Week 22 of Your Pregnancy

You’re 5 months into your pregnancy, and there’s just 4 more left to go! From week 22, watch what you say, because your baby is beginning to pick up and respond to your voice. Also, don’t forget your daily dose of Vitamin C!

Go the supermarket and cradle a pack of 450g cane sugar. That’s how much your baby weighs this week¹! Around this time, your baby’s hearing and recognition have improved and it can respond to your voice and to different sounds, rhythms and melodies^1,2. Go ahead and talk and sing to your baby! Once your child is born, he or she may find the same sound soothing.

Have you noticed your baby’s sleeping routine³? Other Singaporean mums have observed that their babies become more active when they lie down at night. Walking or keeping active also soothes their babies to sleep! 

Your Baby

Your baby can feel temperature differences. If you put your warm hands on your stomach, it can tell the difference and react. Recently, your baby has hiccups - It takes in a little amniotic fluid and pushes it out again. Not to worry, this serves to strengthen his respiratory system. The eyelashes are now sprouting. The head takes up about a third of his total length.

Your body

Not every woman is affected with the extra weight and some could face problems with the extra weight. Perhaps you may find suffering from varicose veins and leg cramps which resulted from the heavy load on your legs?

Soothing swollen legs and leg cramps

• Mix two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in two litres of lukewarm water. Soak two towels in it and then place them on your calves for 20 minutes. Have your legs slightly elevated.
  
• Run your calves under cold showers to prevent varicose veins
• Support stocking can also alleviate varicose veins
• Leg cramps usually occur due to disturbed blood supply of the calves, magnesium or calcium deficiency. You may also consult your doctor on appropriate preparations to help relieve leg cramps. 

Keeping Up with Vitamin C

Your body can’t make its own Vitamin C, so be sure to work it into your diet! Vitamin C is essential during pregnancy. It protects cells, keeps them healthy, and helps maintain both the immune and nervous systems. We also need it to make collagen, which forms teeth, skin, gums, cartilage, bones and blood vessels. Vitamin C also assists in the absorption of iron, which supports cognitive function⁵. This makes it even more important.

The recommended amount of Vitamin C during pregnancy is 40mg per day with an extra 10mg required in the last trimester of pregnancy⁶. Fortunately, you can get all the Vitamin C you and your baby need from maintaining a healthy, balanced diet.

Ready to love Vitamin C? Marry these vitamin C-rich foods with your meals:

• Fruit such as oranges, kiwi, strawberries, blueberries
• A squeeze of lemon or lime
• Fresh fruit juice
• Steamed broccoli
• Raw spinach leaves
• Tomatoes
• Brussels sprouts