14 1/2 Weeks - Second Trimester
Your baby's crown to rump length is 3.2 to 4.5 inches long and he weighs approximately 1 ounce now. Your baby is about the size of the average fist.
Your uterus is beginning to swell week by week and you can follow its progress by locating the top of the uterus. The position of the top of the uterus will continue to gradually move up your abdomen, from beneath the pubic line to above your navel. You might also experience hemorrhoids, which are painful dilated blood vessels around or inside the anus.
At this time, your baby's face is becoming more developed. The cheeks and bridge of his nose appear and the ears move from the sides of his neck to much higher on his head. The eyes continue to come closer together. A big development from this week onward is the development of lanugo. Lanugo is the fine hair that grows over almost your entire baby. The hairs grow in whirled patterns that follow the grain of his skin. These patterns later give way to your baby's fingerprints. The lanugo will be shed before birth and replaced by thicker, coarser hairs.
Your baby's thyroid gland has matured and starts to produce hormones. If your baby is a boy, the prostate will appear and the ovaries descend from the abdomen into the pelvis in baby girls. The embryo`s soft cartilage is now being replaced with ` real` chalk bones. Your baby has eyebrows, but no eyelashes. Fine, light hair also begins to grow.
Your uterus is beginning to swell week by week and you can follow its progress by locating the top of the uterus. The position of the top of the uterus will continue to gradually move up your abdomen, from beneath the pubic line to above your navel. You might also experience hemorrhoids, which are painful dilated blood vessels around or inside the anus.
At this time, your baby's face is becoming more developed. The cheeks and bridge of his nose appear and the ears move from the sides of his neck to much higher on his head. The eyes continue to come closer together. A big development from this week onward is the development of lanugo. Lanugo is the fine hair that grows over almost your entire baby. The hairs grow in whirled patterns that follow the grain of his skin. These patterns later give way to your baby's fingerprints. The lanugo will be shed before birth and replaced by thicker, coarser hairs.
Your baby's thyroid gland has matured and starts to produce hormones. If your baby is a boy, the prostate will appear and the ovaries descend from the abdomen into the pelvis in baby girls. The embryo`s soft cartilage is now being replaced with ` real` chalk bones. Your baby has eyebrows, but no eyelashes. Fine, light hair also begins to grow.
