$Unique_ID{PAR00438}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Pregnancy:  The Ninth Month:  Your Growing Baby}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{
Editors of Consumer Guide
Ellis, Jeffrey W
Ellis, Maria}
$Subject{Ninth Month Growing Baby grow growth vernix caseosa hair Fingernails
toenails blue eyes enlarged breasts estrogen placenta brain skull soft spot
spots fontanels anterior fontanel}
$Log{
Your Growing Baby (Ninth Month)*0043801.tif}

Miracle of Birth


The Ninth Month:  Your Growing Baby


     Just about all your baby needs to do this month is grow.  On average,
your baby will now weigh about seven to eight pounds--a half-pound less if
your baby's a girl--and will be 20 to 22 inches long.  With more and more fat
being formed under her skin, she is no longer wrinkled but may actually appear
chubby.  If your baby is born during this month--even if it's two or three
weeks before her expected due date--her mature organs will practically ensure
her survival outside your body.
     The fine lanugo hair that previously covered her body has almost
completely disappeared, but her skin may still be covered by a thick layer of
vernix caseosa.  The hair on her head may now be nearly an inch long.
Fingernails and toenails are quite firm and often extend beyond the tips of
her fingers and toes.  Trimming of these nails immediately after birth may be
necessary to prevent your baby from scratching herself.
     While still in the uterus, most babies have blue eyes.  After a few
months of exposure to light outside of your body, your baby's eyes will turn
their permanent color.
     During the ninth month, it is common for both boys and girls to have very
slightly enlarged breasts.  This is caused by the estrogen produced in the
placenta, which stimulates breast tissue--both yours and your baby's--to grow.
In both boys and girls, this condition subsides soon after birth.
     Over the last several months, your baby's head has grown considerably in
response to her rapidly expanding brain.  To protect the brain, while at the
same time allowing it enough room to grow, the bones of her skull remain
somewhat separated and soft.
     Unlike the adult skull, a baby's skull is not one piece.  Rather, several
plates of bone are separated by narrow crevices, called sutures, which allow
the bones to slide over each other as the head passes through the narrow birth
canal.  These long, thin separations are also necessary to allow growth of
your baby's brain.  Later, the plates will fuse together to form one solid
bone.
     In addition, when you touch the top of your newborn baby's head, you will
feel "soft spots," or fontanels, in which the bone has not yet formed.  The
anterior fontanel, located in the middle of the top of the head, is in the
shape of a diamond.  The smaller posterior fontanel is located toward the back
of the head and is triangle-shaped.  Although bone has not yet formed over
these areas, the brain is covered by both a thick membrane and the scalp.
Like sutures, the fontanels allow the bones of the skull to slide during
delivery, and they allow for rapid growth of the baby's brain.  The posterior
fontanel closes about four months after birth, and the anterior fontanel
closes about nine to 18 months after birth.
     Over the last nine months, we have observed the miraculous events of
human reproduction--a single fertilized cell has multiplied and developed into
a healthy and complete individual.  Soon, the contractions of labor will
begin, and you will deliver your baby.
     As you wait for that day, it may seem as though you have always been
pregnant and may stay pregnant forever.  But keep in mind that through the
miracle of birth, you will soon be holding your new baby.