We continue with our particular pregnancy review week by week and we arrive at the week 17, more close to the equator of pregnancy and well established in what is considered the best trimester of pregnancy, for not suffering the typical symptoms of the first trimester, when nausea and dizziness do not let live and for being still light enough to make life almost normal.
As we have said before, take advantage of these weeks to walk, walk, go looking at shop windows with things that you will want to buy for the baby (if you need anything) and ultimately try to lead a healthy life: balanced food, do not stay hungry and exercise
Going into the matter, let's see what are the most important changes that happen in the mother and the baby in week 17 of gestation.
Changes in the baby in week 17 of pregnancy
In the week 17 of pregnancy, when the baby has been forming for 15 weeks, it measures about 11-13 cm and weighs about 100 grams. It continues to grow and especially its legs, since the head now grows less. The fatty tissue layer begins to form under your skin, which will then serve to protect you from the cold. Your ear is more developed and can move abruptly if there are loud sounds outside.
Start to create the immune system, who will be in charge of trying to protect you from all possible infections that await you at birth, and the soft skeleton you have begins to become more solid, as the bone begins to be created.
The first hairs appear on the eyebrows and eyelashes and their skin is still so thin that blood vessels can be seen through it. As we said in the previous week, they already move quite a bit inside the uterus. Some mothers will already feel those movements and others will still have to wait a few weeks to be able to tell it.
To learn more about their measurements, tell them that their femur is now about 2.4 cm and that the circumference of their head is about 14.1 cm.
Changes in women in week 17 of pregnancy
The body continues to change and it is estimated that the mother's weight gain until this week (the accumulated to date) is about 3,250 kg, although this is an average and as we usually say, still it is not clear that limiting the weight to pregnant women or controlling it conscientiously is really beneficial.
As the baby is beginning to ossify the bones, we insist on the need to have a balanced diet with calcium-rich foods. Some doctors prescribe calcium supplements, but they are not usually necessary.
It may happen now, or perhaps a little later, that the woman notices a tight pain on each side of the navel and towards the groin and back. It is usual on these dates and is due to the forced stretching to which the abdominal muscles and ligaments that support the uterus are subjected. It can also happen that, as the uterus grows in size and weighs more, the woman begins to have more desire to go to the bathroom to urinate, because the bladder has less space and the feeling of urination comes earlier.
In general, out of these inconveniences, it is a relatively quiet week. The woman can go for a walk, she can go back to eat because her appetite has returned, she can go back to interact in the same way as before pregnancy with the couple, and yes, I also mean to have sex, and enjoy all of it Wait for everything to evolve.
Pigmentation changes in the skin and nipples
Due to the increase in estrogen levels (yes, again the hormones making their own), which stimulates the production of melanin, It is normal to change the pigmentation of the skin, freckles and spots, becoming all darker and especially in contact with the sun, and it also happens that the nipples darken and a vertical dark line appears that runs through the belly from top to bottom.
All this will disappear after giving birth, as the hormones return to their usual levels. Meanwhile, this increase in pigmentation seems to have a clear objective: that the nipples darken so that they are easily visible to the baby. They are your source of food and the better you see them, the more likely you are to go to them (although, luckily, babies have other senses responsible for reaching them, such as smell).
Next week: 18th week of pregnancy
Photos | George Ruiz, Nogwater on Flickr On Babies and more | Pregnancy week by week: from conception to birth
