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Seven Weeks Pregnant





I still appear to have a small tail (actually, it's an extension of my tailbone), which will disappear in the next few weeks. But that's the only thing getting smaller. Now almost half an inch long — roughly the size of a raspberry — I have elbow joints and distinct, slightly webbed fingers and toes. In my oversized head, both hemispheres of my brain are developing. My teeth and the inside of my mouth are forming, and my ears continue to develop. Eyelid folds partially cover my tiny peepers, which already have some color, and the tip of that nose you'll be tweaking someday is emerging. My skin is paper-thin and my veins are clearly visible. I also have an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. My liver is busy producing red blood cells, and a loop of my growing intestines is bulging into my umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from my tiny body. Mummy can't feel my gyrations yet, but I am like a little jumping bean, moving in fits and starts around my watery home.

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Six Weeks Pregnant





The cells that will make up all of my body parts and systems are dividing furiously as my body begins to take shape. Right now I'm about the size of a small lentil bean (4 to 5 millimeters across). If you could see through Mummy's tummy, you'd find an overlarge head and dark spots where my eyes and nostrils are beginning to take shape. Shallow pits on the sides of my head mark my developing ears, and my arms and legs appear as protruding buds. My hands and feet look like paddles, with thick webbing between the developing digits, but my fingers and toes will soon become more distinct. Below the opening that will later be my mouth, there are small folds where my neck and lower jaw will eventually develop. (Inside, my tongue and vocal cords are just beginning to form.) My heart (which is starting to divide into the right and left chambers) is beating about 100 to 130 beats per minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to circulate through my body. My intestines are developing and tiny breathing passages are beginning to appear where my lungs will be. I'm also starting to build muscle fibers and, halfway through this week, I'll probably start moving my tiny limbs. Unfortunately, Mummy will have to wait quite a while before she gets to enjoy feeling my calisthenics.

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Five Weeks Pregnant





Deep in Mumy's uterus I am growing at a furious pace. At this point I'm about the size of a sesame seed, and I look more like a tiny tadpole than a human. I'm now made up of three layers — the ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm — that will later form my organs and tissues. The cells are forming for my major organs, including my kidneys and liver, and my neural tube is beginning to develop. This neural tube — from which your my brain, spinal cord, nerves, and backbone will sprout — develops in the top layer, called the ectoderm. This layer will also give rise to my skin, hair, nails, mammary and sweat glands, and tooth enamel. My heart and circulatory system begin to form in the middle layer, or mesoderm. (This week, in fact, my tiny heart begins to divide into chambers and beat and pump blood.) The mesoderm will also form your my muscles, cartilage, bone, and subcutaneous (under skin) tissue. The third layer, or endoderm, will house my lungs, intestines, and rudimentary urinary system, as well as my thyroid, liver, and pancreas. In the meantime, the primitive placenta and umbilical cord, which deliver nourishment and oxygen to me, are already on the job.