Pregnancy Calendar Week 11

Week 11

What's Happening to My Body?

The countdown continues: 11 weeks down, 29 to go. Congratulations, at 9 weeks old (remember, your baby is two weeks behind your official pregnancy date), your baby is now officially a fetus! He measures in at a whopping 2 inches long (5 centimeters); if he was a fruit, he'd be a date.

His head growth has started to slow down, but the rest of his body is still growing very quickly. His bones, which now resemble cartilage, are starting to solidfy. His eyes are shut tight, and it's still hard to to tell whether or not he's a he or a she. He's definitely getting smarter (then it must be a she, right?), as nerve cells in the brain are now constantly sending each other coordinated electrical messages and building a network of connective axons. His little brain is forging the pathways of thought.

Your baby is definitely kicking around a bit, but you still can't feel it. If you think you feel something, it's probably just gas. Sorry.

Your uterus has expanded to fill most of your pelvis, and you can feel your womb by pressing on the middle of your lower belly, just above the pubic bone.

At this point, your practitioner should be able to hear the baby's heartbeat with a hand-held Doppler device, unless there is a lot of extra "you" in your lower belly. You may want to bring a tape recorder to record the baby's first sounds. If you have hip friends, you can have them loop it into an electronic mix, just for the hell of it.