Your week 22 guide

Nerve endings are supporting a developing sense of touch. Touch is one of the earliest senses to develop, and your baby explores by making contact with the cord, the walls of the uterus and their own face and hands. Sensitivity begins around the mouth and spreads outward across the body.

The eyebrows, lips and eyes are well formed, although the eyelids remain closed. The features are essentially complete at this point and mostly need to fill out with fat rather than change shape. The eyelids will begin to open again in a few weeks, once the retina is further developed.

The pancreas is maturing and the hands can grasp nearby structures. The pancreas is beginning to produce insulin, which becomes relevant if blood sugar is high in pregnancy, since your baby responds to it. The grasp reflex is strong enough now that babies are often seen holding the umbilical cord on a scan.

Movement may still feel like flutters or may have become quite definite. Both are normal at twenty-two weeks, and where your placenta lies makes a substantial difference to how much you feel. What matters is that movement is becoming more consistent over the coming weeks rather than how strong it is today.

Stretch marks, heartburn, constipation, leg cramps and a protruding navel are all common. The navel is pushed outward by the growing uterus and almost always settles back afterwards. Stretch marks appear where skin is stretched quickly and fade to silvery lines over time, and no cream reliably prevents them despite the marketing.

A growing bump changes how you sleep and how you stand. Sleeping on your side becomes more comfortable, and from the third trimester onward side-sleeping is specifically advised because lying flat on your back allows the uterus to press on a major vein. If you wake on your back, simply turn over; it is the position you settle in that matters.

Use stress-reduction habits that actually fit into your day. Ten minutes of something reliable beats an ambitious routine you abandon, whether that is a walk, prayer, breathing, or sitting somewhere quiet. Pregnancy stress is worth taking seriously rather than treating as inevitable.

Settle any celebration or support plans without taking on the organising yourself. If people want to help, this is a good thing to hand over, and delegating is not the same as not caring. Keeping the guest list and the expectations modest tends to protect the day rather than diminish it.

Ask your clinician about constipation, supplements or leg cramps that keep bothering you. These are treated as minor complaints and mentioned less often than they should be, yet they affect daily life considerably. There are safe options for most of them, and persistent cramps are occasionally worth investigating further. InshaAllah, naming the discomfort plainly can make it easier to ask for the help you need.

Choose fish carefully: Fish provides protein, omega-3 fats and several vitamins and minerals. The recommended types and amounts vary because some fish contain more mercury or environmental pollutants than others.

Choose thoroughly cooked, lower-mercury fish permitted by your local pregnancy guidance. Follow local limits on oily fish and tuna, avoid the species identified as high in mercury, and do not use cod liver oil as an omega-3 source in pregnancy because of its vitamin A content.