Take a journey with me and explore step-by-step the first nine months of your life. Nine months is an incredibly short time to develop such a complex organism as the human being. From the moment of conception to birth this marvelous microscopic single cell evolves with amazing speed into a fully formed human being.
Not that long ago the first nine months of human life were a Mistry. It has only been in recent years where scientists and technicians have had the technical advances to allow us to directly observe life as it develops with in the womb. We now know in great detail how the unborn child looks acts and grows.
The first day, (fertilization) At this stage in life you are called a zygote, and you are about the size of a grain of sand. You have inherited 23 chromosomes from each of your parents, 46 in all. You are a new human life containing the complex genetic materials for every detail of your development. This is called DNA. (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) Thousands of details of you have already been decided, your sex, hair color, eye color, and skin tone, just to mention a few.
Day 3 and 4, The zygote (you) travels down the fallopian tube into your mother’s uterus where the lining has been prepared for implantation.
Days 5 to 9, At this stage you are referred to medically as a blastocyst and will implant your itself in the rich lining of your mother’s uterus and starts to draw nourishment.
Days 10 to 14, In this short 10 days. You have gone from zygote, to blastocyst, to embryo. The developing embryo signals your presence through placental chemicals and hormones preventing your mother’s next menstrual cycle.
Day 20, Foundations of your brain, spinal cord and nervous system are already established.
Day 21, Your heart begins to beat.
Day 28, Your backbone and muscles are forming. Arms, legs, eyes and ears have begun to show.
Day 30, You are now 10,000 times longer than you were on day one and developing rapidly. Your heart is pumping increasing quantities of blood through your circulatory system. At this stage a placenta forms a unique barrier that keeps your mother’s blood separate while allowing food and oxygen to pass through to you.
Day 35, Your little fingers can be discerned on your hand. Your eyes darken as pigment is produced.
Day 40, You have brain activity. Your brain waves can be detected and recorded.
Week 6, Your liver is now taking over the production of blood cells, and your brain begins to control movement of muscles.
Week 7, You begin to move spontaneously. Your jaw formed including little tooth buds in your gums. Soon the eyelids will seal to protect your developing light sensitive eyes and will reopen at about seven months.
Week 8, At a little more than an inch long, you are now called a fetus. Fetus is Latin for “young one” or “offspring”. In 8 very short weeks everything about you is now present that will be found in a fully developed adult. Your heart has been pumping for more than a month, your stomach produces digestive juices and your kidneys have begun to function. 40 muscle sets begin to operate in conjunction with the nervous system and you respond to touch.
Week 9, At 9 weeks, you have fingerprints. You will curve your little fingers around an object placed in the palm of your hand.
Week 10, Your mother’s uterus has doubled in size. You can squint, swallow and wrinkle your forehead.
Week 11, At this time you are about 2 inches long. You can urinate. Your faces assumed a baby’s profile, and your muscle movements are becoming more coordinated.
Week 12, You now sleep, awaken and exercise your muscles energetically-turning your head, curling your toes, opening and closing your mouth. Your palm when stroke will make a tight little fist. You breathe in and out, amniotic fluid that helps develop your respiratory system.
Good job with the photos of children in the womb. Thank you
Thanks!