Pregnancy Calendar

• Occasionally mothers report that they begin to feel some fluttering movements as baby kicks, flails, twists and turns.

• Your baby's legs have grown longer than the arms and the body is now longer than the head.

• The three tiny bones in his middle ear have begun to harden. The auditory centres in your baby's brain haven't developed yet,.

• Eyebrows are beginning to grow and scalp hair begins to show. It will probably change colour and texture after birth.

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 16

• Fat begins to form underneath skin, providing your baby with insulation for the coming months.
• Baby and placenta are now about the same size?
• The genitalia are developed sufficiently that an experienced ultrasonographer might be able to determine if your baby is a boy or a girl.
• The heart is pumping as much as 6 gallons of blood a day and beats at a rate about double your heart rate.
• Your baby has learned to breathe.

For many women, the second trimester is an enjoyable time -- morning sickness has receded and the aches and pain of advanced pregnancy are far in the future. Your body is finally expanding enough for people to realize you're pregnant and not just gaining a few pounds.

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 17

• He or she has a much more normal "human" appearance now.

• Pads are forming on his tiny fingertips and toes. Soon those individual swirls and whorls will be apparent.

• Meconium (composed of products of cell loss, digestive secretion and swallowed amniotic fluid), is accumulating in the bowel. This black gooey substance will become your baby's first motion.

• The skeleton is transforming from cartilage to bone. The head bones remain flexible to make the journey through the birth canal easier.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 18

• Vernix, a white protective material, forms on baby's skin, and together with the lanugo, serve to protect your baby's skin during the months in water.

• Tiny air sacs called alveoli begin to form in lungs.

• Features of your baby's heart, including ventricles and chambers, should be visible during an ultrasound.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 19

• Throughout baby's body, nerves are being coated with a fatty substance called myelin, which insulates the nerves so that impulses can flow smoothly.

• Scalp hair becomes apparent this week. 

• The milk teeth buds have already developed and over the next few days the buds for the permanent teeth will begin to form behind the milk teeth.

• If baby is female the uterus starts to develop. If you're having a girl, the vagina, uterus, and fallopian tubes are in place.

• If it's a boy, the genitals are distinct and recognizable.
• Your baby is swallowing amniotic fluid and his or her kidneys are making urine.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 20

• The rapid growth stage is about over.

• The legs are reaching their relative size. With the increase muscle develop occurring as well, you will start feeling much more than tiny flutter kicks soon!

• Antibodies are being transferred from you to your baby now. They will protect your child.

• The nerve cells for taste, smell, hearing, seeing, and touch are now developing in specialized areas of the brain. Production slows down as existing nerve cells grow larger and make more complex connections.

• Your baby may startle in reaction to loud sounds.

• Baby is about 6.46 inches (16.4cm) and weighs around 10.58 ounces (300g).

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 21

•  Leukocytes, the white blood cells, are under production. The form our body's defence systems, helping to fight infections and diseases.

• Your little one's skin becomes more opaque.

• The tongue is fully formed.

• Unlike males, females have a limited supply of gametes in their lifetime. At this point your daughter will have 6 million eggs. This amount decreases to approximately one million by birth.

• Baby swallows more this week. After your baby takes in amniotic fluid, his body absorbs the water in the liquid and moves the rest into the large bowel. This is good practice for the digestive system.

• Wake and sleep periods become more consistent.

• Length is now measured crown to heel.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 22

• Eyelids and eyebrows are fully formed.
• Fingernails have grown to the end of the fingers.
• If your baby is male his testes begin their descent to the scrotum.
• Primitive sperm have formed and he is producing testosterone.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 23

• The proportions of the body are now quite similar to a newborn although thinner since he hasn't begun to form body fat.

• The bones of the middle ear harden.
• The eyes are formed, though the iris still lacks pigmentation.

• The pancreas, essential in the production of hormones, is developing steadily with production of insulin, important for the breakdown of sugars.

• If born now, your baby has a 15% chance of survival, his odds going up with each passing day. .

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 24

• Taste buds begin to form.

• Little creases have appeared on the palms.

• Over the next seven days the sweat glands will be forming in the skin.

• Cells start developing in the lungs that will produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily. Without surfactant the fetal lungs would stick together and couldn't expand after the baby is born.

• This week your baby is officially considered viable.
• Baby weighs 1.3 pound (600gm) and is 11.8 inches (30cm) long -- almost the length of a ruler!

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 25

• Your baby's nostrils begin to open.

• The nerves around the mouth and lip area show more sensitivity. When baby is rooting for food later on, these will be valuable.

• Swallowing reflexes are developing.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 26

• To support the fetus's growing body, the spine is getting stronger and more supple.

• Although they've been sealed shut for the last few months, your baby's eyes are opening and beginning to blink this week. Depending on ethnicity, some babies will be born with blue or gray-blue eyes, which may change colour in the first 6 months of life and some will be born with brown or dark eyes.

• Retinas begin to form.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 27

• Response to sound grows more consistent toward the end of the seventh month, when the network of nerves to the ear is complete.

• Lungs continue to grow and prepare for functioning outside of the womb. Each day in the womb greatly increases survival rates.

• Eyelids are now open more.

• Retinas have formed.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 28

• Eyebrows and eyelashes are now very noticeable.

