Thirteenth week of Pregnancy
Development of the baby
By now, the baby weighs about 0.7 ounces and its length is between 2 ½ to 3 inches. The fetus looks more and more like a well formed tiny baby by the end of this week. The body now starts to grow in proportion to the head. The eyes get closer to their positions as compared to the previous week. The tiny pancreas of your baby start to produce insulin that would regulate sugar levels in the years to come. The bones are no longer soft or flexible as they get harder by the week. Very fine whiskers begin to appear on the eyebrows and the upper-lips area. The baby makes movements such as crawling and climbing while in the stomach. The fetus is still tiny and has sufficient amount of space to move around.
The placenta is completely functional and helps supply minerals, oxygen, fats, proteins and vitamins. Waste material and CO2 also get removed by the placenta as they get filtered using placental tissues. The blood vessels of both the mother and the fetus are extremely close yet separate. The placenta’s size is larger than the baby’s. Whatever the mother consumes gets transferred from her blood stream to the baby’s blood stream. It could include drugs or medications, nicotine, caffeine, alcohol and also viruses; all these have an effect on the development and growth of the baby. First bowl motion known as meconium is passed during this stage; it is tar like and blackish green in color.
Changes in a mother’s body
Your waistline now starts to expand as the uterus now moves upwards taking pressure away from your bladder. You may experience some pain or discomfort in the abdomen region as your uterus continues to grow. The ligaments around your uterus begin to stretch which results in an acute yet brief pain in the abdomen accompanied by a dull ache on the lower abdomen. This is also called as round ligament pain. This could happen if you stand up quickly or while changing positions.
What to expect
Stretch marks begin to show on your breasts, hips, abdomen and buttocks. You can reduce the chances of having stretch marks by taking a healthy diet and exercising so that you put on weight slowly and gradually. For many women, morning sickness starts to vanish completely however you may still have some heartburn in the middle of your chest. You could have antacids prescribed by your doctor in order to avoid heartburn and also consume more of yoghurt and mix some honey in glass of warm milk. As the amniotic fluid protects the baby, sex is not considered to be harmful during pregnancy. You should however avoid sex if you have previously had a premature delivery, had a miscarriage or have an incompetent cervix or if your partner has a disease, if your water breaks and if there is vaginal bleeding.