Happy Sunday y’all! As I sat down this week to brainstorm this weeks post, I thought about how this past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday and these next 40 days till Easter are so so special. THEN!! I was like oh my goodness the number 40 is so significant. If you’re a big Bible reader you’ll notice how often God gives the significance of a number ever so slightly. But I just thought how fitting it is that the biggest miracles coincide with the 40. THEN I did more thinking and realized there are also three trimesters and well the number 3 is also a HUGE deal. So with this season I thought what better blog to post than that of a glance at the Big 40 and broke it down by the big 3! So here we go! I will cite my resources at the bottom of course! These notes are that of my own writing mixed with the facts and notions of Child Birth International. Happy reading!
First Trimester :
Week 3: (Heart starts to beat around day 18 or so!) The brain, spinal cord, intestine tract and heart all start their developments.
Between Weeks 4/5: Embryo is now 10,000 TIMES LARGER than the fertilized egg started off at! (Woah y’all that’s mind boggling and beyond impressive) Buds of arms and legs start to be able to be seen, as well as nerves and sections of the brain are formed. The head is also accounted for 1/3 of the total body size! Eyes and ears beginning structures begin to develop, bold starts flowing and heart beats are regular!
Week 6: Lungs are beginning to develop, and while the hands and feet are still like a duck and webbed, they do have digits. 🦆
Week 7: BABY HAS ELBOWS AND TOES!!! Random movements might happen, all the essential organs have started to form and the trunk begins to straighten out!
Second Trimester:
Week 16: The fetus is around 6 inches this week and only about an ounce in weight!! (That’s so tiny!) BUT little human is getting some fine hair on their head, they can swallow and movements of their mouth are made! Sweat glands have also begun to develop and secrete!
Week 18: If baby is a girl, ovaries will be fully formed, and contain all of the egg cells for her lifetime (that’s insane to me I don’t know about you!) This is also the week that the placenta begins to grow in diameter rather than thickness.
Week 20: Lanugo hair is now covering the entire body, fat begins to deposit making baby’s skin less transparent, nails appear, and eyebrows and lashes do as well. If baby is a boy tested will descend from the scrotum! Legs and arms begin to become stronger because of muscle development! Baby is also more active and fetal heartbeat can be heard with just a stethoscope.
Week 24: BABY CAN NOW SEE! Isn’t that wild? I wish there was a way they could articulate what it was like in there or that we could remember it. Baby can also now hear moms voice and sounds of her body! Blood Vessels are also developing!
Week 28: Baby is able to exhale and inhale! Baby also had about 2-3% body fat, taste buds and their eyes are partially opened with eyelashes! Fat is beginning to happen, and bone marrow is taking over production of red blood cells. Breathing is also now controlled by the brain!!
Third Trimester:
Week 32: Baby now has colored pupils, a developing immune system and white fat build up giving the baby a lighter skin color. Eyes are opening and closing during awake and sleeping times, and legs are drawn into the fetal position because baby is running out of space!
Week 36: Limbs are dimpled around the elbows and knees, and creases appear around neck and wrists!! (Baby is getting those chunky baby rolls!)
Week 38: BABY IS NOW CONSIDERED TERM!! And being born anywhere within these next four weeks is considered normal!
Week 40: 15% of baby’s body weight is now fat! If born now, baby can also display more than 70 of the neurological reflexes deemed for survival!
~I hope you each enjoyed this Trimester and 40 Weeks At a glance! If you are expecting or know someone who is expecting and have any questions or would just like to chat, feel free to contact me! I would love to join you on this exciting journey!~
ALSO! I always value and appreciate y’all’s feedback so please please feel free to leave a comment below or on any of my social media pages! Would love to hear your thoughts and ideas! Remember this is a safe space of growth and resource for all things Bump to Babies! 💕With that being said? If you ever have any questions or topics you’d like talked about LET ME KNOW!! That’s what I am here for!
Many blessings and happy Sunday ✨💕
-Mariana
Citation: Physiology in Birth. Child Birth International
Bump to Babies 