By now, your baby's organs are fully developed, and their appearance is increasingly starting to resemble a little human. Now it's a matter of: grow, grow, grow. This will gradually, but surely, become visible from the outside, and you may be delighted by 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 this week, measuring around 7.5 centimeters. During an ultrasound scan, their facial features would now be quite recognizable, and from this week, you may even be able to see facial expressions. Your baby is already training their facial muscles with funny little grimaces.
14th week of pregnancy: What's changing for you
Your baby bump is becoming more and more noticeable. This week, the placenta is growing, and the amount of blood and amniotic fluid is increasing, so a small bump is gradually becoming visible. Your body is also producing more of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Higher estrogen levels can make you feel a bit restless or irritable and may cause you 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. You’ve likely also noticed that 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 stress about the extra pounds. A certain amount of weight gain is completely normal and healthy—however, being underweight or overweight can be harmful for you and your baby. For example, a link between being underweight and preterm birth is suspected. If you are overweight during pregnancy, the risk that your child will also be overweight later in life increases. Not least, unusually high or low weight gain can indicate complications during 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, your baby's internal organs and limbs are fully developed. From now on, the motto is: mature and grow. And your baby is growing rapidly: they have grown by a full 1.5 centimeters since last week. Still, there is enough space to move and turn in the uterus without you feeling anything yet. This is how your baby trains their muscles.
This week, a fine downy hair called lanugo hair develops all over your baby's body. It helps hold the protective vernix caseosa (medically Vermix Caseosa ). This 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. Shortly 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 your growing belly, but also because of milk production and additional
water retention, your skin has to stretch significantly in a short period of time, and 75 percent of women develop stretch marks . While it’s not possible to completely prevent them, applying moisturizer regularly—such as the LILLYDOO for mom pregnancy oil —can help keep your skin supple. Since dry skin is more prone to tearing, you can help reduce stretch marks by giving your skin an extra dose of moisture with 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 baby's cells, which are half from the father and therefore foreign to your body. So, pay extra attention to yourself now and support your immune system with healthy nutrition, regular outdoor exercise, and an extra dose of vitamins every day.
After the sexual desire of many women is often dampened in the 1st trimester due to pregnancy symptoms such as nausea and constant fatigue, it often 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.
Tip from LILLYDOO Midwife Sissi
Have you already noticed how your skin and hair are changing? Hormonal shifts can make your hair shinier and your skin firmer—but skin blemishes can also appear now. In any case, your body needs special care during pregnancy, and it may be worth adjusting your daily routine a little to meet its changing needs. You can read about what is changing now and how you can do something good for your body in the article "".
With our pregnancy calendar, we want to accompany you through this exciting time and provide you with relevant information, which is also created in exchange with our
LILLYDOO experts. Nevertheless, the information listed here can
never replace personal consultation with your doctor or midwife. Always contact your healthcare professional with questions and for professional care.
