22 Weeks Pregnant: Pregnancy Pounds

You are 22 weeks pregnant! Baby’s mouth is fully developed and ready to cry at you in a few short months. She can swallow even more than before (read: pee in you even more than before), and some ultrasounds have even detected babies sticking out their tongues at this stage. A good sign for your chances of becoming a grandma one day: in baby boys the testes have started descending (it’s a long trip) and in baby girls the uterus, ovaries and vagina are formed. From head to heel baby is about 11 inches long and weighs close to 16 ounces or... a pound! Grab a pound of butter from the fridge. That’s how heavy your baby is!

Wait a minute... if baby’s only a pound, why have you gained 20? Your relationship with Haagen-Dazs is your own business, but here’s an idea of how pregnancy pounds break down by the end of 40 weeks. If you were to gain a total of 30 pounds, you would theoretically find the pounds distributed thus:

• 1 ½ pounds of placenta

• 4 pounds of extra fluids

• 2 pounds of uterus

• 2 pounds of boob (goodbye Wonder Bra, hello tensor bandages)

• 4 pounds of extra blood

• 7 pounds of fat (yeah, right...)

• 2 pounds of amniotic fluid

• 7 ½ pounds of kid

Of course, if baby comes out 10 pounds, 6 ounces, you’re retaining water like a dam and you’ve developed an unhealthy obsession with bacon cheeseburgers – or baby comes out 6 pounds, 2 ounces and you’re sick until the day you deliver – these numbers won’t quite add up. It’s just a reference. Try not to obsess. It sounds like the bacon cheeseburgers already have enough of a hold on you.

More Pregnancy Links:

• Join our Pregnant Moms Group
• Baby Girl Names
• Baby Boy Names
  

Our pregnancy calendar is researched & written by our Pregnancy Editor, Dara Duff-Bergeron. Although she rocks, she is not a health care professional. It's just for entertainment purposes and any recommendations or information provided should not be used as a substitute for the real deal - a trained medical professional.

About the Author
Dara is a women’s fitness expert and a pre and postnatal specialist. Visit Dara at Belly Bootcamp (www.bellybootcamp.ca)

About the Author Posted by EMVA in Pregnancy Calendar on March 23, 2010 More from this author  |