Week 22

Your baby is ready for a growth spurt now. In the next few weeks, your tiny tot will be doubling in weight, and adding a lot of inches to its length. As of now, he or she is the size of an sweet potato, which equals to around 4.5 inches in height, from head to rump. - Growth: The legs are quite well-developed,and his head will be more erect than a couple of weeks ago. Even though he or she isn’t quite recognizable yet, the baby would have a more flattened scalp now. Toenails are growing, and the heart pumps around 25 quarts of blood each day - Muscles and nerves: Now that your baby’s backbone has become more erect, he or she can easily stretch or flex those muscles. Your baby will be straightening out the back and neck all the more now, while the nervous system is busy making connections to the muscles. Not only this, even your baby’s face can now move too, indicating that he or she is developing the facial expressions successfully - Bones: Slowly but gradually, you will be able to feel fetal movements as your baby’s bones are hardening and developing a big growth spurt - Grasping: If you could hold your baby now, he or she could fit into the palm of your hand, while the growing fetus will give your baby the room to play with the umbilical cord – a sign that your baby can now fully grasp objects. He or she will be able to kick the amniotic sac or put the thumb in the mouth - Skin: Since there is no actual baby fat yet, your baby’s skin is paper-like. Practically translucent now, if you would have been able to look at your baby during this stage, you will be able to look at blood vessels under that thin skin - Hearing: Your baby’s ears and tiny bones inside the ears are in place, making sure that she or he can hear your voice by the 16th week of pregnancy. In fact, many studies have found that babies who hear songs when in the womb, tend to recognize the same voice when they are born, hence do choose your lullabies with that in mind By this week your baby will be completely covered with a fine hair called lanugo, which helps hold the vernix caseosa (the thick white substance composed of sebum and epithelial cells that provides a protective covering for the skin of the fetus). Overall your baby’s skin appears wrinkly, which is because she has not gained enough weight yet.