our little man

4.27.2006

growth and development: week 13

"your baby is growing rapidly! its crown-to-rump length is 2.6 to 3.1 inches, and it weighs between 0.5 and 0.7 ounce. it is about the size of a peach.

fetal growth is particularly striking from now through about 24 weeks of pregnancy. the baby has doubled in length since the 7th week. changes in fetal weight have also been tremendous during the last 8 to 10 weeks of your pregnancy.

one interesting change is the relative slowdown in the growth of your baby's head compared to the rest of its body. in week 13, the head is about half the crown-to-rump length. by week 21, the head is about one-third of the baby's body. at birth, your baby's head is only one-forth the size of its body. fetal body growth accelerates as fetal head growth slows.

your baby's face is beginning to look more humanlike. eyes, which started out on the side of the head, move closer together on the face. the ears come to lie in their normal position on the sides of the head. external genitalia have developed enough so that a male can be distinguished from a female if examined outside the womb.

intestines initially develop within a large swelling in the umbilical cord outside the fetal body. about this time, they withdraw into the fetal abdominal cavity."

--your pregnancy week by week

posted at 10:37 AM by aimee // 0 comments