June 13, 2010

13 weeks: peach


Your baby is now about 6.7cm long from crown to rump and weighs between 1/2 and 3/4 an ounce. Tiny fingerprints are now at the tips of her fingers. Your baby has sucking muscles in her cheeks, so when you poke your tummy gently she will feel it and start rooting.

There is a lot going on with your baby this week. Your baby's intestines are migrating from the umbilical cord into his or her abdomen. The villi are also forming in the intestines, and these help in peristaltic movements and digestion. The liver begins to secrete bile and the pancreas is even secreting insulin! All twenty teeth have formed and are waiting under the gums, while your baby has begun to practice swallowing by taking in the surrounding amniotic fluid and passing it back in his urine. Your baby can smile and his vocal cords are quickly developing, too. He looks more and more human as his eyes move closer together and the ears are beginning to move to what will be their normal positions. The placenta and baby are about the same weight now.

Most of the vital systems are developed now, and baby starts really growing, at times, growing as much as an inch this week.

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