13 weeks pregnant

What to expect this week

What's happening in week 13

Week 13 is here, and you are probably sharing the news of your pregnancy with anyone who'll listen!

Your baby at week 13

Your baby is around 7.5cm long and about the size of an egg, weighing about 25g. Even at this small size they’ve already learned some party tricks – kicking their legs, turning their head – even swallowing, yawning and hiccupping! How amazing is it that they are so active and developed, yet so tiny?

In week 13, your baby’s skeleton is starting to develop with the clavicle (collarbone) and femur (thigh bone) developing first. Along with the skeleton, their organs continue to grow with their stomach and bowel taking shape as well as their vocal chords (which will get a lot of use in a few months’ time!)

Your baby’s lungs are also developing and in week 13 they’ll start to take their first few ‘breaths’. They’ll be getting oxygen in their blood from the umbilical cord as they’re surrounded by amniotic fluid, so instead it’ll be like they’re breathing underwater.

At this stage, their kidneys are functioning and any amniotic fluid your baby swallows, they will wee out.

You at 13 weeks pregnant

You are probably feeling a lot more confident and secure in your pregnancy now you have reached the 13 week mark and your chances of miscarriage are so greatly reduced. It is probably also something of a relief to be sharing your news with your wider circle of friends (although how many immediately said they'd already guessed?).
You should be feeling a lot better generally now as your placenta takes over the production of pregnancy hormones, which should ease any nausea. You might even feel you are taking on a bit of a pregnancy bloom as your enter your second trimester!
As your baby is growing in leaps and bounds, you are probably noticing your clothes feeling a bit more snug now. Seize the moment to have a shopping spree and build a capsule maternity wardrobe to take you through the next six months in style (you might feel less inclined to spend all day in the shopping mall once your bump has further blossomed).

What to think about in week 13

You and your partner might be planning to treat yourselves to one last couple's holiday before your baby arrives – and now could be the time to get thinking about destinations, vaccinations and flying restrictions! Most airlines will have their own rules and regs regarding how late pregnant women can fly, and restrictions on long haul after a certain number of weeks.
It's good to bear temperatures in mind too if you are booking a last-hurrah break – you might not enjoy hot and sweaty tourist resorts with a burgeoning bump in quite in the same way as you did in your pre-pregnant state!  Why not ask other mums on our community boards for their best pre-baby holiday destination ideas?