Week 2 :: My sweet little baby chicken egg

Right now, it's easiest to think of your micro-baby as a microscopic chicken egg: the amniotic cavity (or egg white-- aka "yolk sac") and the embryo (your baby-to-be or egg-yolk).

The yolk sac’s main job is to protect and nourish your baby until their pad-- the placenta, is fully furnished and ready for living.

Right now though, the placenta is just beginning to be built, much less furnished and decorated! In another 8 weeks, their little pad will be complete and ready for them.

The beginnings of your egg-yolk-baby's umbilical cord is visible and partly functional, although it is still not fully formed.

Week 1 :: In The Begining ....

It's been a momentous past couple of days - even if you don't know it yet.

At some point roughly 1.5-3.5 million sperm took aim at your fallopian tubes and one superior little seed hit the target spot on. The now-fertilized egg is currently in one of your fallopian tubes merging with the sperm to become a zygote, where cell division is occuring at an incredibly rapid rate.

Your little zygote will spend the next 7-10 days dividing and growing as they travel down to your uterus, where they'll nestle into your cozy blood-rich uterine wall.

The implantation process may result in a little spotting for some women, which is caused by the sloughing off of uterine wall at the implantation site. This is perfectly natural and not a cause for concern. When your little zygote is finally implanted, it is officially considered a "blastocyst" measuring about 0.1-0.2 mm.

Long story short: this week is the beginning of your child's life.

Week 22 :: Welcome To Raisin Country

Congratulations! You’re now housing a human who weighs nearly a pound and measures nearly a foot in length!

Your wee babe's perfect little pancreas (a super-duper organ that produces hormones and aids in digestion) is now making its own hormones for your baby's body and brain!

If you were worried, you can finally stop that: your baby's future in the circus as a world-famous tight-rope-walker is secure now that their inner ear is developed to the point that they have their own sense of balance.

Luckily for your little womb-explorer, this new balance promotes physical dexterity, which has them actively feeling out their surroundings where skin, body parts, and the resident umbilical cord are the big sensory experiences.

Your sweet babe is sort of looking like an oversized red prune right now as more and more skin (and therefore wrinkles) are showing up each week.

Not to worry, all those wrinkles are just your baby's way of planning ahead for the time when they’ll start piling on all of that irresistible baby chub.

YOU ARE IN WEEK 21

YOU ARE IN WEEK 21

Your baby is now around three-quarters of a pound and nearly 11 inches long, they have fully formed eyelids and eyebrows at this point, what's more they're getting ready for another growth spurt-- this time to start packing on that cute baby fat. If you've noticed what seem like mild contractions, you're right! But not to worry, they're a far cry from what you're going to experience during labor.