Week 12: Our Baby is a PLUM

Welcome to Week 12! Our baby is the size of a large PLUM!

Unfortunately I'm still having days where I'm feeling very sick. I'm really ready for that part of this to end! It will all be worth it!

Anyone see a bump yet??? :)

Here's a compilation of what's happening this week from lots of different sources! Check out the pictures to see what the baby looks like this week (note: this is not our actual baby).

As you move into the second trimester, baby shifts into the growth and maturation stage. After weeks in the critical development stage, almost all of baby's systems are fully formed.

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.

Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be.

Twelve weeks into your pregnancy, or 10 weeks after conception, your baby is developing fingernails. Your baby's face now has a human profile.By now your baby may be nearly 2 1/2 inches (61 millimeters) long from crown to rump and weigh about 1/2 ounce (14 grams).

• Vocal cords begin to form - While perhaps not quite ready to be introduced to the nearest opera stage, your infant will use these immediately following the moment of birth. Bet you can't wait to hear that first cry!
• Those precious eyes begin to move closer together - Are you wondering if he will have mommy's crystal green eyes, daddy's laughing brown ones, or maybe out of the gene pool will emerge grandma's clear blue!
• Ears shift to their normal place on the side of the head
• Intestines move farther in to your child's body
• His or her liver begins to function - Responsible for cleansing the blood, storing nutrients, and providing needed chemicals, this is an important event!
• The pancreas begins to produce insulin