Inside Your Body
Your baby is now 14cm and weighs about 170g. During the 18thweek, fat pads will accumulate under your baby’s finger tips. He/she is developing her own identity with her very own fingerprints. As your baby’s eyes move more central on his/her face, your baby will look more human, as opposed to the early weeks of development, when eyes are more towards the sides of the head. He/she may be yawning or hiccupping for the first time in this week.
Your Signs And Symptoms
You should plan an antenatal visit during this time. Headache, dizziness, stomach upsets are common throughout pregnancy, but you should watch out if you have severe pounding headache, abdominal pain, or loss of consciousness, as some women are vulnerable to develop hypertension in pregnancy. Hypertension should be kept in strict check to avoid any dangerous outcome, which is abortion or, if pregnancy continues, growth retardation. As you grow in size, you may also be feeling cramps on your legs, and swelling in your feet and ankles. Spidery vein-like blood vessels may also appear on your face and upper body.
What Tests To Expect
Don’t worry, you don’t need to go for a memory test. Just enjoy your pregnancy and feeling your baby move inside you.
You may be doing a foetal structural scan around now to week 20 to look for congenital abnormalities. Your doctor can potentially determine the sex of your baby, so make sure you decide whether you want to find out your baby’s sex before you do the scan, and make sure you tell your doctor in advance whether you want to know or not, as your doctor could be quick to tell you.
