Baby Development
The Week 13 edition:
With its vocal cords being formed, be rest assured to hear some laughter and cries soon! The baby’s head is now growing faster than the rest of its body. The fingerprints are forming on those tiny fingers. The placenta is also growing only to be 1-2 pounds around birth. Your baby is practising breathing. It is the size of a peach, about 7.62 cm from head to toe and weighs 21 grams.
Here is an extensive list of everything your baby has been up to this week:
- The spleen is producing red blood cells.
- The placenta continues to grow.
- Your baby can now swallow the amniotic fluid.
- It is trying to breathe.
- The vocal cords are under development. They should be formed by the end of this week.
- The baby’s eyes are in place, though unmoving and shut.
- Its intestines are not fully developed but in process for the same.
- Small bones are forming in its leg, getting ready to kick you.
Mother
Track your growth at Week 13:
There’s a reason the next couple of months will be easier than the beginning and the last of it. If you’re feeling better, seize it! You’ll be entering your second trimester soon. Vaginal discharge will only increase in time. At this point, you may develop some food cravings and aversions, they are the hormones talking. Eat more iron and calcium-rich foods (but not together! Calcium blocks the absorption of iron). Don’t peel your fruits, you’ll need fiber and lots of fluids in your system to fight constipation! In pregnancy, you need more calories to stay healthy and ensure you have enough resources to have a healthy baby and smoother postpartum recovery. Eat as many colourful foods as you can. Focus on getting proteins, fats, and pink salt in your diet. Start going for regular prenatal visits and tell the world about your pregnancy if you have not already! What are you waiting for?
Here is a list of symptoms you may see this week:
- Your breasts have started producing colostrum.
- You will develop food aversions or you may notice an increase in appetite.
- Some of you may have bleeding and swelling of gums, it is because of more blood flow and the blood vessels expanding in pregnancy. Oil pulling with coconut oil can help!
