During the second week of your second trimester, your babe's features are beginning to have shape.

Meanwhile, by week 15 of pregnancy, your forenoon sickness could very well exist gone — just you lot might be experiencing another unpleasant symptoms, like bleeding gums.

Your Infant at Week 15

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Think way dorsum to week ten when your little sugarplum was the size of a clip and your uterus was the size of an orangish? Now, but 5 weeks later, your not-and then-little fetus is the size of an orange himself…and your uterus is a whole lot bigger, too, which explains the teensy baby bump you lot may exist starting to sport. This week your baby is tipping the scales at just over ii ounces and is around 4 and a one-half inches long. Amazingly, he'll double in size over the next few weeks, so be prepared to do some growing of your own in the weeks to come.

Meanwhile, there's plenty of action going on inside that womb cocoon. The earth-shaking placenta still acts as your baby's kidney — controlling the fluid balance in his tiny body and shuttling waste products out into your system — but the fetus's urinary system is at present sufficiently developed to produce tiny amounts of pee. And we're talking tiny…non more than a teaspoon of fluid. Still, his teeny tiny bladder fills and empties every 30 minutes, practicing for the diaper-filling days ahead.

Other developments down under: The swelling between your baby's legs, which starts out life equally the same duplicate tube of tissue, is developing into either recognizable boy parts or girl parts, aka a penis or clitoris. Practiced news if you're looking forrard to confirming your dreams of infant blue…or pink — though it volition be a week or ii or even more than earlier an ultrasound will reveal your fiddling one'due south gender with any certainty.

In other breaking gender news, if information technology's a daughter, her ovaries are fully formed and are making their trek from the belly into the pelvis. Hundreds of thousands of eggs are developing within those ovaries, hoping i day to turn into fetuses themselves — your grandchildren! Got male? If your babe is a boy, his testes are now fully formed likewise.

More good news: Your piffling one is starting to look less like an alien and more than like the baby you lot've been dreaming of. His ears take finally found their way upwards from the cervix to their proper position. Eyebrows are starting to develop. And infant's optics are moving from the side of the head to the front of the face — more Rembrandt, less Picasso. He's a masterpiece in the making!

At a Glance

See-through baby

Your baby's skin remains super thin, allowing developing claret vessels to show correct through.

Baby's got back

Your picayune one'due south skeleton is starting to ossify. Translation: If an X-ray were taken today, his skeleton would exist visible.

Falling into place

Things are moving into place, namely your babe'due south ears and eyes. They go along the dull migration to their rightful spots on baby's confront and head.

15 weeks pregnant is how many months?

If yous're fifteen weeks pregnant, you're in calendar month 4 of your pregnancy. Only 5 months left to go! Withal have questions? Here'due south some more than information on how weeks, months and trimesters are cleaved down in pregnancy.

How big is my baby at fifteen weeks?

Curious why your trunk is (probably) finally starting to await pregnant? It'due south considering at 15 weeks pregnant, your baby is chop-chop growing bigger each calendar week — he's as long as 4 inches correct now and weighs around 2½ ounces.

Need a better visual? Agree a pear in your manus — that's how large your little darlin' is. Now that you're done looking, eat that pear for a succulent, nutritious snack!

Get ready for some major growth on your baby's (and belly'south!) part in the weeks to come.

Baby is looking more than similar a baby

With each passing week, your fetus is also looking more and more like the babe you're picturing in your dreams.

By now, the ears are positioned properly on the sides of the head — they used to be in the cervix — and the optics are moving from the side of the head to the front of the face — where they'll shortly come across your loving gaze.

Babe is practicing for the outside earth

So what keeps your baby busy all day? Mostly, your fetus is in rehearsals — exercise, practice, practicing and getting ready for that big debut.

Babies work on breathing, sucking and swallowing motions and then that when they exit your comfy womb and move into your comfortable house, they'll have the skills necessary to survive.

Your fetus is besides holding daily aerobics classes — kicking, crimper toes and moving those lilliputian arms and legs — simply because he only weighs a couple of ounces, y'all won't feel the fetal movements going on inside your abdominal gym.

Your Body at Calendar week 15

15 weeks pregnant woman

The golden months

Does it get any better than this? By this week, many of those bothersome early pregnancy symptoms have disappeared — and at fifteen weeks, you're not besides big to get around — or become out of your chair.

Now that you're finally able to open wide without throwing up or gagging on extra saliva, it's a expert time to focus on your rima oris, which, believe information technology or not, is too going through a number of pregnancy-induced changes.

Bleeding gums and dental care

Say cheese — and take a expert wait in the mirror. You might notice that you have cherry, swollen gums and they may even exist sore, sensitive or prone to bleeding when you brush or floss. It's those pregnancy hormones at piece of work once more, this time triggering gingivitis, an infection and inflammation of the gums, by making them react differently to the bacteria in plaque.

