Week 12: Your pregnancy

Your baby's growth: A facial profile

Your baby continues to grow and is now about 3 inches long. By Week 12 your baby has a profile, complete with a little chin and a tiny nose. Inside the mouth folded tissues join to form the palate, or roof of the mouth, which separates the oral and nasal cavities.

Some other fascinating things will happen in the 12th week:

• Kidneys. Amniotic fluid will build up as your baby's kidneys begin to produce and excrete urine into the fluid.
• Pancreas. It will begin to produce insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels.
• Liver. It will start to secrete bile, a thick, greenish fluid stored in the gall bladder that helps the body digest fats.
• Digestive process. The muscles in the intestinal walls will begin to practice contractions. Basically your baby is practicing the digestive processes that will begin once she is born.
• Brain. The brain's basic structure is intact by the end of the week, and brain mass is growing all the time.
• Pituitary gland will begin to produce hormones.
• Hair. Soft, non-pigmented hair—believed to protect your baby's skin before birth—will begin to appear on your little one's body. Most of this hair, called lanugo, will disappear soon after birth.

What's happening with you

• Uterus enlargement. Sometime during this week your uterus will probably move upward and forward as it continues to enlarge. This means the pressure on your bladder will temporarily ease. Eventually however your uterus will get large enough so that it will again push against the bladder, increasing your need to urinate. About now you will find that your expanding abdomen will make regular clothes seem tight, and you may decide to start wearing maternity garments.
• Skin radiance. During this week you may notice your skin becoming more radiant due to your increased blood volume and pregnancy hormones. As more blood flows through your blood vessels and hormones increase oil gland secretion, you may experience flushed, plumper, smoother skin.
• Skin problems. Hormone-related oil activity may have other effects on your skin, such as temporary acne or brown patches called chloasma on the face or neck. Not to worry: Most of these skin problems are only temporary, and many disappear after birth.
• Nausea and fatigue goes away. Many women now start to feel better in the pregnancy as fatigue and nausea fade away.
• Weight gain. Because of hormonal changes as your body prepares for childbirth, you may notice that you're gaining weight in your hips, legs and sides. As a result you might feel more comfortable in loose-fitting, early-stage-pregnancy clothes.