14th Weeks Pregnant: Fetal Development

By the fourteenth week of pregnancy you would have told family and friends the good news. Now you have an army of support to make sure that you are taking care of yourself. By this week in your pregnancy, you should be adjusting to all of the changes of your body. You should pretty much be used to being pregnant, the baby is still continuing to grow and you should be getting ready for your fourth month doctor’s check up. Every month at the doctor you should be getting your blood pressure checked, your urine checked and your weight checked. By the next month or so, it all seems very routine.

You will also see more physical changes in your body, your waist may be a bit fuller, this is due to the uterus being moved upwards causing the belly to start showing more. By now the baby is 100% formed and fore the remainder of the pregnancy is spent developing their organs, skin and systems. At this week in pregnancy, the placenta is starting to work. Like the previous weeks, you cannot see the changes in the baby unless you are scheduled for a sonogram.

Most new moms won’t be able to feel the baby moving until the sixth or seventh month. This is when the baby becomes much bigger and the movements can be felt in the uterus. As long as you continue to eat healthy and get plenty of rest the baby will continue to grow.

Baby’s Development

By pregnancy 14 weeks, your baby’s body is growing quite rapidly. His length is catching up with his slightly larger head. The ears have started their move to the sides of the head, and the eyes continue to get closer and closer together.

During pregnancy week 14, your baby’s neck will elongate, and the chin will start to rise up off the chest. Your baby’s reflexes will also continue to develop this week. By now, your baby should be receiving his or her nutrition directly from the placenta. Remember that everything you put into your body can cross the placental wall and impact your baby. This includes not only things you eat such as food preservatives, but also things that may come into contact with your skin, such as house sprays or other cleaning agents. Remember that lotions penetrate the skin, so why wouldn’t household cleaners? At this time more than any other time in your life, it is important that you make safe and healthy choices with regard to your health and well being.

Anything you eat or inhale could directly or indirectly affect your baby. Eating a healthy diet is vital to the well being of your child.  Avoiding alcohol during pregnancy as well as avoiding certain foods is important to ensure a happy, healthy environment for your unborn baby. If you are smoking during your pregnancy,  please stop now.

One thing that you should never do when pregnant is change a cat’s litter box. Doing so could put you at risk for contracting a disease called Toxoplasmosis. This is an infection that can occur via contact with the stool of an infected cat. The risk to your baby is substantial. Cats are often infected from outside sources including rodents. Most pet owners that have had cats for a long time have likely already been exposed to the disease at some point in their life, and this will not necessarily result in an increased risk for your baby. However during pregnancy, you do have an excuse to have someone else change the litter pan for the time being. You should also avoid gardening to some extent, as outdoor cats sometimes prefer to leave their stools in the soil of a garden.

If you absolutely must garden or change a cat box, be sure you wear gloves and a mask, and carefully wash your hands after performing any of these higher risk activities.

Changes In Your Body

By now your tummy is starting to look a little pregnant. If nothing else you look like you have started to gain a little weight. I always refer to the early second trimester as the interim period, the time where you don’t yet look pregnant but people start suspecting something may be up because it looks like you’ve added a few pounds.

Many women find it difficult to get into a comfortable position as their body continues to expand each week of pregnancy. During the second and third trimesters your body will undergo an intense series of changes. When laying you’re your left or right side, you will find resting much easier if you have a supportive pregnancy pillow available. Pregnancy pillows including Snoozer full body pregnancy pillows are among the best pregnancy pillows available to pregnant and nursing women.

When using a pregnancy pillow, simply wrap your body into a comfortable position, with part of the pillow between your legs, part supporting your abdomen, and part resting comfortably under or by your head. Some women find pregnancy pillows are also useful for supporting their back, or preventing them from rolling onto their back during pregnancy. Much like lying on your left side, using a pregnancy pillow during pregnancy week 19, or during any time of your pregnancy, can help promote better circulation, comfort and a restful night of sleep. We offer a wide selection of pregnancy pillows, so you can choose from one that fits your style, budget and comfort preferences. If you want to really feel pampered and extravagant, try the European Goose Down Full Pregnancy Pillow. It’s like sleeping in heaven.

Even if you haven’t gained much actual weight yet, you may look more bloated than usual. This is perfectly normal, just be sure to drink up and stock up on as much water as you can. This will help not only with bloating but also with constipation, which is a common side effect for most pregnant women around 14 weeks pregnant and beyond.

There are many causes for constipation during pregnancy, including the increased volume of iron you are consuming to help prevent pregnancy related anemia. Iron can often inspire constipation even in women who normally have no troubles when it comes to their “elimination.”

Don’t worry, and definitely don’t struggle. If you allow constipation to persist you may end up with a case of hemorrhoids. Fortunately you can help reduce your risk by drinking extra water. Exercising also helps because it keeps things “stimulated” in all the right places.

You can also try eating more high fiber foods to help combat constipation during pregnancy. Be careful however, because if you don’t normally eat many high fiber foods and then stock up all at once, you will find you are prone to some very serious gas attacks!

Start incorporating fiber into your diet slowly. Good choices may include fruits and vegetables. Select a few and add them in each morning. You might also try some appealing alternatives like fig bars or cookies, which can help loosen things up a bit for pregnant women with constipation.

What To Expect

This is the time when your appetite starts increasing and this is certainly not the time to diet. Healthy eating patterns help to ensure that the baby will have a healthy birth weight and not be born with infections or other problems. A balanced diet needs to have a correct combination of carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, proteins and fats in the diet. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables is essential to avoid nutritional deficiencies common in pregnancy.

Along with the iron and calcium supplements subscribed by your doctor you need to have a high intake of natural food as this will help to boost the health of the mother as well as the baby. A healthy diet will also help you in fast recovery after the delivery. It will help you to cope with the strain and stress of pregnancy better. At this stage the baby is fully formed and needs a good diet to help him/her grow well. This can even help in improving the immunity of the mother and the baby hence the diet plays a major role from now onwards and if you have been neglecting your diet till now you can make improvements in it. You can make travel plans in this week as traveling in the second trimester is relatively safer than other stages.

The best mode of travel is air or ship however one can travel by train and road too provided there are not too many hurdles or indentations on the way. One has to avoid horse riding at all pregnancy stages if at this stage you are relatively more active as compared to previously. While traveling avoid lifting heavy luggage and try and carry home food if possible to avoid outside food and preservatives at all costs. This is to prevent getting infection as this can lead you to take medication which is to be avoided all throughout the pregnancy.

Tips/Advice

Stay on the right path; many women when they get past the hurdle of the first trimester may revert back to the old ways before they got pregnant. Continue to take your vitamins and make all of your doctor’s appointments. If your doctor offers you recommendations on how to make your pregnancy smoother, take their advice. Remember to relax and enjoy this time.

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