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Pregnancy Calendar Week 12

Previous Week: 11 | Next Week: 13

Week 12 fetal development image showing the fetal growth of your baby to date. Medical Illustration Copyright © 2008 Nucleus Medical Art, All rights reserved

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You're 12 Weeks Pregnant!!!

Baby is looking more adorably baby-like as the eyes move closer together, and the ears are settling into their final position. The nervous system is developing and fine-tuning, leading to the arrival of reflexive actions such as sucking. At the end of the week, the vocal cords have formed, although you won’t get to hear their effects for months yet. The organs are formed and functioning, for instance the pancreas is producing insulin, the pituitary gland is producing hormones, and bone marrow is producing white blood cells. The baby is now the size of a large plum, about 3.15” long and 1 ounce at the end of the week.

Pregnancy Symptoms You May Feel During Week 12

Many symptoms are lessening or leaving altogether, such as nausea, tender breasts, and fatigue, as the first trimester draws to a close.

While many of the most troublesome pregnancy symptoms of the first trimester have ended, a new one may be starting. Dizziness or fainting might be a problem and is due to the hormone, progesterone increasing blood flow and relaxing blood vessels. Additionally, pregnant women often suffer from lowered blood sugar, which also can contribute to dizziness. To counteract this tendency, make sure to eat frequent small meals, make sure you are getting enough rest, and always stand up slowly.

Your uterus is now the size of a large grapefruit, and is moving from the bottom of the pelvis to the middle of the abdomen, which should relieve some of the pressure on the bladder thereby lessening the frequency of urination for awhile.

Visit With the Obstetrician

Now that the uterus has grown to the grapefruit- sized range and is rising up into the abdomen, the doctor will be palpating the uterus through the abdomen. Every visit, this will be a main component, as the physician will determine where the uterus is at, and later even, the position of the fetus from feeling on your ever-protruding tummy. Ask
what you’re measuring and record it in your pregnancy journal, along with your weight.

Preparing for Baby

One of the big decisions all new parents must make: cloth or disposable. There is a ton of information out there on what is best for the environment, what is best for baby, and best for parents, too. Then there is question of which ones? Read up on it now, talk to other new parents to see what their experiences and reasons behind their decisions were. Then if choosing cloth, start researching the best deals. Will you buy all your own or use a diaper service? Find out the practical side too. How to clean, how to do nighttime diapering, dealing with messy bm stains, how to do cloth when you’re on the road, or have a child in daycare. If you decide to go with disposable, look into bulk buying and if it’s really the better deal.

Pregnancy Lifestyle

Since the nausea and queasiness of the first trimester should be subsiding now, it’s a good time to start looking seriously at diet and nutrition issues. Pregnancy isn’t a free pass to a total feeding frenzy. It’s definitely not as simple as “eating for two,” either. Today, a woman will need to take into account her body mass index, or BMI, to determine what her ideal weight gain will be. An obese woman might even be advised to lose some weight, through safe and sane methods, during her pregnancy. Talk to your doctor about what a healthy weight goal is for your pregnancy.

The best way to plan for a healthy weight gain is not to go with fatty or sugary empty calories. Have a balanced diet of a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and proteins. Since frequent small meals are best, plan ahead for healthy snacks. Nuts, raisins, cheese, yogurt, and fruit are good choices.

Plan for about 300 extra calories daily, in general. The average weight gain is around 25-35 pounds, but again, that depends on the mother’s weight and BMI. Click here to calculate your ideal weight gain with our free pregnancy weight gain calculator

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