13 weeks pregnant
Our guide to your 13th week of pregnancy
Your Baby
Your baby’s own identity is being created. This week the swirls of ridged skin on the fingertips will have formed creating unique fingerprints.
Your baby is now around 7cm long and weighs approximately 28 grams. It looks more like a real human being now, just on a miniature scale. Over the next 10 weeks your baby will grow to around 400 grams and will double in length.
Nutrients are flowing from your body into your baby’s via the placenta, which also acts as lungs, liver and kidneys.
You
Welcome to the second trimester. Morning sickness should now be a thing of the past and you should find it easier to sleep. However, as you start to gain weight sleep will once again elude you, so make the most of now.
You will feel hungrier than normal in this trimester, as your baby requires more food to pack on some valuable fat and muscle.
Now that you are not feeling so sick and dizzy, get into a regular exercise regime and work on developing your pelvic flood muscles; these will come in mighty handy when you’re giving birth.
Food and calorie intake
Although you are now eating for two, you only need an extra 300 or so calories a day at this stage to support dual life. Use this extra 300 calories wisely. Spread it throughout the day in the form of healthy snacks to keep your energy levels up.
Fruit, especially bananas, which are rich in magnesium, kiwis and oranges, which are packed full of vitamin C and blueberries, which are stuffed with antioxidants are all perfect for boosting foetal development. Blend them with some milk to make a filling smoothie that will deliver extra calcium to your little one too.
Don’t get too obsessive over calories, though bear in mind you shouldn’t go crazy. It you are hungry, eat, but try and keep to healthy choices, if not for your benefit, for your baby’s. If you aren’t too keen on vegetables, make soups. Not only is this a more filling and satisfying way to consume your recommended daily allowance, you can freeze and reheat the soup and use it over the course of week. Less time cooking means more time relaxing.
Don’t leave out protein. Your baby needs it to build muscles, tendons and ligaments. You should have three small servings of protein a day so snack on nuts, the smoothies mentioned above and lean meat and eggs. Fish is OK, but don’t overdo it. Get the latest advice from your doctor about which fish products are safe to eat.
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