Week 16 of Pregnancy – Baby Developments and Pregnant Women

This article is about the 16th week of the pregnancy that is approximately the fourth month of the pregnancy. In this article we will understand about the baby’s development so far, what all changes a pregnant woman would see. What problems would come and how to resolve them.

So let’s start with the development of the baby in the 16th week of the pregnancy. So the organogenesis of the baby, that is the development of the organs, have completed by now. That means all the internal organs of the baby have now formed but now the increase of the size and the development of the organs will be there.

By now you can see that the baby is moving properly inside the womb via the ultrasound. The baby’s hair have grown longer. You can see the clear hairline on the baby’s head. All the critical organs and the systems of the baby are now functional. The nervous system, the cardiovascular systems are now functional. The baby’s eye movements have started but the eyelid are still closed. That is the eyes are still closed, the baby cannot open the eyes. But by now only the inner movements of the eyes have started.

The baby is able to move the fingers, the hands and legs easily. As the baby is growing, the strength of the baby’s bone is also increasing every week. This time a pregnant woman would require more of the calcium because in the 16th week the baby’s bone production and the development would require more of the calcium. If you see in the ultrasound, the baby’s bone inside the womb appear as bright white and this is because of the calcification on the baby’s bone.

Now the baby’s length is approximately 7 inches. If we talk about the changes and the problems seen in pregnant women in the 16th week of the pregnancy, the pregnant woman would see certain discomfort because uterus comes bit upwards. However there is a relaxation in the frequent urination because now the urinary bladder is bit relaxed and the problem of visiting to the toilet again and again settles a bit.

Your body is having good flow of the blood and due to which you can see swelling problem. Some of the veins may dilate and they can be visible as well. Some pregnant woman would report about the bleeding gums and the nose bleeding problem. It is a quite common problem during the 16th week of the pregnancy. You should be in consistent touch with your gynaecologist who may make you understand about all these situations and how you have to prepare yourself for all these problem.

By this time, the baby has started moving but the movements of the baby are not that much strong. If you are the first time mother, then these movements are not easy to be felt by you. However if this is your second or the third time pregnancy, you have an experience of feeling the movements earlier as well then you can even feel the movement of the baby in the 16th week of the pregnancy.

These movements are not strong, these movements are actually called the quickening. First you will be confused whether this is baby’s movement or not because you would assume that this is the formation of the gas or bloating. So to be assure that this is baby’s movement it may take few weeks more for you. These are very low intensity movements and it is not easy to be felt by everyone. However if it is your first time pregnancy, it will take some more weeks approximately in 24 weeks you would feel the baby’s movement clearly. This time is not standard time, it depends anytime between this 16 to 24th week of the pregnancy you may feel the baby’s movement inside the womb.

In the 16th week of the pregnancy, the problem of itching and stretching are there. You should apply a mix of moisturizer, olive oil and coconut oil all over your body and The prominent parts like stomach, thighs because they are more prone to expansion.

This time you may feel an often pain in your lower abdomen. So do not enervate yourself, do not do any work for long hours. Take small breaks whenever you are doing any long task. It is very important for you to take rest in between. Whatever you are doing, keep changing your position. If you are sitting for a long time, stand up move for 5 minutes, then you can sit back. Similarly if you’re standing for long hours then you have to sit for some time. So keep changing your position because it will be very helpful for you to maintain the flow of the blood. This will also help in reducing the problem of swelling in the body.

Whenever you’re sitting make sure that your legs are bit elevated. For this you can use any stool, keep a pillow onto it and then you can place your legs on it . This will reduce swelling on legs.

When you’re sleeping at night, keep some pillows under your legs this will be helpful in resolving the problem of swelling. You can also go for the massage. For massaging your legs you can use any oil.

Direction of massage – from down you have to go up.  In this way you have to massage so that there will be proper blood flow to the upper region and the swelling will go down. The problem of swelling is quite common during the 16th week of the pregnancy and to counter it you may use stockings. There comes the leg compression stockings in the market you can go for it. They are quite helpful to reduce the swelling problem.

So this was about the 16th week of the pregnancy, about the baby,  the problem a woman would face and how to resolve them.

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