15 Weeks Pregnant: What To Expect

You have not only successfully completed the first trimester but are well into your second one at the 15th week of your pregnancy. For most of you, your morning sickness troubles should be over and your aversion to smells and food must already be under control.

The special thing about the 15th week of your pregnancy, besides the obvious, is that you will not only feel more energetic but most of you will notice that your libido is back and you may start craving for some action. Also, the best part is that your little one will not be affected by it.

Your Baby’s Growth During Pregnancy- Week 15

Your baby is now about the size of an orange or an apple. At the onset of the 15th week, your baby will have started developing eyebrows, hair, and skin. More importantly, your baby’s skeleton is beginning to form properly, though it still, more or less feels like soft cartilage.

In a nutshell, your baby is definitely looking more like a fully formed human being. The ears will have positioned at the side of the head as it normally should and the eyes will have taken their position on the face. It’s possible that you may start feeling your kid moving and flexing in your tummy while your baby is also working on sucking, swallowing and breathing.

What is the Baby’s Size

Since your baby is barely as big as an apple when you are 15 weeks pregnant, your baby’s size is only around 3-4 inches long, and like an orange, your baby weighs only around 50 to 60 grams. However, you can rest assured that your baby still has his/her organs in place, maturing with each day.

In a nutshell, your baby is growing rapidly at the onset of the 15th week and should already be making it hard for you to catch your breath as your body has started working hard to accommodate the growing baby.

Common Body Changes

As your baby’s body is steadily changing in the 15th week, it is normal to expect body changes during pregnancy in yourself as well. Besides all the changes that your body has already undergone, you can look forward to changes such as:

• Your baby bump should be more pronounced and the good news is that it is only going to grow more rotund.
• Since your body is beginning to work hard to accommodate your baby’s body, you may start feeling congested from time to time.
• Ideally, this is the time when you should be looking forward to gaining some weight.
• If you have not invested in maternity wear yet, your normal clothes might start to feel constrictive.

Symptoms of Pregnancy at Week 15

By now you ou should be used to experiencing a new symptom every once in a while ever since you got pregnant! It’s needless to say that the 15th week will be no different. Some of these symptoms may include:

• Sex drive: This is officially the new symptom of the 15th week of your pregnancy. While for the last few months, you may have been feeling sick, moody and in general avoided sex. However, with the onset of the 15th week, you should feel energetic enough to indulge in some pleasure.

• Sensitivity to smells: Your nasal passages will tend to be more sensitive. With an increase in the volume of blood, you may experience nosebleeds.

• Shortness of breath: You will also see that you will be short of breath as your body is trying to accommodate another human being.

• Indigestion/ Heartburn: This is another symptom that you will definitely experience, as your hormones do their trick and relax the muscles in the digestive system.

• Bleeding gums: You may notice red swollen and extremely sensitive gums at this point in your pregnancy. This mostly happens because of the pregnancy hormones that induce gingvitis (inflammation of the gums). You may also notice a small bump like pregnancy benign tumour, however, it is completely painless and harmless. In case you develop this, it will normally fade away after delivery.

Belly at 15 Weeks of Pregnancy

For most of you, your baby bump should be showing, especially if this is not your first pregnancy. For first time mothers, there is also a chance that you might still not be showing much or can at least cover up the tell-tale signs well.

In any event, the 15th week of pregnancy marks quite the transition in your second trimester and pregnancy. You should really gear up for your uterus to no longer fit well inside the pelvis. At the onset of the 15th week, it should already be stretching to accommodate your baby.

15 Weeks Ultrasound

This week’s ultrasound will reveal that your baby is doing a whole lot of stretching without you even realizing it. Now that all the limbs and joints of your baby are more formed, your baby will definitely squirm a lot inside your body. The maximum that you will ever feel from these activities would be probably a butterfly or bubble-like sensation inside your belly. It is also noteworthy that your baby is also likely to have a bout of hiccups in there.

What to Eat

Among all the things that will worry you, the 15th week pregnancy food menu will definitely feature on the top of the list. What may also stress you out about eating correctly is that you are no longer eating only for yourself, but for another human being that’s steadily growing. Before you fret, check out the list of what to eat as a suggestion.

• Include a good portion of whole fruits and leafy green vegetables in your diet.
• Don’t forget to include a little starch from bread and iron-fortified cereals.
• Do include milk and dairy products in your diet as you need calcium for bone growth of the baby.
• Round off your food worries with a good helping of proteins, especially lean meats, oily fish, eggs etc. A small portion of well-cooked of red meat will also help you get essential proteins.
• Eat well-cooked eggs to get some omega 3 fatty acids.

Tips & Care

It should come as no surprise that now is the time you keep yourself as well as your baby safe and sound. It is never too much to make wise lifestyle choices in order to give birth to a healthy baby.

Dos

• Stay hydrated
• Get plenty of rest and regular hours of sleep
• Eat proper portions at proper times
• Take medication as prescribed by your doctor
• Exercise in moderation to deal with aches

Don’ts

• Expose yourself to places that are contaminated or dirty
• Overdo workouts
• Take medication without consulting your doctor
• Think negative
• Starve yourself or your baby

What You Need to Shop For

When it comes to having a baby, your shopping list will obviously be endless. However, let’s examine a practical list that will come in handy.

• Comfortable shoes, preferably flats.
• Body pillows to help you to sleep with all the aches and pains.
• Healthy snacks to keep you fit and sate your hunger.
• Books on pregnancy and parenthood.
• Comfortable maternity clothes made of cotton.
• Lotions and moisturizers because your skin may tend to get dry.

Conclusion: Stay informed and positive during pregnancy and you will be able to enjoy every minute of the journey to motherhood.

Read this article in Arabic: الأسبوع 15 من الحمل