10 Weeks

May 2, 2010 - May 8, 2010

Your Body
Your lower abdomen is probably just starting to protrude a bit now (though you likely still look less like you're pregnant and more like you've been overdoing the doughnuts). But even if it's still flat as a board (all women start to show at different times — and as you'll find out, all show differently), you're probably finding your jeans aren't buttoning without a struggle. You can blame the pregnancy hormone progesterone for that tight squeeze (actually, when you're pregnant, you can blame the hormone progesterone for just about everything).

Though progesterone does a bang-up job in maintaining a healthy pregnancy, some of the less than flattering by-products of all the good it does are bloating… and burping… and passing gas. That's because progesterone relaxes smooth muscle tissue in your body — including the gastrointestinal tract — slowing down digestion to allow more time for the nutrients from food to be absorbed into the bloodstream and passed to your baby. But what's good for baby isn't always good for mom. The uncomfortable fullness you feel in your abdomen, especially after eating, will (sorry) only get worse for some women. As your uterus grows, it'll crowd the stomach and intestines, putting more pressure on the digestive tract, and causing you to feel even more bloated during pregnancy. But here's some consolation: your baby won't feel your pain. In fact, your baby is oblivious to all your intestinal distress, and may even be soothed by the gurgling of your gastric symphony.

Your Baby
Slightly more than two inches long now and weighing about a third of an ounce, your fetus is growing by leaps and bounds. And so is his or her head, which is equal in length to the rest of the body (don't worry — all fetuses are top-heavy).

On the crown of that large head (and over the rest of the body), hair follicles are forming. Fingernail and toenail beds begin to develop this week and by next week, the nails themselves will start to grow (so don't forget to add a baby nail clipper to your to-buy list).

Your baby's body is straightening and his or her torso is lengthening (sounds like a yoga pose, doesn't it?). Other poses your baby can assume now: stretches, somersaults, and forward rolls. And while you can't tell this baby's gender by its cover yet, testes are developing if it's a boy and ovaries if it's a girl.


-Aly G