Healthy pregnancy (18)
- Pregnancy nutrition: Healthy-eating basics
- Twin pregnancy: What multiples mean for mom
- Childbirth classes: Get ready for labor and delivery
- see all in Healthy pregnancy
First trimester (7)
- Fetal development: The first trimester
- Prenatal care: First-trimester visits
- First trimester pregnancy: What to expect
- see all in First trimester
Second trimester (7)
- Second trimester pregnancy: What to expect
- Prenatal care: Second-trimester visits
- Fetal development: The second trimester
- see all in Second trimester
Third trimester (9)
- Overdue pregnancy: What to do when baby's overdue
- Third trimester pregnancy: What to expect
- Fetal development: The third trimester
- see all in Third trimester
Pregnancy problems (16)
- Bed rest during pregnancy: Get the facts
- Heart conditions and pregnancy: Know the risks
- High blood pressure and pregnancy: Know the facts
- see all in Pregnancy problems
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
continued:
Fetal development: The first trimester
Week 7: Baby's head develops
Seven weeks into your pregnancy, or five weeks after conception, your baby's brain and face are rapidly developing. Tiny nostrils become visible, and the eye lenses begin to form. The arm buds that sprouted last week now take on the shape of paddles.
By the end of this week, your baby might be a little bigger than the top of a pencil eraser.
Week 8: Baby's eyes are visible
Eight weeks into your pregnancy, or six weeks after conception, your baby's arms and legs are growing longer, and fingers have begun to form. The shell-shaped parts of your baby's ears also are forming, and your baby's eyes are visible. The upper lip and nose have formed. The trunk of your baby's body is beginning to straighten.
By the end of this week, your baby might be about 1/2 inch (11 to 14 millimeters) long.
Week 9: Baby's toes form
In the ninth week of pregnancy, or seven weeks after conception, your baby's arms grow, develop bones and bend at the elbows. Toes form, and your baby's eyelids and ears continue developing.
By the end of this week, your baby might be about 3/4 inch (18 to 22 millimeters) long.
Week 10: Baby's neck begins to develop
By the 10th week of pregnancy, or eight weeks after conception, your baby's head has become more round. The neck begins to develop, and your baby's eyelids begin to close to protect his or her developing eyes.
Week 11: Baby's genitals develop
At the beginning of the 11th week of pregnancy, or the ninth week after conception, your baby's head still makes up about half of its length. However, your baby's body is about to catch up, growing rapidly in the coming weeks.
Your baby is now officially described as a fetus. This week your baby's eyes are widely separated, the eyelids fused and the ears low set. Red blood cells are beginning to form in your baby's liver. By the end of this week, your baby's external genitalia will start developing into a penis or clitoris and labia majora.
By now your baby might measure about 2 inches (50 millimeters) long from crown to rump and weigh almost 1/3 ounce (8 grams).
Week 12: Baby's fingernails develop
Twelve weeks into your pregnancy, or 10 weeks after conception, your baby is developing fingernails. Your baby's face now has a human profile.
By now your baby might be about 2 1/2 inches (61 millimeters) long from crown to rump and weigh about 1/2 ounce (14 grams).
Previous page(2 of 2)
- Healthy pregnancy: Stages of pregnancy. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.womenshealth.gov/pregnancy/you-are-pregnant/stages-of-pregnancy.cfm. Accessed March 31, 2011.
- How your baby grows during pregnancy. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp156.cfm. Accessed March 31, 2011.
- Knuppel RA. Maternal-placental-fetal unit; Fetal & early neonatal physiology. In: DeCherney AH, et al. Current Diagnosis & Treatment Obstetrics & Gynecology. 10th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2007:1. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2383972. Accessed March 31, 2011.
- Cunningham FG, et al. Williams Obstetrics. 23rd ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2010:1. http://www.accessmedicine.com/resourceTOC.aspx?resourceID=46. Accessed March 31, 2011.
- DeUgarte CM, et al. Embryology of the urogenital system and congenital anomalies of the female genital tract: Introduction. In: DeCherney AH, et al. Current Diagnosis & Treatment Obstetrics & Gynecology. 10th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2007:1. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2382989. Accessed March 31, 2011.
- Having twins. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp092.cfm. Accessed March 31, 2011.
- Moore KL, et al. The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2003:1.
- Riordan-Eva P. Anatomy & embryology of the eye: Introduction. In: Riordan-Eva P., et al. Vaughan's & Asbury's General Ophthalmology. The McGraw-Hill Companies. 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aid=3088500. Accessed Dec. 29, 2010.
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Your Pregnancy and Childbirth Month to Month. 5th ed. Washington, D.C.: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; 2010:13.
- What causes Down syndrome? National Down Syndrome Society. http://www.ndss.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=23&id=60&Itemid=234. Accessed May 20, 2011.
Find Mayo Clinic on