At 11 weeks pregnant, your baby measures roughly 44 to 54 millimeters from head to bottom, or about 1.7 to 2.1 inches. That’s close to the size of a fresh fig. Weight is still minimal at this stage, around 7 to 8 grams (a quarter of an ounce), but your baby is growing fast and changing dramatically from one day to the next.
How Your Baby Is Measured at 11 Weeks
During the first trimester, doctors measure babies using “crown-rump length,” which is the distance from the top of the head to the bottom of the torso. Legs aren’t included because they’re still curled up tight. According to international fetal growth standards, the average crown-rump length at 11 weeks and 0 days is about 43.8 mm, climbing to nearly 54 mm by 11 weeks and 6 days. That means your baby grows roughly 1.5 mm per day during this week alone.
There’s a normal range, too. Some babies measure a bit smaller or larger, and both are perfectly typical. At 11 weeks and 3 days, for example, the range spans from about 38 mm on the smaller end to nearly 60 mm on the larger end. Your provider uses these measurements to confirm your due date and make sure growth is on track.
What Your Baby Looks Like Now
Your baby is starting to look distinctly human. The head is still disproportionately large compared to the body, making up about half the total length, but the face is taking shape. The fingers and toes are separating out from their earlier webbed form, and tiny fingernails are already visible. By this point, the arms, hands, feet, and toes are fully formed.
Tooth buds and the beginnings of taste buds started forming around week 9, and the external ears have taken shape. Your baby’s skin is still translucent, thin enough that blood vessels are visible underneath.
Movement and Reflexes
Even though you can’t feel it yet, your baby is surprisingly active at 11 weeks. The early nervous system is developed enough to allow reflexive movements like stretching, kicking, and rolling. Your baby can open its mouth and suck its fingers. These aren’t conscious, purposeful actions but rather reflexes that help the muscles and nervous system develop. Most parents won’t feel any movement until 16 to 22 weeks, when the baby is large enough for those kicks and rolls to register.
Heart Rate at 11 Weeks
Your baby’s heart has been beating since around week 6, but by 11 weeks it’s fully structured with four chambers and pumping blood efficiently. The normal fetal heart rate at this stage ranges from 145 to 175 beats per minute, roughly twice as fast as your own resting heart rate. If you have an ultrasound this week, you’ll likely hear or see the heartbeat, which can sound like a rapid, rhythmic whooshing.
What’s Happening Inside Your Body
Your uterus is expanding to keep up with your baby’s growth. At 11 weeks, it’s still tucked inside your pelvic cavity, but by around 12 weeks, the top of the uterus (the fundus) rises to roughly the level of your pubic bone. That’s when some people start to notice a small, firm bump low in the abdomen. For first pregnancies, a visible bump often takes a few more weeks to appear.
The Nuchal Translucency Scan
Week 11 marks the beginning of the window for a nuchal translucency (NT) scan, an optional ultrasound offered between 11 and 13 weeks. This screening measures a small pocket of fluid at the back of your baby’s neck. A larger-than-expected fluid collection can indicate a higher risk of certain chromosomal conditions, including Down syndrome, Edwards syndrome, Patau syndrome, and some congenital heart conditions.
The NT scan is a screening test, not a diagnostic one. It estimates risk rather than giving a definitive answer. If results suggest elevated risk, your provider will discuss follow-up options like cell-free DNA blood testing or diagnostic procedures such as chorionic villus sampling. Many parents find the NT scan reassuring, since most results come back within the normal range.
How 11 Weeks Fits Into the Bigger Picture
You’re nearing the end of the first trimester, and this is a pivotal stretch. All of your baby’s major organ systems are in place by now. The remaining weeks of pregnancy are about growth, maturation, and fine-tuning. The liver is already producing blood cells, the kidneys are beginning to function, and the intestines are starting to practice the contractions they’ll eventually use for digestion.
Over the next few weeks, your baby will roughly double in length. By week 14, that fig-sized baby will be closer to the size of a lemon, and the risk of miscarriage drops significantly as you cross into the second trimester. For now, the rapid pace of change this week is one of the most dramatic of the entire pregnancy.