At this point, your baby is growing steadily, with about a quarter of a pound of new weight and still approximately a foot long. Sure they're not so chubby yet, but just wait that'll come. Their lungs are also getting more prepared for the outside world. Have you read heard about how pregnant women are at higher risk for preclampsia (aka toxemia)? If you want to learn more about this scary condition
It's another week full of exciting developments for your magical growing baby!
Just take a look at the checklist for this week: 1) ears: done; 2) fingernails: done; 3) (if you have a boy) testicles: taking their 3-4 day trip from the abdominal wall to the scrotum; and 4) lungs walls: secreting “surfactant”.
What’s surfactant? It's basically what it sounds like: a surface-activated fat that helps your baby's little lungs inflate (where inflate = fill with air not get more expensive for no understandable reason).
In the meantime, your submerged baby is still breathing in their amniotic fluid (and a bit of pee), preparing and rehearsing their lungs for an oxygen-filled life outside the womb.
By the end of this week, your wee womb-squatter will be weighing in at a whopping 2 lbs and 14 inches long.
All this new weight means your tiny baby is actually starting to fill out their skin, but they're not anywhere near their adorable fat-baby potential.
Most of the fetal “filling out” is coming up in that long awaited (and slightly dreaded?) third trimester. Woo-hoo! Get ready!
No comments:
Post a Comment