Your Developing Baby

• Your baby's brain and spinal cord have begun to form.
• The heart begins to form.
• Arm and leg buds appear.
• Your baby is now an embryo and one-twenty-fifth inch long.

• All major organs and external body structures have begun to form.
• Your baby's heart beats with a regular rhythm.
• The arms and legs grow longer, and fingers and toes have begun to form.
• The sex organs begin to form.
• The eyes have moved forward on the face and eyelids have formed.
• The umbilical cord is clearly visible.
• At the end of eight weeks, your baby is a fetus and looks more like a human. Your baby is nearly 1 inch long and weighs less than one-eighth ounce.

• The nerves and muscles begin to work together. Your baby can make a fist.
• The external sex organs show if your baby is a boy or girl. A woman who has an ultrasound in the second trimester or later might be able to find out the baby's sex.
• Eyelids close to protect the developing eyes. They will not open again until the 28th week.
• Head growth has slowed, and your baby is much longer. Now, at about 3 inches long, your baby weighs almost an ounce.

• Muscle tissue and bone continue to form, creating a more complete skeleton.
• Skin begins to form. You can nearly see through it.
• Meconium (mih-KOH-nee-uhm) develops in your baby's intestinal tract. This will be your baby's first bowel movement.
• Your baby makes sucking motions with the mouth (sucking reflex).
• Your baby reaches a length of about 4 to 5 inches and weighs almost 3 ounces.

• Your baby is more active. You might feel slight fluttering.
• Your baby is covered by fine, downy hair called lanugo and a waxy coating called vernix. This protects the forming skin underneath.
• Eyebrows, eyelashes, fingernails, and toenails have formed. Your baby can even scratch itself.
• Your baby can hear and swallow.
• Now halfway through your pregnancy, your baby is about 6 inches long and weighs about 9 ounces.

• Bone marrow begins to make blood cells.
• Taste buds form on your baby's tongue.
• Footprints and fingerprints have formed.
• Real hair begins to grow on your baby's head.
• The lungs are formed, but do not work.
• The hand and startle reflex develop.
• Your baby sleeps and wakes regularly.
• If your baby is a boy, his testicles begin to move from the abdomen into the scrotum. If your baby is a girl, her uterus and ovaries are in place, and a lifetime supply of eggs have formed in the ovaries.
• Your baby stores fat and has gained quite a bit of weight. Now at about 12 inches long, your baby weighs about 1½ pounds.

Learn more: Second Trimester (week 13-28)

• Your baby's bones are fully formed, but still soft.
• Your baby's kicks and jabs are forceful.
• The eyes can open and close and sense changes in light.
• Lungs are not fully formed, but practise "breathing" movements occur.
• Your baby's body begins to store vital minerals, such as iron and calcium.
• Lanugo begins to fall off.
• Your baby is gaining weight quickly, about one-half pound a week. Now, your baby is about 15 to 17 inches long and weighs about 4 to 4½ pounds.

• The protective waxy coating called vernix gets thicker.
• Body fat increases. Your baby is getting bigger and bigger and has less space to move around. Movements are less forceful, but you will feel stretches and wiggles.
• Your baby is about 16 to 19 inches long and weighs about 6 to 6½ pounds.

• At 39 weeks, your baby is considered full-term. Your baby's organs are ready to function on their own.
• As you near your due date, your baby may turn into a head-down position for birth. Most babies "present" head down.
• At birth, your baby may weigh somewhere between 6 pounds 2 ounces and 9 pounds 2 ounces and be 19 to 21 inches long. Most full-term babies fall within these ranges. But healthy babies come in many different sizes.

Learn more: Third Trimester (week 29-40)