11 weeks pregnant
Our guide to your 11th week of pregnancy
Your Baby
Hands, feet complete with fingers and toes, your baby has been busy. Although your baby cannot yet hear, its ears are in place. Its neck has lengthened and its newfound agility combined with plenty of space in the amniotic sac mean it is starting to move around much more frequently. However, it is still another couple of months before you’ll feel the first kicks and hiccups.
Your baby’s skeleton, although at this stage still made from cartilage, has now completely formed. Its taste buds are developing and its features are almost fully formed.
The developmental part of pregnancy is pretty much complete. The next stage, beginning in the second trimester, or week 13, is when your baby will start to put some fat on its bones and toughen up for life outside the womb.
You
You are now starting to put on weight. It’s not much, but you will notice it and your clothes may begin to feel a little tight. You have a long way to go however, as you have only upped your weight by around 10% of your final pregnancy weight so far.
However, you are probably feeling less nauseous and even less tired. Reduced pressure on your bladder as your uterus moves upwards towards the abdomen usually means you are less prone to peeing every five minutes, although digestive problems could still be an issue.
Your body is now getting used to the idea of being pregnant and you may feel like this is the first time you have actually been able to completely relax in a long time.
Where to give birth?
The hospital isn’t the only place you can give birth. You can choose to have your baby elsewhere, either at home or in a birthing centre. There are advantages and disadvantages to each and it’s worth discussing your options with your midwife and partner at an early stage as things tend to get booked up months in advance.
The main advantages of a hospital birth are the facilities. You will have a variety of specialists at your disposal and plenty of pain relief treatments to choose from. You will have to share a ward with other new mums and it can be quite daunting when lots of family members come to visit, but you could end up making new friends.
A home birth is more personal and private and there is not a large team of professionals all fussing over you, just you, your partner and usually two midwives. You are already in the comfort of your own home so you don’t need to ‘bring your baby home’ afterwards. However, if complications arise you will still have to go to hospital and this can be rather traumatic. Pain relief is also limited.
A birthing centre is a ‘halfway house’, which feels like a home away from home. There is little intervention in the birth and not much in the way of pain relief, but you do have everyone you need on hand if something unexpected happens.
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