Seventeen Weeks Pregnant

I am now nearly 5.5" (13cm) long from crown to rump and weigh approximately 5oz (140g). My skeleton is mostly rubbery cartilage, which will harden later. A protective substance called myelin slowly begins to wrap around my spinal cord. With the help of a special stethoscope, which they bought to listen to my Big Brother Dirk, Mummy and Daddy can now hear my heartbeat!

Sixteen Weeks Pregnant

At 4½" long (head to bottom) and 3½ ounces, I am about the size of an avocado. In the next three weeks, I'll go through a tremendous growth spurt though, doubling my weight and adding inches to my length. My lower limbs are much more developed now. My head is more erect than it has been, and my eyes have moved toward the front of my head. My ears are close to their final position, too. Some of my more advanced body systems are working, including my circulatory system and urinary tract. My heart is now pumping about 50 pints of blood each day, circulating my total blood volume through my body many times. (By the end of the pregnancy, this will increase to about 380 pints.) The patterning of my scalp has begun, though my hair isn't recognizable yet. Although closed, my eyes are moving (slowly), and I've even started growing toenails.

They seek me here, they seek me there...

Mummy went to see the midwife this morning. The midwife took some of Mummy's blood and then tried to hear my heart. But I decided to hide, and Mummy had to go all the way to the hospital, on the bus, to be scanned with the quality kit once more. Here is the picture they took of me there:

In the picture, I am face-down. The curved line in the middle is my spine. The "V" shape to the left is my thigh and shin. My head and face are on the right.

Daddy was sorry to have missed the adventure... he had to stay at home because he wasn't very well in the night.

Fifteen Weeks Pregnant

At around 4 inches long, crown to rump, I now weigh about 2½ ounces. I'm busy inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid, which will help develop the air sacs in my lungs. My legs are growing longer than my arms now, and I can move all my joints and limbs. That means my hands are more functional, too. Sweat glands are appearing, and although my eyelids are fused shut, I can sense light. If Mummy shines a torch at her tummy, I'll move away from the beam. There's not much for me to taste at this point, but my taste buds are beginning to form.

The Baby with Two Names

Even though neither Mummy nor Daddy know whether I am a boy or a girl, they have already decided what my name will be! Apparently, if they find I am a boy, they will name me after a flying insect of the genus Vespula. Whereas if they find I am a girl, they will merely take their inspiration from a railway station. (You know, in some countries, people wanting to have children have to apply for a licence. Makes you think, doesn't it?) Anyway, click on these pictures to see them BIG!)

Baby-Group Boogie

Today Mummy took my big brother Dirk to his Baby Group. I wanted to join in and wriggled so hard that Mummy felt me moving!

Fourteen Weeks Pregnant

Head to bottom, I'm 3½ inches long — about the length of a lemon — and weigh about 1½ ounces. My body's growing faster than my head, which now sits upon a more well-defined neck. By the end of this week, my arms will have lengthened and will be in proportion to the rest of my body. (My legs still have some growing to do, though.) I'm starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair all over my body (called lanugo). My liver starts secreting bile this week, a sign that it's already functioning properly, and my spleen starts contributing to the production of red blood cells. I'm also producing and discharging urine into the amniotic fluid, a normal process that I'll keep up until birth. Mummy still can't feel my movements, but my hands and feet (which are now half an inch long) are more flexible and active. Thanks to brain impulses, my little facial muscles are getting a workout as I squint, frown and grimace. I can grasp now, too, and I may be able to suck my thumb.

Thirteen Weeks Pregnant

Mummy's belly may soon be big enough to announce to the world that I'm on my way, but I am still tiny. In fact, I'm only about 3 inches long crown to rump — roughly the size of a jumbo shrimp — and weigh just about an ounce. Despite the small proportions, there's a fully formed baby in here now. Much more proportional than it was a few weeks ago, my head is now only about a third the size of my body. My tiny, unique fingerprints are already in place. My kidneys and urinary tract are functional, and I'm starting to urinate out the amniotic fluid I've been swallowing.