What to Expect in Week 16 of Your Pregnancy

Sixteenth Week of Pregnancy: Week by Week

There are a number of changes which a woman can come across during your week 16 pregnancy. You can see a visible change in you as well as your baby is also fast growing. Let is in detail see the changes that occur in you as well as your baby.

IN THIS ARTICLE

• Your Baby’s Development
• 16 Week Ultrasound: What to Expect
• The 16 Week Weight Gain

Well, you are now 16 weeks pregnant, so your baby at 16 weeks old and there are a lot of changes that occur in your baby. The baby measuring in week of 16^th, 4 ½ inches in the after few weeks your baby will again double in size, it means growth will be increased every month, but by inches this time, baby is growing up so fast! With every moment your 16 week fetus especially a complicated, he is building muscle and strength which will work with him. Women also will feel this movement after few weeks. Women begin to feel their baby move inside them around 18 weeks gestation it means process in which babies grow inside their mother’s body before they are born. Not only is baby exercising arms and legs muscles, although your baby may you twist your face in an ugly way because you are annoyed, he or she does not have any control over these feelings is the showing of them through the action.

Baby’s eyes are functioning it makes it look more beautiful with the hair which grow on the edges of baby eyelids and eyebrows. Between 15 to 20 weeks you can begin to feel your baby first moment. If this is your first pregnancy, it may be feel before 20 weeks your baby move. These first moments are often described as moves up and down or from side to side with a lot of quick, light movements or gas bubbles. If you have felt these sensations and not even realized it was your baby. Even More important sleeping directions also, many health care providers will tell you that once you reach 16 weeks, you should not sleep on your back part, why it is important to begin using pillow to support your body to help ensure it means to make certain that it happens, when you sleep in night you do stay on your side.

16 Week Ultrasound: What to Expect

Ultrasound is a diagnostic instrument used by doctors to visualize muscles, tendons, internal organs, among other things, in order to capture the size, structure or any pathological lesions. It’s used to visualize fetuses during routine and emergency prenatal care, and works as a cyclic sound pressure that only humans can’t hear.

The ultrasound at 16 weeks may strongly support the whole process related to the health and safety of the fetus and the mother, and sheds light on potential negative as well as positive findings.

The ultrasonic waves examine the size and indicate how big is baby at 16 weeks. Average data show that the fetus may be four inches long, and at a healthy weight of over three ounces. A normal heart is supposed to pump twenty-five quarts of blood on a daily basis.

Depending on the development and size of the embryo, the heart images, etc., a miscarriage may be identified via the 16 Weeks Pregnant Ultrasound check. Providing ultrasound examination data that contain the embryo measurements is treated, too, as mandatory to support a possible abortion emergency.

With the help of the ultrasound on the 16th week of pregnancy, you’ll notice the maximum development of the baby. Most of the major organs are completely formed and start to function in the second phase of pregnancy. Eyebrows, fingernails etc. are formed in this trimester. The skin also gets covered with fine hair.

In the middle of the second trimester, the mother can feel the movements of the baby in her womb. In this stage, the mother body is continuously expanding to accommodate the developing baby. By the end of the second trimester, the baby is 11-14 inches lengthwise and weighs around 2.5 pounds.

The ultrasound of the initial anatomy of the fetus, however, during the second trimester falls short of identifying all defects by birth. It is its diagnostic objective that comes to the fore. The general imaging and/or monitoring of the heart requires the prudent approach of the health care provider. The evaluation may focus on possible further testing options. Certain recommendations may integrate the assessment of the status of an artery or other risks or risk factors. That approach may be accompanied by serum testing of the mother or other procedures, aiming at determining a possible genetic abnormality or disease risk.

Examining the fetus in the uterus via the use of ultrasonic waves serves predominantly the diagnostic needs. The ultrasound at 16 weeks may detect a heartbeat or identify a heart defect. As a cardiac anomaly falls within the range of the most frequent concerns, an early scan focuses on the need for a special treatment of the fetus. Through the method, the fluid is analyzed to determine the risk. A careful assessment is needed, however, as an abnormality might be disguised due to the drain system of the fetus sufficiently developed at 16 weeks.

Must Read About: 15 Weeks Pregnant Symptoms, Fetus and Ultrasound

The 16 Week Weight Gain & Pregnant Belly

If you are moving towards 16 weeks pregnancy then you will certainly put on weight gained between 10 to 30 pounds during this week but your morning sickness completely vanishes. You can check pregnancy weight gain calculator here and find accurate weight gain during 16 weeks pregnancy.

Your 16 weeks pregnant belly almost remains the same as the earlier weeks but be prepared for that belly showing up in the coming few weeks.

What Physical Changes Can You Expect During 16th Weeks of Pregnancy

Bigger Breasts: The milk-producing glands in your breasts will now be stimulated by oestrogen and progesterone hormones to enlarge in readiness for feeding your baby.

Bigger Belly: As your uterus expands and your baby grows you will gain up to four pounds a month now untill baby is born.

Skin Changes: The increase in blood circulation can result in skin in certain areas getting darker in the second phase of pregnancy. This most commonly occurs on the face, the areola around the nipples and the Linea Negra, but it’s temporary.

Many pregnant women say the second phase of pregnancy are the best. You are out of the nausea and tiredness stages, most people know you are pregnant and don’t just think you are all the pies, you can snooze at your desk in your lunch break without anyone thinking you’ve been on the gin and you are not too big so you can still wear much of existing wardrobe, drive your car comfortably and continue with most activities.

If you are healthy, under 35 and have no hereditary or genetic problems it means no illness is passed on to child from its parents before it is born. It is unlikely you will need to go in for any of the special tests, now new technology also available here, there are number of special tests that can be performed. Even the 16 weeks pregnant symptoms are not like the early pregnancy.

Two of the special tests that can be performed at around week 16 are:-

One is AFP test this is a blood test that may be performed at around week 16 to screen for an abnormality in the formation of the spine. The test measures the baby level of alpha-fetoprotein, in the baby’s liver manufactured that protein, the protein passes into mother bloodstream. High level of AFP in mother blood can indicate the neural tube defect it means relating to a nerve tube.

This is second test triple screen test, the test is a triple blood test performed at around week 16 maternal blood for evidence of an increased risk of downs syndrome, the test measures AFP, HCG and naturally occurring estrogenic hormone levels. Thus it results shows high risks and they can decide to have a specialized test to see whether baby has any serious abnormalities.

Apart from these you can even be asked for a 16 weeks pregnant ultrasound, especially if you haven’t been taken this before in the earlier weeks. Or else your doctor might want you to wait for a few more weeks before going in for an ultrasound.

Baby’s Development At 16 Weeks Pregnancy

Week 16 is a particularly exciting week. Your baby’s skeleton is still made up mainly of rubbery cartilage, but it will start to harden up into bone at this point. Of course, the bones will remain quite soft and flexible so that your baby can pass through the birth canal. At 16 weeks, there is also a fully mature umbilical cord, and Wharton’s jelly protects the two arteries and one vein within it. Also, should you be expecting a girl, then the eggs in her ovaries will start to develop at this point in time. This means that your future grandchildren are being developed right at this point in time!