Parenting - Prenatal to preschool/Parenting_PrenatalToPreschool.bin/dp/0040/00406.txt

Text File | 1993-07-15 | 4KB | 69 lines

$Unique_ID{PAR00406}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Pregnancy:  The Second Month:  Your Growing Baby}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{
Editors of Consumer Guide
Ellis, Jeffrey W
Ellis, Maria}
$Subject{Second Month Growing Baby changes shape form heart lungs brain spinal
cord vertebrae nerves muscles Kidneys thyroid adrenal glands stomach
intestines liver bones skin developing rapidly placenta human chorionic
gonadotropin HCG}
$Log{
Your Growing Baby (Second Month)*0040601.tif
51-Day Embryo, in its amniotic sac*0060203.tif
55-Day Embryo*0060204.tif}

Miracle of Birth


The Second Month:  Your Growing Baby


     During the second month after conception, your baby continues to undergo
great changes in shape and form.  She has the appearance of a living--but not
yet clearly human--being.  During this month, she will grow about a quarter of
an inch each week, and by the end of the month, will weigh one thirtieth of an
ounce and be about one-and-one-eighth inches long.  Her cells will continue to
multiply, grow, fold, and develop into forms that will make up all the parts
of her body.
     By now, your baby's heart has formed; it is beating a vigorous 60 to 70
times per minute and is forcing fluid through the small blood vessels that are
beginning to form.
     Even though they won't actually be used for many more months, your baby's
lungs are beginning to form in her tiny chest.  Eight to ten vertebrae (bones
of the spinal column) have now developed, and your baby's brain, spinal cord,
and nerves are well established.  The baby's brain is even beginning to send
nerve signals to her muscles.
     Kidneys that are no larger than the head of a pin are now present and
will soon begin the process of making urine.  The thyroid and adrenal glands
are taking shape and will begin to make hormones that will be necessary for
the baby's growth in the months to come.  And the stomach, intestines, and
liver have taken their proper places in her abdomen.
     Baby's external features are starting to take shape, too.  Though not
looking quite human yet, facial features are now becoming more well defined
and ears are beginning to form.  Muscles, bones, and skin are also developing
rapidly, giving your baby more of a childlike appearance.
     Until the end of the second month after conception, your baby is still
called an embryo.  By the end of the second month, however, all of the organs
that she will ever need in her life will have formed, and she will begin a
period of rapid growth to eventually become your newborn baby.  From this
point until delivery, she will be called a fetus.
     Throughout the second month, the placenta also undergoes rapid growth and
development.  Early in the first month, the cells that were destined to form
the placenta began to secrete a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin or
HCG.  During the first trimester, HCG stimulates your ovaries to produce
estrogen and progesterone--the hormones that make it possible for your body to
adapt to pregnancy.  (Since HCG is produced only when you are pregnant, it is
this substance that is detected when a pregnancy test comes back positive.)
     Eventually, the placenta itself will be primarily responsible for
secreting estrogen and progesterone into your body.  Indeed, by the second
month, the placenta has already begun churning out increasing amounts of these
vital hormones.  By the end of the first trimester, the placenta will be
developed enough to take over the role of producing all of the estrogen and
progesterone needed during pregnancy.
     Even though you are not yet aware of it, many amazing things have taken
place in your body since conception occurred.  A single cell has multiplied
into a fetus made up of millions of cells.  Your baby is being formed.