8 Weeks: raspberry

Week 8:

Many changes take place this week – the embryonic tail is gone, and all organs, muscles, and nerves are beginning to function. Your baby measures measures about 1.6cm. His hands now bend at the wrist, and his feet begin to lose their webbed appearance. Eyelids are beginning to cover his eyes and taste buds are starting to form on his tongue.

Your baby now has a face! Your baby's features are becoming more obvious, as his lips, tongue and nostrils, as well as the buds for 20 baby teeth are already present. The back muscles are growing along the spinal column, and his or her reproductive organs have started to form and soon will become either testes or ovaries. The arms and legs are growing and elbows and knees appear as well. The fingers and toes are starting to show.

The process of ossification (hardening of the bones) begins as the bones of the fingers and toes have already reached the first joint. Your baby is already getting smarter as his brain continues to develop and grow. Your baby is starting to show signs of reflex activity - an automatic response to certain types of stimuli. Connecting you and your baby, the umbilical cord with all its blood vessels, is starting to function. In fact, what will be your baby's intestine is forming in the umbilical cord as well.