Pregnancy Week 11
Hopefully, some of your early pregnancy symptoms will be starting to subside now and you may feel less nauseous than before. If you haven’t had any reprieve from morning sickness yet, don’t worry as most women find morning sickness improves by around 13 weeks.
If any of your symptoms are causing you real issues and interfering with your daily life, don’t suffer in silence. Go to see your GP so they can look at ways to help you cope.
Your muscles and ligaments are stretching so you might notice some niggles, aches and pains. This is normal but if you experience any severe pain, seek medical advice.
You may also feel hotter than usual and may feel like you are sweating more or feeling light-headed and dizzy. This is because your body is pumping up to 50% more blood so take it easy and do what you can to rest and stay cool, especially if the weather is warm.
It can be really tempting to “eat for two” during pregnancy but bear in mind your body only really needs around an extra 300-500 extra calories. You might well feel hungrier than usual so don’t deprive yourself but focus on filling up on healthy and nutritious foods.
Remember, if you go mad on snacks and junk food, you’ll end up with extra baby weight you’re probably going to want to shift once your little one arrives. Eat little and often and stay hydrated.
No matter how strict you are though, your body will change – it needs to so it can accommodate your growing baby. Embrace your new shape – your body is busy doing amazing work.
Keep getting plenty of rest – take a nap after work if you need to. And staying active is also really important – yoga is a great way to stretch your muscles, increase your strength and calm your mind.
What is my baby like at 11 weeks?
Although still small, your baby is growing quickly and now measures 40mm or 4cm – around the size of a fig - and weighs about 7g. There’s been a lot going on when it comes to development and your little boy or girl now has tastebuds ready for enjoying their first taste of milk when they are born.
Their hands and feet are no longer webbed and they even have the beginnings of nails on their tiny toes and fingers. Your baby is now moving lots although it will be a while before you can feel their kicks and punches.
At this stage, your little one’s skin is still transparent and their heart is beating very quickly – twice as fast as your own. The placenta is getting ready to take over from the yolk sac in nourishing your baby and taking away their waste. You will experience a spike in hormones when the placenta first takes over so don’t be surprised if you have some weepy, emotional days around this stage.
What else is going on?
You will soon have the opportunity to have a nuchal translucency scan if you choose to. This is often carried out at the same time as the dating ultrasound scan and must be performed between 11 weeks and 4 days and 13 weeks and 6 days.
A screening tool, the nuchal translucency test is an ultrasound scan combined with a blood test. The sonographer will measure the fluid at the back of the baby’s neck and this measurement, combined with your age, weight and height, will be used to tell you the potential likelihood of having a baby with Down’s Syndrome and some other congenital conditions.
If your result comes back as high risk, you will be given more information and offered further testing.
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