18th Week Of Pregnancy

Baby development: How is your baby growing when you are in 18Week Pregnant?

At week 18, your baby-to-be’s senses are maturing. She’s able to hear sounds within her own comfortable environment, such as the sound of your heart beating, as well as external sounds, such as your voice. She may become more active for certain sounds, and you’ll feel her movements. At this point in her development, she’s still small enough that she has plenty of room to wiggle.

18 week Pregnant: baby and body development

At 18 weeks, your baby’s legs are now longer than her arms. She’s looking more and more like a proper human being. Now that she’s roughly in proportion, her body will grow at a slower rate. Most of her weight gain from now on will be fat. Her bones are still hardening, too. She has far more bones than an adult, but many of these will fuse together before birth. Pads of fat are growing on her fingers and toes. The development of your baby’s digestive system is well under way now. Her intestine is now anchored inside her abdomen, and her digestive glands are growing. Her immune system is also beginning to mature, ready for life outside the womb.

Wow! Did you know…

This week, your baby will master the art of sticking her tongue out. You might even see her in action on an ultrasound photo!

Body changes and symptoms during 18th week of pregnancy

By now you’re feeling your baby-to-be wiggle inside you. The excitement surrounding her first movements will probably help you forget some of your pregnancy woes. As your tummy continues to expand you may notice stretch marks and have itchy skin. Your back will ache as your body adjusts to its new alignment. Thankfully, nausea is mostly likely a distant memory.

Your Body changes during 18th week pregnancy

The top of your uterus is halfway to your belly button, giving you a noticeable bump. To accommodate this bulge, your right and left abdominal muscles will start to separate in the middle. This sounds painful, but is usually unnoticeable, although you might develop a corresponding brown line running down from your belly button (the linea nigra). If you haven’t felt your baby move yet, chances are that magical moment isn’t far away. Waiting for the first kicks can be nerve-wracking, and you won’t be the first woman to worry that something is amiss. But there are many reasons why you might not feel anything until later. Women who have very toned tummies or are very overweight tend to have a longer wait for those first movements, as do those whose placenta is at the front of the bump (anterior) rather than the back.

Hormonal outbursts are common from the first day of pregnancy to the last (and beyond, to be honest). Feeling stressed and tired will make you feel more fragile emotionally, so make time to unwind with a bath, a few yoga moves or a massage from your other half. But if you’re feeling permanently low, irritable and anxious, can’t sleep or concentrate and have lost your appetite, you could be suffering from antepartum depression. Speak to your doctor, who may recommend counseling or pregnancy-safe antidepressants.

Pregnancy Tests During 18th week

Between your 16th and 20th week of pregnancy, you’ll be offered a series of tests to determine if your baby-to-be is at risk for certain genetic problems. Notice that these tests are offered but not required. Before you submit to the tests, it’s important to understand what each entails and what the results will tell you about your developing baby.

Risk Assessments, Not Tests Rather than view genetic tests as pass/fail, physicians see them as risk assessments, looking at whether your baby-to-be has a greater risk for certain genetic problems. For instance, a “positive” result doesn’t necessarily indicate a problem with your baby, but that you might consider additional—and more definitive testing—to determine your baby’s health. “The way I describe it to my patients is that these tests are like casting a wide net,” explains Dr. Joanne Motino Bailey, a certified nurse midwife and a professor of women’s studies at the University of Michigan. “You have plenty of healthy babies that are caught in the net” along with a handful of babies with genetic concerns.

Non-Invasive Tests The main reason for so many false positives, according to Dr. Motino Bailey, is that physicians want to offer the safest, most non-invasive way to test your unborn baby for certain genetic disorders. These tests involve a simple blood test with virtually no risk to your baby-to-be.

• Quad test/triple screen: Your healthcare provider will draw your blood and test it for elevated levels of certain hormones and proteins, which may indicate your unborn baby has a genetic problem. The quad tests for Down syndrome, spina bifida, and other genetic problems. Keep in mind that this test has a high false positive and a high false negative rate.

• Depending on your healthcare provider, you may be offered the triple screen, which includes looking at two hormone levels and one protein, or the quad test (quickly becoming the norm), which tests for an additional protein that may indicate genetic problems.

• Nuchal translucency screening (NTS): A more recent test option combines a blood test with an ultrasound to look for risk factors that may indicate that your unborn baby has Down syndrome. The test is highly specialized, however, so it may not be available in your area.

• Cystic fibrosis: Your blood sample will also be tested for cystic fibrosis. The test will determine if you are a CF carrier. If you are, your partner may then be tested. Because this is a recessive disorder, both you and your partner must be carriers for your unborn baby to be at risk. If both parents are carriers, according to ACOG, your unborn baby has a one in four chance of developing the disease.

• Ethnicity-based blood tests: Certain genetic disorders tend to appear in certain ethnicities. Your physician will ask a series of questions about your background to determine whether these tests are necessary for you.

Invasive Tests If your first round of screening comes back with positive results (again, not meaning that your baby has a problem, but that she might be at a risk) you will be offered additional tests to give you a definitive answer about your unborn baby’s genetic makeup. While these tests offer the yes/no answers you may be looking for, they do carry a risk of miscarriage.

• Amniocentesis: With an amnio, your healthcare provider inserts a long needle through your abdomen and into the uterus to collect a small sample of amniotic fluid. The fluid is then tested for genetic problems, such as Down syndrome, neural tube defects, and other disorders. The test is done between pregnancy weeks 16 and 20.

• Chorionic villus sampling (CVS): In CVS, a needle placed through your abdomen or through your vagina withdraws a tiny portion of the placenta. The sample can then be tested for Down syndrome, sickle-cell anemia, and cystic fibrosis. The test is performed between pregnancy weeks 10 and 12.

Note: CVS, a first-trimester test, provides parents with an earlier diagnosis than amniocentesis, a second-trimester test. Until recently, CVS had been associated with a slightly higher rate of miscarriage, but findings published in the September 2006 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology show that the miscarriage rate is actually the same for both CVS and amnio, below two percent. These tests are not to be taken lightly, advises Dr. Bailey. Take time to ask your healthcare provider about each test.

Your Partner Beginning to Build Your Bond

As a dad-to-be, you don’t have the same connection to your baby as your partner does. If you’re looking for a fun way to build a connection with your unborn child, one of the best ways to get started is to talk to or read to your baby.

You might think talking to your partner’s belly is a little embarrassing. Don’t! Reading to baby can become a very special time between you and your partner; a new form of intimacy and sharing (and some quiet time that will be harder to come by after your baby is born).

But maybe even more importantly, reading to your unborn baby helps you relate to your baby as a person, giving you a head start for when your little one arrives in person.

In addition, your baby can now hear sounds and voices from the womb. This means you have a unique opportunity to help your little baby begin to recognize your own voice. Of course, your baby has a good chance of recognizing your partner’s voice because she is with your baby all of the time. Reading, talking, and singing are all ways to share your voice with your baby.

After my son was born, I stood next to my son in the hospital and called his name … and he turned his head to me, confirming all the time I had spent communicating with him while he was in the womb was worth it.

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