Pregnancy Week 13 Development: What To Expect And One Beneficial Food

How are you enjoying your pregnancy so far? Being pregnant is such an amazing experience. This week, you can notice a massive improvement in your baby's physical appearance inside your body.

Changes in the Baby's Body By this time, your baby is as large as a peach and her tiny bones are now forming in the legs and arms. The baby's intestines are now moving from the umbilical cord to the abdomen. The vocal chords are now developing and since the baby is now capable of moving her legs and arms, she can now bring her thumb into her mouth. In fact, the baby begins to suck during this week.

If you are having a baby girl, her ovaries contain 2 million eggs. In her delivery, she has approximately 1 million eggs and by the time she reached the age of 17, the figure drops to 200,000 only. The liver is now secreting bile and pancreas now starts producing insulin.

Changes in the Mother's Body Your first trimester is about to be finished so you should expect more significant physical changes to come. By this time, your baby is no longer an embryo. She has now taken the form of a little human, foetus.

It has been quite a while since you learned about your pregnancy. Your body has now adjusted to the changes and symptoms which your condition brings about. In fact, you may notice that you are getting less tired nowadays. Less fatigue is very likely to be experienced.

However, other pregnancy symptoms such as constipation, bloating, heartburn, indigestion, food aversion, food cravings, visible veins in the body and breast tenderness still manifest. If you are still plagued by occasional dizziness and faintness, try not to get up in a prone or sitting position abruptly as this can cause light-headedness. If you feel like fainting, try to lie down immediately.

What Doctors Recommend Now that you are on the last week of your first trimester, you should be more careful with your lifestyle. Whatever you do can significantly affect your baby's health. Make sure to quit smoking, stop taking alcoholic beverages, get adequate amount of sleep and more importantly, observe a healthy and balanced diet which is good for you and your baby.

Fruits and vegetables are excellent components of your diet. These foods are fortified with substances and phytonutrients which are scientifically known to create beneficial effects to the human body, especially in pregnant women and their babies. Cauliflower is one of the healthiest and safest foods to eat during the crucial period of pregnancy.

Cauliflower and Its Health Benefits Cauliflower is said to contain high nutritional density as it is packed with nutrients like folate, calcium, Vitamin C, fibre and B Vitamins. Its folate content is beneficial in optimizing the growth and development of the baby. Folate makes an excellent aid in the development of unborn babies. Also, folate plays a vital role in supporting the healthy formation of the placenta which nourishes the baby. It even reduces the baby's risk for neural tube defects such as spina bifida. Meanwhile, it contains B-vitamins which are essential in the growth and reproduction of the human cell.

Aside from its ability to reduce one's cholesterol level, cauliflower is also effective at improving one's heart condition and in reducing one's risk for stroke through its allicin content. Cauliflower is also an excellent source of calcium. Most pregnant women are at a high risk of suffering from osteoporosis later on. This vegetable helps in reducing one's risk for this condition.

Apart from calcium, cauliflower offers a wide range of nutrients which include manganese, magnesium, zinc, selenium, sodium and phosphorus which are important in enhancing the body's immune system. Selenium actually works harmoniously with Vitamin C in strengthening the immune system of the body. These minerals also help in reducing the baby's risk for certain health conditions such as lung cancer, lymphoma and leukaemia. Vitamin C also aids in the absorption of iron which is an essential nutrient that helps prevent anaemia, premature delivery and low birth weight.

On the other hand, cauliflower contains sufficient amount of fibre which plays a vital role in preventing cancer and in improving one's colon health. This vegetable also contains the substance indole-3-carbinol which significantly affects the estrogen metabolism of the body as well as in preventing the onset of certain types of cancer which normally affect women.

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