Pregnancy Week 23: The Babymoon Beckons

Baby is filling out nicely this week but you may be less than happy about some of the changes happening to you as all kinds of strange things seem to be happening to your skin….

Your Baby in Week 23 of Pregnancy

At 23 weeks, Baby is really starting to look like a little doll and far more like the baby you will be meeting in just a few months time. Right now they are about 20 cms long an weigh somewhere around half a kilo. However, this week marks the beginning of the serious weight gain. Within just the next four weeks your little living doll is going to double in size, and yes, you may feel like you have too on some days, as Baby’s big growth spurt is going to show up in the size of your tummy!

At the moment, Baby’s skin is rather reddish in colour, because lots of blood vessels are now developing rapidly beneath their still rather thin skin. Their skin is also hanging loose right now, simply because the skin grows faster than the underlying fat and muscle develops, but by the time Baby is ready to make their world debut he or she will be nicely filled out and look like the chubby little angel you imagined.

Your Body in Week 23 of Pregnancy

By now you are probably getting used to the sight of your rounder tummy and as we just mentioned, it is about to start getting even rounder. One new thing you will probably spot for the first time right about now though is a dark line running from belly button and your pubic area. This is the linea nigra and in fact it has always been there, even before you conceived, it is just that all the pregnancy hormones (yes, them again) are darkening the skin in that area, so this ‘dark line’ is now very prominent.

Some ladies may also be rather alarmed when they look in the mirror and realize that strange dark splotches and blotches have started appearing on their face. This is called It’s called the mask of pregnancy (or chloasma) since it usually looks like a mask-like configuration, spreading across your forehead, nose, cheeks and chin.

In most cases this will fade just a few weeks after you give birth. In the meantime you will have o resort to some concealer to give you an even complexion. BB creams are actually a good choice as they are lightweight and replace several different products (sunscreen, foundation, concealer) Do not use a skin bleaching cream right now though, as this is not a permanent change and a bleach may end up changing your skin tone for good.

Possible New Pregnancy Symptoms in Week 23 of Pregnancy

Baby is getting geared up for that big growth spurt, so your friends the pregnancy hormones will be helping them out by boosting your appetite. This is the time when it is easy to get tempted to chow down on all the wrong things because you are just so hungry!

Resisting that temptation is a must. You certainly need to eat, but keeps things nice and healthy. Try stocking your fridge with fruit and cut-up veggies and keep plenty of nuts and whole-wheat crackers in the cupboards for when the snacking urge strikes!

Tips for the Twenty Third Week of Pregnancy – Keep Up Your Exercise

The bigger you get, the less you will probably feel like exercising. However, according to scientific research not only is exercise doing your body good but its a big help to Baby too. A number of studies have found that babies of Mums who maintained a regular, but sensibly gentle, exercise regime throughout their pregnancy score higher on general intelligence tests by the age of five.

By no means however does this mean that you should go crazy in the gym. Maintain the same sensible routines as you have been an if you find yourself getting tired and winded sooner than you use to, stop. As Baby grows you will have a little bit less oxygen available for you to use an so you may find yourself shorter of breath than usual.

Time for a Babymoon

Your pregnancy is really speeding up now and it is not going to be too long before Baby is here. Therefore right now, before you get too big and start feeling ungainly, or the fatigue that you experienced in your first trimester returns, which it will, is a great time for you to take a babymoon with your hubby.

It really does not matter where you go, or what you do (although a big adventure holiday is out of the question) just get away together and enjoy yourselves. It does not matter if you have taken other trips recently either.  There will still be time for romance after Baby is born, but this can be that one opportunity to truly focus on yourselves as a couple and reconnect with just why you are one in the first place. Keep the Baby discussions to a minimum for once, and let some of the stress of being expectant parents slip away for a while. In the coming weeks you will be very glad you did.