Pregnancy Week 15
 How big is your baby?
This week your baby measures 10.1cm (3.98 inches) from crown to rump and weighs in at around 70g (2.47 ounces). It is about the size of a softball.
Your babys growth over the next few months is going to faster than it has, or
will.
Your baby's development
If this is your first pregnancy, then it may be to early too feel any movement, although you should start to feel movement with in the next few weeks. If this is not your first pregnancy, then you may start to feel your baby move around this time, as it is not uncommon for women who have had previous
pregnancies to feel their baby move earlier.
Your baby's skin is still thin and is now covered by a fine hair called lanugo hair.
Another interesting hair development is that your baby's hair pattern will be
determined over the first half of this week. Once your baby is born his/her hair
will grow at an average of 1/2 inch (13 mm) a month.
Your baby's eyes will continue to move to their normal position this week. The ears,
which are already at the side of the head, are still developing externally and will now almost look like normal ears.
By this time your baby may be sucking his/her thumb and is also swallowing
amniotic fluid. The fluid which is swallowed is digested by the developing
digestive tract and passed through the system.
Your baby's bones are getting harder and harder everyday and are now retaining calcium. In fact if an x-ray were taken at this time, your baby's skeleton would be visible
in the x-ray.
Your development
 You can now easily tell that you are pregnant, although this may only be seen if you were to be wearing a bathing suit. At this stage
the top of your uterus is still quite low and will be sitting about 3 or 4 inches below your bellybutton.
You may be finding it difficult to find a
comfortable sleeping position now as well and this will only get worse as your stomach grows. Often the most comfortable position
to sleep in is on your left side, with a pillow resting between your legs. You should try and get used to sleeping in this position now before you get any bigger.
Sleeping with a pillow between your legs will also help with another common
symptom of pregnancy known as
round ligament
pain.
There are other reasons for sleeping on your left side, besides comfort. This is because the weight of the baby and uterus can compress the inferior vena caver, which takes blood from your lower body to the heart, which may cause dizziness, sweats and palpitations.
Tips for getting a good nights sleep:
 Go to bed and wake up the same time everyday
Dont drink too much fluid at night
Exercise regularly
Sleep in a cool bedroom, about 70 deg F (21
deg C)
At this stage of your pregnancy you may need to start adding an extra 300 calories a day to your diet. It may sound a lot, but 300 calories is in fact not very much. Some
good sources of calories include:
- 2 thin pork slices
- 1/2 cup of brown rice
- 4 1/2 ounce salmon steak with 1 cup asparagus and 2 cups Romaine lettuce
- 1 cup cooked pasta
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