At 13 weeks pregnant your baby is growing rapidly. You are probably starting to show and are sharing your happy news now the first trimester is over and, hopefully, any sickness has passed.
Baby is still only the size of a small peach, weighing around 1 ounce with a length of 3 inches/8cm, but she’ll be looking more human as the proportions of her head to body will be almost normal.
Her nose and lips are formed (and the senses of taste and smell are further refined) and her vocal cords and teeth will be forming. Her ears are now developed to such a stage that she may be able to hear your voice and she’ll be having bouts of hiccups which help exercise and strengthen her diaphragm.
An important development at 13 weeks pregnant is that your baby’s bone marrow is busy making the white blood cells needed for fighting infection after birth. Also her organs are forming in order to make the hormones necessary for ongoing development, and her intestines are now moving to your baby’s tummy from the umbilical cord.
18 weeks pregnant
At 18 weeks pregnant you are well into your second trimester and your baby is now about 6 inches/15cm long and weighs around 7oz/200g.
She still has plenty of room to manoeuvre in your uterus and you may feel her rolling, twisting and kicking around in there.
Your baby’s blood vessels are still quite visible beneath her paper-thin skin, the retinas in her eyes will have become more sensitive to light and her ears will now be in position on the sides of her head and, incredibly, her brain can now start to process the sounds that the ears are sending to it.
Baby’s nerves are developing a protective covering of myelin which will continue for up to twelve months after birth.
At around 18 weeks pregnant you will probably have your second ultrasound scan when your doctor will check for any birth defects whilst keeping an eye on the condition of the placenta and umbilical cord.
Baby’s genitals are now formed and in place, but if it’s a boy these may not be visible on the scan so it’s still early to tell for sure.
You may however, clearly see your baby sucking its thumb.
At 18 weeks pregnant your appetite may have increased so continue to watch what you eat, selecting food in nutrients to help baby develop properly.
During this second trimester your blood pressure will have lowered so don’t leap up too quickly because you may become dizzy as your reduced blood pressure tries to send more blood to your head.