What happens at 13 weeks pregnant?
Last week the baby was the size of a plum, and is now as large as a peach.
I’ve heard this is when the kid stops developing and starts growing.
The placenta is growing to meet the needs of the growing baby, and you’re probably
going to start suffering more fluid retention, though as the uterus descends front and center,
you’ll be needing to pee less.
I do not think that will happen until after I have the kid.
For a lot of women, it is time to tell family and coworkers because the risk of miscarriage
just went down.
That’s a relief.
The sweet pea is now the size of a pea pod, and looks less like an alien.
The head is now only half of the whole body’s length.
I remember reading that will be only one fourth of the overall length by the time the kid
is born.
It now looks like a big headed baby, with a normal looking body with all the major organs
now.
The baby has developed muscles in the cheeks and might root for a nipple if it feels motion.
I want to know what’s actually going on, not stats.
The intestines have been forming before now but now start to move into the abdomen.
If you were having a girl, she’d have developed ovaries by now.
We do not know the gender yet.
This is about the point that the doctor will suggest the nuchal translucency screening,
if not before.
Actually, they cannot really do it at week 14, you have to be 13 weeks still.
What is that test?
It is a test to assess the risk the kid has down syndrome.
They use ultrasound to measure the clear space in the tissue at the back of the neck, and
babies with down syndrome tend to have more of it.
I had a sonogram, and no one said anything was wrong.
They would have if there was.
On a lighter note, the fingerprints are forming, and the kid has enough reflexes to suck on
the thumb if it accidentally reaches the mouth.
Are the arms and legs all there?
They’ve been mostly cartilage.
The bones are forming in the arms and legs, and the vocal cords are forming.
Those get plenty of usage from day one.
Anything else I should know?
You’re not even eating for 1.1, so you should only do an extra 200 to 300 calories a day.
Up the fluids though, so you do not get constipation.
I just hate how my ankles are swelling up.
That’s fluid retention, and it’ll be an issue for the next few months.
Put your feet up and enjoy the pampering.