During the 20th week of pregnancy, many interesting metamorphoses take place in the fetus.
How does the fetus change?
20th week of pregnancy is the real height of the second trimester. At this time, many of the baby's internal organs have already formed, while others continue their development and differentiation.
Heart and blood vessels
The cardiovascular system plays a very important role in the child's body. It is thanks to the pumping function of the heart that blood is delivered to all internal organs with nutrients and oxygen dissolved in it. Without full-fledged cardiac activity, good intrauterine development of the baby should not be expected. The heart of the fetus is already formed by 19-20 weeks. Moreover, it can pump about 29 liters of blood per day. This is necessary so that all the intensively growing internal organs of the baby receive a sufficient amount of nutrients.
Fetal heartbeat is the most important clinical sign that every obstetrician-gynecologist monitors. Heart rate or heart rate is very important information for a specialist. It shows how comfortable it is for the fetus to be in the mother's womb.
If the fetal heart rate exceeds certain norms, then in this case, doctors ascertain the presence of tachycardia. An excessively low rhythm is called bradycardia.
The heart rate is shown in the table below:
Every day the number of blood vessels in the baby increases. This process is necessary in connection with the growing need for the child's body to provide the internal organs with various nutrients. The vascular wall is also strengthened. The diameter of the veins and arteries gradually increases.
Nerves and brain
Interesting changes begin to occur in the body's main "computer". Between neurons, special cells of the brain, more and more contacts appear every day. Such a complex interneuronal network ensures the complexity of the baby's behavior. The behavior of the fetus changes every day.
The brain in the body performs a basic coordinating function. It is very important to monitor the development of this organ in a child's body. That is why, when conducting an ultrasound scan at the 20th week of pregnancy, experts necessarily assess the main structures of the brain. During this examination, they can assess the development of the main sections of the cerebral cortex, as well as identify cysts and other defects.
Cysts in their localization can be different. They can be in the choroid plexuses or in the brain tissue itself. Unfortunately, quite a lot of such pathologies are currently being recorded.
When detecting a brain cyst at this stage of pregnancy, it is very important to consult your doctor about it.
Digestive organs
Most of the internal organs that are involved in the process of digestion and excretion of food have already formed. Some of them are already starting to work. So, the baby has bile. In its chemical composition, it certainly differs from the bile of an adult, but it performs a very important function. Thanks to bile, the formation of original feces occurs.
The baby's digestive organs have certain sizes, which can already be determined by ultrasound. So, through an ultrasound examination, a specialist can determine a hyperechoic intestine, liver size and other clinical parameters.
It is important to note that a full-fledged process of digestion in a baby will begin only after he is born. The first portion of breast milk will "start" the work of the entire digestive system. At week 20, only a serious preparation of the digestive organs for their future work takes place.
First impressions
Nerve analyzers are essential tools in the process of exploring the world. At the 20th week of pregnancy, the baby is already preparing with might and main for further independent life. By the time of childbirth, all his organs and systems should already be formed and be ready to perform their functions.
The child is able to hear the voices of his parents. Scientists note that the mother's voice has a calming effect on the fetus. Talking with the child during this period is not only possible, but also necessary. Such "conversations" will contribute to the formation of a positive psycho-emotional connection between the mother and the baby. Some scientists believe that 19-20 weeks is a great time to start forming an ear for music in your baby.
This is a great time to listen to classical music. Of course, the kid will not remember them and will not be able to fully appreciate them, but classical music will have a beneficial effect on his nervous system. It is better to choose more calm and melodic pieces of music that do not contain excessively loud sounds.
By 20 weeks of gestation, your baby already has the ability to distinguish between different tastes. He does this by "trying" the amniotic fluid. In fact, the baby needs to swallow a small amount of amniotic fluid for the full formation of his urinary system. The amniotic fluid is a very important part of intrauterine life. All growth and development from the moment of conception to immediate birth takes place in a special aquatic environment. That is why it is very important to evaluate amniotic fluid during ultrasound. During the examination, specialists can determine the amount of amniotic fluid, and also identify the presence of any inclusions or suspension in them.
A baby in 20 weeks of his intrauterine life can already urinate. This contributes to the regular renewal of the chemical composition of the amniotic fluid. It is not worth worrying about the fact that the child may choke. This process is conceived by nature and is one of the most important stages of intrauterine development of the fetus.
The first active movements of the baby
By this period of its intrauterine life, the fetus should already have a fairly well-formed musculoskeletal system. He had intensive development of bones and muscles in the preceding weeks of pregnancy.
