Skip to main content

10 Weeks

Your baby is no longer an embryo! Though she's barely the size of a kumquat — just an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, she has completed the most critical portion of her development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in her body grow and mature rapidly. Her vital organs — the liver, kidney, intestines, brain, and lungs — are now in place and starting to function, although they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy. Her liver continues to make blood cells, and the yolk sac, which previously supplied these cells, is no longer needed and begins to disappear.
During the next three weeks, your baby's length will more than double to nearly 3 inches. Her head is proportionately smaller now than it was a few weeks ago, but it's still almost half the length of her entire body. Her forehead temporarily bulges with her developing brain and sits high on her head; it will later recede to give her a more human appearance. Each day, more minute details — including tiny fingernails, toenails, and peach-fuzz hair — start to appear on her body. Her fingers are now completely separated; her arms bend at the elbow and curve slightly; her hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over her heart; her legs are lengthening; and her feet may be long enough to meet in front of her body. She is busily swallowing amniotic fluid and kicking her legs.

If you could take a peek at your baby this week, you'd be able to clearly see the outline of her spine through her parchment-thin skin. Spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from her spinal cord.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Which Saucer Boy is This??

Can you identify the baby in this picture with Grandma?? My mom was with us this weekend in Birmingham, AL. Thought my readers might like a challenge. Here it is leave a comment or send me an email and guess which Saucer Boy this is.

Old Maid in My Ear

Last week Alan said he put a popcorn seed in his ear at school. We took him to the pediatrician at the base and they tried to get it out with irrigation. While we were waiting for the referral my friend, Missy (a nurse), took him to her husband's office and tried to irrigate it out again. No luck so we had to wait for a referral to be approved to take him to a pediatric ENT. The closest one is in Pensacola and couldn't get him in until March 17th!! Again I called my friend Missy and asked for her recommendation on ENT doctors in town. She gave me her guy's name and I got on the phone with Tricare. It took lots of call transfers and time, but they could change the referral to Dr. Tran and he could get us in yesterday. Dr. Tran was unable to remove the popcorn seed in his office, but they could get Alan in for surgery first thing this morning to remove the seed. Here is where I learned that anything requiring anesthesia is called surgery. They were going to put Alan out so he...

Daniel's Surgery

It's 1:30am and been a very long day. Daniel's surgery was pushed back quite a bit today and we are just getting home from the hospital. The doctor gave us some neat pictures and I hope to get them along with all the details added to this post in the very near future. Thanks for all your prayers and please continue to pray for a speedy recovery. WARNING WARNING WARNING the following pictures are not for those of you with weak stomachs!!! Here is his Gall Bladder (everything here is normal) This next picture was explained with some big words. My teaching background kicked in so I rephrased what the doctor was telling me in words I could understand and he said I was understanding correctly. This is Daniel's colon an it should be able to move freely, but there is a spider web kind of forming around it trapping it. The doctor was able to cut it free. Here is Daniel's small intestine. It was getting caught up in the web as well, but the doctor was successful in freein...