Week 9

Here’s an update on Baby Agnew. Next Monday, we get to go hear the heartbeat!

Your Baby:

This week marks the end of the embryonic period and the placenta is developing as well. Your baby looks like a tiny human now and is approximately 13 – 17 mm or about 0.51 – 0.66 inches in length (about the size of a raspberry).

raspberry

At this point, he weighs approximately 1 – 1.5 grams (the weight of a paperclip).

paper clip

While the internal reproductive organs have now become either testes for boys or ovaries for girls, there’s nothing yet to tell you whether it’s a boy or girl even if you look closely. The skeleton has begun to form as cartilage and bones take shape. The baby’s intestine has begun to move out of the umbilical cord into the baby’s abdomen and your baby is now taking his first few drinks – he’s drinking amniotic fluid. Remember, a little of what you eat and drink ends up in the amniotic fluid so, it can end up in him. Reflex muscle movements continue and now your baby will move away if touched through the uterine wall. Other changes in your baby are the heart valve formation, the retina formation, and the tip of the nose becoming visible.