots on face around nose, forehead, cheeks and eyes are seen which are again effects of hormones.

iMumz Wellness Tip

This week, you might want to try to spend some time in the sunshine. A little sunlight is healthy for you and your baby. Research shows that exposure to light during pregnancy is important for the baby's eye development. Spending some time outdoors is also good for your mental health and well-being.

The sun is an excellent natural source of vitamin D. Vitamin D is essential for your baby's bone growth, brain development, and future mental health. In adults, vitamin D promotes strong bones, a healthy immune system, and reduces inflammation in the body.

To get enough vitamin D, you can:

Take prenatal vitamins. These can contain 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D. If needed, your health care provider might recommend additional supplementation.

Safely spend a little time in the sun. 5 to 30 minutes of sun exposure between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. twice a week without sunscreen on your face, arms, legs, or back can typically provide you with all the daily vitamin D you need.

If you are in a city that’s hot, take a 7 a.m.  walk in the sun.

We have curated several pregnancy lifestyle sessions and expert-led webinars to help mums to build flexibility and to prepare their bodies for delivery.

Still some time left before you can take time off work! For easing finger issues because of laptop work, here is a tip.

Sukshma Vyayama  - These simple exercises can relieve your carpal tunnel syndrome and the symptoms like pain in the fingers , wrist joint, tingling numbness.

It stimulates the circulation of blood throughout the body. This brings oxygen and other fuels to the muscle cells that warm up the body. And, the warmth gives the blood vessels in the muscles time to dilate, and thus increases the blood flow, making a greater supply of oxygen available to the muscles reducing  muscle soreness.

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Your Pregnancy check-ups

The number of visits you’ll have in a typical pregnancy usually total about 10 to 15, depending on when you find out you're expecting and the timing of your first checkup. In most complication-free pregnancies, you can expect to have a prenatal appointment with the following frequency:

• Weeks 4 to 28: Once a month
• Weeks 28 to 36: Every other week
• Week 36 until birth: Every week

If you’ve had complications with past pregnancies, such as giving birth too early or late, you may see your practitioner more often. You’ll also have more prenatal visits on your schedule if your pregnancy is considered high-risk, which means it involves any of the following:

• Older than 35
• Overweight, obese or underweight
• Health issues before pregnancy, such as diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure or HIV
• Pregnant with twins, triplets or other multiples

What should you eat in this week of pregnancy?

Your body may need more calcium in pregnancy and the best way to be sure you have enough is with a healthy, varied diet, including calcium-rich foods like cheese, milk, almonds, oranges, curd, sesame seeds, turnip, tofu, broccoli and figs.

Ingredients:

3 cups milk (full cream)

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp water

2 tsp curd / yogurt / mishti doi

Almonds and dried figs (chopped)

One orange, each section peeled and de-seeded.

Method

1. In a thick bottomed non-stick pan, heat 3 cups of milk.
2. Stir occasionally, until it comes to a boil.
3. Add 2 tbsp of sugar and stir well.
4. Keep boiling on medium flame till it thickens.
5. Stir occasionally, till the milk reduces to half.
6. Meanwhile, in a thick bottomed pan take 2 tbsp brown sugar.
7. Add in a tsp of water and mix well.
8. keeping the flame on medium, stir till the sugar caramelises.
9. transfer the caramelised sugar into boiled milk.
10. stir well and get the milk to another boil.
11. Now allow it to cool completely.
12. Once the milk is cooled and yet slightly warm, transfer into a clay pot or any container.
13. add in a tsp of curd and stir well.
14. cover and allow it to set in a warm place for 8 hours or till it sets completely.
15. Then refrigerate for 2 hours to get a nice creamy texture. also garnish with chopped nuts.
16. Finally, serve mishti doi chilled garnished with chopped almonds and figs and slices of orange.
    

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