Month One

• Conception: sperm fertilizes the egg
• Fertilized egg implants in lining of the uterus
• Mother misses first menstrual cycle
• Eyes developing
• Foundation laid for brain and spinal cord
• Heart beats regularly (24 days)
• Arms and leg buds appear
• Muscles forming
• 1/4 inch long-10,000 times larger than fertilized egg

Month Two

• Brain waves recorded
• Lungs forming
• Muscles work together
• Reflexes present
• Begins to move
• Skeleton formed
• Ears and earlobes formed
• Eyelids forming
• Responds to touch
• Fingers and toes defined
• Permanent fingerprints
• Sex identifiable
• 1-1/4 inch long

Month Three

• Can suck thumb
• Can hear
• Begins to hiccup
• Fingers can grasp object
• Lung and brain growth largely complete
• Eyelids close if touched
• Baby moves vigorously
• Three inches long
• Looks like tiny human doll

Month Four

• May quadruple weight in fourth month
• Grows from four inches at 13 weeks to six inches at 16 weeks
• Heart pumps six gallons of blood every day
• Downy hair covers body
• Mother feels baby moving

Months Five-Six

• Weighs one pound (five months)
• One foot long
• Has chance to survive outside the womb
• Fingernails and toenails present
• Mother feels baby hiccup

Months Seven-Nine

• Weight three pounds (seven months)
• Lungs continue to mature
• Fat deposits make the skin smoother
• At end of ninth month, the baby weighs 7-1/4 pounds, is 20 inches long

Birth isn't the beginning of life, it's just another chapter of a continuing story. The child will continue to develop until the age of 23 years!!

© 1989 Human Development Resource Council, Inc.
Used with permission

© 2004 True Life Choice Inc., All rights reserved

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