Pregnancy Week 10: In Between Clothing? What to get now?
Baby’s development continues in leaps and bounds this week which is exciting for you even if it causes a pain in the gut!
Your Baby in Week 10 of Pregnancy
Every week baby is taking on more and more of a human appearance and those ‘real baby’ characteristics are boosted this week as their bones and cartilage are forming and hardening and
small indentations that may have been in place for a few weeks are actually becoming real knees and elbows. Baby’s arms can even flex a little bit now, although they are still not too much bigger than this number ‘1’.
A number of Baby’s bodily systems will also begin to function properly this week. Their stomach will start to produce digestive juices, even though they will not be eating for months and their kidneys will begin producing (and excreting) real urine.
The external sex organs are also fully formed now although they are probably not visible on an ultrasound with great clarity right now. If Baby is a boy though their bodies will have already begun to produce testosterone.
Finally, in Baby’s mouth tiny tooth buds are forming, although they will not break through the thickening gums until about six months after Baby is born.
Your Body in Week 10 of Pregnancy
By this week your uterus has expanded to the size of a good sized grapefruit. This will probably mean that your pregnancy is getting harder to ‘hide’ and it really is time now to start thinking, if you have not already, about larger waistbands and looser garments.
Possible New Pregnancy Symptoms in Week 10 of Pregnancy
All of the all too familiar by now unpleasant side effects of being an expectant Mum are likely to still be with you this week. Nausea, fatigue and digestive problems will probably be around for a few weeks to come yet.
One new ‘wrinkle’ that may pop up this week is the appearance of a number of prominent veins, especially in your breasts. This is a result of the engorgement of your breasts (which you will certainly be very aware of right now) and is perfectly normal. You may also notice a similar roadmap of veins appearing on your belly. None of this may look particularly great to you but these veins are doing some very important work right now, helping to deliver essential nutrients to your baby so grin and bear it and remember they will fade away once Baby arrives and there is no more need for extra blood.
Some women also begin experiencing round ligament pain, the medical term for that achy feeling in your lower belly around that developing baby bump. The pain can be dull and nagging or take the form of a sharp twinge. This is all caused by the fact that the the ligaments supporting your belly are stretching and thinning out. As your belly gets larger these ligaments will be stretched even further, so these nagging pains may be with you on and off now until after delivery.
Pregnancy Tips for your Tenth Week – Activities to Avoid – These days almost everyone realizes that a healthy expectant Mum is not a china doll that could break at any second and that remaining as physically fit as possible is actually very important for you and for your unborn baby.
There are some activities that most doctors do feel are a little risky for women who are nearing the end of their first trimester and that should be avoided until after baby is born. Most of these are activities that depend on maintaining very good balance, something that is getting harder for even very athletic women. This includes horse riding, water-skiing and speed cycling. Contact sports are pretty much out now as well as is scuba diving as there is a concern about the effects of decompression on both Mum to Be and Baby.
These are all pretty intense sports of course. Gentler, more commonly practiced exercises and sports are less of a problem. Low impact aerobics are fine, walking is great and swimming may be the best exercise of all for pregnant women.
I
f you were never much of a fan of organised exercise classes you may want to re-think that position now. Yoga and Pilates for example are both excellent forms of prenatal exercise and they both offer all kinds of benefits both physically and mentally.
Attending a prenatal exercise class also gives you a chance to socialise with other ladies in the same position as you, something that can be rather nice after spending the rest of the week feeling a bit out of place with the ‘non-preggos’ at home and at work.
In Between Clothes – At ten weeks pregnant most Mums to Be are getting a bit too big for their pre pregnancy clothes but not big enough for ‘real’ maternity wear, leaving them in a bit of a state of fashion limbo, which can make getting dresses in the morning a bit of a challenge, especially if you are still working.
You can get a little extra use out of your regular clothes with a few tweaks though. Threading an elastic band around your jeans button, through the buttonhole, and back around the button again should allow you to get to slip into your favourites for just a bit longer. Or you can keep your skirt partially unzipped at the back and wear a looser, longer blouse, jumper , or jacket over it to hide that fact and get a few more days wear out of your best office attire before you swap it for maternity clothes.
For Dad – Over the coming months your partner will be spending an increasing amount of time at the doctor’s surgery and his or her number is likely to be everywhere and Dr So and So, and their opinions, are likely to creep into your conversations with your partner more and more frequently.
Different women have different comfort levels will just how much their partner sees during prenatal appointments but even if she would prefer you not be in the exam room (a common request from Mums to be) you should still accompany her to as many doctor’s appointments as possible.
Moral support is not the only reason for this. Tagging along will allow you to hear all of those nuggets of wisdom from the doctor first hand as well as ask your own questions, which you know you have. Best of all you will get to experience all of the momentous milestones with her. For example, your partner’s life will be changed forever once she hears Baby’s heartbeat first hand and sharing that with you will make a memory for you both that will last a lifetime (corny, but true.)
