$Unique_ID{PAR00420}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Pregnancy:  The Fifth Month:  Your Growing Baby}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{
Editors of Consumer Guide
Ellis, Jeffrey W
Ellis, Maria}
$Subject{Fifth Month Growing growth heart heartbeat lanugo hair eyelashes
eyebrows chin facial bones proportion proportions sleeps Rest placenta oxygen
blood carbon dioxide smoking cocaine alcohol cigarettes drugs}
$Log{
Your Growing Baby (Fifth Month)*0042001.tif
24-25 Week Fetus, female*0060211.tif}

Miracle of Birth


The Fifth Month:  Your Growing Baby


     During the fifth month after conception, your baby continues his rapid
rate of growth, and by the end of the month, he will be nearly ten inches long
and will weigh ten to 12 ounces.  His body is now gaining bulk, length, and
considerable physical strength.
     Your baby's heart has, by this time, grown to the point where your doctor
can hear the heartbeat by placing a stethoscope on the skin over your uterus.
The heartbeat is still quite faint, but the doctor can easily count about 140
to 150 beats per minute--a normal heartbeat for a baby at this stage of
development.
     On the outside, the baby is fully covered by lanugo hair and has distinct
eyelashes and eyebrows.  His face is becoming more babylike as his chin and
facial bones continue to grow.
     It is also during this month that the baby's body elongates; the length
of his torso and legs rapidly increases in proportion to the size of his head.
Up until this time, the baby's head represented nearly a third of his total
length.  Now his body will take on more human proportions.
     By now, your baby's arms, legs, hands, feet, fingers, and toes are fully
formed.  The fingers and toes have tiny nails that reach nearly to their tips.
     Bone tissue is forming rapidly, giving your baby's body increasing
strength as each day passes.  Your baby will become more and more active this
month; his days will be filled with a great deal of tumbling, kicking, and
pushing.  He will frequently open and close his mouth and may even begin to
suck his thumb.
     During this period of growth, your baby also sleeps, perhaps up to 22
hours a day.  Rest and quietness alternate with periods of vigorous activity.
When he is awake, he moves and thrashes, but when he sleeps, you may not feel
movement for several hours.
     Even though the baby's organs are growing and maturing, it will still be
several weeks before he can survive on his own outside your body.  In the
meantime, the placenta has been doing much of the work that your baby's organs
are not yet capable of doing.
     As discussed earlier, it is within the placenta that the building blocks
for your baby's growth pass from your blood to your baby's blood and that his
waste products pass into your body for excretion.
     The placenta acts much like a screen that allows certain substances to
pass through easily while keeping other substances out.  For instance, the
placenta allows oxygen to pass from your blood to your baby's blood and allows
carbon dioxide from your baby's blood to enter your system to be removed.
     The placenta can also keep some substances in your blood from entering
your baby's body.  Unfortunately, some substances that are potentially harmful
to your baby--such as alcohol--do pass through the placenta into your baby's
blood.  Likewise, harmful habits like smoking and cocaine use can damage the
placenta itself, making it much more difficult for your baby to obtain the
oxygen and nutrients he needs.  So while the placenta is capable of doing
remarkable work, you need to provide both you and your baby with proper
nutrition, and you need to avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and other drugs
throughout your pregnancy.