13 weeks

How your baby's growing: Your belly may soon be big enough to announce to the world that you're expecting, but your baby is still tiny. In fact, he's only about 3 inches long crown to rump — roughly the size of a jumbo shrimp — and weighs just about an ounce. Despite the small proportions, there's a fully formed baby inside your womb now. Much more proportional than it was a few weeks ago, his head is now only about a third the size of his body. His tiny, unique fingerprints are already in place. His kidneys and urinary tract are functional, and he's starting to urinate out the amniotic fluid he's been swallowing. As you start your second trimester, most of your baby's critical development will be completed, and your odds of miscarriage will drop considerably.

How your life's changing: Time to celebrate! This is the last week of your first trimester. Next week you'll be in your second trimester. That's great news for two reasons: One, your risk of miscarriage drops dramatically, and two, many women see early pregnancy symptoms, such as morning sickness, subside. (In some cases, though, heartburn replaces the nausea.) Birth is still months away, but your breasts may have already started making colostrum, the nutrient-rich fluid that feeds your baby for the first few days after birth, before your milk starts to flow.

How I'm doing: I'm doing great this week. I feel almost back to normal. I'm still tired in the mornings but for the most part I feel pretty good. I did get a flu shot this week (thimerisol and mercury-free) so my arm was sore for a couple of days. Seeing the baby earlier in the week was a great emotional boost and relief. One of my good friends, Rachel, who we visited in Madison this summer gave birth to a beautiful baby girl earlier in the week. It's a lot more exciting to be around and see babies now. This week we also got our own gardening space in our apartment complex. It's on the small side and we're not supposed to grow vegetables but we will be growing herbs and some flowers. Other than that, it's been a pretty normal and boring week.