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In the
UK, we class the time of pregnancy from the first day
of the woman's menstrual cycle. So when you are 4 weeks
pregnant, this is actually 2 weeks after conception.
Pregnancy normally lasts about 37-42 weeks from the
first day of your last period,the average is approximately
40 weeks. If you have an ultrasound, you will find out
exactly how old your baby is in weeks. In the first
few weeks, your baby is called an embryo, and then after
about 8 weeks, it is then called a foetus, which means
"Little One"
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 Week
3
This is 3 weeks from the first day of your
last menstrual period. The fertilised egg moves slowly
along the fallopian tube towards the womb, The egg will
begin as one cell, then the cell divides again and again.
This will keep happening, until when it reaches the
womb, it will become over 100 cells, which Is called
an embryo, which will carry on growing. Once it gets
to the womb, it will burry into the womb lining, this
is called implantation.
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 Week 4-5
The
Embyo has now settled down into the womb lining. The
outer cells reach out like roots to link to the mothers
blood supply. The inner cells form two and then later
three layers. Each of these layers will grow into different
parts of the baby's body. One layer will become the
brain and nervous system, the skin, eyes and ears. Another
layer becomes the lungs, stomach and gut. The third
layer becomes the heart, blood, muscles and bones. The
5th Week is the time that most woman realise that they
have a period, and this is when the baby's nervous system
is being developed. A groove forms in the top layer
of the cells, the cells fold up and round to make a
hollow tube called the neural tube. This will become
the baby's brain and spinal cord, the tube has a 'head'
end and a 'tail' end. Defects in these tubes are the
cause of Spina Bifida. At the same time the heart is
forming, and the baby already has some blood vessels.
A string of blood vessels connect baby and mother will
become the umbilical cord.
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 Weeks
6-7
The foetus is now growing a bulge where the
heart is, and a bum in the head is the brain forming.
In an ultrasound, you can see the baby's heart beating.
The dimples on the side of the baby's head will become
ears. and there are slight thickenings where the eyes
will be.There are swellings on the body (called limp
buds) where the arms and legs will grow.The foetus is
now approximately 8mm long.
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 Weeks
8-9
The major organs are forming - the heart,
brain, lungs, kidneys, liver and gut!, and a face is
developing, the eyes are coming more obvious, and have
some colour, and there is a mouth and a tongue. The
hands and feet are also developing, with the ridges
where the fingers and toes are beginning to grow.
Your baby will now be approximately 17mm long.
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 Weeks
10-14
At 12 weeks of conception, the
foetus is now fully formed! All the limb's, organs,
muscles, bones and even the sex organs are well developed.
You will not be able to feel it, but your baby is moving
around and kicking. At 14 weeks, you will
be able to hear your baby's heartbeat with an ultrasound,
and it will beat very fast, twice as fast as our adult
heartbeat! You may be showing by now, but this varies,
and your baby will be approx 56mm long.
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 Weeks
15-22
Your baby is now growing quickly, and
the body is now growing faster, so that it is in proportion
to the head. The face is now looking more human, and
the hair is beginning to grow, as well as eyelashes
and eyebrows. The eyelids are closed at the moment.
The lines on the skin of the fingers are now formed,
and now has its own fingerprint. Finger and toenails
are growing, and you baby now has a firm handgrip. At
around 22 weeks, your baby becomes covered in
a very fine hair called "Lanugo". Not sure
why this happens, but maybe it helps keep your baby's
temperature correct. This will disappear before birth,
but sometimes can be still seen after birth (this will
disappear soon) At around 16-22 weeks, you will
start feeling your baby move, if its your second baby,
you will feel this earlier, at about 16-18 weeks.
It is a funny feeling, like fluttering and bubbling,
but will soon turn into kicking and you may guess whether
it is a foot or hand by the bump!!
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 Weeks
23-30
Your
baby is now moving around a lot, and will respond to
touch and smell. Loud noises may frighten it, and make
it jump. It is now swallowing small amounts of the amniotic
fluid in which it is floating and passing tiny amounts
of urine back into the fluid. Sometimes your baby can
get hiccups, which is a funny feeling and you will feel
jerks with every hiccup! Your baby will now be following
a pattern for waking and sleeping, sorry to say but
it is not normally following your pattern, so when you
go to bed, your baby will probably wake up and start
kicking etc. You can hear your baby's heart through
a stethoscope, and your partner may be able to hear
it by putting their ear to your tummy. Your baby is
now covered in a white greasy substance called "Vernix",
this is thought to protect your baby's skin as it floats
in the amniotic fluid. This normally disappears before
birth. At 24 weeks, your baby has a good chance of survival
if born now, this is know as "Viable" Most
babies born before this have a low chance of survival
due to their lungs and other vital organs not being
formed enough - but new technologies are helping with
this, so you never know. At around 26 weeks, your baby's
eyelids will open for the first time, normally their
eyes are blue, and takes a few weeks till after birth
till they change to their normal colour. At 30 weeks,
Your baby will be approximately 24cm.
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 Weeks 31-40
The
baby is growing plumper so the skin, which was quite
wrinkled before is now smoother. Both the vernix and
the Lanugo begin to disappear. By about 32 weeks the
baby is lying head downwards ready for birth. Some time
before birth, the head may move down into the pelvis
and is said to be 'engaged', but sometimes the baby's
head does not engage until labour has started.
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