Pregnancy Calendar:
Week 16

 

Rapid and sustained growth continues all this week. Your baby’s head and neck have assumed more of a straight-line relationship. Baby’s legs have lengthened and are now well developed. The ears are close to their final position. The toenails are growing from their nail beds.

Your baby measures 4 3⁄4 inches long (120 mm) crown to rump and weighs 3 3⁄4 ounces (104.5 g), having more than doubled its dimensions in a mere two weeks.

For Your Information By this time, your baby’s external genitals are distinctly male or distinctly female in appearance.

You

 

You may experience occasional nosebleeds and nasal stuffiness due to increases in blood volume and the effects of the hormone estrogen, which causes your nasal membranes to swell.

If the full sensation in your nose or ears is accompanied by pain, fever, or flu-like symptoms, check with your practitioner to make sure you don’t have an infection. If you are running a temperature, your baby’s environment warms up, too. Consult with your practitioner before you take anything for symptom relief.

The principles of exchange that govern your baby’s blood supply make it impossible for the baby to completely deplete the mother’s blood supply of nutrients, so there’s always something left over for your system.

Childbirth in Other Cultures By tradition, Hopi women of the American Southwest are encouraged to get up early every morning and not to sit around during pregnancy. The Sanpoil tribe goes even further. For their pregnant woman, a regular program of exercise, mainly walking and swimming, is prescribed.

Childbirth Then and Now Among the Chagga of Tanzania, there is a saying, “Pay attention to the pregnant woman! There is no one more important than she.”