Normal 18 week baby ultrasound.

 

At 18 weeks pregnant you’re busy taking care of yourself to help baby grow! You still have a couple of weeks until you reach the midpoint of your pregnancy, when you’ll likely have your next big doctor appointment. Since is very possible that you’ll have an ultrasound done, this post is going to give you important information about a normal 18 week baby ultrasound, you are going to find ultrasound images and everything you need to know about your 18 week pregnancy in this post, so let’s begin…

How Big Is a Baby at 18 Weeks Pregnant?

At 18 weeks pregnant, the baby is as big as a Sweet potato. The average 18 week fetus weighs 6.7 ounces and measures 12.1 to 13 cm long.

Your 18 Weeks Pregnant Symptoms.

Backaches: Baby’s putting a lot of pressure on your inside, causing aches and pains in your back.

Varicose veins: These visible purple or blue veins are swollen due to all that extra pressure on your circulatory system. To deal with them, change positions often, prop your legs up when you can, get plenty of exercise, and avoid tight clothes and shoes.

Trouble sleeping: You might find yourself heavier, and anxious, this can make things complicated for you to fall and stay sleeping for a longer time.

Leg cramps: Cramps can be a sign of dehydration, so you know what to do, drink plenty of water.

Fetal movements: Most women feel the first movement on average between week 18 to week 22, however, variations might occur. The position of the placenta can play a role in this: If it’s an anterior placenta, it can muffle the movements and make the wait for those kicks weeks longer.

Leg and ankle edema: During pregnancy, edema occurs when body fluids increase to nurture both you and your baby and accumulate in your tissues as a result of increased blood flow and pressure of your growing uterus on the pelvic veins and your vena cava (the large vein on the right side of your body that returns blood from your lower limbs to the heart). Swollen ankles and feet are more common, however, this can also happen in your hands. You might also spot more swelling in your feet due to faster weight gain.

Keep in mind that other symptoms like Bleeding gums, bloating, gas and Stretch marks might be present as well.

Weight gain at 18 weeks pregnant is recommended to be about 1 to 2 pounds per week for women of average BMI, whether you’re having one baby or you’re 18 weeks pregnant with twins. Let your doctor know if you have any concerns with your weight gain so far. Drastic or sudden weight gain or weight loss could be signs of a problem.

 

Fetal development at 18 weeks.

• Tiny Fingerprints: Your little one has developed unique fingerprints on those little fingertips and toes, isn’t that adorable?
• Nerve Protection: Myelin, protective insulation, is starting to form around baby’s nerves. This covering continues to grow until your baby’s first birthday.
• Girl and Boy Parts Defined: Having a girl? The fallopian tubes and uterus are now in proper position. A boy? Genitals may be visible on this ultrasound.
• Can you believe that your 18 week baby is yawning, hiccupping, sucking, and swallowing already? He or she is twisting, rolling, punching, and kicking as well, and is big enough that you might be able to feel him or her doing all of that.
• Eyelids, eyebrows, eyelashes, nails, and hair are formed. Teeth and bones become denser.
• Baby’s face and head are taking shape. The facial features and ears are moving into place.

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Good Tips for You This Week.

• With pregnancy often comes low blood pressure. To help stave off dizziness, always move from a lying or sitting position to standing slowly.
• Weight gain at 18 weeks pregnant is recommended to be about 1 to 2 pounds per week for women of normal BMI.
• Starting around 18 weeks pregnant, you should begin to sleep on your side instead of your back. That’s because baby and your pregnant uterus is getting big enough to press against large blood vessels in the back of your abdomen adjacent to your spine, which can reduce the amount of blood going to your heart, making you feel lightheaded or worse, lowering your blood pressure. Sounds scary, but it’s totally preventable by simply sleeping on your side.

Remember around this time you should be having your Anatomy scan, I already talk in detail about that Ultrasound on my previous post, I will link it down below, on this ultrasound many things are done, if by any chance your Anatomy scan was suboptimal or limited at week 17, meaning that some of the structures or organs were not seen properly, your doctor will send you back to have a second scan with the same purpose to check in detail your baby’s development.

The measurements taken at your 18 week baby ultrasound are as follow:

• Biparietal Diameter( BPD )
• Head circumference( HC )
• Abdominal circumference( AC )
• Femur length( FL )

Measurements on the Amniotic Fluid are also done.

Checking out Placenta LOCATION is also crucial on this scan, Anterior or Posterior Placenta is fine as long as the placenta isn’t Previa ( covering cervical canal ).

In this ultrasound we also check the 4 chambers of the heart and the position of the great vessels ( Aorta and IVC ), we check the stomach, urinary bladder, kidneys, diaphragm, and Spine.

Related posts you might enjoy:

Normal 17 week baby Ultrasound.

Pregnancy symptoms for the second trimester.

Here is a summary about the Anatomy scan and what are the things we check:

• Fetal position. ( vertex, breech etc.)
• Heartbeat. (average 120 to 160 bpm)
• Amniotic fluid index. ( normal levels from 8 cm to 22 cm )
• Placenta location ( Anterior, Posterior, make sure is not previa )
• Fetal Biometry. ( measurements of BPD, HC, AC, and FL )
• All fetal major organs. ( heart chambers, great vessels, stomach, kidneys, spine, and bladder)
• Fetal limbs. ( hands and feet)
• Intracranial Structures and measurements.
• Fetal gender confirmation.

Remember all this information applies to you as well if you are expecting TWINS.

Normal 18 week baby ultrasound images.

Final thoughts about Normal 18 week baby ultrasound.

This is the most important information about your 18 week baby ultrasound. Thanks for staying with me until the end, I hope this post was helpful to you, on my next post I will be talking about 19 week ultrasound, thanks for visiting my blog today, don’t go without checking my other categories for mom/women health and parenting.

Zadi. xo

Disclaimer: Due to HIPPA compliance and regulations all patient information is protected on this site. Also, the information provided on my blog is designed to provide helpful information about the topic and are made with the best of my knowledge, therefore, is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition, For diagnosis or treatments on any medical problems consult your own physician. The author is not responsible or liable for any mistreated pathologies or wrong treatments.