When you are 18 weeks pregnant, you are in the middle of the second trimester. At this time, your friends and family will tell you how good you look and that being pregnant suits you. This is because pregnant women at this stage seem to have a glow about them. The morning sickness has passed for most women by now and they are able to enjoy being pregnant concentrating on the coming birth of the baby. You are your partner can also renew your relationship because you are not as emotional over little things as you were only a few weeks ago.

When you are 18 weeks into your pregnancy, you will have many feelings of movement in the womb. These are called quickenings at this stage and feel like bubbly movements inside your body. The baby is starting to move about and the feelings come from the movement this causes in the amniotic fluid almost like waves. It is advisable to get exercise more often to strengthen your muscles for the job they will have to do. While strenuous exercise is out of the question, you should take longer walls when the weather is suitable.

You will start to have more gas pains and indigestion at this point because of the growing baby. At first you may even think that the babys movements are the rumblings of gas into your stomach. You may feel hungry most of the time because the baby needs lots of nourishment for its growth and development. The hunger pangs may be more frequent if you have missed out on all your favourite foods during morning sickness and you may also have unusual cravings. Foods that are high in carbs are important to give both you and the baby the energy you need.

To ease your hunger pangs, you should have a supply of nutritious snacks on hand, such as nuts, crackers and cereal bars. In this way, you will be sure your body is getting the nutrients the baby needs instead of loading up of junk food that has no nutritional value. These are small and easy to fit in your purse so that you always have something to eat close at hand.

At this point you and the father can start talking and reading to the baby so that he/she will start to recognize your voices.  The ears are formed perfectly in place and are fully functional so the baby can hear you. The babys bones start to ossify or harden at this time. They are also coated in myelin so that sensation to the nerve endings will travel quickly to the brain. The nerves throughout the body are starting to develop into the complex nervous system that will be evident by the time the baby is born. The baby also has a sense of smell, taste and sight at 18 weeks. It weighs between five and seven ounces and is a little more than 5 inches long.  From now on though, the babys growth will develop at a much faster pace.