You are 17 weeks pregnant

Your baby

Right now, your little guy is sprouting eyebrows and growing more hair on his scalp - and he’s beginning to develop a layer of fat under his skin. It will provide much-needed warmth after he&...Read more

Your body

By this week, your uterus will have grown to the point where it’s approaching your bellybutton - and it’ll keep on moving up, nudging your intestines and other organs out of the way to ...Read more

Your life right now

How’s this for an excuse to have a big, juicy burger: Even if you haven’t had an iron deficiency in the past, anaemia can set in during pregnancy. Many antenatal vitamins (which you sho...Read more

Mums like me

‘Every mother is going to want to tell you her birthing story. Listen kindly and then erase them from your memory! I heard so many horrible birthing stories when I was pregnant with DS. I don...Read more

Right now, your little guy is sprouting eyebrows and growing more hair on his scalp - and he’s beginning to develop a layer of fat under his skin. It will provide much-needed warmth after he’s born and leaves the 99.6-degree home (temperature in your baby’s environment is about 1 degree warmer than your temp) where he’s been living so cozily. From now on, your baby is going to pack on as much of this inner insulation as he can. This week, meconium (what will be your baby’s first bowel movement), also begins to collect in his colon; it’s waste he’s filtered out from the amniotic fluid he’s swallowed. Bizarre to think about, but true. Your baby’s umbilical cord will also begin to lengthen and thicken in response to all the rapid growth that’s happening now. (At this point, your baby and placenta are almost equal in size.) So much going on!

By this week, your uterus will have grown to the point where it’s approaching your bellybutton - and it’ll keep on moving up, nudging your intestines and other organs out of the way to make room for it to expand. It will eventually be a tight fit in there, but one your body was designed to handle. A down-there issue you should know about: Around this time, you may begin to notice an increase in vaginal secretions. The discharge tends to be thicker than usual and either clear or milky white in colour - and rest assured, it’s perfectly normal. Of course, it is possible to get a vaginal infection during pregnancy too, so call your doc if you notice a yellow or blood-tinged discharge, a bad smell or experience itching or irritation. Otherwise, know that this discharge is just par for the pregnancy course.

How’s this for an excuse to have a big, juicy burger: Even if you haven’t had an iron deficiency in the past, anaemia can set in during pregnancy. Many antenatal vitamins (which you should still be taking) include this important mineral. But if yours doesn’t, be sure to eat plenty of iron-rich foods, such as meat, fish and poultry, which provide the type of iron your body uses most effectively; fortified breakfast cereals, beans, eggs, nuts, dried fruits, peas, dark leafy greens like spinach - and, yes, even an occasional burger. Enhance iron absorption by pairing iron-rich foods with foods rich in vitamin C, such as citrus fruits, tomatoes and sweet peppers. While anaemia probably won’t hurt your baby (he’ll draw what he needs from your blood), it can leave you feeling wiped out and weak. So get your daily dose of about 30 mg!

‘Every mother is going to want to tell you her birthing story. Listen kindly and then erase them from your memory! I heard so many horrible birthing stories when I was pregnant with DS. I don't know why but these mums just feel it necessary to scare the heck out of FTM's. Women I didn't even know felt they needed to tell me what happened to them!’ – newmomma2b2

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