Pregnancy Week 22
Baby’s Growth During the 22nd Week of Pregnancy
Your baby is starting to actually like like a baby this week. At nearly 8 inches and a full pound, your baby can now perceive light and dark and can listen to your heart, the sound of blood circulating and your voice. If you haven’t started talking to your baby directly, now might be the time to do that.
Lips, eyelids, and eyebrows have become more distinct, and tooth buds beneath the gums are developing. The eyes have formed though there is still no pigment in the irises of the eyes.
A peek at your baby in the womb would allow you to see the fine hair (lanugo) that covers the whole body and the deep wrinkles on the skin, which will remain until the padding of fat pockets fill those in.
Body Changes in the 22nd Week of Pregnancy
Your belly is growing but did you notice that your feet are too? The pregnancy hormone relaxin, which loosens your pelvic ligaments when you’re expecting, loosens every other ligament too… including the ones in your feet. The bones beneath those ligaments spread slightly, which results, for many women, in a half or whole shoe size increase.
Though your belly has probably become a hand magnet, it’s possible you’re also receiving comments about the size of your belly too. Remember that each woman grows and shows and their own rate so don’t worry about comments that say you should be bigger or smaller than what you are.
