At the 23rd week of intrauterine life, quite a lot of different transformations take place in the fetus.
Location in the uterus
The baby can be located in the mother's womb in different ways. The location of the child is a very important parameter that doctors must determine. They carry out such a definition even several times during the entire period of pregnancy. The fact is that the initial location of the baby in the uterus can change several times before delivery. If the baby is a fidget and for some reason moves a lot and actively, then his position in the uterus may change.
The cephalic presentation is the most physiologically optimal. In this case, the baby's head is located towards the entrance to the small pelvis of his mother. With such an arrangement of the fetus, the course of natural childbirth, as a rule, proceeds quite favorably. Dangerous birth trauma or various injuries in this position are rare.
A less favorable option for the location of the baby in the mother's womb is breech presentation. In this position, not the head of the fetus, but its pelvis is turned first towards the birth canal. In this case, the process of natural childbirth can be dangerous by the development of a number of generic pathologies.
Most likely, if the position of the fetus does not change before delivery, then the doctor, with the breech presentation of the baby, will suggest that his mother give birth by cesarean section.
A less favorable location of the fetus in the uterus is also dangerous by the development of a number of pathologies even during pregnancy. A pregnant woman who knows that her baby is in breech position should be especially careful about her health. If she noticed leakage of amniotic fluid or severe cramping pains in the abdomen, then she should immediately seek help from doctors.
Body parameters
In order to determine the basic dimensions of the fetus's torso, doctors resort to a special method of ultrasound examination. It's called fetometry. During this examination, an ultrasound specialist, using an ultrasound sensor, examines the main internal organs and structures of the baby, making mandatory measurements.
For each period of pregnancy, there are certain limits of normal values of the determined clinical parameters. The most important parameters studied are the weight and height of the baby. The rates of these clinical indicators are presented in the table below:
With multiple pregnancies, the size of the babies is slightly different. It often happens that one of the children grows somewhat faster and more intensively than the other. This contributes to the fact that one brother or sister weighs more than the other. This feature is quite physiological and is quite common in multiple pregnancies.
A very important criterion for assessing the intrauterine development of the fetus is the calculation of its heart rate (HR). Doctors determine the baby's heartbeat at 22-23 obstetric weeks of pregnancy not only during an ultrasound examination, but also using a conventional obstetric stethoscope.
To calculate the heart rate, the doctor chooses the best place for auscultation. This is a certain point on the "pregnant" tummy, where the baby's heart sounds are more easily heard. Heart rate is an important marker of how the fetus develops in utero. Normal fetal heart rate values are listed in the table below:
The 23rd week of pregnancy is accompanied by characteristic manifestations in the work of all fetal nerve analyzers. The development of the baby's nervous system every day of the second trimester is very active.
Feelings in the fetus
By this time of pregnancy, the baby's brain already weighs about 80 - 90 grams. In the cerebral cortex, the number of convolutions and grooves increases. Such changes contribute to the fact that the baby's behavior becomes more orderly and complex.
For active knowledge of the outside world, the baby must have well-developed nerve analyzers. They are also called the senses. With these analyzers, the baby can recognize various sounds, react to bright light and intense odors, and taste.
The child perceives different tastes when swallowing amniotic fluid. The chemical composition of amniotic fluid can be different and largely depends on the daily diet of the expectant mother. So, amniotic fluid is most often sweet or salty.
When the amniotic fluid is swallowed, the urinary system develops intensively. During the day, the fetus is already able to swallow about 400-500 ml of liquid. It enters the baby's gastrointestinal tract, a number of nutrients (mainly glucose) are absorbed into the baby's bloodstream, and most of it is excreted through the kidneys. Such a biological process is not only the most important stage in the intrauterine development of a baby, but also contributes to a regular change in the chemical composition of the amniotic fluid. It can change several times during the day.
During the swallowing of amniotic fluid, a kind of "training" of the respiratory muscles of the fetus also occurs. In order to swallow the liquid, the direct involvement of the fetal chest muscles is necessary.
It's funny that when you swallow enough liquid, your baby starts to hiccup. This feature is completely physiological and indicates that the baby fully develops in the mother's womb.
Physical activity
The first movements of the baby, which his mother can already feel, are a clear sign of 23 weeks of pregnancy. Usually, before this time of pregnancy, a woman does not feel such pronounced manifestations of her child's motor activity.
A number of reasons contribute to the appearance of the first perceptible movements in a baby. The main one is a fairly good development of the child's brain. The active fulfillment of movements indicates that the baby begins to gradually "study" the environment in which he is. Also, the child becomes interested in individual parts of his body. He can touch his face, head, play with the umbilical cord.
Ultrasound specialists note how funny it is for them to observe the behavior of twins or twins during the examination at this stage of pregnancy. The twins can touch each other's umbilical cord and even hold hands. This, as a rule, touches not only the expectant mother, but also the doctor who is conducting the research.
By 22-23 weeks of gestation, the child's spine is already quite well developed. Also, by this time, as a rule, the mobility in the cervical spine increases. This contributes to the fact that the baby is able to twist his head and even press his chin a little against the neck. A very active and agile child can even roll over or make a turn around his axis. Too intense physical activity of the baby in some cases can be dangerous. Under a number of concomitant conditions, the umbilical cord may be entwined around the baby's neck or tummy, or its location in the uterine cavity may change. It is necessary to monitor the course of pregnancy, when the baby is pushing quite hard, with special attention.
The manifestation of activity in the fetus is replaced by calmness. Experts note that at 23 weeks of pregnancy, the fetus usually makes at least 10 movements. However, this figure is an average and is only indicative. During rest, the baby can sleep. His eyes in this state are covered for centuries. At the same time, the baby does not perform any active intensive movements. Some scientific evidence suggests that the fetus begins to have dreams at 23 weeks gestation.
Appearance
At 23 weeks gestation, the fetus looks quite mature. He no longer has such a huge head relative to the body, as it seemed before. The baby's arms and legs are long enough. They already have small fingers, the terminal phalanges of which are covered with a nail.
The entire surface of the fetus's body at this stage of intrauterine development is covered with virgin lubricant. It is necessary for the baby and protects him from the effects of some negative environmental factors. The original lubricant appears when a special secret is mixed, which is secreted through the ducts of the strong and sweat glands with desquamated epithelial cells.
The baby's skin is pink. All his skin is still wrinkled. This feature is due to the fact that the fetus does not yet have a sufficient amount of adipose tissue. Every day the amount of fat in the child's body will increase and reach the optimal level by the time of delivery.
Without sufficient content of subcutaneous fat in the body, the thermoregular function will be impaired.
The face of the fetus still looks a little funny. He has large eyes that cover the outside of delicate and almost transparent eyelids. Above the eyes, short, small vellus hairs grow, which will later become real eyebrows. The fetus also already has cilia, but they are still quite light and short.
The contours of the baby's nose and chin become more distinct with each further day of pregnancy. So, the nose does not seem as flat as before. Little by little, the cheeks begin to appear. The ears are still quite close to the neck.
Almost the entire body of the fetus and the head are covered with vellus hairs. They are also called lanugo. In the future, these hairs will gradually fall off, and the child's skin will look smoother and more even.
For what happens to mom and baby at 23 weeks pregnant, see the next video.
