At 9 weeks, your baby has started to grow very quickly, it is 2 cm tall and is about the size of a peanut shell. There are small muscles that have started to develop and are help in moving the baby around. Their skin is see-through at this stage and arms and legs are bent in a way that it looks like the baby is hugging itself. 

The baby has developed eyes, a mouth and a tongue which can now taste sweet or bitter. The inner ear has started to form but the baby will not be able to hear till 24 weeks. The liver has started to produce red blood cells and there are vessels underneath the skin and the baby’s skeleton has started to form giving clear fingers and toes.

At 10 weeks the baby is 3.5 cm tall and is called a fetus and weighs around 8g, at this point the tadpole-like tail has disappeared. All the organs have formed but aren’t fully functional. The ears are forming and nostrils are in place above the lips and the jaw bones include all milk teeth now.

The baby has partly formed reproductive systems with ovaries and testicles and the heart has 4 chambers which is beating around 150-180 beats per minute. Arms and legs have grown with small fingers and toes, ankles, wrists, elbows.

With the fingernails growing and the heart beating and gums developing inside the mouth we now move on to the last week of this trimester; the 12th week. Your baby is almost 6 cm tall and weighs around 18g. At this point, the baby fills the whole uterus.

The head is about half the length of the body and with kidneys functioning, the baby is swallowing amniotic fluid and can pass urine. The baby is consistently growing and is moving with its heart beating so strong now that we can hear it with a heart monitor. TRY IT!