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Day 156 of 280 · 22 weeks + 2 days

The immediate list

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 9 sources · Plain-text version

Twenty-two weeks and two days. Severe pain, bleeding, fluid: three things that mean a call right away. Today they go on one card on the fridge.

Size this week
about the size of a sweet potato
Length this week
around 27.8 cm from head to toe
A man pinning a small handwritten card to a fridge door with a magnet while his partner, in a loose hoodie with a small bump, reads it over his shoulder, bright kitchen daylight.

Twenty-two weeks and two days. Most of what you feel this month is ordinary. Today is about the few things that aren't, so that if one ever happens, nobody in your house has to think.

Your baby

A single sweet potato on a plain white ceramic plate, soft daylight.

Around now your baby is around 27.8cm long from head to toe, about the size of a sweet potato (NHS). They swallow small amounts of amniotic fluid, which usually stays in their bowels until after the birth and comes out as meconium, their first poo (NHS). MedlinePlus says that by week 22, meconium is already being made (MedlinePlus).

Your body

The NHS week 22 page has one line in it that isn't about comfort: if you have severe pain or vaginal bleeding, contact a midwife or GP immediately (NHS). MedlinePlus explains why bleeding matters more now than in the first weeks. In months 4 to 9, it may signal a problem such as the placenta separating early or lying over the cervix, and MedlinePlus says to treat it as a potential emergency (MedlinePlus).

The CDC's list of urgent warning signs adds the third item: vaginal bleeding or fluid leaking during pregnancy, and severe belly pain that doesn't go away (CDC). Pain, bleeding, fluid. That's the list.

Try today

  1. The immediate-call list

    Time: 10 minutes

    1. On a card, write three lines in big letters: severe pain, bleeding, fluid leaking (NHS; CDC).

    2. Under them, write who to call: your provider's after-hours number, and the labor and delivery unit where you plan to give birth.

    3. Add 911. MedlinePlus says heavy bleeding, a stiff and painful belly, or strong, frequent contractions may need a 911 call rather than a phone call to the clinic (MedlinePlus).

    4. Put the card on the fridge, and save the same numbers in both your phones.

    Make it work:

    Write the numbers, not just the names. In a scare, nobody can find a website.

Watch for

  • Normal

    a jab of round ligament pain that eases when you change position (MedlinePlus).

    Call your provider now

    for severe pain, or belly pain that doesn't go away (NHS; CDC).

  • Normal

    more discharge than before you were pregnant (NHS).

    Call your provider now

    for any vaginal bleeding; MedlinePlus says to treat it as a potential emergency (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    leaking a little urine when you cough or sneeze (MedlinePlus).

    Seek care immediately

    for fluid leaking from the vagina (CDC).

  • Normal

    not knowing where your placenta sits; the anomaly scan includes a look at it (NHS).

    Go to the ER

    for any bleeding if you've been told you have placenta previa (MedlinePlus).

For you

This list is short on purpose. In a frightening moment nobody remembers a page of symptoms; three words will do. It isn't the whole story: the CDC's full list of urgent signs is longer, and it says to contact your provider if something seems wrong even when it isn't on any list (CDC). But these three are the ones on the fridge.

If you're the partner: you are the one who makes the call if she can't, and the one who drives, or doesn't. Know where the card is and which hospital you'd go to.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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