A pregnancy is a nine-month long duration where your body undergoes major changes. Changes are not just physical and the body sees major hormonal changes. Your baby starts from a small embryo, and in the course of nine months, becomes a baby. Your doctor and you can track the baby growth through various reports and gadgets. The basic things you can notice are through the three trimesters. In the first trimester your baby starts as few initial cells, some organs, and then a large head and finally the heart begins to beat. The first trimester, if measured in weeks, is from week 1 to week 12. In the seventh week, the embryo moves from a cluster of cells to a fetus. It is perhaps the most exciting time as the baby gains a form from a few cells. Read more on fetal development week by week
In the second trimester the baby’s organs begin to mature but the baby is still not strong enough to live outside your womb. The second trimester starts at week 13 and continues till week 28. In the beginning of the second week, the baby’s sex organs begin to form and tests can tell you whether you are having a boy or girl, should you want to know. It is the most emotional time for the mother as your body sees huge hormonal changes. As the second trimester ends, the baby can feel your movements and you most certainly will be able to feel the baby moving in the womb. See how fetus looks at 6 weeks
The third trimester sees the baby grow to full size. All changes that happen to the baby are so that the baby can survive outside the womb. It is getting ready to enter your world. This extends to week 40 and can even go to week 42. Towards the end of the third trimester, the baby moves into a position to exit the womb and enter the world. This development can differ in all babies. Also see how fetus breathes
The longer your baby stays in your womb, the better equipped it will be to handle the world on its own. The baby grows up to 20 to 22 inches and weighing about seven to eight pounds. The pregnancy is followed by how the fetus grows. Fetal growth is monitored with the fetal growth chart. The fetus growth changes by the week. The fetal growth chart maintains how much the baby has grown in size and in weight. This record helps determine whether the baby is growing at a normal rate.
Submitted by N on January 13, 2011 at 11:14