Natural Pregnancy Week 13

Welcome to your 13th week of pregnancy!

This week is an exciting milestone for many reasons. Your risk of miscarriage has dropped significantly this week, so if you have been worried about this, you can take a sigh of relief.

This is also the week when many of the uncomfortable symptoms of early pregnancy ease up a bit, including morning sickness.

If you are still experiencing some morning sickness at this point, hang in there, because it's likely to start getting better within the next couple of weeks. If it doesn't, you could have a condition known as Hyperemesis Gravidarum which needs treatment to avoid becoming dangerously malnourished or dehydrated.

You may also notice that some of your energy returns and you are not quite as exhausted as you were during the first trimester. Take advantage of this time to get some things done, as most women experience another lull in energy in the third trimester.

And one more added bonus: you may notice a return or increase in your sex drive! (But don't worry if you don't, that's normal, too.)

Your Baby’s Development

Your baby is approximately 2.9 inches and .81 ounces this week, and about the size of a peach.

Other developments this week:

Vocal chords and teeth are forming
You baby officially has fingerprints!
The intestines are beginning to move from the umbilical cord to their permanent place in the abdomen

If you're having a girl, she may have as many as 2 million eggs in her ovaries already, even though she'll only have about 1 million by the time she is born. This number will continue to decline throughout her lifespan.

How Much to Eat During Pregnancy

Have you already had people make comments to you about how much you are supposed to eat during pregnancy? Maybe they've even said to you, “Remember, you're eating for two!”

So how much do you really need to eat during pregnancy? Is it really that much more?

Well, it's true that you are eating for two, but the second person you are sustaining is still very small. Believe it or not, you only really need to eat about an extra 300 calories a day to sustain you and your growing baby.

Sample 300 Calorie Meals/Snacks:

1 fried egg, 2 pieces whole wheat toast, and ½ cup orange juice
1 Tablespoon peanut butter and 1 Tablespoon grape jelly on whole wheat bread (2 slices)
3 ounces of tuna and 37 almonds
8 ounces vanilla yogurt with 1 Tablespoon slivered almonds, half an apple, 1 Tablespoon raisins

While you don't need to worry about adding too many extra calories, you should focus on the quality of food you eat.

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Vanessa Pruitt, PLMHP, MS

Vanessa is a Provisionally Licensed Mental Health Practitioner in Nebraska and holds an MS in Clinical Psychology. She is a certified trauma professional with a special interest in helping people heal from trauma, complex trauma, feeding and eating disorders.

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