14 Weeks - What's Going On

Week Fourteen: Hormones start up

You are 14 weeks pregnant. (fetal age 12 weeks) The fetus is 3 and half inches (9cm) long. Weight is about 1 and half ounces (45 grams). The eyes are slowly moving towards the centre of the face. The nose is more pronounced. The ears are fully developed. The cheekbones are visible. The first hair is appearing. The kidneys are producing urine. In girls, the ovaries are moving down towards the pelvis. In boys, the prostate gland is developing. For girls, the ovaries move into the pelvis. Your baby now is peeing into the amniotic fluid round itself as well as making breathing movements. With the effect of hormones, the boys now have a prostate gland. For girls, the ovaries move from the abdomen into the pelvis. During this week of pregnancy the head and eyebrow hair develops. Your child's bones are getting harder and stronger by the day. Your baby's skin is very transparent still. Lanugo (very fine hair) covers the baby's body and will continue to grow until 26 weeks gestational age - Generally this will be shed prior to birth. Its purpose is to help protect baby's skin while in all that water. As your baby grows, your uterus and placenta are also growing. Six weeks ago, your uterus weighed 5 ounces (140 g). Now, it weighs about 8.75 ounces (250g). The amount of amniotic fluid around the baby is also increasing. There is now about 7.5 ounces (250ml) of fluid. You can easily feel your uterus about 3 inches (7.6cm) below your bellybutton. Your baby is 3.42 inches (8.7cm) long and weighs about 1.52 ounces (43 grams)