13th series of Fetus development stages|| Find out the growth of your fetus at 23weeks, find out if discharge in Pregnancy is harmful

Welcome to my 13th series today, this week you are in your 6 month and your are 23weeks in your journey congratulations your foetus is 30.6 cm long and 1.3 pound get ready to feel heavy from this week on as your foetus will gain weight each week.

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PREGNANCY AT 23 WEEKS (6 months)

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The foetus kick more frequent like a punches now blood vessels are developing senses of hearing is getting stronger as well as the bones in their ear begin to respond to sounds outside the womb like the mother's voice or music the foetus begins to add weight. The skin will start straightening as it was saggy before now because they are gaining fat now. The brain is continues to develop, the eyes can see light reflection on your womb and react it, the fingers nails are growing. The foetus is practicing activities that will be done once outside the womb like breathing motions, sucking and kicking.

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WHAT TO EXPECT AS A MOTHER

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Big bumb ☺️, Your feet will start growing big or swollen your brain will be fussy, expect more stretch marks as you will add weight at this stage and your tummy will start growing bigger your skins changes. Your Braxton hick contractions Continues this week I talked about contraction in my last post you will also noticed forgetfulness and vision changes, al this are due to pregnancy hormones. This week your breast will start producing colostrum, Colostrum is an early breast milk that will be good for your baby in the first few days of life, they contains a lot of nutrients that will help the baby grow fine and it boost the baby immune system. Colostrum is little thicker than the milk that will come in around 3–5 days after birth.

Expect more changes such as;

• Headaches
• Cravings
• Increased appetite
• Frequent urination continues too
• Snoring

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WHAT TO DO FOR A HEALTHY PREGNANCY

🤰 Take your prenatal supplements; folic acid and other supplements prescribed by your doctor.

🤰Stay hydrated; drink a lot of water as this will help you avoid headache, urinary tract infections and uterine cramping.

🤰 Take fruits or vegetables and soy milk; this is good for you, it's helps increase calcium level in you then remember to washed all vegetables and fruits before taking them to avoid food poisons that may leads to diarrhea.

🤰 Do regular kegel excercise; you need to strengthen your your pelvic muscles now also, your uterus is heavy and it's resting on your bladder therefore you may be experiencing some leak especially when you laugh, cough or when you don't make it to the toilet on time. So kegel helps prevent this leakage, do it often.

🤰Get some vitamin D from the sun; spending about 5 minutes to 30 minutes in the early part of the day in the sun is very important to you and your baby. It is good for the baby eyes, vitamin D is also essential for bones growth, brain development and mental health. It helps you as the mom to have strong bones and reduces inflammation in the body.

Other sources of vitamin D includes;

• Taking of your prenatal vitamins
• Through food such as milk, cereals fish etc.

🤰 Do not eat any uncooked seafood or egg

🤰 Review your dressing and shoes as your bumbs is growing big

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DISCHARGE IN PREGNANCY

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You may likely experience discharge in your pregnancy but you should be able to know which is normal and abnormal. Absolutely discharge is not harmful in Pregnancy, what causes discharge is an increase in estrogen level which causes more blood flow to the pelvic region this stimulates the body's mucous membranes which leads to an increase in vaginal discharge in pregnancy.

Important of discharge includes;

• Preventing infection from getting to the uterus through the vagina.

• It also removes dead cells from the vagina keeping it clean and free from bacterials

What to do when it happens;

When this happens do not use tampons you can use panty liners, most importantly inform your doctor because this could be a sign of infection too. When the discharge is green or yellow and have a strong smell accompanied by itching it could be infection. Yeast infections is very common in Pregnancy that's the reason I said in my previous series that all expected mums should care for their underwears, always sun dry them. Please do not treat yourself alone visit your doctor and listen to what he/she will say and take necessary precautions in order to be healthy.

Selfcare tips;

• Keep your self clean at all times, wash and sundry all your underwears.

• Bathe regularly

• Avoid using any special liquid soap or fragrance in your vagina.

Please note there are discharge that you see which tells you you are in labor I will talk about that in our next series.

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CONCLUSION

This week series is great and contains a lot of information that you need to know, your fetus is doing pretty well and you are looking healthy as well. See your doctor when you experience some different types of discharge and remember it is a natural thing to be worried about going into labor, in our next series I will talk about Preterm labor.

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Feel free to leave your questions at the comment section of this post, or chat me up on WHATSAPP 08039426715 if you have a private issue for more professional advice, if you are pregnant 🤰 and leaving within Uyo, Nigeria please ImaBridge medical center is offering free antenatal check and free delivery to all Pregnant women, come and be a beneficiary as you will be monitored and care for through out your pregnancy journey

The Previous Series:

1, 2 , 3 ,4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8, 9,10,11,12