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ยป Pregnancy
Week By
Week
11/15/2008 - by Anne Marie Nielson
Pregnancy Week
20
You're Pregnant! Week
20
You may be told about scheduling a glucose tolerance test in a
few weeks. What is it for? Well, some women develop a special
kind of diabetes that only lasts during pregnancy known as
gestational diabetes. Most women are offered the test. It
consists of drinking a very sugary drink on an empty stomach
and then having blood drawn about an hour later. The test
checks for how well your body is dealing with all this sugar
that got dumped into your system. Some women have a difficult
time dealing with this test. The drink is very difficult for
some women to drink, and some critics of this test suggest that
it is not a real test of how your body handles food. Others
think this test is perfectly accurate. If your numbers are high
from this test, you will be asked back to do a three hour
glucose tolerance test. You will again need to drink the sugary
beverage (no, you don't get to supply your own) and blood will
be drawn at the first hour afterwards, the second hour
afterwards and the third hour afterwards to see if your body is
processing the glucose. Some care givers are offering an
alternative to the standard glucose tolerance test. They ask
that you eat a regular meal, and then an hour or two later they
take a finger prick with a diabetic monitor to check your blood
sugar. This method is also accurate, and a lot easier on your
body than fasting and then loading up on the heavy glucose
drink. Ask your care giver if this is an option.
YOUR BABY
Your baby is now exploring with his or her hands. From touching
their face to grabbing the umbilical cord, your baby is active
all the time. The brain is continuing to grow and develop, and
every week your baby gets closer to term, the lungs get closer
to maturity. Baby has taste buds now, and can detect flavors in
the amniotic fluid. Your baby now weighs almost a pound. If you
measure the baby from the top of the head to the bottom of
their feet, you'll reach almost 11 inches.
YOUR BODY
You may be getting tired of eating healthy and all you want is
a great big burger from your favorite fast food restaurant.
Well, one won't hurt you. But don't eat there every day! Your
baby needs lean proteins, fruit and vegetables and the right
kind of fats you find in avocados and nuts to grow to their
potential. So, go ahead and have an ice cream cone, but don't
eat the entire carton, no matter how good it tastes. Actually,
if you find yourself craving sweets, eat something with
protein. Nine times out of ten, that will satisfy your craving.
If you're looking for something new to try, edamame is a new
snack food you can find in most supermarkets now. They're
soybeans that have been lightly cooked and salted from Japan.
They are high in protein and satisfy some of that urge to
munch.
At From Pregnancy To Baby, we try
to provide you with all of the latest information about going
through your pregnancy from your first trimester to the first
years of your new babies life. We also provide the highest
quality books and products to help you through that time.
Source: http://www.frompregnancytobaby.com/pregnancy-week-20.html
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