Week 11: Pregnancy Week by Week

Week 11: Make time for exercise and how to beat the blues

Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.

-Thomas Jefferson

What's Happening in Your Body?

Your blood volume has now increased by 25 percent. Because of this, most women will begin to experience a gradual decrease in the extreme fatigue of the earlier weeks.

What's Happening with Your Baby?

Your baby is officially a fetus, rather than an embryo. By now your baby has a recognizably human face. The baby's eyes, complete with eyelids, and ears are developed.

Make Time for Exercise

Early pregnancy is an excellent time to start a regular exercise program that fits in with your changing body and energy levels. Movement is good for your health and for your baby's health, of course. Find out why it's a good idea to Make Time for Exercise.

Nourish Yourself

Calcium is important for all women because of the now well-known dangers of osteoporosis. The danger for women who are pregnant is that if they are not taking in enough calcium every day, the developing fetus will use the stores of it that are available in the mother's bones to form its own skeleton.

Studies also show that calcium may reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure during pregnancy (Murray Enkins et al., A Guide to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth (New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 96).

During pregnancy and lactation women should take at least 1,200 mg of calcium per day. Most prenatal vitamins do not contain that much calcium.

You can get about 1,000 milligrams of calcium by consuming the following:

• One cup of milk (cow's milk, soy or enriched rice milk)
• One cup yogurt (dairy or soy) or one cup of cooked collard or turnip greens
• One stalk of broccoli or 3 ounces of sardines

Other good sources of calcium are cottage cheese, seaweed, almonds, beans, cheeses, tofu, and leafy green vegetables. If you are a vegan or on a macrobiotic diet, try sprinkling toasted sesame seeds on greens. You may enjoy our recipe for Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Sesame Poppy Dressing.

Having calcium right before bed has the added benefit of helping you to get a good night's sleep - always a plus during pregnancy.

Body Wise

Going for a swim is a great form of exercise that can be done throughout pregnancy. It provides cardiovascular conditioning, strengthens and tones the entire body, and is at once both relaxing and invigorating. Check out our article for exercise ideas that you can do in the pool.

Natural Soothers

Feeling a little blue is a common first trimester pregnancy symptom. Find out how to Beat the Blues.

Higher Ground

A New Mom at 50
By Judith Wynhausen

"I didn't know women your age could have babies," the young woman blurted out. We were both looking at crib quilts at a church bazaar, and she had asked me who was going to have a baby. "I am," I replied, thinking she couldn't miss my pregnant belly, swollen large in the eighth month. Yes, admittedly my hair was quite gray for my 49 years, but I didn't feel that old.

After that encounter, I went to the beauty shop and had my hair dyed. At least then I didn't look 50 at first glance, and everybody didn't immediately assume that my baby daughter was my granddaughter. Now, five years later, I've gone back to my natural gray, and the grandmother comments don't bother me any more. After all, I am old enough to be Veronica's grandmother. Read the rest of the story...

Image by Durga Yael Bernhard

Return to Pregnancy Week by Week Home