Parenting

Pregnancy Calendar Week 12

By Robin Elise Weiss, LCCE, About.com Guide

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Mother:

You may actually start feeling better from your extreme tiredness and nausea this week. Others will hang on to it for awhile longer. Your abdomen may start expanding, especially if this is not your first pregnancy.

Your placenta will take over the production of hormones around this time. If you have suffered from corpus luteum cysts they may begin to dissolve now. Your risk of miscarriage is reduced even further.

12 Week Belly Photos

Talk to Other Moms!

Baby:

While your baby's brain is not the same size it will be at birth, it does have the same structure. Bile is being secreted by this time. S/he weighs about 14 grams and is approximately 3.54 inches in total length.

Your baby has its reflexes and also practice movements in the digestive tract. All in preparation for extrauterine life. If your practitioner uses a doppler, you may be able to hear your baby's heart beat at this prenatal visit. Some say it sounds like horses. Your risk of miscarriage is greatly reduced once you hear this sound.

Dad/Partner:

Consider joining a support group for dads! There are plenty of online groups dedicated to the art of fathering. These groups can be havens for you to discuss all of your feelings from the good to the bad and every joy and frustration in between.

Readers Share:

I can remember clearly how I felt the first time that I heard the clippity clop of my baby's heart beat for the first time. I also remember feeling anxious as they looked around my still small belly trying to find it. How far along were you when you heard it? How did you feel? Who was with you?

Share Your Feelings

Twin Tips:

Your uterus may begin to measure larger for dates than a singleton mom. This could also be one of the first times that multiples are suspected. Are you having twins?