16 Weeks Pregnant

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Here's what's happening during Week 16 of your pregnancy:

Your Growing Baby

Your baby weighs about 2.8 ounces (79 grams) and is about 4 1/2 inches from crown to rump—roughly the size of a small gerbil. At any time, you will begin to feel fetal movement as your baby's bones harden, and she starts a big growth spurt. Your baby has plenty of room: At this point, she could fit in the palm of your hand. This is a great time to be a fetus. At any given time, she might be playing with the umbilical cord (which she's now able to grasp), putting her thumb in her mouth, or kicking at the amniotic sac.

Your Growing Belly

Since you have almost a cup of amniotic fluid in your uterus, your pelvic area will feel heavy and firm. You're also carrying all the extra poundage your body's putting on that can be attributed to extra blood and fluid volume, your placenta and baby's support systems, and enlarging breasts. It's normal to be gaining a pound a week at this point. If you have an appointment this week, your care provider may recommend an ultrasound or amniocentesis to detect the possibility of genetic defects.

Tips & To-Do's

Yoga Mama

Did you know that yoga can work for you, no matter what stage of pregnancy you're in? Our Iyengar-based program, complete with modifications based on your stage of pregnancy, will take you from your first trimester right up to delivery and includes favorite poses, such as Triangle, Warrior, Twists, and Forward Bends.

Here's how to get started now.

Things to think about this week: Begin to think seriously about how you want your labor and delivery to play out. To get started, and to set up a birth plan, visit our Labor & Delivery Guide.

 

Pregnancy Milestones:

Below are some of the most important milestones of your pregnancy. Click on any week to read more, or view our Week-by-Week Pregnancy page to see your pregnancy at-a-glance.

4-weeks-pregnant

 

Week 4: Positive test: You're pregnant! You may be starting to feel bloated, crampy, tired and moody, and experiencing sore breasts, nausea/vomiting and a frequent need to pee.  But don't worry if you're not—that's normal.  Read more about being 4 weeks pregnant.

 

8-weeks-pregnant

Week 8: Your doctor may look or listen for the baby's heartbeat with an ultrasound. Once you see or hear it, your miscarriage risk drops to about 2 percent. He'll also give you an official due date—though very few women actually deliver on that day.  Read more about being 8 weeks pregnant.

 

 

10-weeks-pregnant

Week 10: Your inch-long baby is now called a fetus. While the icky side effects of pregnancy may be starting to abate, your anxiety about having a healthy baby might be increasing.  Read more about being 10 weeks pregnant.

 

 

15-weeks-pregnant

Week 15: The "window of opportunity" for many important screening and diagnostic tests opens this week, should you decide to undergo them.  Read more about being 15 weeks pregnant.

 

 

16-weeks-pregnant

Week 16: Sometime between 16 and 22 weeks, you'll start to feel your baby move.  Read more about being 16 weeks pregnant.

 

 

29-weeks-pregnant

Week 29: The basketball-sized lump in your belly may be inhibiting shoe tying, leg shaving and the like. The fetus is increasingly sensitive to light and sound.  Read more about being 29 weeks pregnant.

 

 

36-weeks-pregnant

Week 36: The baby may drop lower into your pelvis in preparation for delivery. This should make it easier to breathe—yet your pee breaks will become ever more frequent.  Read more about being 36 weeks pregnant.

 

 

Click here to read more about every week of pregnancy on our Week-by-Week Pregnancy page.

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