12 weeks pregnant means that it is the last week of your first trimester. Your baby is developing at a fast rate. However, things will be a little harder for you; especially if this is your first pregnancy. But don’t worry, we got you covered with all the necessary information.
Your 12 week old baby
Wondering how big is your baby when you are 12 weeks pregnant? Your baby is the size of a plum now measuring about 2 inches long and weighing around half an ounce.
Doesn’t look like you are carrying a baby as big because of an almost flat belly as before beginning the journey? But it’s true!
What’s new in development?
12 weeks pregnant mark the basic formation of the structures and from here on he will grow at a faster rate. The organs will mature with the time acquiring the near-normal functioning and this will continue till the birth of the baby. Here are the major developments of some organs during this week:
Digestive system
The intestine starts practicing contractions and it will continue until they master it. Similarly, other organs of the digestive system like liver, spleen, and pancreas start their beginner functioning.
Fetal heart
The fetal heartbeat is more stable now and you can hear it from outside via Doppler scan.
Head and neck
The ratio of head and body is 1 to 1. Salivary glands develop during this week and later they start secreting saliva.
Sex organs
This is the week of the development of sex organs inside the pelvis. However, it’s far from maturity.
Also Read: Why Is It Healthy To Become Pregnant Before 30?
12 weeks pregnant symptoms
The changing trimester also reflects in the symptoms you feel during the 12th week of the pregnancy. Let’s have a look at what new pregnancy has for you during this week:
Skin pigmentation/ Melasma
Pregnancy boosts some of your hormones and one of these hormones is responsible for dark pigmented spots on the face. These spots usually disappear once the baby is delivered as the hormones come back to their normal levels.
Changes in your breast
Just like the skin pigmentation, the color of the areola becomes a little darker. Breasts enlarge in size a bit and become tender. However, wearing a perfect size bra and using ice packs can help the soreness.
Also Read: Why am I Having Sore Breasts After Ovulation?
Bloating and gas
These hormonal changes cause your belly to do funny stuff like bloating and gassing. However, this is annoying and embarrassing. You can avoid it by eating frequent and small meals.
Excessive salivation
With the end of the first trimester, the problem of excessive salivation is minimized. A big relief! You can avoid the rest by chewing bubble gum.
Dizziness and headaches
Like other systems, the hormonal changes caused because of pregnancy also mess up your blood pressure. This leads to frequent spells of dizziness and headaches especially once you enter the 12th week of pregnancy. Lie around as much as you can and eat healthy food.
Enhanced sense of smell
Pregnancy boosts your sense of smell and it peaks around this time as well. However, this can be annoying especially with nausea and vomiting aggravated due to the odor of your disliked food.
Discharge
You may notice a bit of discharge around this time. However, the color of the discharge is more important. As long as it is clear or white there is nothing to worry about. However, a brown or green color discharge could mean infection or something wrong with the pregnancy. You need to get to a doctor in such a case.
Spotting
Spotting around this time could mean something wrong with the pregnancy and you shouldn’t take it lightly. It is not always a danger sign but checking it out with your doctor is the safest practice.
Also Read: Earliest Signs Of Pregnancy
12 week pregnant: Health tips
Don’t be scared as 12 weeks pregnancy symptoms may look scary but they aren’t. Besides, we have the best tips for you to minimize these symptoms and live a relatively smooth pregnancy.
Healthy lifestyle
You need to understand that you are carrying two lives now and you can’t be doing risky stuff anymore. It is time to adopt a more peaceful lifestyle where you give plenty of time to yourself. Avoid lifting heavy stuff or doing heavy exercise and utilize every opportunity to relax. However, this doesn’t mean that you should acquire a lazy lifestyle. Always do light exercise daily to keep your body fit and avoid gaining too much weight.
Also Read: Pain In Ribs During Pregnancy – Causes and Cure
Proper diet
The fear of gaining weight during pregnancy can push you to stop eating as the signs of weight gain appear with the 12th week of pregnancy. However, the key is to avoid too much eating not stop eating. Try to eat less but more frequently as it will help with digestion as well. You can also consult your doctor or a nutritionist to help you with the healthy diet plan during the pregnancy.
Also Read: Healthy Snacks During Pregnancy
Avoid alcohol and sea-food
Alcohol and sea-food tend to harm the baby. Plus this stuff also disturbs your digestive system and aggravates nausea and vomiting. It’s better to say goodbye to this for a while!
Also Read: 10 Things To Avoid During Pregnancy
Stay hydrated
Staying hydrated is important as your body will be going through a huge struggle and it will help with fatigue. You should at least drink 8 glasses of water daily.
Skincare
12 weeks pregnant mothers often complain about skin and the damage can be permanent. You should be extra careful during this period as pregnancy makes you prone to skin damage via radiation in sunlight. Use a good sunblock or sunscreen and cover yourself as much as you can from sunlight.
Also Read: Dangers Of Skin Bleach During Pregnancy
Kegel exercise
There is no harm in preparing a little ahead of time. You must have heard how hard the delivery procedure is from your friends or relatives but we can give you an exercise to make it somewhat easy.
For that squeeze your pelvic muscles for 10 seconds and relax. Do it 20 times and 3 sets of 20 each per day.
Flu shots
Like other cares, it is important to protect your baby from infections. A simple infection like flu can risk pregnancy or cause congenital anomalies. To prevent that CDC (Center for Disease Control and Protection) encourages the vaccination of expecting mothers.