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It’s been a huge week for your little one—wait ’til you find out why! Plus, all the deets on the 1st trimester tests you’ll be offered.
Stop the presses... Are those actually… Wait, let me count them. One, two, three, four… Yes! 10 fingers and 10 toes.
What a pivotal week it’s been! Baby is the size of a grape tomato and growing into a glorious little person. Eyelids almost cover his eyes completely, and he is growing pupils in those peepers of his now too! (Aww...)
His limbs have lengthened, and baby has begun to shake his groove thing. Dance party in your uterus! But you won’t feel him for another couple months.
Inside baby, the gallbladder, liver, and spleen are taking shape. His heart has split into four distinct chambers, and the valves are forming. Speaking of heart, you could possibly hear that first thump... thump... thump... via a Doppler! But some natural mamas choose to wait to hear that precious heartbeat closer to week 20 with a fetoscope. You can read more about that in this week's Hot Topics below.
OK, forget about baby's heartbeat right now, and let's talk about the mama heartburn. WOWZERS!
Pregnancy heartburn is real for many of us pregnant moms, often in the first trimester and again in the last month or so.
Thanks to pregnancy hormones, our digestion slows way down to allow for better nutrient absorption (win for baby, hard on mama). In particular, progesterone causes the valve that separates the stomach from the esophagus to not fully close, allowing stomach acid to rise up into the chest and throat, causing the BURN.
Thankfully, we've got some effective natural remedies for pregnancy heartburn so you don't have to suffer, mama!
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First trimester tests
Are you planning to find out whether you're having a boy or girl?
Because I was over age 35 with my second pregnancy, I was able to take the MaterniT-21 blood test, which detects birth defects and tells you the baby’s sex. This test is normally done at 10 weeks and is usually covered by insurance if you meet the right criteria.
It was wild to know that I was having a baby girl at 10 weeks!
If your insurance doesn’t cover the MaterniT-21 test, you can pay for it out of pocket for around $150. You may be able to find a more affordable version of the test too, it’ll just have a different brand name.
If you don’t want to go for the MaterniT-21, you can try an over-the-counter test like IntelliGender (here’s how that worked out for me), or just wait until the mid-pregnancy ultrasound.
Of course, you can always just wait until baby is born too! I always admired parents who could do that. Regardless of age, there are a whole slew of tests you can elect to get done in the first trimester.
Learn more about first trimester tests with pros/cons so you can make the best choice for you and baby.
Dig deeper into these hot topics for your 9th week of pregnancy!
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