PREGNANCY WEEK 10
Your baby’s skeleton is continuing to develop, and although it is still made mainly from cartilage, bone will soon form. His muscles have now developed so he is able to move around, though as yet you still cannot feel movements. His stomach continues to form and becomes connected to his mouth in which his taste buds are developing; the rest of his intestine is currently a long tube. His head is still big, about half the length of his body, and he has a large bulging forehead; the cells of the brain are still dividing rapidly.
His feet and hands becomes less like paddles as the fingers and toes begin to separate. Fingernail beds are developing; he even has finger pads on his fingers with his own fingerprints. As he now has a working mouth and jaw he starts to practice swallowing. The beginnings of a sucking reflex develop so he will be able to drink milk when he is born. Hair follicles are formed which will allow him to grow hair.
Your womb has now increased to approximately the size of an orange. You may have noticed changes in your skin, as high level of progesterone may be more visible than usual because they have dilated to cope with the increased blood supply to the skin.
Some women develop small blood vessel in the skin upper arms and chest; these spider naevi look like small spidery red lines, there is no point treating this visible vessels with cream as they tend not to work, and these lines generally fade after pregnancy.
Many women have abdominal aches and pains throughout pregnancy. These pains can be described differently as pain is subjective, and different women will feel things differently. For some women it may feel like muscle aches; for others they may feel like sharp twinges.
Majority of this pain are not a cause for concern, but if you have cramping of these pains associated with blood, severe pain or pain that doesn’t go away, visit your doctor for investigation.
Pregnancy is a great time to start or continue yoga. Pick an antenatal or pregnancy yoga class or DVD; these are generally gentler and designed specifically for the need and changing bodies of pregnant woman.
