The Gift of Life

How your baby’s growing:
Head to bottom, your baby’s 3 1/2 inches long — about the length of a lemon — and weighs about 1 1/2 ounces. Her body’s growing faster than her head, which now sits upon a more well-defined neck. By the end of this week, her arms will have lengthened and will be in proportion to the rest of her body. (Her legs still have some growing to do, though.) She’s starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair all over her body (called lanugo). Her liver starts secreting bile this week, a sign that it’s already functioning properly, and her spleen starts contributing to the production of red blood cells. She’s also producing and discharging urine into the amniotic fluid, a normal process that she’ll keep up until birth. You still can’t feel your baby’s movements, but her hands and feet (which are now half an inch long) are more flexible and active. Thanks to brain impulses, her little facial muscles are getting a workout as she squints, frowns, and grimaces. She can grasp now, too, and she may be able to suck her thumb.

How your life’s changing:
As early discomforts (nausea, fatigue, breast tenderness) begin to fade, you may start to regain some energy and feel more comfortable with how your body’s changing. (Although the top of your uterus is only a bit above your pelvic bone, that growth may be enough to push your tummy out a bit.) Starting to show is an exciting pregnancy milestone and it will likely give you and your partner the visible evidence of a baby that you’ve been waiting for. Take some time to plan, daydream, and enjoy this amazing time. It’s normal to worry a bit now and then, but you can also breathe a little sigh of relief knowing that with the start of this trimester your risk of miscarriage has dropped significantly. Now try to focus on taking care of yourself and your baby and having faith that you’re well equipped for what’s ahead.

Source: BabyCenter

The little bump is now beginning to be more obvious. Recent pictures prove it. I’ve been getting headaches almost everyday, especially if I don’t get enough sleep at night. The nausea has decreased but I am constantly hungry! It’s something that I need to adjust to (i.e., snacking more frequently) because it has never been a practice of mine to take in-between meals when I wasn’t pregnant. We’re going back to our GP on Thursday for another prenatal checkup. Their clinic did not ring us up since I had my blood tested last week so I suppose all is fine. More updates to come after our check-up.

Yes, that is our baby’s profile on our very first ultrasound. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to record any of the scans or the actual experience by the diagnostic clinic. We do have the plates though of all the scans taken of the baby on an xray film.

Everything is much real to us now. The ultrasound has given us a way to finally connect to our little angel as we saw it move and squirm under the pressure of the ultrasound head with its tiny heart beating normally. We saw also four limbs moving actively, the spine and our baby’s little mouth (doing a little swallow). I cannot quite explain the feeling. It is just sooo overwhelming!

J now feels its going to be a girl for us. I have felt that way though from the very beginning. The technician tells us that the baby is ok and have found no abnormalities. Thank God!

AT 13 WEEKS

How your baby’s growing:
Your belly may soon be big enough to announce to the world that you’re expecting, but your baby is still tiny. In fact, he’s only about 3 inches long crown to rump — roughly the size of a jumbo shrimp — and weighs just about an ounce. Despite the small proportions, there’s a fully formed baby inside your womb now. Much more proportional than it was a few weeks ago, his head is now only about a third the size of his body. His tiny, unique fingerprints are already in place. His kidneys and urinary tract are functional, and he’s starting to urinate out the amniotic fluid he’s been swallowing. As you start your second trimester, most of your baby’s critical development will be completed, and your odds of miscarriage will drop considerably.

How your life’s changing:
Time to celebrate! This is the last week of your first trimester. Next week you’ll be in your second trimester. That’s great news for two reasons: One, your risk of miscarriage drops dramatically, and two, many women see early pregnancy symptoms, such as morning sickness, subside. (In some cases, though, heartburn replaces the nausea.) Birth is still months away, but your breasts may have already started making colostrum, the nutrient-rich fluid that feeds your baby for the first few days after birth, before your milk starts to flow. Many couples also notice a distinct libido lift in the second trimester as nausea abates and energy returns.

Source: BabyCenter

How your baby’s growing:
Your baby’s hit the 2-inch mark (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce. Her face is beginning to look more human. Her eyes, which started out on the sides of her head, have moved closer together on her face, and her ears are near their final positions on the sides of her head. Your baby’s intestines, which have grown so rapidly that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into her abdominal cavity about now. Her kidneys are secreting urine into her bladder. Her nerve cells have been multiplying rapidly, and synapses (neurological pathways in the brain) are forming. Your baby may have acquired more reflexes by now, including sucking, and she’ll even squirm if you prod your abdomen, though you still won’t be able to feel her movement for several weeks.

How your life’s changing:
Your uterus is rising above your pelvic bones, and your practitioner can now feel the top of it (the fundus) low in your abdomen. Though you probably won’t need maternity clothes for several more weeks yet, you’ve no doubt noticed that your waist is thickening and that you’re more comfortable in looser, less restrictive clothing.

You may also start getting heartburn (also called acid indigestion), a burning sensation that often extends from the bottom of your breastbone to your lower throat. It’s caused by both hormonal and physical changes in your body — and can take the pleasure out of eating a meal or sleeping. Eating small meals and avoiding foods that make the problem worse, such as fried, spicy, or fatty foods, can help.

Source: BabyCenter

Yay! This marks my third month already. I have survived all those terrible digestive symptoms. I say this because I am able to eat more and finish my meals in a shorter time. I still have episodes of gas in my stomach but they are not as bad as before. Here’s hoping to a more enjoyable pregnancy in the days to come.

I think I may be starting to crave now for specific food items. Recently, I find myself daydreaming of Filipino desserts like kutsinta and suman (budbod kabog especially from our town of Bogo in Cebu). I wish somebody here can whip me up a batch of those freshly cooked treats. *sigh*

How your baby’s growing:
Your fig-sized baby is now fully formed — measuring 1 1/2 inches long and weighing in at a quarter of an ounce. His skin is still transparent, allowing many of his blood vessels to show through. Some of his bones are beginning to harden, and tiny toothbuds are starting to appear under his gums. His fingers and toes have separated, and he may soon be able to open and close his fists. He’s already busy kicking and stretching, and his tiny movements are so fluid they look like water ballet. These movements will increase as his body grows and becomes more developed and functional. As his diaphragm develops, your tiny tenant may also start to get the hiccups. Because he’s still so small, though, you won’t feel any of his workouts or intrauterine gulps until sometime between weeks 16 and 20.

How your life’s changing:
At this point, you may be experiencing some strange symptoms, such as excessive saliva. Learn which of your symptoms are normal and which are a sign that something might be wrong. You’re probably also wondering things like, Can I keep going to dance class? Could the air bags in my car hurt my baby? Which cold medications are safe to take now? Find out what’s safe and what’s not during pregnancy.

Don’t worry if nausea has made it impossible for you to eat a wide variety of healthy foods or if you haven’t put on much weight yet (most women gain between 2 and 5 pounds during the first trimester). Your appetite will likely return soon and you’ll start to gain about a pound a week.

Source: BabyCenter

It was a rough eleventh week for me. I vomitted twice in a span of three days, which has not really helped me at all in taking in more food. I hope the nausea goes away soon.