TRIMESTER 2 DEVELOPMENT Topics in Science 13 WEEKS

TRIMESTER 2 DEVELOPMENT Topics in Science

13 WEEKS PREGNANT Your baby is now about 6. 7 cm long, and weighs nearly 23 g. about the same as a pea pod. Your baby has sucking muscles in her cheeks, so when you poke your tummy gently she will feel it and start rooting. (instinct of searching for your nipple once she's born) 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. Your baby is also beginning to form urine and discharge it into the amniotic fluid.

14 WEEKS PREGNANT 8 cm long and weighs about 40 g. The body is now growing faster than the head. This week, the parchment-thin skin is starting to cover itself with ultrafine, downy hair (lanugo) that usually disappears before birth. Eyebrows are beginning to grow and the hair on top of her head is sprouting. About now, your baby can grasp, squint, frown, and grimace.

You should have had your first two ultrasound scans by the end of this week. A dating scan is offered between 11 weeks and 13 weeks plus six days. (to predict due date) • A nuchal translucency scan, which checks whether your baby is likely have Down's syndrome, is offered between 11 weeks plus two days and 14 weeks plus one day. (All babies have some fluid at the back of their neck. But many babies with Down's syndrome have an increased amount. )

15 WEEKS PREGNANT Your baby's skeleton is developing bones, which will become visible on ultrasound images in a few weeks. Although mom has probably gained between 2. 2 kg and 4. 5 kg, the baby weighs in at only about 70 g. He measures nearly 9. 1 cm long, crown to rump. You may not know it when it happens, but your tiny tenant frequently gets the hiccups The baby's legs are growing longer than his arms now and all his joints and limbs can move.

16 WEEKS PREGNANT (4 MONTHS) 10 cm long from crown to rump, about the size of an avocado, and weighs about 100 g. Baby's head is more erect than it has been, and her eyes have moved closer to the front of her head. Her circulatory system and urinary tract are in full working order, and she's inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid through her lungs.

17 WEEKS PREGNANT 11 cm long from crown to rump and weighs about 140 g. His skeleton is mostly rubbery cartilage, but will start to harden as the weeks go by. A protective substance called myelin slowly begins to wrap around his spinal cord. Sweat glands are starting to develop all over his body. Your expanding uterus (womb) has shifted your centre of gravity and you've probably been feeling a bit off-kilter. Toenails have begun to develop.

Soon fat stores begin to develop under your baby's skin. The fat will provide energy and help keep your baby warm after birth.

18 WEEKS PREGNANT 12 cm long from crown to rump and she weighs about 190 g. About the size of a medium yam. Her chest moves up and down to mimic breathing. Her blood vessels are visible through her thin skin, and her ears are now in their final position If you're having a girl, the vagina, uterus (womb), and fallopian tubes are in place. If it's a boy, his genitals will be distinct and recognisable.

19 WEEKS PREGNANT The nerve cells serving each of the senses – taste, smell, hearing, seeing and touch – are developing in their specialised areas of the brain. Nerve cell production slows down as existing nerve cells grow larger and make more complex connections. You may have started to feel your baby's movements. 17 weeks after conception, a greasy, cheese-like coating called vernix caseosa begins to cover your baby. The vernix caseosa helps protect your baby's delicate skin from abrasions, chapping and hardening that can result from exposure to amniotic fluid. For girls, the uterus and vagina might begin to form this week.

20 &

20 & 21 WEEKS PREGNANT until now your baby has been measured from crown to rump but from this point on the measurement will be from crown to heel – and this week she is about 26 -28 cm long and is steadily gaining weight. If you’re having a boy, testes will descend from the pelvis into the scrotum in the coming weeks. You're probably feeling quite comfortable these days. This, in fact, may be the most enjoyable time in your pregnancy. You're not too big yet, and the usual aches and pains associated with pregnancy like nausea, frequent urination, and fatigue are for the most part gone.

2 nd Trimester fetal development

22 WEEKS PREGNANT The baby now weighs almost one pound and is proportioned like a newborn, albeit a thinner version since her baby fat hasn't yet developed. 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. You've probably gained between 12 and 15 pounds Starting now, you'll begin to put on weight more steadily, averaging about half a pound per week.

Your baby is the size of a spaghetti squash.

23 -24 WEEKS PREGNANT Her hearing is well established and she can make out a distorted version of your voice, the beating of your heart and your stomach rumblings. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. He/she is about 1 ft long or about length of a large ear of corn.

25 WEEKS PREGNANT (MONTH 6) The baby now weighs nearly 1. 5 pounds / 660 grams and is approximately 13. 5 inches/ 35 centimetres long from crown to heel. At every prenatal visit, your midwife or doctor will take your blood pressure and do tests on a sample of your urine. In this way, pregnancy-related conditions such as preeclampsia and diabetes can be detected and treated. � Pre-eclampsia occurs when the placenta is not working properly. It can range from mild to severe and although it cannot be cured, it can be managed. Since it reduces the flow of blood to the placenta, it can be quite dangerous for your unborn baby.

