As you get further along in your pregnancy, you will need to keep track of how often your baby moves each day. However, although movements are still regular, they may change towards the end of the third trimester because the baby is bigger and more restricted in the uterus. This will help you to identify potential problems and can also be a great bonding experience between you and your baby. Using a kick count chart can be very helpful. It may be easiest to lie on your left side and record how long it takes to feel 10 movements.
For further information about recording movements see kick counts. If you do not feel 10 movements within 2 hours, try again later that day. If you still do not feel 10 movements within 2 hours, you should contact your healthcare provider. Count the Kicks. First Fetal Movement: Quickening. Why does my baby move? How often should my baby move? Want to Know More?
If you notice drastic or sudden weight gain, notify your doctor right away. This could be a sign of a serious pregnancy condition called preeclampsia. Did you just feel a poke in your belly? It could be an early greeting from baby! First-time moms may be more likely to experience this a bit later in pregnancy, between 16 and 22 weeks, but others including women who have been pregnant before may feel some early movement as early as 13 weeks pregnant.
Baby might even be hiccupping inside your 15 weeks pregnant belly. Amniocentesis is another elective test—it happens between weeks 15 and This invasive test can diagnose neural tube defects, chromosomal abnormalities and other genetic disorders.
You may choose an amnio if you have an abnormal triple or quad test or if baby has a higher risk of genetic abnormalities. For the amnio, the doctor will use the ultrasound to see inside your week pregnant belly and will guide a needle into the amniotic sac to gather a sample of fluid to be tested. All these tests can be stressful; in between, find some time to pamper yourself.
You deserve it! Schedule a checkup during this trimester if you have any concerns. Kicking your feet up or taking a nap helps with things like headaches, which can be common at 15 weeks pregnant, back aches and overworked joints and muscles. Getting Pregnant. Popular links under Pregnancy First Trimester. Now that you're finally able to open wide without throwing up or gagging on extra saliva, it's a good time to focus on your mouth, which, believe it or not, is also going through a number of pregnancy-induced changes.
Say cheese — and take a good look in the mirror. You might notice that you have red, swollen gums and they may even be sore, sensitive or prone to bleeding when you brush or floss.
It's those pregnancy hormones at work again, this time triggering gingivitis, an infection and inflammation of the gums, by making them react differently to the bacteria in plaque. Those hormones are also the cause behind a chronic stuffy nose or even nosebleeds. Look even more closely and you may notice a small lump on your gums, called a pregnancy tumor.
Before you start worrying, keep in mind that these benign growths are scarily named but completely harmless and painless. If you do develop one, it should go away on its own after delivery. What is a little more alarming is what can happen if you don't take care of your teeth while you're expecting. Gingivitis can progress to an infection of the bones and tissues supporting your teeth called periodontitis — and research has shown a link between periodontitis, premature labor and preeclampsia.
Prevention is key: Good oral hygiene, which includes regular dental care, brushing at least twice a day and gentle flossing once a day, will greatly reduce gum swelling, bleeding and soreness. Whether you were barely able to gain an ounce during the first trimester, thanks to all that toilet hugging, or you gained more ounces — and pounds — than you were hoping to, it's weight gain time now.
Starting in the second trimester, your baby's getting bigger and bigger, and consequently, you should be too. Make slow and steady your motto and aim for a weekly weight gain of about 1 pound. But keep in mind that's an average, which means that it's perfectly fine to gain half a pound one week and a-pound-and-a-half the next, as long as you're netting about 4 pounds a month. Just be sure to do whatever your practitioner recommends on the weight gain front.
If you're weighing in at home, once a week or once every other week is plenty; just make sure you do it consistently, at about the same time and under the same conditions — undressed and right after getting up, for instance. Or leave the weigh-ins to your practitioner at your monthly visits. True or false: A fetal heart rate of fewer than beats per minute means you're having a boy, while a heart rate of more than beats per minute means you're having a girl.
It's a notion that's been making the obstetrical rounds forever. Sorry, but while this theory sounds more plausible and more grounded in medical fact , it's about as reliable as holding a ring on a string over your belly and determining the baby's sex based on which way the ring turns. There are as many of these myths around as there are people to repeat them and try them out at family gatherings. And while they may be fun to talk about, they all have one thing in common: Whether they predict baby is a boy or a girl , they have a chance of being correct.
If you'd like better odds than that — the kind you can base your nursery paint colors on — ask your practitioner about your options for finding out baby's sex. Do you struggle to fit healthy meals into your day?
Adjust your schedule to squeeze in a lunch break — even if it's just a sandwich and a fruit cup. Keep plenty of nutritious snacks on hand that will make feeding you and your baby easy: Stash bags of dried fruit and nuts, dry cereal and crackers in the pantry, and store a supply of individually wrapped cheese sticks, hard-boiled eggs, and yogurt and cottage cheese containers in the fridge.
Called the fundal height , this measurement is used as a reflection of how big your baby is. Do you skip breakfast because you're not a breakfast person? Well, your baby doesn't mind if you opt out of the oatmeal and go for a toasted cheese sandwich instead — or even a slice of cold meatloaf from last night's dinner. If you're always in a rush, try to prepare something the night before, like a breakfast burrito that's ready to roll after a quick stop in the microwave or a bag of dry cereal and trail mix washed down with calcium-fortified juice.
Or whip up a quick breakfast smoothie — put all the ingredients in the blender jar, stick it in the fridge then give it a whirl in the a. The amniotic fluid that surrounds your baby can provide you with a wide range of information about your little one's genetics and health. Amniocentesis — also called "amnio" — is a procedure that extracts this fluid to detect conditions such as Down syndrome, Tay-Sachs, sickle cell anemia and more. If you or your baby's other biological parent has a history of genetic conditions, or if other screenings have detected an abnormality, you may want to ask whether you should have an amnio done.
One of exercise's big benefits is that it burns calories. Card-carrying baby-builders like you, though, get the pleasure of replacing those calories with some healthy pregnancy snacks. So 30 minutes before you exercise, hit the fridge for a light snack and a drink.
Follow up your workout with an encore snack. Bananas and orange juice are great options because they contain plenty of potassium, an essential nutrient that's lost when you perspire, plus they supply quick energy. Add a little protein for staying power like a hard-boiled egg or a cheese stick. Preeclampsia generally develops later in pregnancy, after week 20, and is characterized by a sudden onset of high blood pressure, severe swelling of the hands and face, and signs that some organs may not be working normally, including protein in the urine.
If you're considered high-risk for preeclampsia , ask your practitioner about low-dose or baby aspirin. Taking baby aspirin usually two a day, but check with your doctor after the first trimester can reduce preeclampsia by 24 percent, according to some studies. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such as peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions and highly respected health organizations.
Learn how we keep our content accurate and up-to-date by reading our medical review and editorial policy. What to Expect selects products based on independent research and suggestions from our community of millions of parents; learn more about our review process.
0コメント