12-14 Weeks
Your baby is now 3 inches long and weighs almost an ounce. Sex differentiation is now apparent. The child’s spontaneous movements can be observed: Muscles lengthen and become organized. You will soon start feeling the first flutters of the unborn child kicking and moving within.
The fetus has an adult’s taste buds and may be able to savor the mother’s meals.This little one is already sucking his thumb!
By the end of this month, the fetus is eight to ten inches in length and weighs a half pound or more. The mother will probably start to “show” now. The ears are functioning, and there is evidence that the fetus hears the mother’s voice and heartbeat as well as external noises. The umbilical cord has become an engineering marvel, transporting 300 quarts of fluids per day and completing a round-trip of fluids every 30 seconds.
Half the pregnancy has now passed, and the fetus is about 12 inches long. The mother has definitely begun to feel movement by now. If a sound is especially loud or startling, the fetus may jump in reaction to it.
Oil and sweat glands are functioning. The delicate skin of the growing baby is protected from the fetal waters by a special ointment called “vernix.” If the baby were born in this month and given the proper care, she would survive.
Watch the short video below about the smallest baby in the world, who was born at 21 weeks and survived.