Journey To Life

My mother shared to me that I was born in the standard timeline of how long it takes before a baby is born. So, I researched a Pregnancy Timeline and this is how it goes. 

First Trimester

Week 3 

This is the baby-in-the-making, a ball of cells called a blastocyst. The blastocyst already contains a full set of DNA from you and your partner, which determines sex, eye color, and other traits.

Week 4

The ball of cells has officially become an embryo and is about the size of a poppy seed. Over the next six weeks, all of your baby's organs will begin to develop, and some will start to function.

Week 5

The baby's tiny heart begins to beat – at twice the rate of the mother. The entire "body" is only about the size of a sesame seed.

Week 6

Facial features (like eyes and nostrils) are beginning to form, and little buds appear where arms and legs will develop.

Week 7

The baby's body is already forming every organ it will need — including the heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, and intestines. Buds are sprouting from baby's growing arms. Right now they look like paddles, but eventually they'll form hands and feet. The baby is attached to mom by an umbilical cord. Through this connection, the mom will provide food, and filter away the baby's wastes until the mother delivers.

Week 8

Arms and legs are growing, and the baby now has little fingers, as well as a nose and upper lip. He's moving quite a bit now, but the mother won't feel it. He or she is now about 5/8 of an inch long and weighs hardly anything – four-hundredths of an ounce.

Week 9

Eyes have developed, though the baby's eyelids are fused shut for now. He or she's lost her "tail" and is starting to look more human.

Week 10

The embryo has become a fetus. The vital organs – such as kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver – are starting to function. Tiny fingernails and toenails are starting to form.

Week 11

The baby is almost fully formed. The bones are beginning to harden, and the genitalia are developing externally. The baby can hiccup, though it's too soon for the mother to feel it.

Week 12

We can hear the baby's heartbeat at a prenatal check up.(You may already have heard it at an early ultrasound.) The baby's just over 2 inches long and weighs about half an ounce.

Second Trimester

Week 13

The baby is growing quickly now and is getting more proportional – now the head makes up only 1/3 of your baby's body. Helping the baby grow is the placenta, which is serving up a steady supply of nutrients and disposing of wastes. If you're having a girl, her ovaries are already filled with hundreds of thousands of eggs.

Week 14

The baby's kidneys are producing urine, and he releases it into the amniotic fluid. He can make facial expressions and may have discovered thumb-sucking.

Week 16

The baby's sex may be detectable at your mid-pregnancy ultrasound, which typically happens between 16 and 20 weeks.

Week 18

If the mom haven't felt the baby move yet, she probably will in the next few weeks. It'll take a couple of weeks longer for other people to feel the baby's movements from the outside.

Week 20

In about 20 weeks, the mom will get to meet her baby for the very first time. Inside, baby can hear and may respond to sounds. By now, baby measures 6 1/2 inches from the top of the head to the rump and weighs about 11 ounces — roughly the size of a small banana. The baby will keep growing, and so will the mom. 

Week 22

This week the baby is almost 1 pound and 8 inches long from the top of the head to the rump! All sorts of systems are forming inside baby, including hormones that will give his or her organs the commands they need to operate, and the nerves baby needs to touch, smell, and experience all sorts of other sensations. Baby's sex organs are also developing now. In boys, the testes have started to descend. In girls, the uterus, ovaries, and vagina are where they should be.

Week 24

The baby's taste buds are developing. The brain is growing very quickly, and hair may be growing, too. He or she is almost a foot long and weighs just over a pound.

Week 26

The baby is a 2-pound bundle of joy. He or she weighs about the same as the quart of milk you drink from daily to get the recommended 1,200 mg of calcium. For the first time since the baby's eyelids formed, they've opened, revealing bluish-colored eyes. Don't get too attached to the color — it might change in the first few months of life. There isn't much to see inside the uterus, but if you shine a light on the abdomen, the baby might react with a flurry of movement.

Third Trimester

Week 28

The baby may be dreaming. He or she has eyelashes, and the eyesight is improving. Billions of neurons are developing in the brain. The baby weighs about 2 1/4 pounds and is about 15 inches long, head to heel.

Week 30

This week the baby measures about 11 inches long from the top of the head to the rump, and tips the scales at nearly 3 pounds — about the size of a small roasting chicken. As your baby grows, your belly is growing to match. That can be uncomfortable, and awkward, as your center of balance shifts. You might notice your feet expanding too, as your joints loosen up in preparation for labor. If that's the case, a shopping trip for a bigger pair of shoes may be in order.

Week 32

The baby, at almost 4 pounds, is like a cantaloupe weighing down the mother's belly! There isn't much room left in the uterus, but somehow the little bundle will still manage to wriggle and squirm around in there, though maybe not as forcefully as before. The baby is making final preparations for his or her appearance. The fine covering of body hair called lanugo is falling off, and hair only remains where it's meant to be — on the eyelashes, eyebrows, and head.

Week 34

Right now the baby measures more than 12 inches from the top of the head to the rump, and weighs 5 pounds — about the size of a large pineapple. Most of the major organs — digestive, respiratory, and nervous systems — are almost able to work on their own. The baby may already be in the head-down position, ready for delivery! An errant elbow or knee may be poking out from the mom's belly.

Week 36

At almost 6 pounds — about the size of a honeydew melon — the child's body is just about ready for birth. The waxy, white substance called vernix caseosa that covered much of his or her body during this 9-month journey has dissolved. Baby has swallowed this and other substances, which will form the blackish-green meconium bowel movements you'll find in baby's first diapers. 

Week 38

Baby now weighs more than 6 1/2 pounds. Much of that weight is a layer of fat, which will help keep him or her warm in the outside world. The baby's growth has slowed down, but the organs should all be working now. The brain has started to control the functions of the entire body — from breathing to regulating the heart rate. Reflexes are also active — including the grasping and sucking that allow baby to grab the mother's hand and latch on to a breast soon after birth.

Week 40

The baby is now considered full-term and is ready for life outside the womb. The average weight of a newborn is about 7 1/2 pounds, and the average length is about 20 inches.

_________________________________________________________________________

On October 27, 2001, I, Andreya Marie R. Alvarez was born at Mother Seton Hospital in Naga City. After being born, I didn't cry for a few minutes so that was nerve-wrecking for the doctors and for my mother. Thankfully, I grew up to be a healthy person and without disabilities.