Prenatal and Newborn Development
Prepare Now for Their Future
Embryonic Development
FRirst Weeks of Development
• By six weeks pregnant, the baby's heartbeat begins and arms and legs develop. Basic facial feature become apparent and your baby takes on a "C" shape.
• At eight weeks pregnant, the intestines begin forming and teeth start to grow in the gums. If you saw your baby now, you'd note the beginning of tiny nostrils, shell-shaped ears, visible eyes and legs and arms.
• By 11 weeks pregnant, the end of the embryonic stages, your baby's brain and major organs are well started. Even the eyes and joints are forming. The head still makes up about half of the baby's length, but the body will soon work at catching up, developing rapidly in the next weeks.
Your Baby Is On Its way!!
• Weeks 16 to 20 signal another growth spurt. Your baby's laying down a bit of fat beneath the skin. That minuscule heart pumps an amazing 25 quarts of blood every day. Meconium starts accumulating in the bowels. You might have notice hiccups. Babies get them now.
• During weeks 21 to 24, development seems to slow down but things are still happening. The eyelids and eyebrows are formed and if your baby is a boy, his testes begin to decent from the pelvis.
• Weeks 25 to 28 mark a period of carrying on and wrapping up loose ends. During this time, the baby's lungs secrete surfactant as the body prepares to breathe air. On other fronts, retinas form and the eyes open. If born at 28 weeks, 90 percent of babies survive.