The First Ten Weeks Of Pregnancy

a double wall, a new lens and is covered with a transparent cornea. At

the same time, adrenal glands are laid and the liver, duodenum, pharynx

and gullet rudiments appear. The lumen of the latter is still filled with

cells.

Though the mouth has begun to form, you won’t put any food in

it till childbirth: during the course of the pregnancy, your baby gets

nourishment from you through your blood. By the end of this week, the

main character of this story has grown 5 millimeters and resembles

an elongated comma. He has to grow a lot to look like the human

being we are accustomed to, but this is a creature of 2 grams,

which has lived with you for a whole month and wants to live and grow

more and more. Four pregnancy weeks have passed. What is happening in

the further development of the embryo?

Week 5

One more impetuous leap to perfection and your fish has changed into

an amphibian: it has acquired interatrial septum dividing the heart into

three sections. Such cor triloculare needs an additional set of inner

changes: an accumulation of special cells make up the spleen and kidneys

rudiments; the stomach is defined from the peculiar dilatation of the

initial intestine; the posterior intestine membrane spreads and so an

anus appears. There is some other good news: the initial brain lobes transform

into the fundamental sections of the brain, the epiphysis that is the

pineal body responsible for pubescence, sexual gland functions, the rhythm

of sleeping, waking and other things, appears below them. A rarely seen

umbilical cord and the beginning of the toes’ skin changes (nails

rudiments appear) are added to the outer changes of the past weeks. And

by the end of this week, your baby has grown considerably: from new brain

sections to the toenails, it is a 7-millimeter living body of

3.5 grams.

Week 6

During this week, your superhero has grown twice. But he is still bent;

the head is near the belly, the still- present tail has elongated and

turned up. An embryo with a human face resembles a small, sleeping animal.

His limbs become longer and thinner, they acquire hands and feet,

at the tips of which are five fingers and toes. His brain looks like

an adult brain with its grooves and folds. If you are expecting a boy,

then this week is important for a future man: right now, the muscles of

the whole body begin to form. You child is still developing his air-intake

apparatus (a nose, fauces) and lobar bronchial tubes, but the respiratory

system is not working yet.

But the initial circulation of blood begins to function. The liver is

the major organ of hemotosis. The blood cells come either into the right

of left heart chambers. An immature heart allows such bloodstream anarchy,

as there is a large oval aperture in its septum – a temporary defect.

This period is significant because of the appearance of lymph nodes

and elements of immunity. The kidneys acquire their permanent structure

and shape and parathyroid gland rudiments emerge. There are now cells

possessing endocrine properties in the pancreas.

The intestinal tube, in its lower section, divides into two sections

-- the future small and large intestines. Your baby’s weight

is now 4, 5 grams.

Week 7

It is a very interesting stage in your child’s life. If

by chance.

One more very important thing takes place: skeletal ossification begins.

It will continue for many years and will end only when your child is an

adult.

A less-important, but still significant, event at that time is the formation

of a central lymphatic organ – thymus rudiment, the first iris elements

and the first follicles in the thyroid gland tissue appear, as well as

epidermis complication (2 layers of cells appear in skin) and the division

of the mutual arterial trunk into the pulmonary artery and aorta.

A small jet acquires a new detail: the second septum, dividing the left

and the right ventricles of heart, emerges. Together with an atrial septum,

they form the first valve, and from now on the bloodstream is possible

in one direction only – from the right atrium to the left one.

By the end of the week, having determined the sex at last, your boy

(or girl) proudly straightens: the body becomes straighter, the head rises.

The elbows are pressed to the belly, hands are put together, legs are

bent at the knees, feet are closed, as if the baby is sitting and praying.

With God’s and your help, he has grown to 2 centimeters and weights

6 grams.

Week 8

The prayers have been heard: a life filled with joyful sensations goes