Pregnancy Week 18

How big is your baby? This week your baby measures 14.2cm (5.59 inches) and weighs in at around 190g (6.70ounces). Your baby’s development Your baby’s pads on his/her fingers and toes will begin to form the characteristicswirls and creases of finger and toe prints. By this week meconium – which is the early fecal waste matter – will start to accumulatein the babys bowels. Meconium is made up of a number of different materials suchas; cell loss, digestive secretions, amniotic fluid, etc. By the middle of the week your babys eyes will now look forward rather than to thesides and the ears will move to their final position. Most of your baby’s bones will also have begun to harden as ossification beginsto take place. Your development At week 18 of your pregnancy your uterus is about the size of a cantaloupe andthe top will be just below your bellybutton. At this stage you should have alreadygained between 10-13 pounds (4.5-5.8kg’s). By the end of this week your heart will need to work around 40% more than normalto support the demand your baby is placing on you. In most cases this is no realissue as a normal healthy person would easily cope with the increased requirements. You may have already felt your baby move, and even if you haven’t then you willshortly. At this stage you shouldn’t be expecting any major movement as yourbaby is still quite small with lots of room to move around. Vaginal dischargeis common during pregnancy and is usually a whitish color, and this discharge mayincrease as your pregnancy continues. The increase in vaginal discharge is nothingto worry about, and is completely normal. Nearly every women suffers from back ache during her pregnancy, you may have alreadyfelt it, but one thing is for sure, as you get bigger, so the pain will become moreintense. Below are some tips to try and lessen this pain:

• Watch your weight gain. Try and keep your weight gain steady
• Exercise regularly
• Sleep on your left side
• Use heat pads on the area which is sore to try and relieve the pain
• Speak to your healthcare provider about any medication which you can use to reducethe pain
• Pregnancy Massage

Your Nutrition During the last twotrimesters you will need to increase your carbohydrate intake, and some good sources of carbohydrates include:

• Potatoes
• Green beans
• Canned corn
• Bananans
• Raisins
• Watermelon