My baby

"Fearfully and wonderfully made"

This is what your baby looks like (add two weeks for pregnancy weeks):

These amazing images are of babies alive in their mother’s womb.

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1 week - 3 weeks

At the moment of fertilisation a baby's unique DNA is formed, determining eye colour, hair colour and gender. By 3 weeks the brain, spinal cord and heart have all started to develop. The baby's heart starts to beat at the end of the third week.

4 weeks

The heart is pumping the baby's own blood to his or her brain and body. All four chambers of the heart are present and more than 1 million heartbeats have occurred. The brain is developing rapidly. Arms and legs begin to grow. The embryo measures less than ½ cm long from head to rump.

https://www.ehd.org/mp4/1411.mp4

5 weeks

Tiny fingers are beginning to form. The baby reflexively turns away in response to touch on the face.

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6 weeks

Brain waves have been measured and recorded. The baby measures just over 1 cm from head to rump.

7 weeks

The hands start to move and the neck can turn. The baby has started to hiccup! Girls now have ovaries and boys have testes. Their heart rate peaks at about 170 beats per minute and will gradually slow down until birth. The heart is nearly fully formed.

8 weeks

Fingers and toes are now fully formed, and several hundred muscles are present. Most babies start to show first signs of right or left handedness. The baby's overall appearance and most internal structures closely resemble a newborn.

Experts estimate the 8 week embryo possesses approximately 90% of the 4,500 body parts found in adults, yet it weighs just under 3 grams and measures just over 3 cm from head to rump.

After 8 weeks, the medical term for your developing baby is not an “ embryo” but a “ fetus”, which means “little one” or “unborn offspring.”

9 weeks

The baby periodically sighs and stretches and has started thumb sucking and yawning.

The face, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet are sensitive to light touch.

Girls’ ovaries now contain reproductive cells which will give rise to eggs later in life. Also in girls, the uterus is now present.

10 weeks

The baby's unique fingerprints start to form. Fingernails and toes start to grow and the bones are hardening in many locations. The baby now measures about 7.5 cm from head to heel.

11 weeks

The lips and nose are now fully formed and the baby can make complex facial expressions.

12 weeks

The baby now has taste buds. He or she measures around 12.5 cm from head to heel and their arms reach final proportion to body size.

13 weeks

The baby responds to touch. Teeth have started to develop.

14 weeks

The baby weighs around 113 grams and measures around 17.5 cm from head to heel. You may begin to feel the baby move.

15 weeks

The baby begins storing energy in the form of baby fat.

The production of a variety of digestive enzymes is well underway and blood cell formation moves to its permanent location inside the bone marrow.

16 weeks

By 16 weeks formation of the breathing passages, called the bronchial tree, is complete. The baby weighs around 170 grams and measures around 20 cm from head to heel.

17 weeks

More than 20 million heartbeats have occurred.

18 weeks

Between 18 and 21 weeks rapid eye movement begins. These eye movements are similar to those seen when a child or adult is dreaming. The baby weighs about 255 grams and measures over 25 cm from head to heel.

19 weeks

Breathing patterns, body movements and heart rate begin to follow daily schedules.

20 weeks

Hair has started to grow on the baby's head.

The sense of hearing begins to function and the baby starts responding to various sounds. The cochlea, the organ of hearing, reaches adult size. All skin layers and structures are complete.

The baby weighs around 450 grams and measures nearly 28 cm from head to heel.

21 weeks

If born prematurely from this point on, survival is possible.

22 weeks

More than 30 million heartbeats have occurred. The baby weighs around 560 grams and measures around 30.5 cm from head to heel.

23 weeks

Breathing motions may occur up to 44 times per minute.

24 weeks

Loud noises may startle the baby causing increased movement, heart rate and swallowing.

Your baby weighs almost 900 grams and measures about 35 cm from head to heel.

25 weeks

The baby now has the ability to taste. Their thigh bones and the foot bones are each about 5 cm.

26 weeks

The eyes can produce tears and your baby's sense of smell is functioning. Your baby weighs more than 1.1 kg and measures about 38 cm from head to heel.

27 weeks

Pupils of the eyes react to light.

28 weeks

Your baby weighs around 1.5 kg and measures about 40.5 cm from head to heel.

29 weeks

Wrinkles in the skin are starting to disappear as your baby is putting on more body fat. By 31 weeks more than 40 million heartbeats have occurred.

30 weeks

Breathing movements occur up to 40% of the time. Your baby weighs about 1.8 kg and measures around 43 cm from head to heel.

31 - 32 weeks

Your baby weighs about 2.27 kg and measures nearly 46 cm from head to heel. By 34 weeks true alveoli, or "air pocket" cells, begin developing in the lungs.

33 - 34 weeks

Your baby weighs about 2.6 kg and measures about 47 cm from head to heel.

35 - 36 weeks

Your baby now has a firm hand grip and the heart has beaten more than 50 million times. By 36 weeks your baby now weighs just over 3 kg and measures about 48 cm from head to heel.

37 - 38 weeks

Your baby continues to grow and put on weight until birth.

Labour is initiated by your baby, ideally around 40 weeks, leading to childbirth.

At full term birth babies typically weigh 2.7 to 4 kg and measure 45 to 54 cm.

*Prenatal development facts taken from The Endowment for Human Development