Your Pregnancy Week-by-Week - 11 Weeks Pregnant

Your baby has been very busy developing this week, slightly more than 11⁄2 inches long now and weighing about a quarter of an ounce. Although you can't say what the sex of the kid would be yet, whether it's a child, the ovaries are growing.

And by the 11th week of birth, the human features of the infant are distinct: the hands and feet in front of the neck, the ears almost in their final form, the open nasal passages at the tip of the tiny nose, the tongue and palate in the mouth, the clear nipples.

Not only on the crown but the rest of the body, hair follicles develop. What else makes you look human to your baby? Those hands and feet have individual digits and toes, saying farewell to those hands and feet that are webbed like frogs.

Meanwhile, this week, fingernail and toenail beds are beginning to develop; the nails themselves will start to expand in the next few weeks, so don't forget to add a baby nail clipper to your to-buy list.

If you're breastfeeding for 11 weeks, you're pregnant in month 3. There are only 6 months left to go!

Meanwhile, the body of your infant is straightening and lengthening its torso-sounds like a yoga posture, doesn't it? Your kid will assume other poses now: stretches, somersaults and forward rolls.

Tummy grumbling?

 

 These days, you may be feeling a little hungrier, and that's fine. It's a sign that your morning sickness is easing and that your appetite is getting ready to better fuel your body... and your baby.

 

 But don't go overboard just because there are two of you eating. In pregnancy, aim to gain weight successfully by eating the most healthy foods and eliminating the junk.

 

 Your lower belly is only beginning to protrude a little at 11 weeks pregnant, but you still also look less like you're pregnant and more like you've had a few doughnuts.

 

 

Even if your tummy is still smooth as a sheet, all women start revealing at various times and, as you'll find out, all show differently, you're probably finding that without a fight, your jeans don't button.

 

 Blame the progesterone pregnancy hormone on the close squeeze. Although progesterone does a bang-up job of sustaining a stable pregnancy, bloating, burping and passing gas are some of the less than glamorous by-products of all the good it does.

 

 That's how progesterone relaxes the body's smooth muscle tissue, like the gastrointestinal tract, delaying digestion to allow enough time for the food nutrients to be ingested into the bloodstream and transmitted to your baby.

 

 But what's right for your baby isn't necessarily good for you. The awkward fullness that you feel in your abdomen can only get worse for some women, especially after eating. It will congest the stomach and bowels as the uterus expands, placing more pressure on the digestive system and leading you to feel ever more bloated.

 

 Here's some consolation: Your baby is not going to feel your pain. Bubs is simply immune to all your digestive pain and might even be soothed by your gastric symphony's gurgling. Instead of gorging and keeping clear of infamous gas manufacturers, such as rice, fried meats, and candy, reduce bloating by eating healthy and by grazing.

 

 

Reducing fatigue during pregnancy

 

 Are sitting and lying down, your two favourite positions these days? Pregnancy exhaustion is common. You're running a baby-making factory that is in operation 24/7, after all, and you're on the job around the clock because you're the only employee. Which makes it more difficult for your pregnant body to function at rest than your non-pregnant body did on the track.

 

 And for the next few months, the placenta, the magnificently intricate mission control that will act as the life-support device of your infant before birth, is not the only thing in development for a baby. Outcome? Even when you are not doing a damn thing, you feel drained and overworked.

 

 When the placenta is up and going, the stamina can catch up and your physiology responds to the physiological shifts of pregnancy as best as it can, perhaps early in the second trimester. In the meantime, snack on daily treats with complex carbohydrates and protein to keep up the blood-sugar intake. Cheese and crackers or dried fruit and nuts are great for this.