Pregnancy Week 11

Your Baby

Over the next four days, fingernails, toenails, and hair follicles will appear (these are all specialized parts of the top layer of skin) and your baby will assume a more upright posture. The average rate of growth until birth is 1.5mm in length per day, but the baby will begin to grow even more rapidly from this point.

Your baby’s head now makes up more than half of its length. By the end of this week, your baby will measure nearly 5cm (2 inches) in length. He or she stands about as high as the short side of a credit card.

By the end of this week, about 3 tablespoons (30 ml) of amniotic fluid bathes your baby. This fluid is renewed by your body every three hours.

The baby’s bones and muscles are growing rapidly. The baby’s developing body begins to attain proportions more like a newborn baby.

You

Your uterus is now about the size of a small grapefruit. Consistent with pigmentation changes during pregnancy, you may notice that your moles, freckles, recent scars, or dark birthmarks are darkening along with your vagina, cervix, and vulva. This is quite predictable and temporary.

You may find your appetite increasing now that some of the nausea and discomfort has stabilized. If food isn’t your friend yet, look for some relief by Week 19.