Approved by the What’s Up Moms Medical Advisory Board
Baby is 2 inches long — like a large, juicy prune but a hundred times cuter — and weighs a whopping 1/2 ounce. She’s moving on her own now but you can’t yet feel these movements (that’ll happen closer to 16 – 25 weeks and is its own deliciousness to look forward to). Baby’s reflexes are now intact so if you poke your belly, you’ll be able to see on an ultrasound her movement in response. How awesome is that? Your first “conversation.”
Meanwhile, as you begin to close out the 1st trimester (so long, and good riddance!) hormones are calming down a bit which means a shift in symptoms. You may notice headaches due to low blood sugar, hormonal shifts or dehydration. You might notice vaginal discharge — clear and odorless — which you probably had before pregnancy, too, but in such small amounts you didn’t notice; now it’s increased to protect the vagina from infection, so if you start toting around an extra pair of underwear in your purse we promise we won’t laugh at you. Heartburn (AKA acid reflux) can start up as progesterone relaxes the valve that separates the esophagus from the stomach, allowing gastric acid to seep back up and cause you to feel like you’re having a massive heart attack. Keep it in check by eating small amounts s-l-o-w-l-y, eliminating your trigger foods (coffee, spicy stuff and fried foods are common), and not eating too close to bedtime.
And, a most exciting new development: Your bump may now be… a real bump! Visible to the naked eye! If not yet, then soon. Your doc can now feel the top of your uterus (the fundus) in an exam, though it’s still sitting pretty low on your abdomen. Beginning around 20 weeks, the doc will start measuring the “fundal height” – the distance between the pubic bone and the top of the uterus.
Changes in your body are happening so rapidly, and especially if this is your first pregnancy, you have a ton of questions… and so durn long to wait in between OB appointments! Your favorite pastime will be the world wide web — which can be a rich source of info and even camaraderie — but just make sure to surf responsibly; we all know what it’s like to take an accidental trip to crazytown by sliding down the Google rabbit hole. Like, maybe don’t take medical advice from a random Reddit user just because there’s an MD tacked onto her handle? You know the drill. If something is a true concern, call your doc. Remember, she’s used to taking questions — of all stripes — from soon-to-be parents. So your question will, undoubtedly, be one she’s heard before. However cray it is.
A great resource for pregnancy: ACOG – The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
