Someday you will cherish your baby's handprints and footprints as mementos of her early years. By the end of this month, those precious little hands and feet will be nearly fully formed. Your baby will even have fingerprints, with the distinctive pattern she'll carry with her all her life.

If you could take a peek inside the womb this month, you might catch your baby smiling, frowning, swallowing or even sucking her thumb. If you could touch her, she would respond. And if you could whisper in her ear, she might hear you, since her sense of hearing begins to develop around the 12th week.

This is an exciting time for moms. Pregnancy symptoms like morning sickness usually disappear between 12 and 16 weeks. You should be more energetic soon. Even better, you will probably hear your baby's heartbeat for the first time at your checkup this month, a reassuring reminder of the little one growing inside you.