Those hormones are also the cause behind a chronic stuffy nose or even nosebleeds. Look even more closely and you lot may notice a small lump on your gums, chosen a pregnancy tumor. Before you beginning worrying, keep in mind that these benign growths are scarily named but completely harmless and painless. If you do develop i, information technology should go abroad on its ain afterwards commitment.

What is a little more alarming is what can happen if you don't take care of your teeth while you're expecting. Gingivitis can progress to an infection of the bones and tissues supporting your teeth called periodontitis — and enquiry has shown a link betwixt periodontitis, premature labor and preeclampsia.

Prevention is key: Good oral hygiene, which includes regular dental intendance, brushing at least twice a mean solar day and gentle flossing one time a 24-hour interval, will profoundly reduce gum swelling, bleeding and soreness.

Gaining weight

Whether you were barely able to proceeds an ounce during the starting time trimester, cheers to all that toilet hugging, or you gained more ounces — and pounds — than you were hoping to, it's weight gain time now.

Starting in the second trimester, your baby'south getting bigger and bigger, and consequently, you should be too. Brand slow and steady your motto and aim for a weekly weight gain of almost 1 pound.

But keep in heed that's an average, which ways that it'due south perfectly fine to proceeds half a pound i week and a-pound-and-a-half the adjacent, as long as you're netting most iv pounds a month. Just be sure to do whatever your practitioner recommends on the weight gain front.

If you're weighing in at dwelling house, in one case a week or in one case every other week is plenty; only make sure you do it consistently, at about the same fourth dimension and under the same weather — undressed and right after getting up, for instance. Or leave the weigh-ins to your practitioner at your monthly visits.

Learn more almost pregnancy weight gain.

Pregnancy Symptoms Week xv

Heartburn and indigestion

At present that you're hungrier, you may notice that eating large amounts of food in one sitting can lead to heartburn or indigestion. Guard against gastrointestinal discomfort by eating several modest meals throughout the day — rather than three large ones — and then as not to overload your digestive organisation. Read More than

Varicose veins

The good news well-nigh varicose veins? They're unlikely to cause any harm. Plus, their presence is a good excuse to sit down and kick back with your feet upwards, since elevating your legs helps keep claret circulating and reduces pressure level on the veins in your legs. Read More than

Faintness or dizziness

If you lot tin can't find a identify to lie downwards or sit when you experience light-headed, kneel and bend your caput forward as though you were tying your shoe. This will assist prevent you from fainting and taking a spill. Read More

Occasional headaches

Headaches can exist caused by only most anything during pregnancy — hormones, fatigue, stress. To lessen your pain, identify a cool compress on your forehead or on the back of your neck and sit in a dark, tranquillity room. Read More

Round ligament pain

Equally the muscles and ligaments that support your growing uterus stretch, you might notice some pain on the lower sides of your belly, which is technically called round ligament pain. This is perfectly normal, just if the pain becomes severe, let your practitioner know. Read More

Pregnancy brain

Tin't seem to remember where y'all left your wallet or when your next doctor appointment's scheduled? It's a hallmark of pregnancy and it's existent — your encephalon-cell volume actually decreases during pregnancy. Try using your laptop, smartphone or tablet to help keep you organized and less forgetful. Read More

Tips for Y'all This Calendar week

Make a guess: boy or girl?

Truthful or simulated: A fetal heart rate of fewer than 140 beats per infinitesimal means you're having a boy, while a heart rate of more than 140 beats per minute means y'all're having a daughter. It's a notion that's been making the obstetrical rounds forever.

The truth? Information technology'south fake.

Sorry, merely while this theory sounds more than plausible (and more grounded in medical fact), it's nigh as reliable every bit property a ring on a string over your abdomen and determining the baby'due south sex based on which way the band turns.

There are equally many of these myths around equally at that place are people to repeat them (and try them out at family unit gatherings). And while they may be fun to talk about, they all have 1 thing in common: Whether they predict babe is a boy or a daughter, they have a l-50 take chances of existence correct.

If you'd like better odds than that — the kind you tin base your plant nursery paint colors on — ask your practitioner virtually your options for finding out baby'southward sex.

Fit in healthy fare

Do you struggle to fit good for you meals into your twenty-four hours? Adapt your schedule to clasp in a lunch pause — fifty-fifty if information technology'south just a sandwich and a fruit cup.

Proceed plenty of nutritious snacks on mitt that volition make feeding you and your baby easy: Stash bags of stale fruit and nuts, dry out cereal and crackers in the pantry, and store a supply of individually wrapped cheese sticks, hard-boiled eggs, and yogurt and cottage cheese containers in the refrigerator.

