Welcome to the first article within our new week-by-week pregnancy guide! This pregnancy guide will focus on what happens during each week of your pregnancy, common symptoms, changes to the mother’s body and changes to the foetus.
There are a few common pregnancy symptoms that you may experience during week 12. These can include fatigue, nausea, food cravings and aversions, heartburn, indigestion and constipation. If you haven’t already experienced them, they may start to crop up this week. Your body is also going through some changes during week 12, your pregnancy hormone levels are rising, which can cause your breasts to become larger and more tender.
Your baby is also growing and changing during week 12. Their arms and legs are now more in proportion with the rest of their body and they can move all their joints. All their organs are now formed, but they are still very small and their bones are also starting to harden.
Your baby is now officially considered a foetus! By the end of this week, they will be about the size of a lime. All their essential organs and systems are now in place, but they will continue to develop and grow over the coming weeks and months.
You will be offered your first scan with the NHS around this time, this is often called a ‘dating scan’ and can give you an accurate due date. This scan also checks that the pregnancy is progressing well and that the baby is developing as it should be.
It’s around this time that people usually decide to announce their pregnancy to their wider family and friends, this is totally a personal choice though and some may decide to announce sooner or later than this date.
That’s it for this week! Check in next week to find out what happens during week 13 of pregnancy.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of a medical professional.
References
NHS | https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/week-by-week/1-to-12/12-weeks/
NHS | https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/your-pregnancy-care/12-week-scan/