• Hair on baby's head is growing longer.

• Eyes are completely formed now.

• Your baby's body is getting plump and rounded. Most of that increase is muscle tissue and bone. Fat will be added during the third trimester.

• Lungs are capable of breathing now but baby would still struggle and require medical attention if born now.

• Your baby weighs in now at 2.2 pounds (1005gm) and is 14.8 inches (37.6cm).

 

 

The Third Trimester - Weeks 28 to delivery.

 

You're in the homestretch now. This is the time for childbirth classes. As the anticipation rises though, so may those feelings of anxiety and even a bit of fear. Don't worry, as all these emotions are perfectly normal.

This pregnancy is suddenly very real. That due date that was once so far away is looming ever closer. Your baby is making his or her presence known with karate kicks, twists and turns until there simply is no more room.

The third trimester as the one where the finishing touches are added. The majority of pregnancies run smoothly but complications such as premature labour, gestational diabetes, and pre-eclampsia can occur.

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 29

• Your baby's head is in proportion with body now. 

• Fat continues to accumulate under the skin..

• Your baby's brain can control primitive breathing and body temperatures.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 30

• A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him. As he grows and fills your uterus, the amount of amniotic fluid will decrease.

• Early lanugo is beginning to disappear that served to protect your baby's skin from the water in the womb. Your little one's own hair may begin to appear.

• Toenails are entering their final growth stage.

• Bone marrow is now in charge of red blood cell production.

• Your baby has the capability now to produce tears.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 31

• The rate of physical growth slows down just a bit, but even though she doesn't get much longer.

• Fat continues accumulating. This layer of fat turns the skin from red to the rosy pink of a newborn.

• The brain enters another period of rapid growth, producing hundreds of billions of new nerve cells.

• The lungs are the only major organ left to complete development.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 32

• All five senses are working. Your little one is fascinated and practicing testing these out as much as possible!

• Toenails are completely formed.

• Brain scans have shown that babies have periods of dream sleep (REM) starting around the eight month.

• Your baby is up to 3.75 pounds (1702gm) now and is 16.7 inches (42.4cm) long.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 33

• Amniotic fluid is at its highest level during your pregnancy.

• Neurons and synapses are developing in huge numbers -- forming connections in your baby's brain will provide the skills needed to thrive as a newborn. This week coordination of sucking and swallowing with breathing become better developed.

• While most bones are hardening, the skull is relatively pliable and not completely joined. The bones will be able to move slightly to make birthing easier.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 34

• Antibodies from your blood continue being transferred from you. These immunities continue to build until birth. Then breast milk will add even more protection against disease.

• Your baby may have already turned to a head-down position in preparation for birth. If he is your first baby, he may be settling into the pelvis with his head pressing against your cervix.

• Fingernails have reached the end of the fingertips now.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 35

• Most babies born now will survive and without many long-term problems.

• Fat accumulations plumps up the arms and legs this week. These layers of fat will help regulate body temperature. They also provide those cute little dimples on elbows and knees.

• Hearing is fully developed.

• The testes have completed their descent in males.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 36

• If he hasn't already, this week your baby may drop into the birth canal (engagement). While breathing for mum becomes easier, walking may be the exact opposite! If he's not your first baby, this "lightening" may not occur until right before labour.

• Skin is becoming smoother, "baby" soft.

• Your child's average size is now 18.66 inches (47.4cm) and 5.78 pounds (2622 g).

   

  
  

  Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 37

• The baby is now officially full term.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 38

• Your child's intestines are accumulating lots of meconium.

• Circumference of head and abdomen are about the same size for your baby.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 39

• The lanugo has mostly disappeared, but you'll probably find a bit on her shoulders, arms and legs and in those protected little bodily creases.

• The lungs are maturing and surfactant production is increasing and fully prepared.

• His body continues laying on the fat stores that will help regulate his body temperature after birth. In addition to normal fat, a special "brown" fat is accumulating in the nape of his neck, between the shoulders and around organs. Brown fat cells are important for thermogenesis (generating heat) during the first weeks.

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 40

• Much of the vernix has vanished but you will notice traces on the body.

• 15% of your child's body is fat. Approximately 65 percent is water!

• Small breast buds are present on both sexes.

• Any day you will be cradling your son or daughter!

 

Pregnancy Week by Week - Week 41

About this time, your obstetrician is likely to recommend thatlabour be induced as there is a risk that the function of the placenta will become inadequate.

 

 

Thank you for choosing to visit us.

This is the personal website of David A Viniker MD FRCOG, retired Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist - Specialist Interests - Reproductive Medicine including Infertility, PCOS, PMS, Menopause and HRT.
I do hope that you find the answers to your women's health questions in the patient information and medical advice provided.

- Specialist Interests - Reproductive Medicine including Infertility, PCOS, PMS, Menopause and HRT.

The aim of this web site is to provide a general guide and it is not intended as a substitute for a consultation with an appropriate specialist in respect of individual care and treatment.

David Viniker retired from active clinical practice in 2012.
In 1999, he setup this website - www.2womenshealth.com - to provide detailed
information many of his patients requested. The website attracts thousands of visitors every day from around the world.
Website optimisation (SEO) has became more than an active hobby. If you would like advice on your website, please visit his website Keyword SEO PRO or email him on david@page1-on-google.com.