Here are pictures of Mom's belly showing her progression from a cute girlish figure to whale-size by the end of pregnancy. There are also some interesting tidbits about my development and diagrams of a typical fetus's growth. Diagrams and development information are from Baby Center.
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5 weeks |
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| At this point I was about the size of an apple seed. As you can see Mommy doesn't look pregnant yet. Although you can't tell from the outside, I was already doing some amazing growing! I was 3 layers at this point and my cells in each layer were differentiating into different types. The top layer was becoming my brain, nerves, spinal cord, and backbone. The middle layer would become my heart and circulatory system. The third layer was developing into my lungs, intestines, and urinary system. Meanwhile, my placenta and umbilical cord were also developing. | ||
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7 weeks |
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| Here I was about the size of a small bean, about half an inch long. My head was really big compared to the rest of my body because my brain was already starting to grow. I also was beginning to develop facial features- dark spots would become eyes, tiny holes were the beginning of a nose, and little pits on each side of my head would become ears. I was starting to grow little arm and leg buds and my hands and feet looked like paddles. Amazingly, my heart was already beating at about 150 beats per minute! And I was starting to move around, but it would be awhile yet before Mom could feel me. | ||
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9 weeks |
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| This week I graduated from an embryo to a fetus which means "little one". I was now about an inch in length. All of my organs, muscles, and nerves were beginning to function. And I was growing eyelids over my tiny eyes. | ||
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 11 weeks |
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| At this point I was somewhere between 1 3/4 and 3 inches long and weighed less than half an ounce. For such a tiny thing I was acquiring some very sophisticated talents like swallowing and kicking. And I was growing fingernails and hair. All of my vital organs- liver, kidneys, intestines, brain, and lungs were fully formed and functional. My house, Mom's uterus, was now the size of a grapefruit. | ||
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13 weeks |
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| Here I was about 3 inches long and starting to look more human. My liver was making bile and my kindeys were secreting urine into my bladder. My nerve cells were multiplying rapidly synapses were forming. These developments gave me some nifty new abilities. I could squirm in response to prodding of Mom's abdomen (though she still couldn't feel it). And I was acquiring reflexes. If you were to touch my palms I would close my fingers and tickling my feet would cause my toes to curl. I could even flex my eye muscles in response to a brush against my eyelids. | ||
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 15 weeks (Hehe! Look, you can see the inside of Mommy's belly button!) |
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| This week I was about 4 to 4 1/2 inches long and weighed about 1 3/4 ounces. My body was finally growing faster than my head and my parchment-thin skin was growing a fine hairy covering called lanugo. This protected my skin from the moisture inside the womb but would disappear shortly before my birth. My eyebrows and the hair on my head were growing too. Corresponding to the development of impulses in my brain, I could now grasp, frown, squint, grimace and even suck my thumb! | ||
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17 weeks |
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| Starting this week I was experiencing an incredible growth spurt and was now about the size of avocado, about 5 inches long and weighing about 6 ounces. Over the next 3 weeks I would continue my phenomenal growth doubling my weight and increasing my length. My circulatory system and urinary tract were in full working order and I began to inhale and exhale amniotic fluid through my lungs. I also found my umbilical cord and thought it was a really fun toy! Hey, there wasn't much else going on in there, what would you expect? | ||
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 20 weeks (Mom's due date was moved up 1 week after our ultrasound, so these pics were actually taken 2 weeks after the 17 week pics) |
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| This week Mom and I had made it to the halfway point! The top of my house was now at Mom's belly button and would continue to grow about 1 cm per week. I was about 5 1/2 to 6 inches long and weighed about 9 ounces. The nerve cells serving each of the senses- taste, smell, hearing, sight, and touch were developing in my brain. Nerve cell production was slowing down and existing nerve cells were growing larger and making more complex connections. Mom could sure feel me now! I was kicking and somersaulting, boucing all over the womb! | ||
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22 weeks |
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| I was about 3/4 of a pound this week, about 7 1/2 inches long. I could now hear Mommy and Daddy's conversations and I really liked it when Mom read and talked to me. She especially like to read to me about the Runaway Bunny and sometimes she would read silly poems from Shel Silverstein. | ||
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 24 weeks (Mommy was getting stretch marks on her hips!) |
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At this point I weighed a little over a pound. I had about an 85% chance of surviving if I was to be born now. But I wasn't nearly ready to leave my comfy, warm home yet. I was beginning to enjoy music and Mom played classical cd's for me. I had one favorite song, [Song title here]. That one always got me dancing! |
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26 weeks (Yep. Mom's stretch marks are getting worse!) |
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| This week I weighed between 1 1/2 and 2 pounds and was about 9 inches long. I was making breathing movements, just practicing, because of course there was no air. If a light was shined on Mom's abdomen, I would turn toward it with curiosity. This was a game Daddy like to play with me. Sometimes Mom could feel me reaching out toward the light and that would make her giggle. | ||
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 28 weeks |
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| Here I weighed about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds. I opened and closed my eyes and began sleeping and waking at regular intervals. My brain was developing the characteristic surface grooves and it was continuing to develop new tissue. I sometimes got hiccups and I was kicking Mom in the ribs. | ||
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30 weeks |
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| At this point I weighed about 3 pounds and was about 17 inches long. My little boy parts were continuing to develop, the testicles moving down into the scrotum. My head was expanding and my brain was growing rapidly. I was becoming reactive to sound. Mom and Dad noticed I would jump at sharp noises like a metal object dropped against the bathtub. Dad found this quite amusing. Sheesh! These parents can get on your nerves! | ||
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 32 weeks |
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| This week I weighed about 4 pounds and was beginning to look like a newborn, my body, arms and legs now becoming proportional to my head. I was running out of space now. My organs continued to mature. And, I was starting to have dreams! | ||
| Oops! Mom and Dad forgot to take pictures at Week 34! | |
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| I weighed around 5 pounds this week and was about 19 1/2 inches in length. I was getting ready for delivery, turning upside down. My bones were hardening but my skull was still quite pliable and not completely joined partly so that I could pass through the narrow birth canal. | ||
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36 weeks |
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| At this point I weighed about 6 pounds and was around 18 to 20 inches long. There was less amniotic fluid in my house now and more me. Mom's uterus had expanded to about 1000 times its regular size. We were reaching the final lap! | ||
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 38 weeks |
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| This week I weighed close to 7 pounds and was about 21 inches long. My head had dropped into Mom's pelvic cavity which gave my legs some more room. My lanugo covering has begun to disappear and so has my protective layer of vernix caseosa. I swallowed all of that junk and it became my first bowel movement, a blackish substance called meconium. GROSS!! | ||
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40 weeks |
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| September 12, 2001. Today was my due date. But I wasn't quite ready yet. Guess I am just like Mom, never on time for anything! It won't be long now... | ||