Fifteenth Week of Pregnancy: What to Expect

As your baby grows, your belly gets bigger and bigger. For outsiders, the pregnancy is becoming more and more visible: Friends and acquaintances can therefore already clearly see your baby bump in the 15th week and are looking forward to the coming time with you.

Your baby is now a little peach. At least, at about 3.9″, it is the size of a peach. However, it only weighs about half of that. Here you can find out what is happening with your baby during the 15th week of gestation and what you should watch out for now.

You are steadily gaining some weight due to the increased blood volume and amniotic fluid. Women who are still haunted by attacks of nausea at this stage are generally less hungry. Sometimes you may even lose weight. Weight fluctuations are normal. However, if you lose a lot of weight, it is best to discuss this with your doctor.

A healthy diet is important during the entire pregnancy. From the 15th week of pregnancy, you should still change something, if not already done. Cook for yourself whenever you have the opportunity. Why? Because you can decide for yourself how much fat and salt ends up in the food. You will no longer like some of the things you have enjoyed eating over the years. Sometimes the food is too sweet, sometimes too salty. That’s why it’s best to cook something for yourself. Also, use this time to learn how to cook if you don’t already know-how. The time of the single household is soon over. Your baby will also enjoy your delicacies later. The famous vegetable jars taste wonderful, but they are quite expensive. With a blender, you can whip up such a jar yourself for your baby and even freeze it. This saves a lot of money, and it is also healthy – for young and old.

Your baby in the 15th week of pregnancy

In the 15th week of pregnancy, it is the liver that starts working. It produces bile and the pancreas provides insulin. Also, the heart has now finally been divided into different parts. Heart valves, ventricles as well as atria are ready and already working at full speed.

Now, even a doctor with an older ultrasound machine can tell whether it will be a girl or a boy. Unless the baby is lying in the abdomen in such a way that the doctor cannot see it. If you want to know the sex, there will definitely be an opportunity in the next few weeks.

The fetus already has functioning eyes. The iris, lens, and cornea continue to mature until about the 25th week of gestation. Only then will your child open its eyes. However, it can already distinguish between light and dark. If it is very bright outside, it will see a reddish glow. Do you still remember the time when your child was as big as a pea?

Now your baby is about the size of an apple. It is about four inches tall and weighs 2.5 ounces. As in the beginning, this is still the crown-rump length. From the 15th week, doctors can also take a transverse measurement of the head.

The neck is also already formed. The fetus can turn its head from now on. Still, your child trains the sucking and swallowing reflex by drinking amniotic fluid. Sometimes it can happen that it swallows too much and hiccups as a result. Since it is still so small, you will not feel this. In a few weeks, things will look a little different. Suddenly, life comes into your belly.

Most pregnancy complaints from the first period of pregnancy, which include nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, are no longer an issue in the second trimester of pregnancy and thus the 15th week of pregnancy. Most pregnant women now feel better and fitter again. This condition usually persists until the end of the 6th month.

Forgetfulness

Due to the rising estrogen level, however, you may suffer from forgetfulness from time to time. This is quite normal and is also called pregnancy dementia.

Of course, it can be absolutely annoying for you if, for example, you are standing in the supermarket and have forgotten what you actually wanted to buy, or you simply can’t remember what absolutely had to be done today.

But don’t worry, after the birth or at the latest after the breastfeeding period, the forgetfulness will disappear again.

Until then, simply write down shopping and to-do lists and save important appointments on your smartphone, then your forgetfulness will hardly cause you any problems. Forgetfulness is even intended by nature – it’s the only way you can adjust to your pregnancy and your baby and focus on them.

15th week: what happens to the baby

Your baby’s neck is fully developed in the 15th week. This means that your baby can now nod and turn its head. In addition, your offspring reacts more and more to external sounds and perceives voices and music more and more. In addition, your baby can feel more and more clearly when you stroke your belly and starts to react to it.

Your baby can also distinguish between different tastes because the taste buds have already developed.

Did you know that after birth, your baby has more taste buds than you? This is because the number of buds decreases as the baby grows. All organs are already working in the 15th week of gestation. Their functions will only be expanded and refined over the next few weeks. From this week on, the liver produces bile and the pancreas insulin, regulating the fetus’ blood sugar level.