12 Weeks Pregnant: Words of Welcome

Now is a great time to begin daily pelvic tilts, which we’ll revisit later in pregnancy too.

How to do a pelvic tilt:

1. Come to hands and knees on a yoga mat, towel, or carpet.
2. Inhale and engage your abdominal muscles while you lift your lower back up toward the ceiling. Imagine a string is helping you lift your lower back (lumbar). Don’t focus on your shoulders; focus on pulling your tailbone under.
3. Exhale and release your abdominal muscles while you straighten your back into a tabletop pose. Don’t dip your lower back like a swayback horse because that can strain your muscles in pregnancy.
4. Continue moving between curling your lower back to straightening it rhythmically, with your breath.
5. Do 20-40 pelvic tilts. Get up slowly so you don’t get a head rush.

Most of your baby’s body parts and organs are fully formed. The baby’s primary job now is to keep growing and maturing. Reflexes are developing now too. Though you can’t yet feel it, baby’s fingers can open and close, and baby’s toes can curl. Baby is about 2.5-3 inches (6.45 inches) long and weighs between 0.5 to 1 ounce (14 to 28 grams).