Pregnancy Milestones

1st Month: Following conception in one of the two fallopian tubes the fertilized egg travels to the uterus (womb). The fertilized egg while traveling to the uterus and once in the uterus is undergoing rapid cellular division yielding an embryo that will implant itself in the uterine wall. At approximately three to four weeks of gestation the embryo’s nervous system (including what will become the spinal cord) is starting to form. Additionally at about 4 weeks of gestation small limb buds (which will eventually yield the fetal arms and legs) and starting to take shape. Your baby is now growing almost 1 millimeter a day.

2nd Month: During the second month of pregnancy at approximately 5 to 6 weeks of gestation your baby’s heart beat become perceptible. Additionally his or her limbs that began developing in the first month as buds are now well formed. Your little human is starting to look……well, human!!!

3rd Month: During the third month, at approximately 9 weeks of gestation your baby’s face is beginning to take on a more human form. His or her mouth and tongue are beginning to take shape and his or her eyes are maturing. By the 10th week of gestation the placenta is also fully functional. Additionally all of the major organs (heart, brain, lungs, etc) are rapidly developing, and by the 12th week of gestation they will have fully formed.

4th Month: By the fourth month (after the 12th week of gestation) the fetus is now fully formed. From here on out he or she will spend the remainder of their time in the uterus growing and their organ systems will spend the remainder of the time maturing.

5th Month: Your baby’s facial features are now starting to become refined. Does he or she look more like mom or more like dad? Additionally your baby’s body hair (including that on the scalp, the eyebrows and the eyelashes) is beginning to grow. By the 20th week your baby will have developed his or her own unique finger print. Also by the 20th week your baby will begin to exhibit typical baby behavior like sucking his or her thumb.

6th Month: Your baby’s growth is accelerating. He or she is also beginning to swallow and exhibit breathing movements. You also may have begun to notice that your baby has begun to respond to sounds and your touch by moving.

7th Month: At about 26 weeks of gestation your baby’s eyelids, which previously were fused, are now opened. Additionally your baby is now becoming covered with a thick white creamy substance known as caseous vernix. Caseous vernix protects the baby’s skin from being water logged as he or she continues floating in the liquid environment that is your womb. You may have also noticed that your baby is becoming quite prone to the hiccups

8th Month: Your baby is now approximately 3 ½ pounds and almost half of his or her likely term birth weight. He or she is likely now moving into the “head down” position in preparation for decent through the birth canal. Rapid weight gain for your baby is now beginning.

9th Month: Any day now mom and dad! Your baby is settling into the birth canal and making the final positional changes needed for negotiation of the bony pelvis. He or she is also now growing at a rate of approximately one half pound a week.