Your week 13 guide

The muscles around the mouth can make early sucking motions and fleeting expressions. This is reflex activity rather than emotion, driven by developing nerve pathways testing their connections. The sucking reflex in particular is being rehearsed months ahead of the moment it becomes essential for feeding.

Bone tissue is forming in the limbs and skull. Cartilage laid down earlier is gradually being replaced by harder bone in a process called ossification, starting in the long bones and the collarbones. The skull bones stay separate with soft gaps between them, which is what allows the head to compress during birth.

The vocal cords and internal organs continue to mature. Nothing new is being created at this point; the existing structures are becoming more complex, better organised and better connected to the nerves that will control them. This shift from building to refining is what defines the fetal period.

Energy and appetite often improve as nausea fades. The return of hunger can be sudden and surprising after weeks of aversion, and food that was unbearable can become appealing again within days. Do not be alarmed if it takes longer than thirteen weeks for you; the timing is highly individual.

Vaginal discharge, heartburn, constipation or indigestion can continue. Increased clear or milky-white discharge is a normal effect of higher oestrogen and blood flow, though discharge that is green, grey, foul-smelling, or accompanied by itching or soreness should be checked. Heartburn tends to worsen through pregnancy rather than settle.

A growing uterus and an audible heartbeat can make the pregnancy feel real in a new way. Up to this point much of it has been symptoms and abstraction, and hearing a heartbeat or seeing a scan can change that abruptly. It is also entirely normal not to feel a rush of connection yet, and it says nothing about how you will feel about your baby.

Decide when to share your news according to your own comfort rather than convention. Twelve weeks is a custom, not a rule, and there is no threshold after which telling people becomes correct. Consider who you would want beside you in a difficult week, because that often answers the question better than a date does.

Look at work, leave and childcare early if any of them apply to you. Notification deadlines, pay entitlements and nursery waiting lists all have their own timescales, and some places genuinely need to hear from you months ahead. Doing a little of this now is far less draining than doing all of it at thirty weeks.

Keep attending antenatal care and start a fresh list of questions for the second trimester. The concerns of the middle months are different, more about movement, growth, scans and planning than about sickness. Carrying over a running list means nothing important gets lost between appointments. InshaAllah, a fresh question list can help the next appointment feel more focused.

Support digestion with fibre: Hormonal changes slow digestion and cause constipation, and this can start early in pregnancy. Fibre and regular fluids help support normal bowel function.

Sources of fibre include vegetables, fruit, beans, lentils, chickpeas, wholegrains, nuts and seeds. Increase fibre gradually, particularly if your diet contained very little before, and drink regularly alongside it, because fibre without fluid can make matters worse.