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Emotional Changes
Physical Changes
How Your Baby is Growing: Weeks 17-20
Easy Ways to Be Kind to Your Feet
10 Ways to Involve Children with Your Pregnancy
10 Simple Strategies to get a Distant Dad Involved
Growing Concerns

At the beginning of your pregnancy your endocrine system worked feverishly to make the hormones your uterus and baby needed to grow. Around halfway through your pregnancy your placenta takes over the production of most of these hormones. This explains why you feel better physically; placental hormone production does not have as many side effects on mother as maternal hormone production does.

Nevertheless, you are still likely to find that your emotions are more intense than before you were pregnant. Many moms-to-be are surprised at how easily they weep – even McDonald's commercials can make them cry. Luckily, month five typically is filled with many good feelings, or at least less ambivalence. Here are some common feelings moms-to-be have in the fifth month:

Many women feel what we label the "mommy brain" – you can't quite get a fix on what you want to say, you fight harder for simple vocabulary sometimes. You can be forgetful or "spacey." If you don't know about this it can be quite alarming, especially if you aren't sure if you will get your old brain back later. If you do know, you can make allowances for it, even laugh at it. These momentary memory lapses rarely interfere with a pregnant woman's ability to carry on her job.

Anytime during pregnancy, especially during the middle trimester, some women have panic attacks: gasping for air, difficulty breathing, fast heartbeat (palpitations), and feeling like your chest is closing up. These may awaken you in the middle of the night. If one of these comes on, check into relaxation mode, and convince yourself "I'm o.k." These episodes pass quickly, reassuring you there's really nothing to panic about.

As in the fourth month, both you and your baby grow rapidly during month five. You will probably gain around five pounds and your baby's weight will nearly double. Naturally, you will feel these physical changes. When referring to their abdomen and breasts, women during this month often exclaim: "All of a sudden I've popped out." Some specific physical changes you may notice include:

Your nipples may be more sensitive than ever, especially when you are lying on them during sleep or when they rub against your clothing. You may also notice leaking colostrum, a golden yellow substance that is the first milk for your newborn.

The tissue surrounding and supporting your uterus has more work to do now that your uterus is bigger and heavier. This brings new physical sensations. Large ligaments, called round ligaments, on each side of your uterus attach your uterus to your pelvis. Round ligaments must stretch as your uterus grows. This slow and steady stretching does not itself cause discomfort, but because they are being taxed by change, round ligaments can suddenly become sensitive to normal actions. The most common offender is a sudden change of position. When you twist, or get out of bed in the morning, round ligament strain can cause a gripping pain along one or both sides of your lower abdomen, or even toward your back. While not harmful to baby, this pain can sometimes be excruciating for you. To prevent or lessen pelvic-ligament pain, try leg lift exercises. Avoid sudden changes of position, especially from sitting to standing and when getting out of bed. Try lying down on your side, either the side of the pain or the opposite one – whichever brings you more relief. If you need more relief, try a hot water bottle.

Sometime during the mid-trimester, many women find their vision changes, usually for the worse. The increased fluid retention throughout your body actually changes the shape of your eyeballs, and with it your vision. Some women become more far-sighted, some more near-sighted during pregnancy. You may feel you need a change in the prescription of your glasses, or your contact lenses may become uncomfortable, as if they no longer fit.

Another cause of vision changes in pregnancy is the drop in estrogen, which decreases the moisture available to your eyes (dry-eye syndrome), and can lead to blurred vision, light sensitivity, and red, burning eyes

If you feel your feet are getting larger and heavier as your abdomen does, you are right. That's the fluid collecting in your ankles and feet, especially after a day of standing. Feet also feel the effects of the normal ligament looseness that develops throughout your body, causing weight-bearing joints to stretch and widen, and arches to fall. The extra body fat you are accumulating doesn't help any. Put all these changes into a shoe, and it's no wonder that it no longer fits. Most women require at least a half-size larger shoe in the second half of their pregnancy, and around fifteen percent of moms permanently require footwear at least a half-size larger.

• Elevate them as much as possible.
• Avoid standing for long times without a break.
• Do foot exercises: flex your toes and then pull them toward you as you point the heel away from you. Extend your leg, point your toes up, and make a circle with your toes, rotating your whole foot and ankle. This also exercises the calf muscles after standing or sitting for a long time.
• Solicit a foot massage: the masseur holds the aching foot in both hands, places his thumb just under the ball of the foot, and moves along the arch, massaging in slow, circular strokes.
• Nurse swollen, painful, day's-end feet in cool water.
• Allow your feet to breathe by using cotton socks.
• Choose shoes with wide, low heels (no higher than two inches) or wedges. Non-skid soles make you more sure-footed. Try soft leather or canvas shoes, preferably without laces, since sooner or later you won't be able to bend over to tie them. Shop for new shoes at the end of the day when your feet are most swollen.
• Try orthotics – plastic arch supports that fit into your shoes. These are available at most shoe stores, pharmacies, or molded custom by a podiatrist.

Now that you are bigger, you may have a whole host of new fears. Feeling the baby move and perhaps seeing the clear evidence of baby's presence tend to make mothers acutely aware of the little life they're protecting. With this awareness come new, and very real, concerns. How will you be physically able to handle everything – job, home, older children? How will you be able to stretch yourself emotionally? How will your relationship with your mate change now that you are so preoccupied with your pregnancy? What about the baby? The fear of bearing a deformed baby crops up now and then. We'll take a look at the most common concerns women have during the middle trimester.

In the first trimester, a thick, muscular uterus and an even more protective pelvic bone shield your baby, so it is nearly impossible to injure her if you trip and fall. By the fifth month, however, your uterus grows beyond the protective shell of your pelvic bone. While the chances of injury from a simple fall are still very unlikely, you will naturally worry more. If your expanding breasts don't yet obstruct your view of your feet, your abdomen soon will, and so you can't always look down to see where you are stepping. Since your body is changing rapidly, your balance will not be as secure or as graceful as it used to be. In the months to come, you will not only become less graceful, but also less agile.

There is no need to worry unduly about minor falls. Your baby is well protected by the natural shock absorbers of your abdominal muscles, uterine muscles, fetal membranes, and the amniotic fluid, all of which cushion any outside blows. It would take an accident that seriously injures mommy to have even a remote chance of injuring baby. To see how well your baby is protected by the amniotic fluid in the amniotic sac, fill a mayonnaise jar with water, place an egg in it, shake it up, and see how well protected the egg is. Amniotic fluid is actually thicker and more protective than water.

While baby is unlikely to be hurt by a fall, you may be. A sprained ankle or twisted knee is no cakewalk without painkillers, and might necessitate x-rays or other medical interventions you would rather avoid. Realize the natural limitations that your new body imposes.