At 18 and 19 weeks pregnant you may feel something very funny that you have never felt before, an imbalance in your body. This means that your center of gravity has changed caused by the growth of your uterus.

Mom and Baby Changes

Mom: You may start having difficulty sleeping or just relaxing in bed. This is due mainly to the growth of your abdomen. You have to find out the most appropriate position to sleep, and many women find comfort lying on their left side with a pillow between their legs.

You may feel muscle tension, or you may start feeling cramps in your legs. This is pretty common during pregnancy. Compressed blood vessels are the likeliest culprits and tend to strike at night.

You should not worry about these changes at 18 weeks pregnant, your body will adapt slowly.

Baby: Your baby now starts growing hair, and also a kind of fat that will protect against the aqueous environment of the amniotic fluid.

The strength of the muscles of your baby is growing, and the movements are more vigorous. You can even feel the movement like a mild fluttering of bubbles in the abdomen.

Bones continue with the process of ossification, and the baby begins to develop fingerprints.

The gut is already producing gastric juice to help to absorb the amniotic fluid swallowed.

The length of your baby is around 16 cm, and its weight is about 300 grams.

Dad: Considering that the skin of your partner is being stretched, you can help buying some kind of cream (cocoa butter for example) that can help ease the dryness and itching associated with stretched skin.

My own experience at 19 weeks pregnant:

Suddenly, in just a couple of weeks, my stomach started to grow very fast. My family and my coworkers were surprised when they saw me, because two weeks ago my pregnancy was not noticed at first sight. I also started with some back pain and feeling a bit dizzy. My doctor told me that this was a fairly common side effect of pregnancy.