During pregnancy week 26, the infant’s heart is continuously growing and developing. The mother might even be able to hear the infant's heartbeats through a traditional stethoscope if placed on the abdomen. However, the mother should not get too excited although, some of the women can remain for the entire gestational period without being able to hear their infant’s heartbeats using any stethoscope. The Doppler is considered to be much more effective and efficient method to measure the infant's heartbeats throughout pregnancy.
In addition to organ developing within infant’s body, the unborn baby’s nerve pathways in its ears continue to grow during pregnancy week 26 that will allow the infant to respond to noise more consistently. The mother may notice the infant jumping more often now to louder noises while she is in this week of pregnancy. This is an excellent time to start playing some soft music to the unborn one whenever the mother gets time. Some of the expecting mothers even enjoy reading to their infant during this period. If the mother has not considered it, she can have her partner reading to her belly. This helps the infant become more acclimatized to the sound of the partner's voice. Whether anyone believes it or not, one of the great things infants recognize outside the uterus besides smell is the sound of any voice, particularly the partner's voice.
The infant will continue breathing in amniotic fluid after this week of pregnancy and beyond. The male babies generally experience a bit of growth during this period, as their testicles start to descend in the scrotum. The process typically consumes about two and three days to get complete.
The uterus must now be about 2½ inches above the umbilicus. The uterus continues to grow at a rate of about 1 cm every week as the mother continues her pregnancy week by week. The mother has probably put on some weight at this juncture, up to 23 lbs for some women. The weight might fluctuate from day to day because of water retention so she should try not to weight herself every day if she can avoid it, as this might prove admonishing during the pregnancy.
The mother may begin to experience more discomfort that includes pressure and backache as the abdomen continues to grow larger. The leg cramping could be common. That is why, the mother is to be sure stretching out her legs as much as possible and go for nutritious diet to ensure the infant is getting the nutrients it requires to keep up with the its development. Stretching is especially important if she plans on doing any type of exercises. Remember that the added girth and fluctuation in hormones in the body changes the way mother’s body responds to exercises. She wants to take great care to make sure she does not injure herself. One technique to prevent this is doing routine stretching.
Headache might start to come on more frequently at pregnancy week 26 since the hormones continue to alter as she approaches the end of her 2nd trimester. Generally she could take some painkiller to help relieving the pain of headache she has been experiencing. If the headache is severe or she is experiencing frequent migraine, consult with the health care professional about any possible remedy is advisable.
Some of the expecting mothers may start complaining of pain or discomfort somewhere nearer to the ribs or in the lower abdomen. The little one is surely becoming stronger, and its strength is getting combined with growing size of the womb that presses against the organs might cause her to have some discomfort. It is quite common feeling a sharp or stabbing pains or pressures under the ribs as the infant moves. It might help to switch positions or lying down while she feels this pains or discomfort. This could help the little one settling in for a bit or change position.
