By pregnancy week 19 the infant is beginning to produce meconium which is infant's first bowel movement When the infant is born it starts passing meconium in the first few weeks of life. Meconium can be defined as quite normal but it can sometimes end up in some dangerous problems.
Typically, when infants grow, they ingest and then pass amniotic fluid each day. Meconium is a compound of the build-up of material that includes amniotic fluid occurring during pregnancy. Typically it is greenish-black colored and hangs around upon excretion. Generally the infant passes this after delivery. There are, nevertheless, risks if the infant passes meconium while the woman is still pregnant. Generally this is a signal of fetal distress and meconium passed in uterus can get mixed with amniotic fluid and sometimes get into the infant's airway and then into the lungs that can rise complications after delivery that also includes dangerous respiratory infection pneumonia.
Ideally the only way to tell if the infant has excreted meconium is after the birth as when the water breaks and if it is clear the infant must be fine. If the infnat has passed meconium, the amniotic fluid might be yellow or green colored. The health care provider may use a DeLee suction for removing the meconium from the infant's airway just before their first breath as it prevents aspiration of the meconium inside the respiratory tract. There is no means influencing whether or not the infant passes meconium in uterus. The good news is that most of the infants don’t, so one should not be much worried about it. The health care provider is well equipped to tackle the condition even if it arises during delivery.
The infant is also producing vernix during pregnancy week 19 that is a white sticky substance covering the infant's skin for protecting it from its environment. However, one should remember that the infant is packed in fluid for 9 months. The vernix keeps the infant's skin that looks softer and suppler. By pregnancy week 19, the infant's brain is also getting formed the pockets to particularize in smelling, tasting, hearing, viewing things and even touching. By 19th week of pregnancy if the mother has a girl she has already manufactured six million eggs in her ovaries! Although this number decreases by 4 million by the time this little has born.
The positioning of the uterus, by 19th week of pregnancy should now be just under the bellybutton. The mother might notice that her lower abdomen is somewhat achy just because of size getting increased and start to pull on the round ligaments. Round ligament pains are quite common discomfort at pregnancy week 19.
It is not uncommon to find your balance shifting during pregnancy at 19 weeks. Remember your center of gravity is off. You may notice it is more difficult to walk down or up hill with your changing center of gravity. You may also start feeling dizzy or lightheaded, which is a fairly common side effect of pregnancy. Typically you'll notice these symptoms when you change posture, a condition referred to as postural hypotension. This is low blood pressure that results from a change in position, such as a sudden leap from sitting to standing.
Oftentimes, the uterus also puts pressure on the two of the largest blood vessels; aorta and vena cava. They supply blood to the body and take blood from various organs of the body. The aorta takes blood from the heart to rest of the body and the vena cava carries the blood from the rest of the body back into the heart. When the vessels are pressed, the mother undergoes hypotension because of the slowing of blood circulating throughout the body. This is known as supine hypotension that might result in a feeling of being faint or having giddiness while she lies down. Typically, the mother can relieve the symptoms of dizziness or giddiness that results by supine hypotension by lying on the side rather than of her back.
