| |
At 15 weeks pregnant you may already look quite pregnant. It's not uncommon for pregnant women to gain between five to ten pounds by the second trimester. (If you're carrying twins, you may have gain twenty pounds by now). If you're not showing, your abdomen may feel more bloated. Remember that every woman is different, and every pregnancy is different. Don't worry if you don't look too pregnant yet.
Your uterus should rise 1 or 2 inches above your hips by pregnancy week 15.
Gas During Pregnancy
Though your early pregnancy symptoms are now gone, you might start experiencing new side effects as your pregnancy week by week continues. By week 15, you may have more gas than usual.
Gas during pregnancy is very common, caused by the higher levels of progesterone in your body. Progesterone relaxes the muscles in your body, including your gastrointestinal tract. As a result, your digestive processes slow down, and you will experience more gas and bloating.
Always call your doctor if your gas pains start to feel more like abdominal cramps or if they're accompanied with blood in your stool, constipation, diarrhea, or an increase of nausea and vomiting. All of these symptoms may signal something more serious.
Insomnia at 15 Weeks Pregnant
Another common pregnancy symptom you may start to experience during week 15 of pregnancy is insomnia. You may have trouble sleeping at night due to the need to urinate frequently, leg cramps, excitement or nervousness over your baby's arrival, or you simply can't get comfortable at night. Over 70 percent of pregnant women experience insomnia.
If you're having a hard time getting comfortable at 15 weeks pregnant, check out a SnoozerPedic Memory Foam Pregnancy Pillow. It molds to the shape of your body, offering support for your growing belly.
A pre-bed massage or other relaxation techniques may also help you relax enough to fall asleep. Reading or listening to soothing music before bed may also help you.
Don't worry about being unable to sleep. This will only make it more difficult to sleep.
Can You Feel Your Baby's First Movements?
Now, you may start noticing tiny movement (flutters) inside your belly. Though many women can't feel their babies until 18 to 20 weeks pregnant or later, some women do feel their baby's movements earlier.
At 15 weeks pregnant, your baby might be sucking his or her thumb or swimming joyfully around your uterus, and you may feel a slight fluttering or movement.
Sometimes you may mistake your baby's movements for gas, especially if it's early in your second trimester.
Talk, Your Baby Can Now Hear You
Pregnancy week 15 is also a great time for you to start talking to your baby. Your little one's ears are now developed enough that they can pick up sounds, including your voice. Get your partner involved too. The two of you may want to sing or hum to your baby too.
If you speak to your baby on a regular basis, he or she will be able to recognize your voice after birth!
At 15 weeks pregnant, your baby is around 4 inches long, or roughly the size of an apple or orange! He or she is closing in on 2.5 ounces in weight! The baby's head remains large relative to the body.
Your baby's arms are long enough that he or she can stretch them in front of his or her face. The hands are well developed now, with distinct fingers and fingertips.
Your baby's arms are long enough that he or she can stretch them in front of his or her face. The hands are well developed now, with distinct fingers and fingertips.
Your little one's skeleton and bones continue to harden during pregnancy week 15, transforming from cartilage to bone as it calcifies. This process is called "ossification" and it continues until your baby is a teenager and stops growing.
Your little one's skeleton and bones continue to harden during pregnancy week 15, transforming from cartilage to bone as it calcifies. This process is called "ossification" and it continues until your baby is a teenager and stops growing.
Your baby's neck is long enough that he or she can now raise his or her chin from the chest. The spinal cord, which was developing in the first trimester, is now completely formed.
As your uterus expands in the second trimester, it's important for you to keep an eye out for urinary tract infections (UTIs). Also called bladder infections, UTIs are a common pregnancy complication that affects between 2 and 7 percent of all pregnant women.
Symptoms of a Urinary Tract Infection
At 15 weeks of pregnancy, you may have a urinary tract infection and not even know. The symptoms vary from pregnant woman to pregnant woman. Common signs of a UTI include:
- A frequent or uncontrollable urge to pass urine
- Pelvic pressure or lower abdominal pain
- Pain, discomfort, and a burning sensation when you urinate
- Discomfort during sexual intercourse
- Urine that is foul smelling, or urine that looks cloudy
- Blood in your urine
Because the frequent urge to urinate is often a regular pregnancy symptom, you may not even know that you have a urinary tract infection until your urine is tested at a regular prenatal visit. Not all women with urinary tract infections experience pain or stinging when they urinate, and not all women notice blood in their urine.
What Causes Urinary Tract Infections in Pregnancy?
Pregnant women are at higher risk of urinary tract infections due to the changes in their pregnancy body. First, the higher levels of the hormone progesterone in your body can relax the muscle tone of your ureters (the muscular tubes that attach to lower end of your bladder and the upper end of your kidneys), and this can cause your ureters to dilate and slow down the flow of urine.
Secondly, the increased weight of your expanding uterus can compress your ureters and make it harder for urine to flow through them. Pregnancy can also relax your bladder, which makes it more prone to reflux (the bladder wall doesn't close all the way when the bladder contracts, so urine can flow back into your ureters).
All these changes give bacteria a chance to multiply and infect your bladder and ureters. This infection can sometimes also lead to a kidney infection. In pregnant women, you will want to be treated for a UTI as soon as possible to avoid any possible pregnant complications.
Treatment of Urinary Tract Infections During Pregnancy
Fortunately, your urine is tested at every prenatal visit, so if you do have a urinary tract infection, your doctor will be able to treat you to avoid any harm to your baby. You will probably be given antibiotics to fight the UTI.
If untreated, urinary tract infections during pregnancy is linked with an increased risk of preterm labor and low birth weight infant.
How to Prevent Urinary Tract Infections in Pregnancy
To help prevent this annoying pregnancy complication at pregnancy week 15:
- Be sure to empty your bladder fully. Avoiding holding your bladder. If you have to go, then go! Urination can push the UTI bacteria out of your bladder before it can spread.
- Urinate before and after having sexual intercourse. Choose a water-based lubricant during sex.
- Drink at least eight glasses of water every day. Unsweetened cranberry juice may also help fight infection.
- Don't use douches, feminine deodorant sprays, or strong soaps. These products can irritate your urethra and genitals, making them easy targets for bacteria.
- Wear cotton underwear and avoid tight-fitting clothes.
- After using the bathroom, wipe from front to back. This will prevent bacteria from your rectum from getting near your urethra.
When to Call Your Doctor About a Urinary Tract Infection
Always call your doctor if you think you may have a urinary tract infection. If you start to experience any fevers, chills, nausea, or vomiting, contact your healthcare provider immediately. These symptoms can be a sign of a possible kidney infection. At 15 weeks pregnant, you may need to be hospitalized to treat a kidney infection.
Read About Your Pregnancy Week by Week - 16 Weeks Pregnant
|
| |
|
