Month5
How your baby has grown
Height: 20 to 25cm/ Weight: approx. 300g
- ① Your baby’s nails grow. Eyebrows, eyelashes, hairs, nails, and toenails grow, and even fingerprints are formed. The vernix that is discharged from the sebaceous glands is starting to show on the skin surface.
- ② It moves fast that it even kicks. The cerebral cortex and the nerve system are developed that your baby has auditory functions to respond to external sounds. Its movement becomes even more vibrant in the amniotic fluid that it folds and unfolds its arms, and kicks the feet and pokes the mother’s abdomen. Its heart functions well that you can hear your baby’s heart beating through a stethoscope.
How your baby's body changes
- ① Skin color changes; skin pigmentation
As your skin pigmentation symptoms worsen, the color of your nipples and around them become darker. Some of you whose milk lines are developed will see yellowish nipple discharges when pressed. Some of you will experience liver spots on your face, however, most of them will be gone after the delivery. - ② Fetus movement You will feel some movements under your abdomen, which is called fetus movement. It usually starts 2 weeks after the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. Statistics show that women who have given birth before feel the fetus movement earlier than those that have not.
Health Checkpoint
Placenta Praevia
The normal placenta is attached to the inner wall of the uterus and positioned in the upper side much further away from the uterus entrance. But the placenta praevia is positioned before a baby as the placenta is found in the uterus entrance. This means that you cannot deliver your baby in a normal way. If you see blood, you need to see a doctor for an examination. Nonetheless, no need to worry too much even if you are found to have placenta praevia. In most cases, the lower part of the uterus grows as the pregnancy continues on and the position of the placenta gets increasingly further away from the uterus entrance, so it is best to wait to see how the placenta changes its position.
What You Should Do
- ① Take iron supplements every day from the 5th month into pregnancy. Until you are 4 months into pregnancy, you won’t need much iron. But once your pregnancy hits the 5 month mark, the growth of your baby quickens substantially that you require a significant amount of iron. To avoid any sense of discomfort and constipation caused by the iron supplements, try taking it during meals or before going to bed. In addition, an appropriate amount of exercise, enough sleep and vegetables help alleviate constipation. Relying on medication is not recommended.
- ② Avoid wearing tight clothes. Wearing clothes and underwear that are bigger than your actual size are recommended. If backache is experienced frequently due to enlarging of the abdomen, you may consider wearing a binder. Note that the binder should be worn over the underwear and you should wear it a little tighter on the lower abdomen and looser on the upper abdomen. Make sure to wear a more supportive bra that does not press your breasts.
- ③ Take a rest when you feel a lump in your abdomen. As your uterus becomes larger, you may feel a lump, slight pain or a sense of tightness in your abdomen. When that is the case, try taking a rest for a while.