    
|
|
|
All information is provided as a guide, it is not meant to replace the advice and information provided by your Health Care Professional. The structures of the spine begin to form -- joints, ligaments and rings. These will protect the all important spinal cord which serves as the information transmitter for your child's body. Baby's spine is getting stronger and more supple. Though no longer than the span of the average adult hand, it is now made up of 150 joints, 33 rings, and some 1,000 ligaments. Amniotic fluid and the absence of fat on your baby’s body makes their skin appear wrinkly at this time. Your baby weighs in now at 2.2 pounds (1005gm) and is 14.8 inches (37.6cm) Baby's eyes can move in their sockets. Soon he will be able to follow a blinking light. Your baby's lungs and digestive tract are almost fully developed. Baby can be seen making practice breathing movments via Ultrasound. You've probably gained three to four pounds (1.3 to 1.8 kgs) this month. Gaining a pound (450 gms) a week is quite normal during the last trimester as your baby has a final growth spurt before birth. Your baby's head size has increased 3/8ths of an inch due to rapid brain growth. Baby now weighs about 4.2 pounds (2 kgs) and measures approximately 17 inches (44 cms) from head to toe. Antibodies from your blood are being tranferred to him. These immunities continue to build until birth. If you choose to breastfeed, you breastmilk will add even more protection against disease. From the top of your belly button to the top of your uterus is about 6 inchs ( 15 cm). From your Pubic Symphysis the distance is about 14 inches (35cm). Baby is still gaining weight -- about an ounce (28 gms) a day. She weighs nearly 6 pounds (2.7 kg) and is 19 inches (45cm) long from head to toe. If he hasn't already, this week your baby may drop into the birth canal. While breathing for you becomes easier, walking may be the exact opposite! If its not your first baby, this "lightening" may not occur until right before labour. Your baby's intestines are accumulating lots of meconium. Meconium takes on the role of being your baby's first bowel movement -- removing the waste that has accumulated. His body continues laying on the fat stores that will help regulate his body temperature after birth. In addition to normal fat, he is accumulating a special "brown" fat in the nape of his neck, between his shoulders and around organs. Brown fat cells are important for thermogenesis (generating heat) during his first weeks. Much of the vernix has vanished but you will notice traces on her body when Baby is born. A baby has no functioning tear ducts for the first few weeks - during this time her first cries will be tearless ones. |
 
|
|
|