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4 weeks
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Period: to
4 weeks
-marks the beginning of the embryonic period
-baby's organs will begin to develop
-your baby is an embryo the size of a poppy seed, -
8 weeks
-
Period: to
8 weeks
-baby's hands and feet are developing webbed fingers and toes
-breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs
-nerve cells are branching out to connect with each another -
12 weeks
-
Period: to
12 weeks
-most dramatic development this week is reflexes
- baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close
- kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder. -
16 weeks
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Period: to
16 weeks
- baby will double his weight and add inches to his length
- about the size of an avocado
- heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day
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20 weeks
-
Period: to
20 weeks
- baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now
- about the length of a small banana
- producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion
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24 weeks
-
Period: to
24 weeks
- baby is growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week
- taste buds are continuing to develop
- lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant
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28 weeks
-
Period: to
28 weeks
- baby weighs 2 1/4 pounds
- eyesight developing, may be able to see the light that filters in through womb
- third and final trimester starts this week
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Period: to
32 weeks
- will gain a third to half of birth weight during the next 7 weeks as it fattens up for survival outside the womb
- now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair
- skin is becoming soft and smooth
-
Period: to
36 weeks
- baby is already head-down
- baby will be considered "early term"
- shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered body, as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected skin during nine-month amniotic bath
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Period: to
41 weeks
- may now weigh almost 8 pounds and stretch a bit over 20 inches long
- very close to birth
- may be born this week