The fetus has already sufficiently developed limbs. The spine continues to develop. So, in his cervical spine, mobility increased significantly. This contributes to the fact that the baby is able to make a lot of head movements. The developed muscular system of the child helps him to move. It often happens that the expectant mother notices the first movements of her baby at 20-22 weeks of pregnancy. Such pushes in the stomach cause a lot of joy in a pregnant woman and make her understand that very soon she will become a mother.
It is important to note that the baby's physical activity can be different. It depends on a huge variety of factors. For example, if the baby is small, and the amount of amniotic fluid is quite large, then the fetal motor activity will not be intense. Calm children can move a little less than fidgets. With each further week of pregnancy, the motor activity of the fetus is an increasingly important indicator of the course of its intrauterine development.
If the baby pushes too hard during the day, then this may be the result of a certain discomfort that the fetus experiences in the mother's womb. Too vigorous motor activity of the fetus is a reason to consult with your doctor.
Body parameters
Determination of the size of the fetus is a very important marker of the intensity of its intrauterine development. The child gains weight every day. By this period of pregnancy, he already weighs much more than in the first weeks from the moment of conception. The height and weight of the baby at the 20th week of his intrauterine life are presented in the table below:
Determination of the main parameters of the fetal body is carried out using fetometry. This ultrasound method will allow doctors to assess what size the fetus has at a certain period of its intrauterine development. An obstetrician-gynecologist prescribes fetometry, who monitors the course of a particular pregnancy. During the ultrasound examination, it is very interesting to observe the behavior of the baby.
At this time, the child can move the arms or legs, smile, or simply turn away from the sensor examining him. A calm child may look like he is just sleeping.
Location of the fetus
Determining the position of the baby in the womb is very important. The larger the baby becomes and the closer the delivery is, the more important its location. At 20 weeks of gestation, the position of the fetus in the uterus is usually unstable. By birth, the baby may turn over several more times.
Doctors consider cephalic presentation the most physiologically beneficial. In this case, the child's head is directed towards the entrance to the small pelvis. This presentation is very favorable, as it facilitates the easy course of labor. With a cephalic presentation, the baby's head will move first. In this case, the further "birth" of the child's body will already occur much easier.
Less favorable - breech presentation. In this case, the child is in the uterus, as it were, "the other way around": with its pelvic end, it is directed towards the entrance to the small pelvis. With this arrangement, the normal physiological course of labor is usually difficult. In this situation, the risk of birth damage during independent natural childbirth increases many times. As a rule, in this case, doctors resort to the surgical method of obstetrics - cesarean section.
There are also other options for the position of the fetus in the uterus. Toddler have a lateral or low position. In this case, the development of certain pathologies is possible, the development of which must be monitored by doctors.
The pathological variant of the location of the baby can be dangerous due to leakage of amniotic fluid. The appearance of this adverse symptom should be a reason for urgent medical attention.
Appearance
The kid looks very funny. He already resembles some of his features of an adult, but in miniature. The child's body proportions change significantly. His head no longer seems so huge in relation to the body. The arms and legs are lengthened. The child's feet and palms are already well defined, on which small fingers can be distinguished. Each of them has its own special unique skin pattern that forms an imprint. The baby already has a well-distinguished small nose, forehead, cheeks. The eyes cover the eyelids outside. Small eyebrows grow above the eye slits. The fetus even has short eyelashes.
Almost all of his body is covered with vellus hair. Their structure is rather thin. Outside, the skin is covered with a special original lubricant. It is formed by mixing the secretion of the sweat and sebaceous glands, which are already functioning in the baby, with desquamated epithelium. The color of the original grease is usually whitish with a slight yellowish tinge. It will remain on the baby's skin until the very birth.
Is it possible to determine the sex of the child?
Parents-to-be usually can't wait to find out who will be born to them: a boy or a girl. This is pretty easy to figure out at week 20. By this time of pregnancy, the reproductive system of the fetus has almost completely formed. This makes it possible to establish the floor during ultrasound examination. With multiple pregnancies, the sex of each of the babies is determined.
Note that when determining the sex of a child, an ultrasound specialist may make a mistake. This mainly happens in the case of insufficient competence of the doctor or when conducting an examination with old ultrasound devices. You can double-check the result a little later - during the next ultrasound scan.
For information on how the fetus develops at the 20th week of pregnancy, see the next video.
