Your Pregnancy Week-by-Week - 10 Weeks Pregnant
10 Weeks Pregnant
The start of the fetal period
Oh, congratulations! Your baby finally graduated from embryo to fetus this week!
10 weeks pregnant is how many months?
You're in month 3 of your pregnancy if you're 10 weeks pregnant. There are only 6 months left to go!
Baby's bones form
When you are 10 weeks pregnant, the baby's development is quick and furious. And after all the time spent in water, she is almost 11⁄2 inches long and the size of a prune, but not almost as shrivelled.
Your infant is now actually taking on a human form. Bones and cartilage are shaping and knees and ankles are growing into slight indentations on the thighs. The palms, complete with elbows, will flex now... how magical is that?
Baby's first teeth
This week, the tooth bud fairy is making an appearance, heralding the arrival of the little choppers of your infant, who are growing under the gums. These pearly whites, though, will not crack through the gums until your baby is about six months old.
The stomach of your infant generates digestive juices, the kidneys contain greater amounts of urine and your little one already absorbs testosterone if it's a boy.
Your Body at Week 10
Symptoms may persist
Some of the enjoyable pregnancy signs you might find are hanging on. Clogged all up? These pesky pregnancy hormones allow the smooth muscles of the large intestine to break back on the job for certain moms-to-be. They get slow and you get constipated. Include drinking plenty of water and exercising daily, also the fibre in the form of whole grains, fruits and veggies will help.
Your 10 week pregnant belly
If you haven't been looking in the mirror recently and have been contemplating your newly pregnant body and abdomen for 10 weeks, take a deep breath, take off your clothes and go for it.
The first thing you're likely to find is a faint roundness of your lower belly at 10 weeks pregnant. The ever-growing uterus is significantly bigger than that of a grapefruit already. But don't worry, if you can't see your 10-week bump yet, you're going to see it soon enough.
Many women show earlier and some show later based on their height, weight and build. If it's your first pregnancy, you might be a little longer than if it's your second (or third!) pregnancy.
Visible veins
All those blue lines that unexpectedly appear on your skin, crisscrossing your breasts and abdomen, are the second thing you might note.
If you are slim and fair-skinned, these obvious veins can be particularly noticeable, but even those with darker complexions can make out what seems to be a colourful and complex road map (turn right at the areola, then head south towards the belly button...). The extended network of veins that contain the enhanced blood flow needed to nourish your developing fetus is what you're seeing.
You'll probably find as your pregnancy continues that the veins in your hands and feet seem bigger and more pronounced, too. The normal woman's blood volume rises by a little under 50 per cent during birth, and the veins have to keep up so that they can go with the surge.
So mark those blue lines on your body as a badge of honour for pregnancy: wear them with confidence and the reassuring assurance that after your baby is born and you are no longer breastfeeding, they will vanish for good.
Curing constipation
Constipation is an all-too-common pregnancy complication of the first trimester. And what can you do with that? Next, stay clear of foods such as processed white pieces of bread, rice and pasta that would hinder the job. Second, fixate on fibre: select whole grains, like cereals high in fibre, and fresh fruit, like kiwis. Third, drink plenty of fluids, particularly water and juice, wash the fibre down and through your system. And lastly, note that running will keep you moving, another valid justification for putting exercise on the agenda.