Larn baby'south fundal peak

The simplest way to estimate a baby's size is to runway the size of a woman'south uterus. To monitor baby'south growth and position, your OB/GYN or midwife volition likely start to measure out the distance between the top of your pubic os and the top of your uterus.

Called the fundal height, this measurement is used as a reflection of how big your infant is.

Make breakfast a priority

Do you skip breakfast because you're non a breakfast person? Well, your baby doesn't mind if you opt out of the oatmeal and go for a toasted cheese sandwich instead — or even a slice of cold meatloaf from concluding night'south dinner.

If you forgo the morning time meal considering you're not a morning person, you might want to try setting your alarm for xv minutes earlier, so y'all'll have a chance to wake up and catch some granola and yogurt — fifty-fifty if you have to eat your breakfast on the run.

If you're e'er in a blitz, try to prepare something the nighttime before, like a breakfast burrito that's ready to scroll after a quick stop in the microwave or a pocketbook of dry cereal and trail mix done down with calcium-fortified juice.

Or whip up a quick breakfast smoothie — put all the ingredients in the blender jar, stick it in the fridge then give it a whirl in the a.m.

Is amnio for you?

The amniotic fluid that surrounds your infant can provide you with a wide range of data about your picayune ane'south genetics and health.

Amniocentesis — also called "amnio" — is a procedure that extracts this fluid to detect conditions such as Down syndrome, Tay-Sachs, sickle cell anemia and more.

If you or your baby'south other biological parent has a history of genetic conditions, or if other screenings have detected an aberration, y'all may want to inquire whether you should take an amnio washed.

Snack before exercise

One of exercise's big benefits is that it burns calories. Card-conveying baby-builders like you, though, get the pleasure of replacing those calories with some healthy pregnancy snacks.

So 30 minutes earlier you lot exercise, striking the fridge for a calorie-free snack and a beverage. Follow up your conditioning with an encore snack.

Bananas and orange juice are great options because they contain enough of potassium, an essential food that's lost when yous perspire, plus they supply quick energy. Add together a little poly peptide for staying power like a hard-boiled egg or a cheese stick.

Ask near aspirin

Preeclampsia by and large develops later in pregnancy, later on week xx, and is characterized by a sudden onset of high blood pressure, severe swelling of the easily and face, and signs that some organs may non exist working normally, including poly peptide in the urine.

If y'all're considered high-hazard for preeclampsia, ask your practitioner nigh low-dose or babe aspirin. Taking infant aspirin (normally ii a 24-hour interval, merely bank check with your doctor) after the beginning trimester can reduce preeclampsia past 24 percent, co-ordinate to some studies.

From the What to Expect editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author ofWhat to Await When Y'all're Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such equally peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions and highly respected health organizations. Learn how we go along our content accurate and upwards-to-appointment past reading our medical review and editorial policy.

  • What to Look When You're Expecting, 5th edition, Heidi Murkoff.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Best Healthy Pregnancy Snacks to Satisfy Your Cravings, June 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com,The Quad Screen, October 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Preeclampsia: Symptoms, Risk Factors and Treatment, May 2021.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Amniocentesis, November 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, How Big Is My Baby? How to Measure Fundal Height and Fetus Size, May 2020.
  • Johns Hopkins Medicine, The Second Trimester, 2021.
  • American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Prenatal Genetic Diagnostic Tests, October 2020.
  • American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Low-Dose Aspirin Utilize During Pregnancy, July 2018.
  • American Higher of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Preeclampsia and High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy,Dec 2020.
  • National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, Periodontitis, February 2020.
  • National Institutes of Wellness, National Library of Medicine, Gingivitis, Feb 2020.
  • American University of Family unit Physicians, Fainting, March 2021.
  • Mayo Clinic, Fundal Meridian, 2021.
  • Mayo Clinic,Quad Screen, November 2020.
  • March of Dimes, Amniocentesis, May 2017.
  • National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine,Nature Neuroscience, Pregnancy Leads to Long-Lasting Changes in Human being Brain Structure, Feb 2017.
  • U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, Low-Dose Aspirin Use for the Prevention of Morbidity and Mortality From Preeclampsia: Preventive Medication, September 2014.
  • National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine,International Periodical of Pediatrics, Prenatal Mouth Movements: Can We Identify Co-Ordinated Fetal Oral fissure and LIP Actions Necessary for Feeding? July 2012.
  • National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine,PLOS One, Periodontal Disease and Risk of Preeclampsia: A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies, August 2013.
  • American Dental Association, Oral Wellness During Pregnancy, May 2011.
  • Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School, When the Lights Suddenly Go Out, August 2009.

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