At the stage of pregnancy when a woman is 26 weeks pregnant, her blood pressure starts rising rapidly, swelling in the hand and feet, she feels more pressure at the back, blurry vision, abdominal pain, headaches, pain in the ribs due to weight gain of the baby and sleep disorder. Change in the weight takes place by passage of time every day.

Woman should visit the doctor regularly in the 26 weeks pregnancy. Regular check-ups are a must with the doctor, who should check the pregnancy health, blood pressure, and weight of the expecting woman on every visit. Anti-tetanus shot should be given and another ultrasound is done to check the complete growth of the baby. Also, blood tests are done to know about the presence of prenatal diabetes or presence of any genetic defects, if any, in the baby. All these regular check ups are essential and should not be postponed at any cost to avoid risk to the fetus or the bearer in future.

In the 26 week pregnancy, expectant mother should make a bag comprising of baby clothes, diapers, baby milk bottles, towel and other baby products so that she should carry these immediately at the time of delivery. She should take frequent small protein diet but low fat diet.  Woman should avoid sitting for long intervals at a stretch and not do frequent bending at the waist. She should also start thinking about keeping a nurse at home to take care of the baby on his arrival and paste beautiful pictures of babies with good face and tinkling blue eyes.

The different on line pregnancy related web sites are great sites telling about the development of baby week by week. They give a concrete knowledge to the expecting parents. To become more knowledgeable about the ways and means to go about when going through pregnancy, the pregnant woman must visit the site for current articles and discussions.

The end period of second trimester is defined as 26 weeks pregnant, with baby growing to 15 inches in length. The pregnant woman’s fetus starts adding a little fat to his bones and development of heart continues to grow. The heart beat can be heard through a stethoscope placed on the stomach of the expecting mother. Pumping of blood in the heart begins. The lungs of baby start developing blood vessels to make him prepare for life after coming out of mother’s womb. Organ maturation takes place and baby develops good sense of touch and sound.

The baby will start jumping every now and then in the womb on hearing loud music. Some parents therefore start enjoying reading books to them at this time. Eyes development is complete and baby will enter into the field of opening and blinking of eyes. Network of nerves to ear completes and blood circulation begins in the body of baby and placenta grows almost to the size of him. The umbilical cord thickens due to filling of nutrients in it. Fingernails and toenails develop and become prominent. Baby continues to breathe in the amniotic fluid and baby boys experience more growth as their testicles begin to descend in the scrotum. Baby shows movements in the mother’s body.

In the stage of 26 weeks pregnant, owing to increasing pregnancy health the normal clothes do not fit to woman as the uterus of the woman grows to 2.5 inches above belly button and has sensations under the ribs. She feels heartburn, weight gain, cramps in the muscles. She starts feeling slight contractions in the uterus which is called as Braxton-Hicks Contractions. Woman should, therefore, need to relax more. She should engage herself in light works and regularly do walking and stretching, as this will prepare the body for labor and birth.