13 Weeks!!

I am in my second trimester!

Woohoo!! I am so glad to be in my second trimester!!

I have gone a day and a half without a serious headache! I am thrilled. I am not even dreaming that the headaches are leaving for good, but I am certainly glad that I can now get some manageable headache time. I can handle morning sickness if I don't have to deal with these headaches.

You are 13 weeks pregnant.

This is the first week of your second trimester and your baby weighs 14 to 20 grams. The crown-to-rump length of your growing baby is 2.6 to 3.1 inches. Your baby is now about the size of a peach. Fetal growth is amazing from now through about the 24th week of pregnancy.

At this point of your pregnancy, there is a steady flow of pregnancy hormones in your bloodstream. Your body will adjust to the changes and morning sickness might stop and other early symptoms will begin to ease. Because you are in the second trimester, feelings of anxiety or nervousness may also diminish. You have probably gained some weight by now. You are losing your waist and your clothing is probably fitting snugly.

There is a milky membrane that surrounds your baby. It is pierced by the umbilical cord and is made up of two layers, which are fused together. Your placenta provides most of the nutrients and oxygen that your baby needs. By this week, the placenta is well formed and ready to take over hormone manufacture from your ovaries. The placenta will produce progesterone and estriol. These hormones will be crucial in the maintenance of your pregnancy. Tissue that will form your baby's bones is being laid down, especially around the head and limbs. The nose and chin are becoming more prominent. Your baby's eyelids meet and fuse together and they will not open again for nearly four months. The eyes started out on the side of your baby's head and they are now moving closer together on the face. The ears come to lie in their normal position on the sides of the head. If examined outside of the womb, you will be able to distinguish male from female at this time.

The sockets for all twenty teeth are formed in the gums, and vocal cords are beginning to form.