Do you ever wonder what your baby is doing during pregnancy? In utero, you can’t see your baby grow and reach milestones like you could with a baby who is born and right in front of you- but that doesn’t mean that nothing is happening! During pregnancy, your baby is growing rapidly and reaching new milestones every week!
With just little glimpses here and there through ultrasounds, it’s easy to forget that your baby is actually growing. Here are a couple of cool things that are happening to your baby during your pregnancy that you don’t always get to see.
First Trimester (0-13 weeks)
This first trimester is when your body goes from providing for only one person (you) to providing for two (or more) people! Everything you do, your baby does with you. This can be draining as your body works extra hard to keep two people alive. Here are a few things that happen during these first couple of weeks:
- Did you know your baby’s heart will beat approximately 54 million times before the baby is born?! It will start to beat for the first time around 3 weeks after conception.
- As early as 6 weeks, the baby exhibits reflexes (grasping, moving their jaw, pointing their toes in response to touch) and can even roll over
- By 6.5 weeks, the baby’s heart has 4 chambers and is already mostly complete. At this point, it beats more than 160 times per minute! Most other organs begin to develop, such as the brain and spinal cord
- Baby can swallow and their bowel functions begin developing at around 6 weeks
- Your baby can start having hiccups as early as 7 weeks
- At 9 weeks, the baby can sigh and has started sucking its thumb
- 75% of all babies show right-hand dominance at 8 weeks (the other 25% show either left-hand preference or no preference)
Second Trimester (14-26 weeks)
A lot of women claim that their second trimester was their easiest. This is because the morning sickness and nausea tend to go away or significantly lessen. This is also when you start to feel a bit more like yourself, and your energy levels might return to what they were before. However, just because you start to feel like your pre-pregnant self does not mean that nothing is happening to you or your baby during this trimester! In the second trimester…
- Your baby can hear both inside and outside of the womb at 16 weeks. Your baby can hear the sounds going on inside of your body, such as your heartbeat, your breathing and can also hear you talk and sing (research shows that babies can actually react to the sound of their mother’s voice and likely finds these sounds comforting!)
- Although your baby’s not opening them quite yet, their eyes are developed by 20 weeks
- Fingerprints and toeprints have formed and fingernails have grown on the tips of the fingers and toes
Third Trimester (27-40+ weeks)
By the third trimester, you are likely counting down the weeks until you get to meet your baby! This trimester, your baby is focused on growing bigger and bigger, and this is causing your organs to be pushed around. You likely feel a lot of discomfort, especially when you sleep. Because your baby is taking up more room, you probably have to go to the bathroom more often too! Some fun facts about baby development in the third trimester:
- At 27 weeks, your baby’s eyes open. It’s site is a bit blurry, but he/she can distinguish between light and dark and can detect light streaming in from outside of your body (if you were to hold a flashlight up to your belly, baby can see it!)
- By the third trimester, a baby can tell the difference between his mother’s voice and others and has even developed a more favorable response to certain voices
- By the end of your pregnancy, your uterus is 500-1000 times its normal size!
Nine months can feel like an eternity when waiting to meet your little bundle of joy, but every month of these nine months is critical to your baby’s development. With every passing week, your baby is meeting milestones that are essential to ensuring healthy development after birth! Even though you can’t see it, your body is working hard!
If you’d like more information about a baby’s development in utero or any other pregnancy-related topics, reach out to our team at PRC GR! Our medical professionals are happy to help support and guide you through any questions you may have.
We recognize the sacrifices that you are making, and the hard work you have put in to help your baby develop properly. So if no one else says it – good job! We are excited for what is in store for you and your baby.
Sources:
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/the-second-trimester/
https://lifecharity.org.uk/news-and-views/10-astounding-facts-about-the-development-on-the-unborn-baby/
https://www.mother.ly/pregnancy/third-trimester/5-amazing-things-your-baby-is-doing-in-your-3rd-trimester/