Week 27
“This week, your baby is sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing his eyes, and perhaps even sucking his fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby’s brain is very active now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on.” Oh man, little tiny hiccups? Seriously? That’s adorable.
Week 26
“The network of nerves in your baby’s ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner’s as you chat with each other.” This is about when Andrew and I started reading to Wes. What good timing. Raised on Choose Your Own Adventure, that’s our boy.
Week 25
“Your baby is beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he’ll start to look more and more like a newborn. He’s also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you’d now be able to discern its color and texture.” That’s really cool. I never knew that we started out wrinkled already.
Week 24
“This week, your baby’s taste buds are continuing to develop. 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. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.” Oh, little darling Wes. With parents like yours, your skin won’t be getting much more color naturally sweetheart.
Week 23
“With his sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that he’s more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see him squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing.” Isn’t he already kind of breathing? Just like, breathing abdomen fluid stuff?
Week 22
“At 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he’s even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment.” Wow, Wes is a pound now? And has awesome albino eyes? This is the coolest update yet. GROW LITTLE CHILDTHING, GROW! You can do it! Mostly because I can’t stop eating. But still!
Week 21
“Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like he’s practicing martial arts as his initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to his activity as you get to know him better. In other developments, your baby’s eyebrows and lids are present now.” Did my child not have eyelids before?! So crazy. How did he sleep?
Week 20
“Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He’s also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. He’s swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He’s also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you’ll see it in his first soiled diaper (although some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).” Wow, that is kinda horrifying, babything. Man. Did I do that when I was gestating? (Mom I’m begging you, don’t comment to answer that.)
Week 19
“The hair on her scalp is sprouting. This is a crucial time for sensory development: Your baby’s brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don’t be shy about reading aloud, taking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.” I can’t not-sing at my desk half of the time. Something tells me this will not be a problem.
Week 18
“He’s busy flexing his arms and legs— movements that you’ll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. If you’re having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you’re having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, although he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.” Modesty in utero.
Week 17
“Your baby’s skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she’s around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.” I feel strange. Some of these things I can relate to, like apples and limes and stuff. When’s the last time I saw a turnip?
Week 16
“Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length . Right now, he’s about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too.” Wait, his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. How?! Do babies in utero have floating facial features? Creepy, %N. Creepy.
Week 15
According to my pregnancy-by-week app, starting this week my heart’s working doubletime to swoosh all my extra blood about. This is supposed to be the beginning of clumsiness and trouble concentrating. Insanity. Also this week, %N’s hair is growing thicker. Or it’s supposed to. Andrew and I have pretty thin hair, so we shall see.
Week 14
“Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb. Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he’ll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you’re having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb. In other news: Your baby’s stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces.” Some of that is a little ickky. I mean, come on honey, you have months to go in there. You don’t have to make my womb into the city swimming pool.
Week 13
“Fingerprints have formed on your baby’s tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you’re having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce. As you start your second trimester, most of your baby’s critical development will be completed and your odds of miscarriage drop considerably.” I am ALL FOR better odds. Way to go, %N!
Week 12
“The most dramatic development this week: Reflexes. Your baby’s fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won’t be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over two inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.” It boggles me that %N is only two inches long, but has fingers that can open and close. How tiny must they be?
Week 11
Apparently this week is really, really cool. %N now is supposedly moving in response if I poke my abdomen. Most insane thing this week? Check out this sentence: “The intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into the abdominal cavity about now.” WAT.
Week 10
Was awesome and exhausting and I missed it. But %N was the size of a kumquat, which is a really fun word to say repeatedly.
Week 9
After a second sonogram, we had about two and a half Week 9s. Now this timeline is accurate. Really. Now it is. I hope you’re listening, %N, I’m holding you to this. Sadly, %N should have officially lost their vestigial tail this week.
Week 8
%N is currently the size of a kidney bean, and is “constantly shifting and moving,” and can now bend their arms and legs at proper elbows and knee joints. How cool is that?
Week 7
%N is now about the size of a blueberry. As I have blueberries every morning for breakfast, this is mildly disturbing.
Starting to keep track of this here at Week 6.
According to my Android app Pregnancy Tracker, %N has a tail right now. Vestigial tail. I think that’s pretty awesome.
