Month 2 Watch me grow!

So much is going on in your body, and there is still so much to come! Here’s a look at some of the highlights.

The rapid growth of a baby is so fascinating. What has been going on at cellular level is even more amazing.

1 MONTH

During the first month, your baby’s cardiovascular system is up and running at 21 days. The heart is beating, and blood is pumped around Baby’s body. The central nervous system has started wiring what will be the brain and spinal cord. The neural tube has zipped itself shut by the end of the fourth week. The folds of the face become distinct, and there are spots where the eyes and the ears are beginning to form.

2 MONTHS

During the second month, the limbs branch out, and tiny paddles have formed where the hands and feet will grow. Bone has started to be laid down. The ears have moved to the side of the head from under the chin, but the eyes are still wide apart. The end of this month marks the end of what is known as the embryonic period.

3 MONTHS

The third month sees the baby’s neck growing and starting to straighten. The tough umbilical cord is as big as the foetus itself. The fingernails have started to grow. At the end of the first trimester, your baby has his own unique set of fingerprints.

4 MONTHS

Your baby is fully formed and now has to grow and mature. Tiny hairs, known as lanugo (meaning fine wool) have started growing on baby’s eyebrows and upper lip. Your baby’s head is huge in comparison to his body, but in this month, his body starts to catch up. The nerve cells in the brain have finished dividing and have reached their maximum number. The brain begins to prune the nerves in order to shape brain function. The myelination of the nerves has begun (creating the fatty sheath that covers and protects

the nervous system), and this bubble wrapping helps signals to travel faster and further on trips to and from the brain. Baby’s diaphragm moves up and down, but baby is not really breathing.

5 MONTHS

Baby’s oil-producing glands start to work, and your baby’s skin starts to produce a substance called vernix. You may feel your baby move.

6 MONTHS

Your baby could possibly survive outside the womb (although it is way too early, and you are the best incubator for your unborn). His lungs have started making surfactant, a substance that helps your baby’s lungs expand at birth and allow oxygen in.

7 MONTHS

Your baby’s brain is starting to wrinkle so that it can fit inside the skull while it continues to grow. He will be startled by loud noises, and the little bones in the ear are fully formed and adult size. Be sure to sing lullabies to your baby. He will remember them and be soothed by them after birth.

8 MONTHS

All the major body systems are completed. The central nervous system is now directing breathing motions and performing primitive reflexes. His muscles are constantly contracting and relaxing. He has a good layer of fat under his skin.

9 MONTHS

The lanugo and vernix are almost completely gone, and his bowels are filled with meconium, which is made up of secretions of the bowel and substances that baby has swallowed from the amniotic fluid. ●