Fetus Growth - continued

Fifth Month

The growth of your baby will be rapid in this month. The internal organs are maturing, while the fingernails have grown to the tips of the fingers. The number of nerve cells in the brain increases rapidly this month. Stool (called meconium) begins to form in the intestines. Your sonography at this stage may reveal the baby sleeping and waking at regular intervals and also sucking its thumb. You will find that your baby is much more active, turning from side to side and head over heels. The respiratory system starts working and the baby may drink some amniotic fluid. She also begins to urinate. The amniotic fluid transfers material in the sac to the blood in the mother's circulation. The amniotic fluid is completely replaced every 3 hours.
Your baby is now about 10 inches (25 centimeters) long and weighs about 12 ounces (about 340 grams).

Sixth Month

This is a very critical month for your baby as she grows rapidly in strength and size. The baby is too young to be born at this time. Most babies born so prematurely do not survive. Only some who do, have to be under intensive care with artificial breathing and precise temperature control in an incubator. The skin is wrinkled and red and covered with vernix (a substance of oil and cells). The baby can open and close the eyes and can hear sounds. The baby's fingerprints and footprints have formed.
By the end of this month, your baby is 12 inches (30 centimeters) long and weighs about 1 to 1 and 1/2 pounds (450 to 680 grams). At the end of this month cells inside the baby's lungs begin to make a fatty substance called surfactant. This substance helps the baby breathe after birth. Because babies are still so small and the lungs are not fully developed at this stage, they usually cannot live outside the uterus without very specialized care.
The sixth month is the last month of the second trimester.

Seventh Month

The seventh, eighth, and ninth months are the third and final trimester of pregnancy. The baby weighs about two and a half pounds in the beginning of this month, is about 15inches long and viable to be born, though still very premature and needs survival by help of medical technology. The baby exercises by kicking and stretching. Calcium is being stored, and the bone centers are hardening. The lanugo begins to disappear from the face, and the baby may have more hair on its head. The baby can make grasping motions with its hands. If the baby is a boy, the testicles begin to move down from the abdomen into the scrotum.
Baby’s movements at this point in pregnancy have gone from wild kicks and flurries to smaller movements as the room becomes crowded in the uterus. At about week 28 babies begin to start turning head down. This is automatic in most babies and they seem to like it that way.
Your baby can sense light and dark in the uterus. This may also effect the pattern you notice of sleep and wake cycles. The uterus is also not a silent environment. While the baby can hear your heart beat, your digestive system, etc. your baby can also hear your voice as well as others close by. Think of what you can hear in a pool.
Your baby's eye lashes are developing, as subcutaneous fat is deposited. The mother may be off balance more often due to the increase in weight. She may feel false contractions called 'Braxton Hicks'

Eigth Month

Your baby is fully formed now and is getting too big to move around much, but its kicks are stronger, and you may be able to see the outline of a small heel or elbow against your abdomen. If your baby is a boy, his testicles have descended into his scrotum. Although the baby's bones continue to harden, the bones of the head are soft and flexible. The baby is acquiring immunities (antibodies) from the mother, which will help protect the baby against illness for the first few months after birth. Sometimes the baby will have hiccups. At this time the mother is advised to undergo specific tests to check her immunity against threatening diseases like Rubella and small pox. If the mother already has had chicken pox, jaundice etc then this antibody present in the mother’s body will be passed on to her baby.
Your baby is really getting ready to be born. Every day in the uterus is said to be two less days your baby would spend in the hospital at this point. Red blood cell production is done entirely by your baby’s bone marrow. Amniotic fluid is still present and your baby urinates into it daily, about a half a liter of urine a day.
The baby's irises can now dilate and contract in response to light. He or she opens and closes their eyes at will. Even the finger nails reach the end of the fingers. Some babies might even need a nail trim at birth! Your baby may have a lot of hair on their head or none, both extremes are normal.
The weight gain has been fairly incredible recently. Your baby has put on about 2 pounds of weight, mostly fat and muscle tissue, since last month, bringing the total to an average of three pounds eleven ounces (1.7 kilograms), and measurements to 40 cms or 15.8 inches!

Ninth Month

The final month comes and the mother is impatient to hold her little one anyday. All the anticipation and wait is finally coming to an end as the baby progresses rapidly now gaining about 1/2 pound (225 grams) each week. The baby is getting ready for birth and usually settles into the vertex position, with its head down against the birth canal and its knees against the nose. The bones of the head are soft and flexible for delivery through the birth canal. The lanugo (body hair) is almost all gone.
Your baby is now about 20 inches (50 centimeters) long and weighs 6 to 9 pounds (2700 to 4000 grams). No one knows what makes labor start. You may go into labor and give birth to the child any time between the 37th and 42nd weeks of pregnancy.
Your baby’s organs have been finished forming for a long time. Now is the time for finishing touches. For example, the lungs make final preparations for birth by secreting surfactant to help them expand at birth. Your baby’s kidneys are still producing lots of urine every day, helping to make up the almost two pints of amniotic fluid.
While your baby may be putting on half a pound a week up until about week 37 at which point weight gain slows drastically. The average birth weight is still about seven and a half pounds. Your baby will measure between 18-22 inches at birth.
Your due date is a guess as to when your baby may arrive. The majority of babies will show up from two weeks before this date to two weeks after this date. Labor is caused by the baby’s signals to the mother’s body that he or she is ready to be born.

Good luck and good birth!