Day 1 LIFE

BEGINS

At the moment of fertilization a unique life is created. It was at this instant that your entire genetic code was written, and everything ranging from your sex to your eye and skin color was determined. Every cell that makes up who you are now came from this first one.

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Day 7

IMPLANTATION

Growing at a remarkable rate, the embryo is now 100 cells and called a blastocyst. He’ll begin burying himself in the uterine lining and start producing HGC (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin). This hormone lets Mom know she’s pregnant.

Day 21HEARTBEATSTARTS

Though only 1/25th of an inch, the baby has developed into three distinct layers: the ectoderm, the mesoderm, and to the endoderm. The outer layer of the ectoderm becomes the neural tube where the brain, spinal cord, spinal nerves, and backbone develop. Developent of the bones and muscles takes place in the mesoderm, whereas in the innermost layer, or the endoderm, the heart and lungs are forming. Already, his heart beats at 75-80 bpm. Mom is considered four weeks pregnant at this tme.

week 6

EYES,EARS, MOUTH, AND NOSE

By now, his basic facial features have begun to develop. The lenses for his eyes appear, his nostrils start to form, and the openings for his ears are in place. His arms and hands are more than just buds now; one can even see the distinct, though still webbed, fingers and toes. His intestines, pancreas, and other parts of the digestive system are forming, and his brain has already developed into five distinct areas.

week 8

ELBOWSAt eight weeks the embryonic period ends and the fetal period begins. All of the baby’s essential organs are present. The neural pathways are forming in the brain and though the heart continues developing, the most critical formations are complete. Additionally, he has elbows, wrists, ankles, eyelids, and an upper lip.

week 20

QUICKENING

The baby can now feel pain. At four months, Mom may start to feel her baby moving for the first time, the “quickening.” If she goes in for an ultrasound and the baby is cooperating, she might also learn her baby’s sex. Her baby is experiencing new sensations as well. Taste buds are developing and he can sense light. Though his body is only four-and-a-half inches, his heart is pumping twenty-five quarts of blood a day.

week 22VIABILITY

Amillia Sonia Taylor, “the world’s youngest premature baby ever,” survived birth at just 21 weeks and six days, but the given age for viability is usually to be considered 24 weeks. At this point his chance for survival is the development of his lungs. Right now they’re beginning to make surfactant, a substance that will help him breathe outside the womb.

week 24 BALANCEThis week his inner ear finishes its development, giving him that ever important sense of balance, as well as hearing. He’s also growing tooth buds beneath his gums and taste buds on his tongue. His weight is almost up to a pound and he’s a while eveben inches long. Amillia Sonia Taylor, “the world’s youngest premature baby ever,” survived birth at just 21 weeks and 6 days.

week 30 BLINK

By now, the baby can open and close his eyelids, and his eyes have developed enough so he can sense light through his mother’s womb. His vision will be about 20/400 at the time of birth and keep sharpening in the weeks after. His weight is up to about three pounds and for the next month, as he fills out and adds layers of fat, he’ll gain half a pound per week.

week 35

FINGERNAILS

At around twenty inches long and weighing more than five pounds, the baby is running out of room in Mom’s uterus and will soon be ready for life outside the womb. His lungs are still growing, but all other major physical development is complete. Even his fingernails, which began forming at 12 weeks, have grown to reach the ends of his fingertips.

week 40 BIRTH