14th week of pregnancy

By now, your baby's organs are fully developed, and its appearance increasingly resembles a little human. Now it's a matter of: grow, grow, grow. This will gradually, but surely, become visible from the outside, and maybe you'll be happy about your little baby bump this week. You can read about everything else that is happening in this article.

How big is your baby in the 14th week of pregnancy?

Your baby is about the size of an apple at 7.5 centimeters this week. During an ultrasound scan, its facial features would now be quite recognizable, and its facial expressions are visible from this week. It trains its facial muscles with funny grimaces.

14th week of pregnancy: What's changing for you

The baby bump is becoming more and more noticeable. This week, the placenta is growing, and the amount of blood and amniotic fluid increases, so a small bump is gradually becoming visible. Your body is also producing more of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. The increased level of estrogen can cause you to feel a bit restless or irritable and to sleep worse than usual.

Weight gain during pregnancy

You have probably already gained some weight; typically, weight gain in the 13th week of pregnancy ranges between 1.5 and 2.5 kilograms. Surely, you have already noticed that your weight gain during pregnancy is an important indicator that is checked at every prenatal appointment. But don't worry: with a healthy diet and sufficient exercise, you usually don't need to worry about the extra pounds. A certain amount of weight gain is quite normal and healthy – however, overweight or underweight can harm you and your baby. For example, a connection between underweight and preterm birth is suspected. If you are overweight during pregnancy, the risk that your child will also be overweight later increases. Not least, an unusually high or low weight gain can indicate complications in pregnancy. That’s why your weight is checked at every doctor’s visit and recorded in the maternity record. If you want to learn more about this topic, check out the article “ “.

14th week of pregnancy: Development of your baby

In week 14 of pregnancy, the internal organs and limbs of your baby are fully developed. From now on, the motto is: mature and grow. And your baby is growing rapidly: it has grown by a full 1.5 centimeters since last week. Still, it has enough space to move and turn in the uterus without you feeling anything. This way, it trains its muscles.

This week, a fine downy hair called lanugo hair develops all over his body. It helps to hold the protective vernix caseosa (medically Vermix Caseosa ). The protective film shields your child's skin from softening in the amniotic fluid, and together with the lanugo hair, it also forms a protective layer against vibrations, noises, and pressure. Just before birth, the fine hair falls off your baby's body, and the vernix caseosa usually disappears almost completely by the time of birth. However, some children are born with a lot of vernix, and especially in preterm babies, remnants of the lanugo may still be present – this varies individually.

This is now important

• Due to the growing belly, but also because of milk production and additional
  water retention, the skin must stretch significantly in a short period of time, and 75 percent of women develop stretch marks . While it’s not possible to completely prevent the streaks, regular application of moisturizer, such as with the LILLYDOO for mom pregnancy oil , can help keep your skin supple. Since dry skin is more prone to tearing, you can prevent stretch marks by providing an extra dose of moisture in the form of rich creams or oils.

• During pregnancy, your immune system is not as strong as usual. The reason: your
  body automatically reduces its immune response to avoid attacking the cells of the baby, which are half from the father and therefore foreign to your body. Therefore, pay extra attention to yourself now and strengthen your immune system with healthy nutrition, regular outdoor exercise, and an extra dose of vitamins every day.

• After the sexual desire of many women has often been dampened in the 1st trimester due to pregnancy symptoms such as nausea and constant fatigue, it increases again in the 2nd trimester. Now, your entire body and your reproductive organs are also better supplied with blood. This can enhance your desire for sex and lead to more intense experiences of touch and orgasms. You don't need to worry about your child during this time – anything that you and your partner feel like doing is allowed.

With our pregnancy calendar, we want to accompany you through this exciting time and provide you with relevant information, which also in exchange with our
LILLYDOO experts are being created. Nevertheless, the ones listed here can still
Never replace personal consultation with your doctor or midwife with advice. Always contact your healthcare professional for questions and professional care.