Welcome to week fifteen!
Your little bump is really growing now, and your uterus is continuing it move out of the pelvic and into the abdominal cavity.
The continued uterine enlargement may be causing more “round ligament” discomfort. This is that pulling sensation or sharp pain that we talked about a few weeks ago. It can occur on either side of your lower abdomen when you cough, sneeze or your baby moves. For more information about this see the Go-to-Topic article entitled “Dealing with Round Ligament Discomfort”. The good news is that when he/she finally moves off your bladder there will be less urinary frequency and pressure, at least for a little while.
The continued uterine enlargement may be causing more “round ligament” discomfort.
How my Baby Grows
- Your little baby is about the size of an apple now
- His/her eye lids are still shut, but he/she can sense light
- The scalp pattern on your baby’s head is forming this week
- Even though you can’t feel it yet, your baby is very active
- He/she is moving about in the amniotic fluid that your body has created for the following important reasons
- Amniotic fluid supports the movement of your baby as he/she floats and swims around so that bones, muscles and other structures develop and grow strong
- Amniotic fluid also regulates the temperature of your baby’s environment
- The amniotic fluid protects your baby from infection by maintaining a sterile environment for him/her to live
- Another way that the amniotic fluid protects baby is to cushion the umbilical cord so that oxygen is not cut off when the cord presses against something firm in the uterus
- Did you know that there are hormones, nutrients and antibodies in this amazing fluid
- Amniotic fluid also assists the lung and digestive systems when the fluid is breathed in or swallowed
Symptoms Mama may Feel or Experience
- Do you feel like a mom already, because you are
- You are making good choices that protect and care for your baby in the way you eat, sleep, drink, exercise and refrain from harmful things like tobacco and drugs that are not prescribed by your doctor or midwife
- You are planning for your baby by considering your birth choices, products to care for baby and how you will feed him/her
- A mother’s love is sometimes sacrificial, you may be making choices not to do things or go places that might be harmful to your baby
- You might even be feeling a bit overwhelmed
- You have determined that a newborn will be a lot of work
- You may be thinking of the financial responsibility that you have taken on by adding a baby to your family
- You might also be wondering how this will change the relationship that you have with your partner or other family members
- All of these thoughts are very real and talking about them with someone close to you that you respect would probably be helpful
Thoughts to Consider
- If you received early genetic screening it may have been for chromosomal abnormalities and gender only
- In this case you will be offered another blood test for alpha fetal protein
- This test can screen for neural tube defects like spina bifida and anencephalia
- It is obtained by drawing blood sometime during weeks 15-20
- If you did not receive the early genetic screening, you will be offered a quad screen during this same time period, it will check for trisomy 21, 18 and 13 which the early screening did, and it will also check for neural tube defects
- All of the genetic testing is based on your decision to receive it
- Although they are very good at what they screen for, there is no 100% valid test to guarantee a healthy baby
- There are small possibilities for a false positive or false negative
Tips for a Healthy Pregnancy
- How are you doing with the healthy choices that you committed to at the beginning of our time together in week 1, in need of a little encouragement
- Exercise, and movement in general is great for you during your pregnancy
- It helps you stay strong, keeps blood flowing and gives you energy
- It can also be very helpful for your moods
- Walking and swimming are some of the best choices but there are many exercises that you can still participate in with a few of the restrictions listed below based on recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
- Keep your heartrate at or below 140, this means that if you notice it is higher than that, just back off a bit and go slower as that should bring your heartrate into the acceptable range
- Don’t lie flat on your back to perform exercise, especially from 20 weeks on as the pressure of your growing uterus will put pressure on your major blood vessels and reduce circulating blood flow causing you to become dizzy
- Remember that your ligaments are loose during pregnancy and we recommend that you keep your exercise low impact so that you do not injure yourself, there are plenty of ways to do high intensity and get a good workout while also staying low impact
- Consider adding a relaxation or stretching program to your exercise routine as this can be very helpful for stress reduction and to keep you limber, prenatal Yoga is great for this, check out the StorkAdvisor articles and videos
