Concerns and Complications

Your baby todayThe placenta, shown in red above the baby's green profile, is now receiving half a liter of blood each minute from your circulation. In order to accommodate this increase your blood volume expanded dramatically in the first few mon...

Your baby todayYour baby's hair and eye color are all determined genetically and set before birth. Unfortunately, however detailed an ultrasound image is, it can only show the shape of structures and will never be able to show true color informat...

Your baby todayBy now the fetus's forehead is high and bulging, with visible joins in the plates of bone that comprise the skull. The eyes have migrated from the sides of the head at this stage of development. ...

Your baby todayThis profile of the baby shows the tip of the nose touching the placenta. Your placenta will not be growing any more and now thins slightly. Within, the placenta continues to mature and it remains a highly efficient means of supply...

Your baby todayThe lip shape and groove between the nose and upper lip are particularly well shown here. If you or your partner has a prominent groove, or philtrum, above the upper lip, your baby may too, or she may inherit characteristics that a...

Your baby todayThere is no light in the uterus, but 3D ultrasound is designed to produce highlights and shadows to give the same effect as if you shone a flashlight into the uterus. Now your baby may be holding her hands flexed into a fist. ...

Your baby todayHere the back of the embryo can be seen lying over the yolk sac. The opening overlying the developing brain has now closed (left side of image) and this will be followed two days later by closure of the opening at the base of the s...

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Your baby todayThere is still plenty of room for your baby to move around. Your baby is able to perform complete somersaults and change position several times a day or even several times in a few minutes. ...

Your baby's skin is still transparent and there is little fat lying beneath it at this stage of the pregnancy. ...

Your baby todayBy now the fetus's forehead is high and bulging, with visible joins in the plates of bone that comprise the skull. The eyes have migrated from the sides of the head at this stage of development. ...

Your baby todayYour baby's heart will beat quite fast, at between 110 and 160 beats every minute. Even after birth, your baby's heart will continue to beat at this speed. It will be several years before the heart rate is 70 or so beats per minute...

You're probably already wondering if you're carrying a boy or a girl, but the physical signs of gender aren't apparent yet. ...

Your baby's lungs won't be fully developed until late in pregnancy, but the foundations are being laid down right now. ...

Your baby todayHere the back of the embryo can be seen lying over the yolk sac. The opening overlying the developing brain has now closed (left side of image) and this will be followed two days later by closure of the opening at the base of the s...

You're probably already wondering if you're carrying a boy or a girl, but the physical signs of gender aren't apparent yet. ...

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Your baby todayThe embryo, still less than 3 mm long, now has a deep and narrow groove extending along its entire length. This groove will soon become so deep and its edges will curl over so much that it forms into a tube running along the length...