Category: Fetal Development

Week 34: Since the baby is getting so much bigger, there is less space to move around in! The baby is moving closer down to the pelvis in order to get ready for delivery. At around 5 lbs now, the child continues to gain weight and fill out with fat. The lungs are almost fully …

Week 33: The baby is about the size of a butternut squash! By this time, he/she may have already shifted position with their head down in the womb, and the legs folded up to their chest. This position allows them to get prepared for birth! Your baby’s bones are also continuing to harden at this …

Week 31: The baby at this point is about 3 lbs and the size of an eggplant! More and more organs are becoming developed, like the bladder, which now passes water through it. While up until this point the liver produced red blood cells, now the bone marrow is doing so! The child can now …

‘Their formation is a complicated ballet of growth and fusion of moving plates of tissue.’ By Dave Andrusko Over the years I have been fascinated by the skill of the BBC at offering absolutely amazing examples of science developed with laypeople in mind. But replete with spectacular graphics, it’s a series on “Inside the Human Body” that may …

Week 28: The little baby is now perfectly formed and about the size of a cantaloupe! The heartbeat is so strong, that if someone puts their ear up to the belly, they might be able to hear the heartbeat. The eyes and ears are much more developed, too; the baby can distinguish between high and …

“The formation is a complicated ballet of growth and fusion of moving plates of tissue… Our faces just don’t grow but fit together like a puzzle” By Dave Andrusko Over the years I have been fascinated by the skill of the BBC at offering absolutely amazing examples of science developed with laypeople in mind. But replete with spectacular graphics, …

Week 25: By this time, the eyes are becoming much more developed. They contain light-sensing cells called rods and cones; rods allow the eye to detect low levels of light, and cones can detect color and produce sharp images…over 100 million rods and 7 million cones are in each eye. Unrelated to the eyes, most …

Week 24: By this point, the baby can respond to pressure, movement, hot and coldness, in addition to pain. The lung cells in the body have begun to produce a substance called surfactant, which is essential for gas exchange. The baby is able to breathe air, not fluid now! He/she is now about the size …

By Randall K. O’Bannon, Ph.D. NRL Director of Education & Research When the cell was first discovered (and named) by Robert Hooke in 1665, it was hailed as a major discovery. However it was initially thought to be just a cell wall containing a mass of some sort of undifferentiated protoplasm.  It took years for scientists …

Week 19: Around this time is when the pregnant mother should start to feel movement inside her womb! The little one can also start to hear voices by this time. The baby is about the size of a pomegranate. To protect their skin from amniotic fluid, the baby will start to form a thin, waxy …

An unborn child’s life is as dramatic as any series you will watch on cable television By Maria V. Gallagher, Legislative Director, Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation The reality of the hidden life of the unborn child can pop up in the least likely of places. I happened to be watching a “reality show” known for its …

Week 16: Many parts of the baby’s body are developing at a rapid pace. The retina in the eye now has distinct layers, neuron multiplication in the brain is COMPLETE by this time, AND teeth enamel begins to develop. As for the lower half of the baby’s body, all limbs and joints are now FULLY formed. …