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As you enter week 11, your little one is officially a fetus! And the end of your first trimester is approaching, which is often a welcome development, as most folks report that their second trimester is the easiest on them.
How’s Baby?
Congratulations, it’s a fetus! With all of their major body parts, organs, and organ systems in place, Baby has developed past the point of being an embryo, and is now officially called a fetus. Your little one — now just over 1 ½ inches long, about the size of a brussel sprout — is even looking more and more like a grown person every day! If your baby is a female, their ovaries are beginning to develop too. And they’re also growing hair follicles and fingernails. Another exciting development? Baby’s formerly connected fingers and toes are losing their webbing, and they’re using their little hands to explore their face and mouth. Not only is this super cute, it also helps them develop the physical coordination they’ll need once they’re born. This movement is too small for you to be able to feel yet, as is all the hiccuping and moving around your baby may be doing.
What’s new with you?
Are any aggravating symptoms still hanging around? Thankfully, by the end of this week many folks report that their nausea has subsided. If it doesn’t, there is a chance you may have hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), a condition affecting 1% of pregnant folks that causes severe vomiting throughout the pregnancy. If you’re in that 1%, there’s a good chance that your symptoms will peak around now. If you think you might be affected by HG, instead of trying to treat it yourself, be sure that you talk to your healthcare provider. If keeping down fluids and getting nutrition are really difficult for you, your provider might recommend nutrients and fluids by IV.
For folks not dealing with these challenges, week 11 might be when you finally start feeling better as you transition toward your second trimester, which is often much kinder on you. The placenta is becoming increasingly functional and has amped up its hormone production, giving your body a much needed break that will hopefully increase energy levels and minimize mood swings. During the first or second trimester you might also notice the appearance of the linea nigra, a dark but harmless vertical line that runs from your pelvis to your belly button. Just make sure that you apply pregnancy-safe sunscreen to your stomach (and the rest of you!) if you are out in the sun, as sun exposure can make it last longer.
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Reviewed by the Ovia Health Clinical Team
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Sources
- Sir John Dewhurst. Dewhurst’s Textbook of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 8th Edition. Keith Edmonds. John Wiley and Sons Ltd, 2012. Print.
- “Blood volume changes in normal pregnancy.” Clinics in Haematology. 14(3):601-12. Web. October 1985.
- Mayo Clinic Staff. “First trimester pregnancy: what to expect.” Mayo Clinic. February 26, 2020. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/in-depth/pregnancy/art-20047208.
- Mark A Curran, M.D. “Fetal Development.” Perinatology.com. Perinatology.com. March 31, 2019. https://www.perinatology.com/Reference/Fetal%20development.htm#1.
