Week 17

Your baby now measures 6.3 inches (16 cm) from head to foot and weighs about 3.2 ounces (90 gm) at the start of the week—and about 4.2 ounces (120 gm) at the end of the week.

Although the baby’s head is still big in relation to the body, they are more in proportion. Your baby’s eyes are closed, but they’ve grown and both eyelashes and eyebrows have grown. More and more hair is growing on the head, and there are tiny nails on all fingers and toes.

Your baby is starting to store subcutaneous fat, which helps your baby to stay warm and provides energy.

Your baby can now hear and react to sounds from outside.

Your baby is rapidly growing in your uterus. Your uterus and the ligaments are growing more quickly and taking up more room compared with the first time you were pregnant. The upper part (the fundus) is approximately halfway between your pubic bone and your navel. You may feel warmer than usual, experience heavier perspiration or shortness of breath due to the increase in blood volume. Toward the end of your pregnancy, you will have one liter (2.1 pints) more blood than normal.

If you feel extremely out of breath, speak with your midwife or physician so that they can decide if you need an appointment to rule out something else as the reason why you feel breathless.

The mucous membranes in your nose and vagina may be delicate and bleed easily. To reduce the discomfort of sensitive mucous membranes, use a lubricant when you have sexual intercourse. Your membranes will be delicate even while you breastfeed since your estrogen levels are low.

If your mucous membranes are dry, you may bleed a bit after intercourse. But this could even be because the cervix bleeds more easily during pregnancy. This is nothing serious and you’ll usually notice it as a brownish discharge the day after intercourse. Consult your midwife or physician if you are worried.

You could notice more vaginal discharge. As long as the discharge is odorless, you have nothing to worry about. However, if you have a foul-smelling discharge, talk with your midwife. Foul-smelling discharge could be a sign of a bacterial infection that might require antibiotics.