week 12
What is happening to my Baby?
Your baby is now known as a fetus instead of an embryo. Rapid growth occur in the baby’s digestive, kidney and nervous system. The kidneys are now producing urine too! At this stage your baby is 60mm in length. A device called Doppler could be used to hear your baby’s heart rate.
What is happening to me?
You are feeling much better now as your morning sickness subsides. As your appetite improves, your weight will gradually increase. In addition, you will notice some skin changes with pregnancy. Unfortunately, this includes acne as well. During pregnancy, the hormone progesterone which is important in maintain your baby’s implantation in the womb also causes increase secretion from the skin’s sebaceous gland leading to shinier, oilier and acne-proned skin.
What should I plan this week?
- Take a good look at your skin care regime and cosmetics. If you have problems with acne, talk to your doctor or go to the nearby pharmacist. Be sure to let them know that you are pregnant.
- Check your wardrobe especially if this is not your first pregnancy. You may need to change your wardrobe to replace it with maternity clothes.
Tips of the week
Tips on how to deal with acne during pregnancy:
- Cleanse your skin with suitable cleanser for your skin. Do not be overzealous with your cleaning. Twice / day should do as doing more than this could lead to drying of your skin and more oil with be secreted by the glands in your skin.
- Keep your hands off your face
- Do not squeeze your zit!
- Do not forget to moisturize your skin
- Use suitable acne medication on the acne for e.g containing benzoyl peroxide. Avoid those containing salicylic acid. Topical antibiotic such as erythromycin is safe during pregnancy if you are not allergic to it.
- Do not use products containing Retin-A, Accutane and the antibiotic tetracycline during pregnancy.
- Drink a lot of fluid
- Eat a healthy balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables.
Health matters
You should read further on the following topics:
