Week by Week Pregnancy Guide: 17 Weeks
The moment you are 17 weeks pregnant, your baby would have moved to another stage of maturity in that by now, he or she would have begun to store body fat.
Remember in the previous weeks, we discussed the fact that your baby will be coated with hair called lanugo which will ensure that your baby is kept warm always, so another thing that will happen to her that she will also be clothed with vernix.
The essence of this waxy substance is to ensure that her skin is protected against the amniotic fluid which she is floating in while she is still in the womb. In fact, after her birth, you will still notice some of the vernix on her skin which the midwife will rub off using a towel.
By now, the heartbeat of your baby will be regulated by her brain. This means that she will no longer be beating irregularly. But with that, her heart will still be beating at a rate that is twice as fast as yours. This is about 140-150 beats per minute.
As per the size of your baby, while her weight will be about 140g now or about five ounces or more, it will interest you to know that her size can fit into the palm of your own hand. Then, she will be five inches long by now.
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Their little face looks entirely human, especially as their eyebrows and eyelashes have started to grow. Despite this, their eyelids are still fused shut, although they can move the eyes around. And then, your baby would have sharpened her skills for swallowing and sucking by now in preparation for when she will have her first and second (and more) suckles of your breast or bottle as the case may be.
Now that you are 17 weeks pregnant and in your second trimester, while it is hoped that the morning sickness would have stopped, you are likely to have an increased appetite for food now. This is as a result of the signal you are getting from your baby informing you of how bigger and hungrier she is getting. So, whenever there is a need to eat, make sure you choose food that will fill you and at the same time meet your needs for nutrients.
Stay hydrated by drinking lots of water daily so as to avoid dehydration which may make you feel dizzy. If you feel backache, get a chair or good mattress where you can rest your back well at work or home, or wherever so as to ensure your posture is in line.
Then, if you discover that you still have heartburn, what you can do is to reduce the quantity of food you take at a time; take little at regular basis. And also, feel free to enjoy sex. You have nothing to worry about that maybe your baby may feel something while having sex. Just bear in mind that your baby is well cushioned right there in your womb, so she won’t feel anything.
