Being 3 months pregnant can feel… surreal. In some ways, you’re out of the woods: The tentative first trimester is over, you’re feeling more confident about your pregnancy, and you’re probably even starting to tell people your big news (yay!).
At the same time, though, you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you (boo!). Pregnancy is a marathon, not a sprint — and at 3 months pregnant, you’re only about a third of the way through the race.
But don’t worry — you’ve got this, and we’re here to help. Here’s what you can expect at 3 months pregnant for you and your baby, along with what you should be doing right now to prepare for the next two legs of the marathon.
Let us guess — you kinda feel like crap right now, right? That’s unfortunately 100 percent normal. On the other hand, some people are feeling pretty good at 3 months pregnant — maybe the morning sickness got a little dicey around 8 to 10 weeks, but you’ve been keeping your breakfast down ever since. Go you!
However you’re feeling, it’s probably “normal” for you and your unique pregnancy. At 3 months, you might have symptoms like:
- nausea and vomiting
- constipation, gas, and heartburn
- breast changes such as swelling, itching, and darkening of the nipples
- fatigue
- dizziness and headaches
- increase in appetite
- mood swings
- increase in vagin*l discharge
- increase in food aversions and cravings
Those who don’t have any morning sickness at all often worry this means something is “wrong” with their baby. But while
Morning sickness is common but it doesn’t strike everyone, so if you don’t have it, call yourself lucky and enjoy it!
Although seeing pink or brown spots of blood or discharge in your underwear at any point during pregnancy is understandably alarming, it’s not always a sign that something is wrong. Spotting during early pregnancy happens in as many as 25 percent of healthy pregnancies.
However, you should contact your doctor if you’re seeing bright red blood, are bleeding enough to soak through a pad, or if there have been changes to your spotting recently.
If it’s your first pregnancy, you might not be showing yet at 3 months. Many women, especially if they have strong core muscles, won’t start showing until 4 or even 5 months pregnant the first time around.
On the other hand, if you are showing, that’s cool, too. Every woman’s body is different. And with subsequent pregnancies, you’re more likely to pop out sooner rather than later (you’d be surprised how early… like 7 or 8 weeks, sometimes!), but this is also determined by your overall height, weight, and core strength.
Bottom line? Belly size is about as individual as you are, so try not to compare your belly to other pregnant mamas, even if you’re at the same point in gestation.
OK, now that we know what’s up with you… what about baby?! At 3 months, your baby is working hard at growing: They’re now between 2 and 3 inches long and weigh about as much as a lemon.
You probably aren’t feeling much in the way of movement yet, but that doesn’t mean nothing is happening in there. Your baby’s:
- digestive, muscle, and skeletal systems are developing
- individual fingers and toes on their hands and feet are starting to form
- kidneys are starting to function
- reflexes are developing
- bone marrow is producing white blood cells
- genitals are developing (meaning that pretty soon you’ll be able to find out if your baby’s biological sex)
They might be sucking their thumb or even hiccuping!
This early in pregnancy, twin growth compared to singleton growth isn’t that different. Your twinsies may be a little smaller than a single baby at 12 weeks, but they should still both be about 2 or 3 inches long and 1/2 ounce in weight.
It’s also normal if there is a slight size difference between each of your twin babies at this stage, as long as the difference isn’t too big and your provider isn’t concerned about it.
Even if you had a not-terrible first trimester, your body went through the ringer with hormones (and your brain is probably still catching up to your new reality, too). The biggest goals on your to-do list should revolve around taking care of yourself, since it’s a little too early to prepare for labor and delivery just yet.
- Talk with your doctor about an exercise routine that’s not only safe at this point in your pregnancy, but could be modified to grow with you over the next 6 months.
- Take your prenatal vitamins!
- Focus on healthy eating. You absolutely had a free pass to go carb crazy when you were plagued with morning sickness, but now that the nausea is — or will soon be (hopefully) — subsiding, it’s time to start eating for nutrition again. You can definitely indulge in pregnancy cravings, but try not to let them call all the shots.
- Sleep, sleep, sleep (and then sleep some more). Especially if this is your first baby and you’re not caring for other kids at home. You need as much as you can get — and so does baby!
- Consider baby names, if you haven’t already. If you have a partner involved, trust us — it can take longer than you think to come to a mutual agreement.
- Think about how you’ll tell people about your pregnancy if you haven’t announced yet, especially your employer and co-workers. Depending on your situation, it might be smart to have a planned response for the inevitable “Will you be coming back after maternity leave?” question.
Thankfully, the miscarriage risk is low at this point in pregnancy. But like we said before, any significant bleeding warrants a call to your provider ASAP.
Other symptoms on the emergency call list include:
- fever of more than 102°F (38.9) for any length of time (a
fever in early pregnancy carries a higher risk of neural tube defects) - severe abdominal pain or cramping
- severe back pain
- constant vomiting, or not being able to keep any food or liquids down
- pain during urination or any other signs of urinary tract infection
- vagin*l discharge or foul smell, or any other signs of vagin*l infection
Unless you have one of these symptoms, most of your pregnancy concerns can be addressed at your monthly checkup with your healthcare provider.
Three months isn’t exactly the most exciting pregnancy milestone — getting through the day might still feel like a slog — but you’re probably just about to turn the corner on the whole “this is rough” phase if you haven’t already.
Take care of yourself and hang in there: Soon you’ll have more energy, less nausea, and sweet little baby kicks to cheer you up.
