Now the first half of pregnancy has passed. You can feel the baby moving and alter your position during sleep. It’s time to seriously think about changing your way of living!
How Is It Being 5 Months Pregnant?
The most vivid impression of the 5th month of pregnancy will be the movements of the baby in your belly. It’s a happy occasion for the expectant mother because she gets an opportunity to communicate with it, to soothe it with caresses, to know if it is content or not.
There can be changes in the appearance of the future mother. Some women acquire pigmentation on their skin due to the hormones. Hormonal changes can negatively affect the acuity of vision. But don’t worry – these changes are temporary. These minor flaws will disappear after childbirth. About the pleasant changes: your breasts will be swelling considerably. You’d better purchase a comfortable prenatal bra so that the breasts will hold an attractive shape.
As for the intimate life, you may suddenly find out that it’s much easier for you to reach orgasm, or on the contrary, you can hardly reach it at all. It happens, but it is a temporary hormonal effect.
How Should a 5 Months Pregnant Sleep and Eat?
With the appearance of a belly, the expectant mother has to change her usual position during sleep: it’s recommended to sleep on the left side, right leg on the left, or with a small (pregnancy) pillow between the legs.
Keep an eye on your weight. Don’t overeat. Learn to count calories. Ask your doctor how much energy you need now. The weight gain shouldn’t be more than 1 pound. Limit the consumption of farinaceous foods and sweets, but don’t entirely refuse it. Eat more fish and vegetables, fresh and steamed. Avoid eating too much fried and heavy food.
Probable Issues in the Fifth Month of Pregnancy
- Pains in the lower back
- Rapid pulse
- Possible excreting of the colostrum from the breasts
- Increased mucous excreta from the vagina
- Swelling and spasms in the legs
- Varicose veins of shins and anus.
Tips for a Future Mother
- Take care of yourself. Don’t overstrain yourself and don’t raise weights (especially more than 10 pounds).
- Sleep on a hard mattress.
- In the morning don’t get from bed abruptly. Such a raise causes rapid pulse and a possible faint. And the baby will definitely inform you that it doesn’t like things happening to you.
- Avoid staying in the same position (sitting or standing) for too long. Wear elastic tights, especially if you’ve got pronounced varicose veins on your legs.
- Don’t cross your legs while sitting. It is disrupting blood flow.
- Try not to delay urination because this can lead up to urinary infection.
- Purchase comfortable shoes without high heels or platforms. Try them on before buying: your size may get a little bigger now (it will be normal after childbirth, so don’t worry).
- Wipe the excreta of the colostrum from your nipples with a sterile napkin, if necessary. And use specific bra packings to avoid embarrassing situations.
- Your skin and nails are especially frail now. Reduce usage of make-up and nail polish to a minimum. Do the dishes wearing rubber gloves. And use for the daily skin care only organic humectant lotions for future mothers.
Visiting a Doctor in the 5th Month of Pregnancy
The fifth month of pregnancy is characterized by increased work of the cardiovascular system because now it has to supply not only one but two organisms with blood. That’s why your pulse is rapid. Your blood pressure may be a bit high. The number of leucocytes in your blood will increase. And the doctor will definitely examine your blood for hemoglobin level so that the necessary measures will be taken if it is too low. If your hemoglobin is, in fact, low, the doctor will prescribe vitamins and iron-containing medications.
Your kidneys do tremendous work during this period. So with any suspicion of insufficient work of this organ, the doctor will immediately assign you for an ultrasound to check if everything is alright and to avoid possible pyelonephritis. The symptoms of the disease can be frequent and painful urination, high body temperature, a difficult and poor outflow of urine. If these symptoms are familiar to you, consult the doctor immediately.
What Tests Should be Done in the 5th Month of Pregnancy
- Blood test for the virus of hepatitis B (all expectant mothers pass it in the 2nd trimester)
- Urine test for protein and sugar contents
- The “triple test” – AFP (alpha-fetoprotein), hCG, estriol – general-multipurpose test, it is recommended to all future mothers to exclude fetus pathologies in the 15-20 weeks.
When Should You Immediately Consult a Doctor?
- If you often suffer from faints and dizziness: this can be the consequence of anemia or another serious disease.
- With clear symptoms of acute cystitis.
- With pink or brown excreta with characteristic smell continued for two days, with bleedings and spasms in the uterus (these are symptoms of late miscarriage).
How the Fetus is Developing it The 5th Month of Pregnancy
By the fifth month of pregnancy the tiny human being leads a rather curious pre-natal existence: opens its eyes a little, blinks, sucks its own thumb, moves and kicks its legs when it doesn’t like something.
The endocrine and neural systems of the baby control the condition of its body and help it to develop. The brain is improving and getting more complicated.
Since the 18th week, the baby’s body is able to synthesize substances that help it to deal with infections – interferon and immunoglobulin.
Since the 19th-20th week, all the endocrine glands engage in the work. The spleen begins to function. It becomes a “factory” of lymphocytes and monocytes, which defend the organism. The spleen also controls the quality of erythrocytes: sorts out the defective ones and dissolves them.
The baby’s body is still red, wrinkled, and covered in a specific substance – vernix caseosa. This is a clotted whitish substance that is a mixture of sebum and furfural of the epidermis. The weight of the fetus in the fifth month is about 0.8 pounds, the size is about 6.4-8 inches.
5 Months Pregnant Belly Pictures
Check out what the bellies look like in the fifth month of pregnancy.
5 Months Pregnant Ultrasound
16-20 weeks of pregnancy – possibility to contact the baby through the ultrasound without doctor’s referring.
Born in Belarus, 1985, a pedagogue and family psychologist, mother. Taking part in procedures of social adaptation of the foster children in new families. Since 2015 is a chief editor of the motherhow.com project, selecting the best and up-to-date material for those, who are planning, expecting, and already having babies.