14 Weeks Pregnant

Welcome to the second trimester! At pregnancy week 14, you may suddenly find that you have much more energy. The second trimester is known as the honeymoon trimester because you will feel better and be able to do much more. Take full advantage of it for meeting friends, shopping and setting up the nursery because you won’t feel like doing anything in another 13 weeks or so!

Your Baby’s Development at Pregnancy Week 14

At 14 weeks pregnant, your baby is still growing and developing. There is a lot going on at the moment and your body will be working efficiently to give you and your little one all the nutrients you both need – without the need of eating more! Your baby’s head is still big but the body is growing to catch up.

This is the first time that your midwife or doctor will be able to feel the top of the uterus. This will now happen every visit until your baby is born to make sure the uterus is in the right place and your baby is growing well.

By the end of pregnancy week 14 the eyes and ears will be exactly where they should be and the facial features will be more prominent. The eyebrows will start to grow during this week. Hair does grow in the womb and your baby may be born with a full head of locks; but that doesn’t mean your baby will keep that hair or that it will stay the same colour!

Your baby will now start urinating the amniotic fluid that he or she swallows. This will be as often as half an hour due to the size of your baby’s bladder! Doing this task so early is important to help the kidneys develop before birth.

Changes in You at Pregnancy 14 Weeks

You may find that your sickness has completely gone now. This is the first week in the second trimester and you may also find that you have more energy. Now is the time to get out and about and start shopping for baby things. It may seem a long way away but by the time your third trimester hits, you will be thankful that you got the baby shopping out of the way.

You will start to gain a small bump now. If this is a second (or more) baby or you are having multiple babies, you will likely have a larger bump that first time, single baby mums. This is because your stomach muscles will have already relaxed to expand or that your body needs to make more space for the multiple babies.

Your breasts may also start to grow at this point. Many women will say that it is their partner who notices the change first. The main thing women notice is that the breasts become tender and they may be off-limits to your partner.

Symptoms at 14 Weeks Pregnant

While the early symptoms may have gone during pregnancy week 14, there are some symptoms that will be around. One of the most common is back ache. This is often in the lower back and could be at any time of the day – sitting, standing or even in bed. The aches are due to your growing baby and the amount of work your back muscles are doing to support the uterus. You may find that wearing low-heeled shoes and changing position helps with this.

The back pains should not be strong or severe. If they are, it could be a sign of a complication so talk to your healthcare provider immediately.

Swelling is another common symptom but may not sure up for another few weeks. The fingers and ankles are the most common areas for swelling and are due to water retention. Keep an eye on the swelling over the next few weeks. After 20 weeks pregnant, this could be a sign of pre-eclampsia, which is a serious condition.

Itchy skin is common at 14 weeks pregnant and you can thank your expanding body for that. The stomach area is the most common area to become itchy, but the breasts and anywhere else where there is a sudden change will also find this happens. This is due to the stretching skin and the hormones in the body. You can help avoid or treat this by keeping the skin moisturised all the time. The itchiness should not be accompanied by red bumps or a rash. This is a sign of pruritic uritcarial papules and plaques of pregnancy and needs to be treated by a doctor.