15 Weeks Pregnant : What to Expect
During the 15th week of pregnancy and throughout the 2nd trimester, most women tend to relax a bit more. Most pregnancy symptoms like nausea, morning sickness and fatigue are decreasing more and more as the days go on. The pain that comes with the end of the pregnancy is far ahead, so its okay to finally sit back and enjoy the fact that you are pregnant.
Symptoms and Body Changes at 15 Weeks
As mentioned before, being 15 weeks pregnant doesn’t show significant changes within your body. Many women gain up to 5 lbs by this week, however weight gain varies from mom to mom. It’s quite natural if you’ve gained a little more or a little less than that. The biggest situation mom-to-be’s face during this week is the ligaments that support the uterus are continuing to grow and cause sharp pain. Some women experience this pain on either one or both sides of the abdomen.
Baby’s Development
Your baby has grown since last week, weighing 1.75 ounces and 4 inches in length. Lanugo (fine hair) is covering the skin, keeping your baby warm and at a constant and consistent body temperature. The lanugo does this until the baby is born, disappearing just before birth. During the 15th week, many good things are happening inside the womb. The biggest thing is that the bones in the ear are hardening and your baby is now able to listen to all sounds, including mom’s heartbeat, speaking and breathing. Many future parents begin to put headphones on the belly during the 2nd trimester, playing soft music to help keep the baby calm. Although the baby is moving around a lot, mom might not be able to tell just yet, however, occasionally, she might feel him or her kick or get the occasional hiccups. These movements will be felt easier and more often later in the pregnancy. Your baby is swallowing food and making faces such as squinting and frowning, as well as sucking on their thumb. Since last week the arms and legs have grown so much, that they are longer than the head. This is significant since the head has been the biggest part of the fetus thus far. Tastebuds are forming and the fingernails and toenails are continuing to grow longer day by day.
Pregnancy Week 15 Tips
Since your belly isn’t sticking out, you haven’t gained a large amount of weight or had to learn to walk in a new position, this is a great week to begin teaching yourself how to sleep on your side and sit, stand and walk with better posture. If you practice now, later in the pregnancy when you’ll be forced to do these things to relieve pain, it will come much easier. A pregnancy pillow can be a great tool for pain relief. Because the baby can now hear, moms and dads to be may like to try products that produce music for the baby like Mozart for Mothers-To-Be. Next is pregnancy at 16 weeks.
