17th Week Of Pregnancy

Baby development: How is your baby growing when you are in 17 Week Pregnant?

Around this time your baby’s ears pop from his head and Baby-to-be can now sense sounds. After all, he has plenty to listen to in utero! He’s accustomed to the strong beating of your heart, blood rushing through your veins, and your stomach grumbling. He can also discern sounds outside the uterus, like your voice and music. Although, according to the Mayo Clinic, whether he can distinguish the sound of your voice versus other sounds is not yet clear.

Your baby’s main job this week is to plump out. She’s now about the right size to fit into your palm, and is developing a layer of fat under her skin. This will help keep her warm after the birth, but for now, your amniotic fluid does the job for her, keeping her at a constant 99.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37.5 Celsius), slightly warmer than your own body temperature.

On average, most moms are feeling fetal movement by week 17. Kick, little one, kick!

This week your little one weighs in at around 5 ounces and stretches to just over 5 inches (crown to rump). He is about the size of a red onion.

17 week Pregnant: baby and body development

Your baby is now recognizably either a boy or a girl, with a visible penis and testes or a fledgling uterus and vagina. If you’re having a girl, she already has around two million eggs in her ovaries. Connections are constantly forming in her brain, meaning she has more control over her limbs, fingers and toes. Her blood circulation is well established, and the umbilical cord is becoming thicker and longer to transport oxygen and nutrients into her body. Your baby and the placenta are almost the same size.

Wow! Did you know…

Your baby has nipples now!

Body changes and symptoms during 17th week of pregnancy

Your baby is growing fast, and so are you. By now, the top of your uterus should be about 17 centimeters above your pubic bone. Pregnancy hormones will soften and relax your muscles and ligaments to help your body cope with this growth. You’re carrying around 40 percent more blood than you had pre-pregnancy to supply your baby with oxygen and nutrients. This extra blood volume makes all your tissues more engorged, and you might find your gums bleed when you brush your teeth. It’s completely normal, but it is important to see the dentist during your pregnancy.

Signs and Symptoms of 17th week pregnancy

As your baby gets heavier, don’t be surprised if you find yourself needing the bathroom more often. Try to minimize nocturnal toilet trips by cutting out caffeine. It both increases urine production and over-stimulates your bladder. Making frequent trips is normal, but if it stings when you go, you have lower back and abdominal pain and feel generally unwell, you could have a urinary tract infection. Untreated, UTIs can develop into kidney infections and even trigger premature labor, so get your doctor to test a urine sample.

Pregnancy Weight Gain and Other Symptoms

Daily, your body’s changing inside and out to accommodate your baby-to-be. As your skin stretches, your breasts and abdomen may become itchy. Your baby bump will begin to change your posture so that your back may ache. Inside your body, your stomach is getting more cramped, sometimes leading to heartburn, indigestion, and flatulence. You may also notice mood swings as pregnancy hormones continue to play with your emotions.

Unsightly Pregnancy Signs

Your body undergoes many changes to give your baby-to-be enough room to grow. Some of these changes are comforting—your rounded belly and your full breasts, for example—while other signs can be troubling. Keep in mind that many of these physical changes will last only until your baby arrives.

• Bleeding gums: Your blood volume has increased dramatically to provide nutrients to your baby-to-be. This increase, along with swelling caused by pregnancy hormones, might make your gums bleed.
• Stretch marks: Whether or not you have stretch marks is a matter of genetics. No amount of specialty abdominal creams or Vitamin E pills are going to prevent stretch marks (despite claims to the contrary), but most women find that these stretch marks fade over time after the baby’s birth.
• Weight gain: You should expect to gain 25 to 35 pounds during your pregnancy. As distressing as weight gain can be for some women, those pounds are necessary for your growing baby. Much of the weight is extra fluids (such as blood), tissues (like your breasts), and of course, your baby. If you eat a sensible pregnancy diet and stay fit, you should be able to lose much of your pregnancy weight after your baby’s birth. (Some women are able to shed pounds in a matter of weeks; others need as much as a year to get their bodies back in shape).
• Dark line (linea nigra): As your abdominal muscles stretch to make room for your growing uterus, you may notice a dark line extending from your belly button to your vaginal area. After birth, this line will disappear.
• Swelling (edema): Your body retains water to provide the necessary fluids for your growing baby-to-be. You can prevent much of this swelling from drinking plenty of fluids and keeping your legs up. You may also want to purchase socks designed to improve the circulation in your feet.
• Skin spots: The skin’s pigmentation may deepen around certain parts of your body during pregnancy, such as your nipples and freckles. You may also notice spots of color on your face, called the mask of pregnancy or chloasma. These pigmentation changes will fade after your baby’s born.

Your to-do list and care during 17th Week of pregnancy:

Treat yourself to some indulgent stretch mark cream and slather it on daily. Stretch marks are thought to be genetic, and the jury’s out on whether prevention products actually do any good, but hey, who needs an excuse for a bit of pampering?

What your partner can do for you during 17 week pregancy

The best thing you can to do at this point is to focus on supporting your partner in any way she needs it. Help her reduce her worry, her responsibilities, her load, literally and figuratively. Think of your job as being her coach. Here are some tips:

• Make her snacks or buy her a water bottle so she never is without food or drink
• If you aren’t already, help out more at home so she can get more rest
• Give her foot or back massages

In essence, pamper your partner now more than ever because in doing so you will also be pampering and feeding your unborn baby as well as building even more intimacy between you and your partner. If you can remember that everything you do for her you are also doing for your baby, you will feel more connected, more a part of this incredible process of pregnancy.

Content provided on this site is for educational purposes only and should not be considered as medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.