Baby Chris is Eleven Weeks Old

[This is part 12 of a multi-part series chronicling a pregnancy through the lens of “Baby Chris.” Click here for other parts.]

Eleven weeks after conception (13 weeks LMP), Baby Chris is about three inches long. It’s been a busy week for the development of facial features. The tiny nose and lips have formed, allowing Baby Chris to make complex facial expressions.

Although Baby Chris continues to receive most nutrients via the umbilical cord, he or she also swallows amniotic fluid, from which the digestive system can successfully extract water and glucose.

Close-up of an 11-week-old’s hand, via the Endowment for Human Development

This is the final week of Baby Chris’s first trimester. Only 28% of Americans believe that abortion should be allowed after this point. Unfortunately, the consensus in favor of protecting babies in the second and third trimester cannot be implemented until Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey are overturned.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion, 11.3% of abortions in the United States occur after the first trimester. In 2017, when there were approximately 879,000 abortions in the United States, we can estimate that 99,327 second- and third-trimester babies were killed.