How big is your baby this week? - The second trimester

 

This week, your baby’s genitalia will be formed, and fine hair will start growing on the head. He or she will also start sucking and swallowing some amniotic fluid. You should start feeling some flutters soon!

Your baby is growing fast now. Baby’s scalp is starting to develop a distinct hair growth pattern, and soon you will be able to see a skeleton on 3D scans as his skeletal system continues to grow stronger.

Baby now has well-developed limbs, and his facial muscles are starting to move as his facial features are becoming more defined. Sensory organs are moving into place and tiny toenails are forming.

At this point, your doctor may order screening for genetic abnormalities.

If you have not started talking, reading or singing to your baby, now is the time to do so, as he can now sense the sound of your voice, your heartbeat and other sounds in his environment. By now, those kicks are becoming increasingly more pronounced

By now, your baby can actually hear, although his ears are only beginning to stand out from the sides of his head. This is a good excuse to spend a lot of time singing and reading aloud!

If you’re having a girl, she will develop a uterus this week and her vagina might form right about now. She will also be covered in a protective cheese-like coating called vernix caseosa, which protects her skin against hardening, chapping and abrasions. You may now hear her heartbeat using a stethoscope.

Baby’s hair is starting to grow, and lanugo (soft fine body hair) can be seen on her temples, back and shoulders. Movement continues to increase as baby’s muscles continue to develop.

As baby continues to grow, her organs and central nervous system are being developed. Baby is now swallowing amniotic fluid, her digestive system is maturing in preparation for birth. Her nails might be quite long by now.

Baby now has lanugo all over her body (but don’t worry – it will be shed during the first week after birth!) and she’s starting to look more like a little baby than an alien. She’s developing fat underneath her skin and her eyes are fully developed as her other organs continue to reach full development.

Your wrinkled baby will start forming footprints and fingerprints this week, and the tongue will start developing taste buds. At 23 weeks, boys’ testes will descend from the abdomen while girls’ ovaries and uterus will be set in place complete with a lifetime supply of ova. She will now develop teeny tiny nipples! Although it would require intensive medical care, babies born in week 23 may have a chance at survival.

At twenty-four weeks, your baby is becoming heavier, thanks to regular sleep and waking. Baby also has real hair now and his lungs and brain continue to develop.

Your baby’s equilibrium is formed, and he’s starting to understand the difference between up and down. During this period of fine-tuning, your baby’s senses will develop along with the final touches to complex networks of cells and organs.

Baby’s immune system is developing in overdrive right now, and she will soon be blinking those eyes with the pretty little lashes.