Week 17th Of Pregnancy

Sep 26th, 2007

From now going forward, the growth and refinement of our baby’s system and internal organs will occur. At 12 centimeters crown to rump, your baby is large enough to give you a good kick in the belly.

Depending on heredity, baby’s ears stand out from his or her head and unique finger prints and toe prints are developing.

Baby’s first bowel movement, Meconium, is beginning to collect in the colon. He/she is actually digesting swallowed amniotic fluid. And at this time, fat deposits will appear under your baby’s skin and this will help to regulate his/her temperature after birth.

Circulation of blood is now established and the umbilical cord lengthens and thickens in response to the rapidly growing needs of your baby. The placenta and fetus are now almost equal in size.

So many things are happening at once in preparation for our baby for the outside world.

A piece of advise for all mom-to-be. It is advisable that you sleep the left side of your body, as this will help increase the blood flow to your baby and reduce your swollen ankles. One rationale is that it takes the weight of the baby off of the main vein to your lower body.

One very common thing that happens to most mom-to-be is to deal with difficulty to sleep. Do you have such ‘problem’? My wife does.

But not to fret. There are ways to help you with this difficulty. Mom-to-be is advised to increase your intake of vitamin-B-rich foods, such as liver, kidney, fish etc. Daily exercise is also a good practice, but try avoid exercising close to bedtime.

Having a pre-bedtime snack will help keep blood-sugar levels up while you sleep and drink some warm milk before heading to bed. Some will have the problem of frequent visit to the bathroom at night, therefore please limit fluids intake after dinner. And one very important thing to remember is to restrict your intake of caffeinated products such as coffee, tea, colas or chocolate. No alcohol and cigarette.