Week Twelve Of Pregnancy

Week 12 Of Your Baby’s Development!

Your baby is the size of a lime

This marks the last week of your first trimester! Congratulations, things only get more exciting from here on in and you should not only start to feel better, but notice more changes in your body as your baby grows. If you were to compare baby with his size just three weeks before, he has probably doubled! Your baby is about 2.25 inches from crown to rump right now, similar to the size of lime.

Appearance- wise he’s looking more like a human baby now, with the eyes moving from the side of the head around to more centre of the face. His ears are also moving closer into their correct position, on either side of his head.

His development is coming in leaps and bounds too with major organs like the liver and kidney in production of bile and urine respectively. 

It’s still a little while away before you’ll be able to feel baby’s movements (not too long though!) but rest assured he’s not stationary inside and is developing reflexes thanks to brain synapses forming.

Week 12 Of Your Health, Mind & Body Changes

If you’re wondering when you’ll start to look pregnant, if you’re not yet showing any signs of a baby bump, it will come soon enough. And by the end, you may be over your cumbersome bump!

There is no ‘normal’ when it comes to baby bump size and it’s dependant on so many different factors like your abdominal muscle strength and torso shape, position of your placenta, how much body fat you’re carrying, how much fluid you’re carrying. It really has little to do with the size of your baby, so try not to stress about any comments well meaning friends, family (or even sometimes strangers) make. Every woman is unique and every bump is beautiful during pregnancy.

Morning sickness may be starting to wane now, as perhaps frequency of bathroom visits, but there’s still some other pesky pregnancy symptoms that might be hanging around like bloating, gas, headaches and fatigue.

The first Trimester Scan

This is the first time you’ll get to see baby on screen looking like a little human, possibly waving back at you if you’re lucky!

Done between 11 and 13 weeks pregnancy for the best accuracy, the first trimester scan (also sometimes referred to as the Nucal test) combines with a blood test for a non- invasive screen/test for chromosomal abnormalities like down syndrome, trisomy-21 and trisomy-18. The outcome of this test gives you a rank, which indicates a risk for your baby having these abnormalities. If the rank is 1/300 or lower, your caregiver may suggest other tests to determine more accurately if in fact, there is an abnormality.

There is a relatively new non- invasive blood test that simply looks at fragments of your baby’s DNA through your own blood, and gives you a much more accurate reading as to wether baby has these chromosomal abnormalities. This may be an option for you that your caregiver provides.

All in all, this test is not something to stress about as the risk is still very low of your baby having any of these abnormalities, particularly if you and your partner are below 35 years in age.

Week 11 Of Your Next Steps!

• Book your first trimester scan if you haven’t already. It needs to be done by 13 weeks for accuracy.

• Stop comparing bump sizes, now and throughout the duration of your pregnancy. All bumps are beautiful and your caregiver will advise you if there’s anything to be concerned about.

• Now that your food aversions and nausea may be lessening, this makes healthy eating easier again. If you’re able, put this at the forefront of your mind again and focus on a wide range of nutritious foods like wholegrains, vegetables, fruits, low fat plain dairy or dairy alternatives, lean protein sources and healthy fats like avocado and olive oil. Your baby and your body will thank you for it. If you’re unsure, here’s an article on ‘what to eat while pregnant’ which specifically gives you 21 foods that are great to eat during pregnancy and why.