PREGNANCY WEEK BY WEEK - WEEK 12

What is happening with your baby:
The biggest development this week is reflexes!  Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close.  The toes will be able to curl and the eye muscles will clench.  His/her mouth will soon be able to make sucking movements.  If you poke your abdomen, your baby will squirm but you will not be able to feel it just yet.  The intestines, have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will begin to move into his abdominal cavity, and the kidneys will begin to excrete urine into the bladder.

Nerve cells are multiplying very quickly.  In your baby's brain, synapses are forming rapidly.  The face looks undeniably human.  His/her eyes have moved from the sides to the front of the head and the ears are in the right place.  From crown to rump, your baby is about two inches long and weighs approx. half an ounce.

What is happening with you:
Your uterus has grown to the point that your health care provider can feel the top of it (the fundus) low in your abdomen, just above your pubic bone.  You may be wearing maternity clothes by now, especially if this isn't your first pregnancy.  (With subsequent pregnancies, you tend to show earlier than you did with the first one)  If you are still pretty small and not yet in maternity clothes, you most definitely have noticed the thickening of your waist. 

You may begin to feel heartburn (also known as acid indigestion).  This is a burning sensation that can extend from the bottom of your breastbone to your lower throat.  Many women don't experience heartburn for the first time until they are pregnant.  But those that have occasional bouts of heartburn, often find that it worsens when they are pregnant.  While pregnant, the placenta is producing a lot of the hormone called progesterone.  Progesterone relaxes the valve that separates the esophagus from the stomach.  The heartburn can become even worse when lying down because the gastric acid can seep back up the pipe which causes the painful burning sensation.  But for many women, the problem doesn't begin or get worse until later on in the pregnancy when the growing uterus begins to push up on your stomach.  This can be a mild discomfort or can get very uncomfortable.