Week 17: Grow Team Grow!

Fetal development in pregnancy week 17:



fetus in fourth month
Don't be too shocked but... your baby is EVEN bigger than it was last
week, not to mention getting cuter, and smarter every day! As you’ve
come to expect, there’s no shortage of growth and development this
week: your fantastic little bean stalk has added yet another half inch
to their overall height-- making them nearly half a foot long! Their
little limbs have reached (or are within one week of) their relative
proportions, and will continue to grow evenly with the rest of the body
after this week. Reactive listening has begun for your baby, even
though their ears are not yet structurally complete or fully
functional. Meanwhile, different parts of their astonishingly complex
brain are developing to process your little one’s hearing and other
senses, (you know, sight, smell, taste and touch). Mind boggling
factoid of the week: if you’re having going to have a little girl, her
ovaries have already produced millions of primordial egg cells, which,
within a few weeks, will develop into actual eggs! Phew… just wait till
she’s a teenager eh?

And how's mom doing?
Even though the second trimester is often
characterized as the most enjoyable of the three, you can count on a
few ailments (see week 14 for additional tri-2 symptoms). This week, or
in the coming weeks, you may be privy to the uncommon joys of “round
ligament pain.” These not-so-lovely symptoms can doctors
advise sleeping on your left side as lying on your back can compress
your pelvic veins, decreasing blood return to the lower half of your
body include bellyaches, pain in the lower abdomen and sharp
shooting and/or stabbing pains, most often expressed at the end of the
day. Your suffering is due to stretched ligaments and muscles that
support your ever-growing uterus. This is to be expected and is
perfectly normal (especially since your uterus is only getting
bigger!). Some doctors advise sleeping on your left side as lying on
your back can compress your pelvic veins, decreasing blood return to
the lower half of your body. Lying on your left side relieves this
pressure thereby allowing normal blood flow. If this doesn’t do the
trick, go ahead and consult your health care practitioner, but try not
to punch them when they serenely tell you it’s normal to feel stabbing
pain during this time. As we all know, violence never solves anything.