The Making of Your Child: Baby’s Fetal Development

In this article we will discus the different stages of a baby’s fetal development and what should be happening at each stage.  Remember please, that even in the womb babies develop at different rates.  Do not place undo pressure on yourself by thinking that your baby’s fetal development is too slow or otherwise different than normal.  These are simply guidelines to help you understand the progress of your baby’s fetal development and not hard absolutes.

At stage one, during the fifth week of your pregnancy, your baby will begin to develop its spinal cord, brain, heart and intestinal tract.  At stage two, which is six to seven weeks into your pregnancy, the baby’s fetal development will show signs of arm and leg buds.  During this time, your baby’s brain will divide into five distinct regions and the cranial nerves begin to appear.  Your baby’s eyes and ears start to form and the heart begins a steady beat.  This is a busy time in baby’s fetal development.

As we move into stage three, during the eighth week of your pregnancy, your baby’s fetal development continues with arms and legs becoming longer.  Hands and feet areas get more distinctive and fingers and toes might start to appear, although they are probably still webbed.  Your baby’s lungs begin forming now.

During week nine of your pregnancy, you can clearly see baby’s fingers and toes, hair follicles and nipples are forming and all vital organs have begun development.

At week ten of pregnancy, all of the developments continue and the intestines rotate.

In week eleven, baby has officially passed from the embryonic stage and begins its fetal stage.

Now, your baby’s fetal development continues in all physical aspects and, at about weeks nineteen to twenty-one, baby begins to hear.  Mother may also start to feel some slight movement in her abdomen at this point in her baby’s fetal development.

Around week twenty-two of pregnancy, Mother can definitely feel the baby move, as its muscle development increases.

During weeks twenty-three to twenty-five of pregnancy, the baby starts storing fat.

Around the twenty-sixth week of pregnancy, baby’s eyes are developed along with eyebrows and lashes.  Fingerprints and footprints begin to form as well as air sacs in the lungs.  Startle and hand reflexes are apparent at this stage in your baby’s fetal development.

From here, at week twenty-seven of pregnancy, the most complex organs and tissues of the baby’s body are in a rapid development.  This point in your baby’s fetal development sees the brain and nervous system progress to advanced stages.  Your baby’s body will start storing calcium, phosphorous, and iron.  Fingernails grow past the fingertips.  The baby’s hair becomes thicker and coarse.

Of course, it is not far from this point that your baby’s fetal development peaks and childbirth occurs.  As interesting as it might be on paper, there is nothing like the things a mother feels and experiences during all the stages of her baby’s fetal development inside her body.

Article Source:http://www.babycenter-blog.com/2010/09/04/the-making-of-your-child-baby%E2%80%99s-fetal-development/