A Womb with a View, Part 2

As I finished the last entry, I was describing the development of a baby at 5 weeks. Between that ultrasound and my next, at ten weeks, so much had changed and developed. The inner ear and external ear has almost completely finished, blood vessels are visible under the skin, legs and arms have lengthened and hands and feet have developed. Facial features begin to show about 6 weeks. At 8 weeks, joints start developing, vertebrae and ribs are forming, and blood is flowing through the body. Muscles, skin and the nervous system are developing to the point that the baby will react to outside stimuli (such as pushing on the uterus) by moving away. Here is a picture of a baby at 10 weeks gestation:

At the beginning of my pregnancy, I was aware that my current OB/GYN was ending her career as an OB. She was going through the first 10 weeks with her patients and then transferring them to other doctors. I’m not sure if that was the reason behind my second ultrasound or if she just wanted another check before she passed me on, but I went in for another ultrasound at the 10 week mark. I had never seen a live ultrasound before my first one, so I was unprepared for how active our son was. He changed position frequently and was difficult to find each time the technician returned with the ultrasound wand. At this point, I couldn’t feel him moving, so it was amazing to see all the movement that was taking place that was undetectable by me. He was, by this time, about the size of a small plum-an amazing amount of growth! I was holding an apple seed in my hand the other day, marveling at how rapidly a baby grows in just 5 weeks time. A baby of this age in gestation has brain activity, tooth buds (which can be seen in the ultrasound pictures), reproductive organs are formed, internal organs are functioning (and all are present), intestines are developing, taste buds are formed, eyelids are formed and the eyes have some color. The upper lip is formed, joints are formed (also visible in the pictures) and the body has distinguishable human characteristics. Fingerprints, unique to this particular individual, are already detectable and his hand, if something were to touch his palm, would curl around the object. Beloware the ultrasound pictures from the 10 week ultrasound.

This one is my favorite.  So much is visible - toth buds, an ankle joint, leg, foot, and spine. Very cool view of him! Until next time!

The white on the baby are where bone cells are beginning to form - in the tooth buds, spine, skull and nose.

 He moved around a lot!