Pregnancy tips. We at Birth Onwards recognize the importance and value of every human life from conception. Regardless of your situation, almighty God has a wonderful plan for your child's life. In Jesus name we pray that you and your child or children will grow in faith. Faith in the one true living God, and His Holy Word the Bible. We wish you every blessing in your pregnancy, and the birth of your wonderful little baby. If this is your first child you'll probably have loads of questions about the birth and what happens afterwards. Birth onwards is here to help you every step of the way, so whatever stage you're at, you'll find lots in our site to help you . To get started, just click on one of the tabs here on the left, or take a look at the fetal development samples below up to 22 weeks. Take the time to email Julie concerning your pregnancy, Julie would love to hear from you. Email Julie Earle. |
This internet site provides information of a general nature and is designed for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your own health or the health of your child, you should always consult a doctor or other healthcare professionals. If you are looking for the rest of this fetal development information then we at Birth Onwards would highly recommend the Baby Center. See sample below. We at Birth Onwards have given the Baby Center a helpful link so you can easily enter into their website. Simply click on their web address here http://www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy |
| Fetal development - 4 weeks pregnant. |
The ball of cells -- now called an embryo -- growing inside your uterus is the size of an apple seed. It's divided into three layers that will later form organs and tissues. Low on the sides of the head are two folds of tissue that will become the ears.
The neural tube -- from which the brain, backbone, and spinal cord and nerves will sprout develops in the top layer.
The heart and the circulatory system begin to appear in the middle layer. The third layer starts to house the lungs, intestines, and beginnings of the urinary system. In the meantime, the early version of the placenta, the chorionic villi, and the umbilical cord, which delivers nourishment and oxygen to your baby,
are already working.
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Fetal development - 5 weeks pregnant
You may not look pregnant at this point but your embryo's heart, no bigger than a poppyseed, has already begun to beat and pump blood. The heart is dividing into chambers and will find a more regular rhythm soon. The embryo itself is about a quarter of an inch/ half a centimeter long and looks more like a tadpole than a human. It undergoes a growth spurt this week.
Major organs, including the kidneys and liver, begin to grow. The neural tube, which connects the brain and spinal cord, will close this week. The embryo's upper and lower limb buds begin to sprout -- these will form your baby's arms and legs.
The intestines are developing and the appendix is in place.
Below the opening that will later form your baby's mouth, small folds exist where the neck and the lower jaw eventually develop. As early as this week, facial features are already forming. Nostrils are becoming distinct and the earliest version of the eyes' retinas are forming. Find out how much folic acid you need.
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Fetal development - 6 weeks pregnant
The embryo is the size of a lentil this week. If you could see inside yourself, you'd find the fetus has an oversized head in proportion to its body. The embryo's facial features are forming with dark spots where the eyes are, openings where the nostrils will be, and pits to mark the ears.
Protruding buds that will become the arms and legs are even more noticeable now. The embryo's hands and feet look like paddles. Other developments include the growth of the pituitary gland and muscle fibres. You can't hear it yet, but the heart (which has divided into the right and left chambers) is beating at about 150 beats a minute -- twice the rate of yours.
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Fetal development - 7 weeks pregnant
Now about half an inch / 1.25 centimeters long, the size of a grape, the embryo has distinct, slightly webbed fingers and toes. It's a jumping bean, moving in fits and starts. The liver is churning out large amounts of red blood cells until the bone marrow forms and takes over this role. The eighth week marks the beginning of a very busy developmental stage. Between now and 20 weeks, your baby will be growing rapidly, and body parts that formed in the first few weeks of life (such as the heart and brain) will become more specialized and complicated. Right now, the teeth and palate are forming, while the ears continue to develop.
The fetus' skin is paper thin, and veins are clearly visible.
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Fetal development - 8 weeks pregnant
Congratulations -- your embryo is now called a fetus, which means "little one." Your uterus expands to accommodate its new resident, which now measures approximately 0.6 inch / 1.6 centimeters. Many changes take place this week -- the embryonic tail is gone, and all organs, muscles, and nerves are beginning to function. The hands now bend at the wrist, and the feet begin to lose their webbed appearance. Eyelids are beginning to cover the eyes.
Your pregnancy is changing your figure as well. Your breasts may have grown large enough that you'll need bigger bras with better support than your old ones. You may notice your waistline expanding as well, forcing you to pack away your favorite jeans until next year. If you drink plenty of fluoridated water -- eight glasses or more a day -- you should be getting enough fluoride so calcium and phosphorus will bond well in your baby's developing teeth and bones.
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Fetal development - 9 weeks pregnant
By the tenth week of pregnancy, you may find yourself riding pregnancy's emotional roller coaster, feeling moody one day and joyful the next. Disturbing as this is to some women who pride themselves on being in control, what you're going through is normal and will probably continue throughout your pregnancy. Up-and-down emotions are partly caused by raging hormones.
