Your baby this week
Your baby is about the size of a lime, and the head still makes up about half of the total length — the brain remains the flagship project. The skill of the week is in the hands: fingers open and close into tiny practicing fists, nail beds are in place, tooth buds keep developing, hair follicles appear, and the ears glide into their final positions.
Inside, the pancreas has begun producing insulin, bones are hardening steadily, and the diaphragm — the breathing muscle — is under construction, setting the stage for hiccups later. And your baby is busy: stretching, flexing and somersaulting in the roomy amniotic sac. You can't feel any of it yet, but on an ultrasound the bouncing can be genuinely startling.
Your body & symptoms
For many women, nausea and the worst fatigue begin easing from around now, as hormone levels level off and the placenta carries more of the load — appetite often returns with them. "For many" is not "for all": if your nausea is still going strong, you haven't missed a deadline.
Your uterus is now about grapefruit-sized and rising out of your pelvis, which will soon relieve the pressure on your bladder. New arrivals can include headaches, brief dizziness if you stand too fast, the first hint of a linea nigra, and nails growing faster or feeling more brittle. Emotionally, anticipation mixed with impatience — the almost-there feeling — is a standard week-11 mood.
The NT scan: your 11-to-13-week window
NT stands for nuchal translucency — a measurement of the small pocket of fluid at the back of your baby's neck, taken by ultrasound between about week 11 and week 13 (plus a few days). Combined with blood tests, it forms the first-trimester screening estimate for certain chromosomal conditions.
Because the window is specific, book it as soon as your doctor suggests. And remember: it's a screening — a risk estimate, not a diagnosis.