10 Weeks

 

Fetal development in pregnancy week 10:fetus in third month Your astonishingly tiny baby has been hard at work growing as fast as possible—almost doubling in size in the past three weeks! Amazingly, you’re in for a repeat size doubling performance within the next three weeks! Your tiny champion still weighs less than a quarter of an ounce but has already completed the most critical stage of their development. Using Doppler technology, your doctor or gynecologist can let you hear their tiny rapid fetal heartbeats this week (145-165 beats per minute!). Chances for miscarriage are greatly reduced when the heartbeat can be detected, so take a sigh of relief if you’ve been needing one—it hasn’t been an easy ten weeks! What’s more, they’re getting ready to make their first baby poop! Your little one’s major organ systems are developing, including a functioning digestive tract capable of moving food all the way through their bowels. The final shiny gold star on their fetal behavior chart for the week: your little scrapper has already developed defense mechanisms to protect them on reflex!

And how's mom doing? More good news for mom: the placenta has grown substantially in size and function and is now beginning to manage some of your child’s hormones, finally taking some of the hormonal burden off of you! Since the placenta has gradually taken over the hormone production for your baby, start to notice that much-awaited decrease in morning sickness symptoms.......HAVENT HAD THEM YET......  I am still exhausted.  Been going to bed at 9pm and waking up at 7am and I am thinking I might beed to up my bed time again.  

We still have a good week before our next appointment (Feb. 11), but hopefully we will get to hear the babies heart beat and take the sigh of relief that the above paragraph talks about.