26 & 27 WEEKS PREGNANT At 26 weeks, fetal brain scans show response to touch. If you shine a light on your abdomen, your baby will turn his head, which according to researchers, means his optic nerve is working. Your baby now weighs nearly 2 pounds This is the last week of your second trimester. Your baby now sleeps and wakes on a regular schedule, and her brain is very active. Her lungs aren't fully formed, but they could function outside the womb with medical help.

28 WEEKS PREGNANT Your baby weighs nearly 2. 3 pounds and may measure 14. 8 inches/ 38 centimetres from top to toe. At about this time, your baby can open his eyes and turn his head in utero if he notices a continuous, bright light shining from the outside. His fat layers are forming and his fingernails appear. He/she is the size of an eggplant.

TRIMESTER 3 – 29 WEEKS PREGNANT Baby now weighs around 2. 5 pounds and measures about 15 inches In boys, testicles descend from near the kidneys through the groin en route to the scrotum. In girls, the clitoris is relatively prominent because it's not yet covered by the still-small labia. These will grow to cover it in the last few weeks before birth. Your baby's head is getting bigger, and brain growth is very rapid at this time. Your baby's nutritional needs reach their peak during the third trimester. You'll need plenty of protein, vitamin C, folic acid, iron, and calcium (about 200 milligrams is deposited in your baby's skeleton every day), so eat foods rich in these nutrients. The skeleton hardens even more and the brain, muscles, and lungs continue to mature.

30 WEEKS PREGNANT Around this time in your pregnancy baby is getting ready for birth by moving into a head-down position within your uterus. Your baby's lungs and digestive tract are almost fully developed. While your baby may soon slow up growing in length, he measures about 15. 7 inches he will continue to gain weight until he's born. Your baby now has eyebrows and eyelashes and is about the size of a large cabbage.

31 Weeks Pregnant Your baby's arms, legs and body continue to fill out -- and they are finally proportional in size to her head. She weighs about 3. 3 pounds. Baby's organs are continuing to mature and she is passing water from her bladder: good practice for the urinating she'll do after she's born. Soon you can wonder what your baby is wishing for -brain scans have shown that fetuses have periods of dream sleep around month eight. Baby might feel as if she is not moving around as much, this is because the baby is running out of room.

32 & 33 WEEKS PREGNANT Your baby now weighs about 4. 2 pounds and measures approximately 17 inches Your baby should already be getting ready for delivery by turning upside-down -- his head should be pointing down. Baby is about the size of a pineapple.

34 & 35 WEEKS PREGNANT 99 per cent of babies born at week 35 can survive outside the womb -- and most have no major problems. Although your baby's central nervous system is still maturing, her lungs are nearly fully developed by now. Your baby now weighs about 5. 25 pounds and measures approximately 18 inches. His elbow, foot or head may protrude from your stomach when he stretches and squirms about. This week, your little one is now sporting fingernails and has a fully developed pair of kidneys. His liver can also process some waste products.

36 WEEKS PREGNANT You may begin to feel an increased pressure in your lower abdomen and notice that your baby is gradually dropping. This is called lightening or engagement, and your lungs and stomach will finally get a chance to stretch out a little -- breathing and eating should become easier. The good news is that by the end of this week, your pregnancy will be full-term and you could give birth any day now. (Babies between 37 and 42 weeks are considered full-term -- a baby born before 37 weeks is premature and after 42 is post-term. ) At your weekly visit, your doctor or midwife may check to see if you've started dilating (when the cervix opens) and effacing (when the cervix thins). The doctor or midwife will also check what position the baby is in, in order to estimate how far the baby has dropped into the pelvis.

37 WEEKS PREGNANT Most of the downy coat of lanugo that covered your baby from 26 weeks has disappeared, and so has most of the vernix caseosa, the whitish substance that also covers her. Your baby will swallow her lanugo and exterior coating, along with other secretions, and store them in her bowels. These will become your infant's first bowel movement, a blackish waste called meconium. The baby could weigh about 6. 5 lbs.

38 & 39 WEEKS PREGNANT The average baby is about 20. 5 inches long from head to toe and weighs approximately 7. 5 pounds at birth, but anywhere between 5 pounds 11. 5 ounces and 8 pounds 5. 75 ounces is a healthy range for newborns. Your amniotic fluid, once clear, is now pale and milky from your baby's shedding vernix caseosa. The outer layers of skin are also sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

40 WEEKS PREGNANT After months of anticipation, your due date has been and gone, and. . . you're still pregnant. It's frustrating, but lots of women find themselves in this situation. Your baby continues to shed the greasy, white substance (vernix caseosa) which has been protecting her skin. If she shows no sign of making an appearance after another week, she may have slightly dry skin when she arrives.