How Does Your Body Change During Week 12 Of Pregnancy?

3 min read

Written by Gayathri Lakshminarayanan

Gayathri Lakshminarayanan

CA, B.Com

Gayathri’s passion for writing had its foundation at the very early stages of her life when she was on her college editorial board and also won several awards for writing events and book review competitions. She combines her corporate experience with her writing skills and her experience as a homemaker makes her an empathetic contributor in the parenting domain . Her shift from full-time accounting professional to a homemaker gave her career a new direction.

Pregnancy week 12

Congratulations! You are in the last week of your first trimester. The best part of the 12th week of pregnancy is your morning sickness will start easing out. This means your tiredness might also calm down a bit. Your body begins to pump more blood to feed your womb. Here is a gist of how does your body change during week 12 of pregnancy.

This week, the placenta takes over the yolk sac and your baby dwells upon the placenta for nutrition. In just one more week, you will enter the most energetic and safe zone of your pregnancy. Try to get all your nutrition right, because it is very important for the baby’s proper growth.

How Does Your Body Change During Week 12 of Pregnancy?

By this week, your baby is the size of a plum, measuring about 5.4 cm in length and 14 g in weight. Although your morning sickness eases out, other symptoms may continue to make you feel tired.

While the other symptoms slowly begin to fall behind, you can expect some weird symptoms to show up during week 12 of pregnancy.

1. Bleeding and Sensitive Gums

Bleeding and sensitive gums could come as a surprise this week. It is entirely normal to find your gums red and sore. It is commonly called pregnancy gingivitis. Pregnancy hormones are the culprit for bleeding and sore gums. When these hormones are high, the blood flow to your mucous membranes increases sensitivity.

You may also find a small lump in your gums that bleeds when you use a brush or floss. This is known as a pregnancy tumor or pyogenic granuloma. Though the names look scary, there is nothing to get scared of. They are usually harmless and painless. Poor dental hygiene can worsen the situation during pregnancy.

What to do?

Maintaining good oral hygiene could ease the bleeding.

Remember to brush twice using a gentle-bristled brush and toothpaste that has fluoride
Floss daily
Consider using an alcohol-free mouthwash
Sugar is a significant contributor to plaque and bacteria formation in the mouth. So, try to avoid sugar in your diet.
Schedule an appointment with your dentist and get yourself checked

2. Dizziness

The increase in the pregnancy hormones makes the blood vessels widen and relax. The widened blood vessels help increase blood flow to the baby but reduce the speed in the flow of blood back to your veins. It results in low blood pressure, causing dizziness. The uterus’s continuous pressure can also cause dizziness.

What to do?

Be slower when you get up and sit down
Make sure to eat all of your meals
Avoid hot showers
Do not sleep on your back when you reach the middle of your second trimester.
Wear comfortable clothing

3. Recurring Symptoms

Along with your morning sickness and other bothersome symptoms falling behind, you might still experience some symptoms as you did in previous weeks.

Fatigue
Heightened Sense of Smell
Excess Saliva
Bloating
Food aversions
Nausea
Mood Swings

With your slightly bulging belly, your body is now trying to embrace the beauty of pregnancy. You may begin to drop out some of the symptoms in the upcoming weeks. Nevertheless, there is always space for new symptoms to pop up. But, this time you can handle them with a few home remedies. However, bleeding gums and dental problems don’t happen to every pregnant woman. Don’t forget to stay hydrated, take your nutrient-rich diet religiously and wait for a few more weeks to feel that fluttering inside. Trust us! You are doing fine, but it’s not wise to ignore something abnormal. So, always be in touch with your doctor.

Happy Pregnancy!