What to expect at 17 weeks pregnant

Your baby

Up until now your baby has been all skin and bones (so to speak), but this week fat will start to build up under the skin which helps produce heat as well as baby’s metabolism.

Your baby can now hear sounds outside the womb and is also breathing – although it’s not air at this stage but rather amniotic fluid with the placenta is supplying oxygen. Your baby can now begin to explore its body and surroundings with its hands and if you are having twins or triplets this is when they will likely locate and connect with each other.

How you’re feeling

Hot hot HOT! You might have already noticed an increase in your body temperature largely due to the increased blood flow – and it can affect you even in the winter months. There’s a reason for the old saying bun in the over – because you become the oven.

Weekly tip

If you’re feeling the heat and are extra sweaty, make sure you’re drinking lots of water so you don’t get dehydrated. Wear loose-fitting, natural fibre clothes and ditch the heavy covers at night.

Keeping a fan by your bed can also help as the heat really tends to feel worse in the dead of night when you’re trying to sleep. Outside of that think cool treats – ice blocks or sucking on ice cubes, spray bottles filled with cool water or taking a dip in a pool or at the beach (or close your eyes in the shower and imagine yourself on a tropical beach somewhere…)

Pregnancy is not the time to be overdoing it in the heat, so if you know it’s going to be a hot day plan to stay inside wherever possible and keep up the fluids. Dehydration and heatstroke can be dangerous for you and the baby so make sure you do everything you can to avoid it in the first place.

Related Articles
How do you know if you are drinking enough water during pregnancy?
20 tips to help you sleep during pregnancy
Everything you need to know about the placenta