What to expect when you're expecting (58 page)

Your Baby, Month 2

Week 6
Crown (head) to rump (bottom) measurements are used for babies in utero because their tiny, newly forming legs are bent, making it difficult to measure the full length of the body. How’s baby measuring up this week? That crown to rump measurement has reached somewhere between a fifth and a quarter of an inch (no bigger than a nail head). This week also sees the beginning of the development of your baby’s jaws, cheeks, and chin. Little indentations on both sides of the head will form into ear canals. Small black dots on the face will form the eyes, and a small bump on the front of the head will turn into a button nose in a few weeks’ time. Also taking shape this week: your baby’s kidneys, liver, and lungs. Your baby’s tiny heart is beating 80 times per minute and getting faster each day—a stat that’s probably got your heart racing.

Week 7
Here’s an amazing fact about your baby right now: He or she is 10,000 times bigger now than at conception—about the size of a blueberry. A lot of that growth is concentrated on the head (new brain cells are being generated at the rate of 10. cells per minute). Your baby’s mouth and tongue are forming this week and so are his or her arm and leg buds, which are beginning to sprout into paddle-like appendages and to divide into hand, arm, and shoulder segments—and leg, knee, and foot segments. Also in place now are your baby’s kidneys, and they’re poised to begin their important work of waste management (i.e., urine production and excretion). At least you don’t have to worry about dirty diapers yet!

Week 8
Your baby is growing up a storm, this week measuring about half an inch in length, or about the size of a large raspberry. And that sweet little raspberry of yours is looking less reptilian and more human (happily), as his or her lips, nose, eyelids, legs, and back continue to take shape. And though it’s still too early to hear from the outside, your baby’s heart is beating at the incredible rate of 150 times per minute (that’s twice as fast as your heart beats). Something else new this week: Your baby is making spontaneous movements (twitches of the trunk and limb buds too tiny for you to feel).

As always, remember that every pregnancy and every woman is different. You may experience all of these symptoms at one time or another, or only one or two. Some may have continued from last month, others may be new. You may
also have other, less common, symptoms. Don’t be surprised, no matter what your symptoms (or lack thereof), if you don’t “feel” pregnant yet. Here’s what you might experience this month:

A Look Inside

Even though you still won’t look like you’re pregnant to those around you, you might notice your clothes are getting a little tighter around the waist. You might also need a bigger bra now. By the end of this month, your uterus, usually the size of a fist, has grown to the size of a large grapefruit.

Physically

Fatigue, lack of energy, sleepiness

Frequent urination

Nausea, with or without vomiting

Excess saliva

Constipation

Heartburn, indigestion, flatulence, bloating

Food aversions and cravings

Breast changes: fullness, heaviness, tenderness, tingling; darkening of the areolas (the pigmented area around your nipples). lubrication glands in the areolas becoming prominent, like large goose bumps; a network of bluish lines that appear under your skin as the blood supply to your breasts increases

Slight whitish vaginal discharge