Life: The First Nine Months

Life:

The First Nine Months

The most crucial, eventful moments of your life occur in the safety of your mother's womb. Here are the major milestones* your life before birth, the first chapter in your own biography...

CONCEPTION: Father's sperm penetrates mother's egg cell. Genetic instructions from parents interact to begin a new and unique individual, no bigger than a grain of sugar.

lst DAY: The first cell divides into two, the two into four, and so on.

5-9 DAYS: New individual burrows into the wall of the womb. Sex can be determined.

14 DAYS: Mother's menstrual period is suppressed by a hormone produced by child.

15 DAYS: Heart is forming; eyes develop.

20 DAYS: Foundations of brain, spinal cord and nervous system are laid.

24 DAYS: Heart begins to beat.

28 DAYS: Muscles are developing along the future spine. Arms and legs are budding.

30 DAYS: Child has grown 10,000 times to 6-7mm. (1/4 in.) long. Brain has human proportions. Blood flows in veins (but stays separate from mother's blood).

35 DAYS: Pituitary gland in brain is forming. Mouth, ears and nose are taking shape.

40 DAYS: Heart's output is 20% of adult's.

42 DAYS: Skeleton is formed. Brain coordinates movement of muscles and organs. Reflex responses have begun. Penis is forming in boys. (Mother misses second period.)

43 DAYS: Brain waves can be recorded.

45 DAYS: Spontaneous movements have begun. Buds of milk teeth have appeared

7 WEEKS: Lips are sensitive to touch. Ears may resemble family pattern.

8 WEEKS: Child is well-proportioned, small-scale baby, 3 cm. (1 1/8 in.) sitting up and a gram (1/3 oz.) in weight. Every organ is present. Heart beats sturdily. Stomach produces digestive juices. Liver makes blood cells. Kidneys begin to function. Taste buds forming.

9 WEEKS: Child will bend fingers around an object placed in the palm. Thumb sucking occurs. Fingernails are forming. 10 WEEKS: Body is sensitive to touch. Child squints, swallows and frowns.

11 WEEKS: Baby urinates, makes complex facial expressions, even smiles. 12 WEEKS: Child can kick, curl toes, make a fist, move thumbs, bend wrists, turn head, open mouth and press lips together. Breathing is practiced.

13 WEEKS: Face is prettier, facial expressions resembling parents'. Graceful movements. Vocal cords forming (but without air baby cannot cry). Sex organs are apparent.

4 MONTHS: Child can grasp with hands, swim and turn somersaults.

4-5 MONTHS: Mother senses movements.

5 MONTHS: Sleeping habits appear. Child responds to sounds in frequencies too high or low for adults to hear.

6 MONTHS: Fine hair grows on eyebrows and head. Eyelash fringe appears. Weight is about 640g. (1 lb. 6 oz.) and height 23cm. (9 in.). Babies born at this age have survived.

7 MONTHS: Eye teeth are present. Eyelids open and close, eyes look around. Hands grip strongly. Mother's voice is recognized.

8 MONTHS: Weight increases by 1 kg. (over 2 lbs.) and baby's quarters get cramped.

9 MONTHS: Child triggers labor and birth occurs, usually 255-275 days after conception.

* Tsiaras, Alexander, and Barry Werth. From Conception to Birth; A Life Unfolds. New York: Doubleday, Inc., 2002.