Pregnancy

Thirteenth week of pregnancy

With the 13th week you are about to enter the second trimester of pregnancy, considered the most beautiful of pregnancy! The nausea starts to go away and you should start to regain the energy you’ve been missing for a while. 

Weight and length at 13 weeks

Month 3rd month
Gestational age from 12+0 to 12+6
Length of the fetus (*) 5.4cm
Weight gain (**) +2kg
Moms group September 2023

How many months is 13 weeks pregnant?

At the thirteenth week you are at the end of the third month of gestation. To know the exact correspondence between months and weeks of pregnancy you can use our conversion table .

How your body changes

Tense ligaments

In this period you will finally start to feel pregnant: in fact, the uterus continues to get bigger and makes your belly more and more evident. If you feel a slight pain in your abdomen when you suddenly stand up or when you change position, don’t worry: it’s the  ligaments  that are stretching to accommodate the uterine growth. To relieve this symptom, take a  warm bath  or a gentle massage . In any case, continue to listen to the signals sent by your body and don’t forget to give yourself the right rest.

The magic of the second quarter

As you enter the second trimester of pregnancy, symptoms such as  nausea and tiredness should disappear. As a result, as if by magic, you may suddenly find yourself filled with new energy . On the other hand, you may still suffer from heartburn , constipation , or other intestinal problems. All within the norm: these are typical side effects due to the increase in progesterone. However, if severe cramping and vomiting occur alongside the discomfort , contact your gynecologist immediately or go to the emergency room .

Shall we announce?

If you haven’t yet shared the good news with your friends and family, now  might be the right time to do so . This is also the period in which many mothers-to-be decide to  notify their employer of their pregnancy .

Once the announcement has been made, family, friends and colleagues will be able to participate in the sweet expectation , offering you their support and helping you to live more serenely in the months that follow. However, be prepared to also deal with some intrusiveness and a good deal of unsolicited advice . To face them, arm yourself with patience and make use of all your irony and de-dramatization skills!

How the child grows

It is about 5.4 centimeters long , about the size of a peach , and weighs about 25 grams . 

More and more perfect

Your little one now looks like a  fully formed baby , but is not yet able to survive out of the womb because its organs are still developing and perfecting.

In the intestine , the villi are appearing , which will increase the surface area available for the absorption of nutrients, while the liver has begun to manufacture bile and has replaced the yolk sac in the production of blood cells , waiting for the spleen and bone marrow.

Even if the genitalia are fully formed and visible, confirmation of sex will likely only come with morphological ultrasound , which is typically done around 20 weeks .

New discoveries!

Your baby’s neck is well developed and can support the movements of the head , which now represents a third of the entire length Internally, the vocal cords are developing  , but will only begin to function after birth, and fingerprints are forming on the  fingers .

Meanwhile, your little one begins to explore and discover the world around him: even if the ears are not yet fully formed, he can already hear some sounds that reach him through the womb. Also, he’s getting ready for his first feed: he’s started tasting and swallowing the amniotic fluid and during the ultrasound you could see him sucking his thumb! 

Do you know that…

If you are expecting a girl right now, her ovaries contain around 7 million primary oocytes , which will number 1-2 million at birth and decrease to around 300,000-500,000 at puberty .

For the dad

Have you and the expectant mother already decided where to deliver your baby? Start by finding out together about the birth centers in your area. By enrolling in the birth support course offered by the chosen structure, you will be able to learn more about its philosophy and visit the delivery rooms.

Checks and exams to do

  • First ultrasound

The first trimester ultrasound , also called a date ultrasound, is the first of three recommended ultrasounds during pregnancy and should be done by 14 weeks . During this exam, you will know if your pregnancy is single or twins and you will be able to  hear your baby’s heartbeat and see his or her heart. In addition, an ultrasound dating will be done to establish the time of conception and the expected date of delivery .

  • Nuchal translucency

These days it is possible to perform obstetric ultrasound for the study of nuchal translucency. This non-invasive test is performed only between weeks 11+0 and 13+6 and allows us to calculate the probability that the fetus has certain chromosomal abnormalities . For greater precision of the result, it is usually combined with the Bi-Test in the so-called combined test .

Click here to see the tests you can take for free within the 14th week of gestation.

Advice from the 13th week of pregnancy

  • The time has come to book the morphological ultrasound , which is generally performed between weeks 19+0 and 21+0 . This test is used to check for any abnormalities and malformations of the fetus and, in most cases, allows the baby’s sex to be established with certainty .
  • Enlargement of the uterus and weight gain during pregnancy can cause stretch marks to appear on the abdomen, breasts, buttocks or hips. To prevent them, moisturize your skin with sweet almond oil or specific creams , especially after a bath or shower.
  • In case of  heartburn , try to avoid fried foods and foods that are too fatty , and reduce the consumption of caffeine . After eating, wait at least two hours before going to bed and try to sleep with an extra pillow under your head.
  • During pregnancy it is always advisable to avoid alcohol and medicines (even over the counter, if not prescribed by a doctor ): these substances, in fact, are able to cross the placental barrier and reach the baby, who is not yet pregnant. able to metabolize them.

To know more

Dr Kathryn Barlow

Kathryn Barlow is an OB/GYN doctor, which is the medical specialty that deals with the care of women's reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth.

Obstetricians provide care to women during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, while gynecologists focus on the health of the female reproductive system, including the ovaries, uterus, vagina, and breasts. OB/GYN doctors are trained to provide medical and surgical care for a wide range of conditions related to women's reproductive health.

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