18 Weeks Pregnant
When you’re 18 weeks pregnant, you’re in the middle of the second quarter. At this point, your friends and family can tell you how pregnant you look. Morning sickness is gone for most women and now you are able to enjoy being pregnant and concentrate on the birth of the unborn child. You and your partner can also renew your relationship because you are not very emotional about all those little things that you were so emotional about only a few weeks ago.
When you have reached 18 weeks of pregnancy you should be able to feel many movements in the womb. These are called apotheosis at this stage and you will feel movements inside the body partly because it is full of bubbles. The child begins to move when you are 18 weeks pregnant, and the sensations of movement will feel more like waves because the child is in water in the womb. It is recommended that you do your exercises in water too as it will strengthen muscles. While strenuous exercise is not allowed you should take long walks when the weather is suitable.
You can start to have more gas pains and indigestion at this stage, because of the growing child. Initially, you may also think that the baby’s movements are signs of gas in the stomach. You may feel hungry most of the time, because the child needs a lot of food for its growth and development. Hunger may occur more frequently as you have missed all your favorite foods due to morning sickness, and you may also have unusual cravings. Foods that are rich in carbohydrates are important for you and your child’s energy.
To ease your hunger at 18 weeks pregnant, you should have a supply of nutritious snacks on hand such as nuts, crackers and granola bars. This way, you’re sure that your body receives the nutrients the baby needs, instead of loading on junk food which has no nutritional value. These snacks are small and easy to take along in your bag. This way you always have something to eat right at your fingertips.
At this point, you as the parents can begin to speak and read to your child so that he / she will start to recognize your voices. The ears are in place and fully functional so that the child can hear. The bones begin to ossify or harden at this time. They are also coated with myelin and nerve endings send messages quickly to the brain. Nerves throughout the body begin to grow into the complex nervous system that will be evident when the baby is born. The baby also has the senses of smell, taste and sight at 18 weeks. It weighs between five and seven ounces and is slightly more than 5 cm long. From now on the baby’s growth will be at a faster pace.