12 Weeks pregnant: time for your first pregnancy scan

Introduction

At 12 weeks pregnant, you’ll have your first scan. Seeing your baby for the first time can be wonderful, nerve-wracking and everything in between. Grow baby, grow. Your tiny human has all their parts, now all baby has to do is grow. Time for protein. It’s great for transporting nutrients round the body, straight to baby.

Read more on what to expect at 12 weeks pregnant.

What happens to your body at 12 weeks pregnant?

Congratulations. At 12 weeks pregnant you’re a third of the way through your pregnancy. Only one week to go until the second trimester, often known as the ‘golden trimester’. During the second trimester, your hormones have done a lot of the hard work and will start to ease off, so most women enjoy less nausea, less lethargy and more energy. Hence why it is known as the ‘golden trimester’. Soon your uterus will move up into your belly so there’ll be fewer visits to the loo too.

On average, a mother-to-be weighs 1 to 2 kg more towards the end of the first trimester. Interestingly, at just 18g, your little one takes up the smallest proportion of the weight increase. Most of it is thanks to your expanded uterus, placenta and the amniotic fluid.

On the down side you may have a whole new set of symptoms, like back pain, abdominal pain, and bleeding gums. If you want to keep smiling through the pain better give those pearly whites some extra love because pregnancy hormones can be unkind to teeth and gums. Book a trip to the dentist, the Treatment Benefit scheme can help with the cost of dental care if you are eligible.

What to eat at 12 weeks pregnant?

From here on in baby’s most important job is to grow and yours is to give them the right nutrients to do it. So, time for protein. It helps transport nutrients around the body, build healthy bones, and maintain body tissues. Luckily protein comes in many delicious forms and should be easy to fit into your pregnancy diet – beans, pulses, tofu, fish, eggs, meat, poultry and nuts. To become a lean, mean, baby-growing machine, choose lean cuts of meat (avoiding liver), remove skin from poultry, and try cooking without oil. Meat really needs to be cooked all the way through with no pink bits left – if you enjoy a juicy rare steak, apologies. Try to eat two portions of fish a week, one of which can be oily fish like salmon, sardines or mackerel.

You might go off certain foods and crave others. It’s very common in pregnancy. If you go off meat or fish try eating them cold in a salad, it’s often the smell that puts you off. Marinating food in vinegar, lemon or lime juice, can help too as sharper, cleaner tastes are often easier on your new palate.

Also, now you’re pregnant your iron needs are increased. Iron helps get the extra blood flowing around the body and to baby. Here’s a clever trick – if you have vitamin C with iron it absorbs so much better. So, a glass of orange juice with your iron fortified cereal (most cereals are) is a great way to start your day.