Sunday, October 18, 2009

baby at 16 weeks


This week, your baby is just beginning to accumulate some fat cells underneath her translucent skin. Your baby is about 4 ½ inches long and weighs about 3 ½ ounces, about the size of an avocado. She is beginning a huge growth spurt within the coming weeks in weight and height, so hold on!

Your baby’s heart is strengthening, and is now pumping about 6 gallons of blood per day. The heartbeats doubly as fast as yours, and it is furiously working to promote circulation and feed the organs for growth. The whorl pattern on her scalp, which will form her hair, has started to develop. If you were to watch your baby’s face, you would see that she has also developed some reflexes, including sucking, swallowing, and blinking her eyes. Her eyes have moved to the front of her head as well.

Another great milestone this week is that your baby is breathing. Her tiny lungs are taking in oxygen-enriched amniotic fluid for practice until she can breathe air one day. Further development in her lungs will take place until she is ready to breathe on her own after she is born. As she swallows and breathes amniotic fluid, her urinary tract is beginning to function as well. (source: smartmomma.com)

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