Stages of a Fourth Month Pregnancy
Fetal Development
As you begin your 16th week of pregnancy, your baby already has a nose, two eyes and ears. His heart is now fully formed although the lungs are still developing. He will begin to swallow amniotic fluid this month. During the fourth month, your baby’s eyes will open inside the womb for the first time. He will also start to grow eyelashes. He may begin to feel the urge to suck. This is an instinct called “rooting” that your baby will use during his first feeding once he is born.
Facial muscles will develop during the fourth month, and he may even begin to make facial expressions. Your baby is between five and six inches long, and can weigh as much as four ounces.
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Changes for Mom
You are likely considering what all the whining is about. Pregnancy is a breeze during the fourth month. You are just starting to show enough that strangers may ask you how far along you are. Best of all, you get to go shopping for maternity clothes. You may see a slight increment or lessening in moxie. Sex is perfectly safe during this stage of a typical pregnancy. If you haven’t been watching your nutrition, now is the time to start. Your child will spend the rest of this pregnancy gaining weight, thus will you.
Try not to be frightened on the off chance that you gain as much as a pound seven days. You don’t need to feel guilty about eating high caloric foods as long as they are not empty calories. You will probably notice that your breasts are much larger and quite tender. Also, you may develop a dark vertical line from your naval to your pubic line. These are perfectly normal occurrences due to hormonal changes in the fourth month.
Prenatal Care at Four Months
Your doctor will want to perform an ultrasound this month to check your baby’s development and the placenta location. Your doctor may recommend complete bed rest if your placenta has implanted near the opening of your uterus, a condition called placenta previa. You may be able to see your baby’s gender as well. 4D ultrasounds give you a very clear picture of what your baby looks like, and can almost always reveal its gender. This month, your obstetrician will offer you an Alfa Feta Protein test, also called an AFP test.
This is a simple blood test that checks for indications of some birth defects such as Spina Bifida and Down Syndrome. The test may warrant a nitty gritty ultrasound or even amniocentesis. Amniocentesis is usually done during the fourth month of pregnancy but only if it is warranted. Your obstetrician will also measure your abdomen, check your urine for sugar and proteins and check your heart rate. Ensure you let your primary care physician know whether you experience any growing in your limits, vision changes or cerebral pains. These symptoms are signs of preeclampsia, or pregnancy-related hypertension. Call your doctor if you experience any amount of bleeding, or contractions.
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