In the final three months of pregnancy, your baby’s bones are starting to harden and he or she is gaining a pound every single day! Amazingly, your baby is starting to move into the head-down position in your uterus in preparation for birth. Read more about the final three months below.
Your baby now uses the four senses of vision, hearing, taste and touch. She can even recognize your voice. Congrats mom, you are in the third trimester and only have a few months left!
The skin begins to thicken, with a layer of fat stored underneath for insulation and nourishment. Antibodies increasingly build up. The baby absorbs a gallon of amniotic fluid per day: the fluid is completely replaced every three hours.
BirthBirth in human beings typically occurs 270 days after conception, near the end of a full 9 months. This marks the end of the normal gestational period. Your child, now approximately seven and a half pounds and after nine months of developing, is ready for life outside the womb!
Shortly before birth (typically a few weeks for first births but sometimes only a few hours for later pregnancies), the child usually rotates into a head-downward position. This movement is referred to as “lightening” because it releases pressure on the mother’s abdomen.
At birth the placenta will detach from the side of the uterus and the umbilical cord will cease working as the child takes his first breaths of air. The child’s breathing will trigger changes in the structure of the heart and bypass arteries which will force all blood to now travel through the lungs.
The progression of the unborn child found here is a common scientific knowledge, though some information may change from study to study. Some wording is compiled from various sources, including Focus on the Family’s The First Nine Months and the brochure Milestones of Early Life.