At week's end, your fetus measures approximately 0.9 inches / 2.3 centimeters long. In both shape and size, it resembles a peapod and weighs less than a tenth of an ounce / 2 grams. The eyelids are fused and won't open until week 27. The wrists are more developed, ankles have formed, and the fingers and toes are clearly visible. Arms are growing longer and bend at the elbows. By week's end, the inner workings of the ears are complete. Though you can't yet identify the sex of the fetus by ultrasound, its genitals have begun to form. By now the placenta has developed enough to support most of the critical job of producing hormones.
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Fetal development - 10 weeks pregnant
The fetus is only about 1.2 inches / 3 centimeters long from crown to rump and weighs less than a sixth of an ounce / 4 grams. Even so, it's busily swallowing and kicking. Each day more minute details start to appear, such as fingernails and peach-fuzzy hair.
The vital organs -- the liver, kidneys, intestines, brain, and lungs -- are fully formed and functional, while the head is almost half the length of the entire body. The forehead temporarily bulges and sits high on the head, but later will change.
If you could take a look at your baby this week, you'd be able to see the clear outline of his spine. Spinal nerves stretch out from the spinal cord.
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Fetal development - 11 weeks pregnant
You're getting close to the end of the first trimester. Most of the baby's critical development will be behind you after the next couple of weeks.
Measuring from the crown of his head to his rump, your 1.5-inch/ 4-centimetre fetus has all his parts, from tooth buds to toenails. Your baby is busy kicking and stretching; his movements are so fluid they look like water ballet. Fingers and toes have fully separated. Now the fetus's main task during the next six months will be to grow larger and stronger until it can survive on its own outside the womb. |
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Fetal development - 12 weeks pregnant
Your baby's face is beginning to look more human, even though she is only about 2 inches/5.5cms long from her crown to her rump and weighs slightly less than half an ounce/ 14 grams. The eyes, which started out on the sides of the head, have moved closer together. The ears are almost in their normal position on the side of the head. The liver is making bile and the kidneys are secreting urine in the bladder.
The fetus squirms if your abdomen is prodded, although you cannot yet feel movement. Fetal nerve cells have been multiplying rapidly and synapses (neurological connections in your brain) are forming. The fetus has acquired more reflexes: touching the palms makes the fingers close, touching the soles of the feet makes the toes curl down and touching the eyelids makes the eye muscles clench.
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Fetal development - 13 weeks pregnant
The fetus is now nearly 3 inches / 7 to 8 centimeters long from crown to rump and weighs nearly an ounce / 23 grams -- about half a banana. Its unique fingerprints are already in place. And when you poke your stomach gently and she feels it, your baby will start rooting -- that is, act as if she's searching for a nipple.
If you're having a girl, she now has approximately 2 million eggs in her ovaries; she will have only a million by the time she's born. She'll have fewer eggs as she gets older, and by age 17, the number will have dropped to 200,000. As for you, the fog may be lifting, so to speak. For many women, the side effects of early pregnancy -- frequent urination, intense fatigue, nausea -- diminish sometime in the second trimester. Your uterus, while large enough to announce to onlookers that you're indeed pregnant, isn't so huge that it gets in your way. Even though birth is months away, your breasts may already start making colostrum, the fluid that will feed your baby for the first few days before your milk comes in.
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Fetal development - 14 weeks pregnant
Crown to rump, your baby is around 3 and a half inches / 9 centimeters long and weighs one and a half ounces / 43 grams. The body is now growing faster than the head. This week, its parchment-thin skin covers itself with lanugo (ultra-fine, downy hair that usually disappears before birth). Though eyebrows are beginning to grow and the hair on top of the head is sprouting, this hair may change in both texture and colour after birth. About now, the fetus can grasp, squint, frown, and grimace. It may even be able to suck its thumb. Researchers believe these and other movements probably correspond to the development of impulses in the brain.
Note: Experts say every baby develops differently -- even in utero. These fetal development pages are designed to give a general idea of how a fetus grows in the womb.
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Fetal development - 15 weeks pregnant
You may not know it when it happens, but your tiny tenant frequently gets the hiccups, which babies master before breathing. Babies don't make any sound because their trachea is filled with fluid rather than air. Although you've probably gained between 5 and 10 pounds / 2.2 - 4.5 kilograms, the fetus weighs in at around only 2.5 ounces / 70 grams. It measures nearly 4 inches / 11 centimeters long, crown to rump. Legs are growing longer than the arms now, fingernails are fully formed and all the joints and limbs can move. You may be able to find out the sex of your baby by ultrasound now, since the external genitals may be developed enough that the ultrasound technician can tell you if you're going to have a boy or a girl. If the idea of having a baby seems so remote, nothing makes it feel more real than feeling your baby move for the first time. Most mums-to-be discern movement (called quickening) between 16 and 20 weeks. If you've been pregnant before, you'll feel things earlier rather than later. What you may first think is a rumbling stomach may be your baby doing some back flips. Make note of when you first start feeling the baby and tell your midwife at your next visit. This middle stage of pregnancy is a good time to start exercising.
Note: Experts say every baby develops differently -- even in utero. These fetal development pages are designed to give a general idea of how a fetus grows in the womb.
