Your baby this week
16 weeks pregnant

Massive mood swings

A little bit moody lately? Don't take offense -- mood swings are completely normal, and, like PMS, are largely due to the massive amounts of hormones coursing through your body. 


What you can do: Keep your emotions in check, and do what you must to avoid sticky interpersonal situations. Nine o’clock at night is not a good time to fight with your significant other, your mother, your partner's mother, or anyone else.

Also remember: You do not always have to answer a ringing phone. That's why we have answering machines, voice mail, and caller ID. Screen your calls, and avoid the people who are most likely to upset you. If one of those people happens to live in your house because you are married to him, stop the argument before it starts. Simply say, "We are not going to discuss this now. Let's wait until tomorrow."


  PS: You're beautiful, wonderful, and will be bringing an amazing new person into the world.

Staying fit throughout your pregnancy has many advantages. First of all, you'll feel better. The endorphins that your body produces during exercise make you feel happy. Regular exercise will give you energy during the day and help you sleep better at night. Further, when you exercise, you regain a sense of control over your expanding body, which is a huge psychological boost. (And if you want to know if you can still work out at the gym during pregnancy, read what our fitness instructor has to say in this expert answer.)

Ultrasound ultrabeauty

"I was watching it all on the screen, nodding, even though it was all just underwater photography, all quite ethereal and murky... I pretended to be able to distinguish each section of the baby because I didn't want the doctor to think I was a lousy mother who was already judging the kid for not being photogenically distinct enough. He pointed out the vertebrae, a sweet curved strand of pearls, and then the heart, beating as visibly as a pulsar, and that was when I started to cry." - Anne Lamott, in her book Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year

Added padding

It's tough for some women to come to terms with putting on extra pounds during pregnancy. Sometimes explaining that weight gain to your partner is even harder! Read what some moms-to-be halfway through their pregnancies had to say... right here!

In the know

There are more than eight live births every minute of the day in the United States. In 2007 alone, there were an estimated 4,317,119 babies born --the highest number of births ever registered for the United States. Using that year as a benchmark, that means more than 11,800 new people in our country each day!

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