Your baby boy or girl is close to 1/4 of an inch long this week, measuring from crown to rump. A small lady bug is a bit bigger than your baby now! Your baby's legs are undeveloped (or later in pregnancy, they are curled up), so measuring from the top of the head to the end of his or her bottom is the easiest and most accurate way to measure. Your baby just about triples in size during the coarse of this week, as he or she experiences a growth spurt. Your baby's bottom half still looks similar to a tail, because it's developing slower than the top half.
Recognizable physical features are starting to become apparent and the shape of your baby's mouth, as well as the jaw line are visible. The distinct regions of your baby's eyes and ears have appeared and they continue to form from the depressions on your baby's head. Your baby's neck is taking shape, along with little limb buds. The four buds which are appearing on your baby's body at this point will soon become arms and legs. The umbilical cord, which connects you to your unborn baby, forms now (from the stalk) along with the accompanying blood vessels within.
The heart is continuing to develop and is beating in the small bulge outside the chest cavity for now. Your baby's little heart consists of only two chambers at this point, but soon it will have four. It is already circulating blood for your baby's teeny tiny body. Your baby's early brain chambers are continuing to grow and refine, along with the digestive system and all the rest of the major organ's inside your baby's body. Can you believe he or she has an appendix by this week?
