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11/15/2008 - by Anne Marie Nielson
  
Prenancy Week 12

You're Pregnant! Week 12

You may be feeling some cramping. Most of these sensations are perfectly normal during pregnancy. If you feel a sharp cramp when you get up from a chair or turn suddenly, this is a cramping from your round ligaments. There is one round ligament on each side of your uterus that connects it to your sacrum (large flat bone that makes up the back of your pelvis). This ligament will stretch and grow during pregnancy as your uterus grows. Because of this, it is inclined to cramp on occasion.

Other causes of cramping may be the early beginnings of Braxton Hicks contractions. These are practice contractions that help tone your uterine muscles in preparation for labor. They may be very mild at first, or just feel like your uterus gets hard temporarily. Some women also begin to suffer from sciatica around this time. This is a sharp shooting pain that goes up the back of your hip. The best remedy for sciatica is stretching out your hip. You can do this by sitting on the floor or other firm surface with your legs extended. Bend forward, stretching out your hip. Other women luck out and don't feel any sciatica pain at all during pregnancy.

YOUR BABY

Your baby is moving constantly, but as of yet you probably can't feel it. Your baby definitely looks like a boy or a girl at this point. The skin is translucent and delicate. Baby's thyroid is functioning, providing hormones to the baby's growing body. The lungs have attained their proper shape. Baby begins hiccupping at times and soft hair begins to grow all over. This is called lanugo, and it will help hold a waxy substance called vernix on the skin. Baby has fingerprints now that are unique and individual. Baby is about 3.2 to 4.5 inches long this week, and weighs around .9 ounces.

YOUR BODY

Your belly will make its own announcement soon. One day you'll wake up and be amazed that your belly has suddenly appeared. Exactly when that happens will depend on how long your waist is (long waisted women will show later than short waisted women), how toned your abdominal muscles are, whether or not this is your first pregnancy, and what size you are before pregnancy. Most women begin to show between the third and fourth month, although some show earlier and others show later. If you are carrying multiples, you will show faster than a woman carrying a single baby in most cases.

At From Pregnancy To Baby, we try to provide you with all of the latest information about going through your pregnancy from your first trimester to the first years of your new babies life. We also provide the highest quality books and products to help you through that time.

Source: http://www.frompregnancytobaby.com/pregnancy-week-12.html