Week 19 -- Developments and Changes

Welcome to another exciting week in "As your Baby Grows." What will happen this week?? Will the baby grow to enormous proportions, or develop herculean muscles?? You'll have to tune in to find out. Oh wait, this isn't a soap opera. What am I doing?? Anyway, here's the real news:

This week the baby is 6-7 inches long and weighs about 7-10 ounces. Baby is now able to make intentional movements, such as thumb sucking. The other developments occurring this week:

• The baby is developing millions of motor neurons, which are nerves that connect the muscles to the brain
• Parts of the leg have now grown in proportion to the rest of the body
• The skin is developing but is still transparent, appearing red because blood vessels are visible through it
• A creamy, white, protective coating called vernix begins to develop, which protects your baby's skin from its aquatic environment and helps prevent delicate skin from becoming chapped or scratched
• The placenta continues to grow and nourish the baby.

Tomorrow we also have another checkup so I'll update you on how that went tomorrow. So there you have it folks. Another exciting week of "As your baby grows!" Join is next week as we hit the halfway point of this exciting adventure!!