Baby Development: Pregnancy Stages Week by Week (Videos)

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First Trimester: Week 1- 12

Week 4 

Pregnancy Month by month – One Month

• Your baby is now an embryo and one-fifth of an inch long.
• Baby's brain and spinal cord have begins to form.
• The heart begins to form.
• Arm and leg are in form  

Video # 1: Pregnancy Stages

Week Eight Pregnancy Month by Month – Two Months

• At this pregnancy stages fetal development is already taken place, and baby is looks more of a human being.
• The eyes have moved forward on the face and eyelids have formed.
• Your baby's heart beats with a rhythm.
• The sex organs begin to form.
• All major organs and external body structures have begun to form.
• The arms and legs grow longer, and fingers and toes have begun to form.
• The umbilical cord is clearly visible.
• Your baby is nearly 1 inch long and weighs less than 1/8 of an ounce

Week 12 Pregnancy Month by month – Three Months

• Eyelids close to protect the developing eyes. 
• Head growth has slowed, and your baby is much longer. 
• Now, about 3 inches long, your baby weighs almost an ounce.
• The nerves and muscles begin to work together. Your baby can make a fist.
• The eyes will not open again until after the 27th week

Video #2: Pregnancy Stages

Second Trimester: Pregnancy stages week by week Week 13-week 28)

Most pregnant women find the second trimester of pregnancy easier than the first. 

You might notice that symptoms like weakness and nausea are going away. But you may have noticed that some changes in your body. As the baby grows your abdomen is expanding. Before the end of this trimester, you baby will start moving.

As your body changes to make room for your growing baby, you may have:

• Body aches, such as back, abdomen, groin, or thigh pain
• A line on the skin running from belly button to pubic hairline
• Pregnancy stretch marks on your buttocks, thighs, abdomen and breasts, 
• Numb or tingling hands, called carpal tunnel syndrome
• Itching on the abdomen, palms, and soles of the feet. nausea, appetite, vomiting, fatigue combined with itching. These can be signs of a serious liver problem.)
• Swelling of the ankles, fingers, and face. (If you notice any sudden or extreme swelling or if you gain a lot of weight really quickly. This could be a sign of blood pressure associated with pregnancy- preeclampsia.) “Consult your doctor immediately”. 
• Patches of darker skin, usually over the cheeks, forehead, nose, or upper lip. Patches often match on both sides of the face. This is sometimes called the mask of pregnancy.

Newborn Baby Delivered by Lola Okoye  of Psquare

Second Trimester (week 13-week 28)

At 16 weeks:

The external sex organs show if your baby is a boy or girl.

 If you do a pregnancy scan in the second trimester, you could find out the sex of your baby.

• The bone and muscle tissues are forming and creating a complete skeleton.
• You could see through that your baby’s skin is forming.
• The baby's digestive organs begin to form in place- first bowel movement.
• The baby starts moving some reflex action – sucking with the mouth.
• Your baby now weighs a bit more than he weighed the last trimester.

At 20 weeks:

• Your baby is more active than ever. 
• Your baby is covered by fine hair, his protects the forming skin.
• Your baby can hear and swallow.
• Eyebrows, eyelashes, fingernails, and toenails have formed. 
• Your baby can even scratch itself with the nail.
• Halfway through your pregnancy, your baby has increased in length and weight 

At 24 weeks:

• The hand and startle reflex develop
• Bone marrow begins to make blood cells.
• Taste buds form on your baby's tongue.
• Fingerprints and footprints have formed.
• Real hair begins to grow on your baby's head.
• Your baby sleeps and wakes regularly
• The lungs are formed, but do not work.
• For baby boys, the testicles begin to move from the abdomen into the scrotum.
•  Uterus and ovaries baby girls are in place and eggs have formed in the ovaries.
•  Now at about 12 inches long, your baby weighs about 1½ pounds.
• Your baby stores fat and has gained quite a bit of weight. 

 Lifeart Studio Newborn

   

Third Trimester week 29-week 40

You're in the home stretch! Some of the same discomforts you had in your second trimester will continue. Plus, many women find breathing difficult and notice they have to go to the bathroom even more often. This is because the baby is getting bigger and it is putting more pressure on your organs. Don't worry, your baby is fine and these problems will lessen once you give birth.

Some new body changes you might notice in the third trimester includes:

• Shortness of breath
• Heartburn
• Swelling of the ankles, fingers, and face. (If you notice any sudden or extreme swelling or if you gain a lot of weight really quickly, call your doctor right away. This could be a sign of preeclampsia.)
• Hemorrhoids
• Tender breasts, which may leak a watery pre-milk called colostrum.
• Your belly button may stick out
• Trouble sleeping
• The baby "dropping," or moving lower in your abdomen
• Contractions, which can be a sign of real or false labour

As you come close to your due date, your cervix becomes thinner and softer. This is a normal, natural process that helps the birth canal to open during the birthing process. Your doctor will check your progress with a vaginal exam. 

Third Trimester (week 29-week 40)

At 32 weeks:

• Your baby's bones are fully formed, but still soft.
• Your baby's kicks and jabs are forceful.
• The eyes can open and close and sense changes in light.
• Lungs are not fully formed, but practice "breathing" movements occur.
• Your baby's body begins to store vital minerals, such as iron and calcium.
• Lanugo begins to fall off.
• Your baby is gaining weight quickly, about one-half pound a week. 

At 36 weeks:

• The protective waxy coating called vernix gets thicker.
• Body fat increases. Your baby is getting bigger, and has less space to move around. Movements are less forceful, but you will feel stretches and wiggles.
• Your baby is about 16 to 19 inches long and weighs about 6 to 6½ pounds.

Weeks 37- 40:

• At 37 weeks, your baby's organs are ready to function on their own. By the end of week 37, your baby is considered full term. 
• As you near your due date, your baby may turn into a head-down position for birth. Most babies "present" head down.
• At birth, your baby may weigh somewhere between 6 pounds 2 ounces and 9 pounds 2 ounces and be 19 to 21 inches long. Most full-term babies fall within these ranges. But healthy babies come in many different sizes.

Conclusion: Pregnancy Stages

In the third trimester, some pregnant women begin to leak colostrum from their breasts. 

Colostrum is the first milk that your breasts produce for the baby. It is a thick, yellowish fluid containing antibodies that protect the newborn babies against infection.

As your baby grows bigger, the uterus expands and you will feel some sort of pain on your on the lower waist area of your back, you may feel aches and pains in the back, abdomen, groin area, and thighs. Many women complain of aches on the pelvic bone due the pressure of the baby's head and increased weight down to the leg, at the peak of the third trimester.