The third month of pregnancy is the final phase of the first trimester. Your baby is the size of a lemon, measuring about 2 to 3 inches long, no longer called an embryo, but a foetus.
For some women and their partners, the pregnancy may feel surreal and overwhelming,while others are regaining their confidence and cannot wait to share the good news.
From weeks 9 to 12 of pregnancy is the third month of the first trimester when your baby starts to grow rapidly.
WEEK 9
What’s happening inside you - There is a further increase in estrogen and progesterone levels. This is good news because continuous rise in these two hormones ensures that the pregnancy is firmly maintained and the uterine lining is not shedding unlike all the menstrual cycles of your past.
Emotionally, you may still find this pregnancy surreal and not feel as connected to the baby as you thought you would, especially given the risks of miscarriage in the first trimester. On the other hand, you may be excited and raring to go, just waiting for the 12 week scan to start announcing the baby’s existence to everyone - both are totally normal reactions.
Baby update for week 9
Facial features: Your baby more or less starts resembling a tiny human now rather than looking like a tadpole. By week 9, they have grown a pair of limbs including elbows, knees and tiny little toes. Facial features like eyelids, eyebrows and lips have formed as well.
Heart: Your baby’s heart now has four chambers and is beating. You and your partner will be able to hear these heartbeats, which are twice as fast compared to a grown human, via a doppler machine, used over your pregnant belly. This is the first magical and emotional connection that you can feel with the little one growing inside you, before you start to experience your baby’s movements.
Placenta: The placenta grows by week 9 to support the nutritive needs of your little one. Till now, it has been self-sustaining. The placenta is attached to the uterus and is connected to the baby via an umbilical cord. By the end of pregnancy, the placenta grows to about the thickness of an inch and nine inches in diameter.
Size: At week 9, the foetus now measures about 1 inch from head to bottom, like that of a grape and weighs around 2 gms.
WEEK 10
What’s happening inside you - As you enter week 10 of your pregnancy, the foetal developmental growth is rapid and has to be supported by the mother’s body. High levels of estrogen produced by the placenta ensure that your baby develops without any compromise to its growth and development. Hormones can visible changes in the mother - either a “pregnancy glow” or acne issues. It all depends on your individual experience.
Baby update for Week 10
Eyelids: Your baby is the size of a strawberry. Its eyelids begin to close and are sealed shut in-utero up to 27 weeks of pregnancy or the end of second trimester.
Teeth budding: Within each band of gums in the mouth, ten tiny buds emerge for teething to occur after birth. 20 milk teeth sprout out from these tooth buds typically around 4 to 7 months after the birth of your infant which eventually fall out.
Bones and brain: Bones begin to distinctly appear and the baby now has knees, ankles and elbows and a large bulging forehead indicative of the brain development happening within. About half of the length of the baby is thanks to its enlarged head.
Remember, there is a scan due at 12 weeks, where you will get to see your baby for the first time! The idea of pregnancy may have seemed vague or unreal so far, even anxiety inducing, but this scan will hopefully reassure you and make you feel much more connected to the tiny being growing inside you.
WEEK 12
What’s happening inside you - Towards the end of the 1st trimester, the hormonal levels start to tone down, indicating better days ahead. However, morning sickness, mood swings, dizziness and cravings might persist for a while due to the hormonal upheaval that your body has undergone in the past weeks.
Reflexes: Your baby, the size of a plum, starts moving its fingers and curling its toes. It shows signs of reflexes like clenching of the eyes sucking its mouth. These movements are developed in-utero but sometimes may carry on even post-birth.
Size: For the past three weeks, your baby has grown rapidly and is now twice its previous size, measuring about 2 to 2.5 inches, with prominent facial features - ready to strike a pose in the week 12 ultrasound!
Digestive process: Your baby’s intestines are now fully formed. They protrude into the umbilical cord but start to move back into the abdominal cavity of the baby, giving it a complete digestive system.
Stepping into week 12 completes the first trimester, one-third race of the journey of pregnancy, usually the most challenging part, is about to end. However, it is okay if these varied changes both inside and outside may be too much for you. As your body is prepared to enter and enjoy the next phase of this beautiful journey, the second trimester, a supportive environment at home and work can ease you into the new changes in your life and body.