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Fetal development - 16 weeks pregnant
Your baby is now about the size of an avocado (about 5 inches / 11.6 centimeters long from crown to rump and weighing approximately 4 ounces / 100 grams). In the next three weeks he'll go through a tremendous growth spurt, doubling his weight and adding inches to his length.
In or out of the womb, babies are playful creatures. Yours may already have discovered his first toy -- the umbilical cord -- which he'll enjoy pulling and grabbing. Sometimes he may even clutch it so tight that less oxygen gets through, but don't worry -- he doesn't hold onto it long enough to harm himself. The circulatory system and urinary tract are in full working order, and he's inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid through his lungs.
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Fetal development - 17 weeks pregnant
Your baby is now nearly 5.5 inches/ 13 centimeters long from crown to rump and weighs approximately 5 ounces/ 140 grams. Her skeleton is mostly rubbery cartilage, which will harden later. A protective substance called myelin slowly begins to wrap around the spinal cord. With the help of a special stethoscope, you can now hear your baby's heartbeat. There's almost nothing more comforting or exciting than hearing your baby's heartbeat galloping along. On days when you're worried about how your pregnancy is progressing, hearing the heartbeat lets you know that your baby's developing and growing. For times when boredom strikes and you feel as if you'll be pregnant forever, it can be a pleasant reminder of what will come at the end of 40 weeks of waiting.
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Fetal development - 18 weeks pregnant
Your baby is approximately 6 inches/ 14.2 centimeters long from crown to rump and she weighs about 7 ounces/ 190 grams. Her chest moves up and down to mimic breathing but she's not taking in air, only amniotic fluid. A mid-pregnancy ultrasound scan is often done sometime in the second trimester (usually between 18 and 22 weeks) to assess fetal growth and development, screen for certain birth defects, check the placenta and umbilical cord and determine whether the gestational age is accurate. During this scan, you might see your baby kick, flex, reach, roll, or even suck her thumb. Bring your husband/partner along, and whether or not he's able to accompany you, make sure you ask for printouts of the baby in various poses.
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Fetal development - 19 weeks pregnant
You're halfway there! The top of your uterus now reaches your belly button and will grow about a centimeter per week. The fetus measures around 6 inches/ 15 centimeters long from crown to rump and weighs about 9 ounces/ 240 grams. She has started to swallow amniotic fluid, and her kidneys continue to make urine. Hair on the scalp is sprouting. Sensory development reaches its peak this week. The nerve cells serving each of the senses -- taste, smell, hearing, seeing, and touch -- are now developing in their specialized areas of the brain. Nerve cell production slows down as existing nerve cells grow larger and make more complex connections. If you're carrying a baby girl, she already has roughly six million eggs in her ovaries. By the time she's born, she'll have about one million.
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Fetal development - 20 weeks pregnant
Your baby measures about 6.5 inches/ 16.5 centimeters from crown to rump and is steadily gaining weight. A whitish coat of a slick, fatty substance called vernix caseosa begins to cover your baby and protects the skin during its long immersion in amniotic fluid. It also eases delivery. The baby's swallowing more this week, good practice for the digestive system. After your baby takes in amniotic fluid, his body absorbs the water in the liquid and moves the rest into the large bowel. You may want to look into a childbirth education class if you haven't done so already. Whether you are a first-time parent or want a refresher course, you will benefit from a structured class either way. No matter what the philosophy behind it, an antenatal class can help prepare you for the rigours of labour and delivery. You should plan to have completed the classes by 37 weeks, when you'll be considered full-term and labour could start at any time.
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Fetal development - 21 weeks pregnant
The fetus now weighs about three-quarters of a pound/ 360 grams and is approximately 10.5 inches/ 27 centimeters long from crown to heel. The eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed and the fingernails cover the fingertips. There's a saying: 'Little pitchers have big ears'. Your baby can now hear your conversations. If you talk, read, or sing to your baby, expect her to hear you. Some studies have found that newborns will suck more vigorously when read to from a book they heard frequently in utero. If you want to try, pick a book now and read it out loud. Make sure you won't mind reading it over and over once the baby is here. It may be your baby's favorite bedtime story for a long time after birth.
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Fetal development - 22 weeks pregnant
The baby now weighs almost one pound / 430 grams, measures nearly 11 inches/ just over 27 centimeters long from crown to heel, and is proportioned like a newborn, albeit a thinner version since her baby fat hasn't yet developed. Although she's getting heavier every day, her skin still appears wrinkled because she needs to gain more weight. The lips are distinct and the eyes are formed, though the iris (the coloured part of the eye) still lacks pigment. The pancreas, essential in the production of hormones, is developing steadily.
Even this early, the first signs of teeth appear in the form of tooth buds beneath the gum line. Before you know it, your baby will be born, and soon after, her first teeth will come through. You've probably gained between 12 and 15 pounds / 5.4 and 6.8 kilograms. Starting now, you'll begin to put on weight more steadily, averaging about half a pound / 225 grams per week. You may crave certain foods and you may notice an increased (but not bloody) vaginal discharge. Both are a normal part of being pregnant.
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