Pregnancy Facts - Week 17
Your baby's development in week 17 of pregnancy
The skin on your baby's fingers is a little less smooth this week with the formation of fingerprints. This formation process will continue until about the end of the second trimester. What's amazingly interesting about fingerprints as you know, is that they are unique, no two are alike.
But how do fingerprints become unique?
The patterns that form fingerprints are determined by many factors including genetics, the position of the baby while in the womb, what the fingers touch while moving, and the density of the amniotic fluid. It's these factors that identical twins end up having different fingerprints, despite having the same DNA.
With many of the important things developed already, your baby is now focusing on things like... sweat glands.
The rest of your baby's energy is being diverted into storage as baby fat.
How big is your baby in week 17 of pregnancy
At week 17 of pregnancy, your baby now measures 5.1 inches (13.0 centimeters) and weighs about 4.9 ounces (140 grams).
What's happening in week 17 of pregnancy
In terms of your own bodily development, not much has changed over the last few weeks. Your tummy is still growing, but you knew that. Your skin is naturally elastic and can stretch quite a bit to accommodate. As it stretches though, like a sheet of dough being flattened, it gets thinner and thinner. When this happens, your skin may get itchy and sensitive. If it stretches too fast, small tears in the middle layer of skin may form. To fix these tears, the body quickly grows skin cells but without the elastic fibres. This new skin is a stretch mark. Some get them, some don't. After birth, some stretch marks remain, some fade away like they were never there.
Stretch mark prevention
It's been said that the key to preventing stretch marks is hydration. Always try to stay hydrated by drinking as much water as you can. Not only is this good for your skin, but it's good for your body. It's also a good idea to have a moisturizing ritual daily to helps keep your skin supple. Some swear by stretch mark creams and oils as the solution to not getting them. Others just don't give a damn about and wear them as a proud symbol of motherhood.
To each their own.
