It’s fascinating to know and understand the development of your baby week by week. Not only will you want to know what is happening inside your body, you should also know how your body is likely to react during each pregnancy stage. Pregnancies are divided into three trimesters, but things change on a week-by-week basis, too. Most pregnancies last about 40 weeks.
Weeks 1 Through 12
The first sign that you are pregnant is that your period stops. You will also feel extremely tired and have tender breasts. You may experience morning sickness or have cravings or dislikes for certain foods. You may also have mood swings, constipation and heartburn, according to the Medicine Net website. Although these are typical signs that many women experience, not all women experience all or any of them.
The first two weeks of pregnancy are actually measured from the first day of your last period, according to the Babies Online website. So, you haven’t even conceived yet, but this is considered your first two weeks of pregnancy. By four weeks, your baby’s brain and spinal cord form, as do the baby’s heart, arms and legs. Your baby is an embryo and is 1/25 inch long. By week eight, all your baby’s major organs have started to form. Your baby will have a regular heartbeat, the arms and legs will grow longer, and fingers and toes are forming. Sex organs are forming at this time, too. At the end of the eighth week, your embryo is now a fetus and is almost 1 inch long.
Weeks 13 Through 28
This is the dream part of your pregnancy. Your nausea, if you had any, will probably go away, and some of your energy will return. Your abdomen will grow as your baby grows. You will be able to feel your baby move toward the end of this trimester. You may experience backaches or thigh pain, stretch marks on your abdomen, darkening skin on your nipples, a line on your skin going from your belly button to your pubic area, itchiness and swelling.
Your baby can make a fist at 12 weeks. If you have an ultrasound now, you may be able to determine if you are having a girl or a boy. Eyelids close and will open at 28 weeks. At 12 weeks, your baby is 3 inches long and weighs 1 oz. At 16 weeks, your baby’s muscle and bone develop. Skin forms now, too. Your baby can making sucking motions, is 4 to 5 inches long and weighs 3 oz. You should be able to feel some fluttering motion from your baby at 20 weeks. Your baby now has eyelashes, eyebrows, toenails and fingernails. Your baby can hear and swallow. At the halfway point, your baby is 6 inches long and weighs 9 oz. At 24 weeks, your baby begins to grow hair on the head. Your baby sleeps and wakes regularly.
Weeks 29 Through 40
Delivery time is almost here. You may find it difficult to breathe, and you will urinate more frequently, because the baby is getting quite big and is putting pressure on your organs. You may develop hemorrhoids, your breasts may leak, your belly button may stick out, and you may have trouble sleeping. Your baby may drop just before it is time to deliver.
By 32 weeks, you will feel kicks from your baby. Your baby can open her eyes and sense light. Your baby is gaining 1/2 lb. a week, is 15 to 17 inches long and weighs 4 1/2 lbs. By 36 weeks, your baby is getting crowded, so you will feel less forceful kicks and will feel stretches instead. Your baby is 16 to 19 inches long and weighs 6 to 6 1/2 lbs. At 37 weeks, your baby is full-term. At birth, most babies are 19 to 21 inches long and weigh 6 lbs., 2 oz. to 9 lbs., 2 oz.
Photo Credit
- pregnant woman image by Valentin Mosichev from Fotolia.com
