Week 15 Info
Week 15
by Robin Elise Weiss, BA, ICCE-CPE, CD(DONA)
Mother:
Your heart is increasing its output to supply the baby with oxygen. Your enlarged heart is pumping about 20% more blood than prepregnancy. This volume will actually increase throughout your pregnancy for an ending increased heart output of 30-50%. Anyone else think enlarged heart is a little weird? Kinda creepy.
If your clothes are getting tight, do not try to cram yourself into clothes. Either invest in some maternity clothes, borrow them, wear your partner's clothing or unzip your pants! *grumbles under her breath*
The maternal blood screening for neural tube defects, often called the Alpha-fetoprotein Test (AFP) may be offered at this point. It is a screening that is most accurate during the 15 - 17th weeks of gestation, although this screening has a high false positive rate. I say, huh?
Baby:
Your baby may have developed the habit of sucking his or her thumb! The skin is very thin and you can see the blood vessels clearly underneath. How adorable... the sucking thumb thing.
Your baby is about 70 grams. The scalp hair pattern is developing. And the heart is pumping about 25 quarts of blood a day. This will increase to about 300 at term. That's a lot of blood...
Twin Tips:
A high MSAFP test result might mean more babies! If you already knew that there was more than one, be sure that they use the appropriate scale for the testing outcome. *shakes head* One. At. A. Time.
Suggested Reading:
Birthing from Within by Pam England and Rob Horowitz
A great look at what you can to do help yourself in pregnancy, labor and parenting. A total body/mind approach to birth and parenting. *whimpers about anything considering birth*