Weeks 15-22 (fig14)

The baby is now growing quickly. The body grows bigger so that the head and body are more in proportion. The face begins to look much more human, and the hair is beginning to grow as well as eyebrows and eyelashes. The eyelids stay closed over the eyes.

The lines on the skin of the fingers are now formed, so the baby already has its own individual fingerprint. Finger and toenails are growing, and the baby has a firm hand grip.

At about twenty-two weeks, the baby becomes covered in a very fine, soft hair called lanugo. The purpose of this isn't known, but it is thought that it may be to keep the baby at the right temperature. The lanugo disappears again before birth, though sometimes just a little is left and disappears later.

At about eighteen to twenty-two weeks you will feel your baby moves for the first time. If this is your second baby, you may feel it earlier at about fourteen to sixteen weeks after conception. At first you feel a fluttering or bubbling, or a very slight shifting movement, maybe a bit like indigestion. Later you can't mistake the movements and you can even see the baby kicking about. Often you can guess which bump is a hand or a foot, and so on. Make a note of the date when you first feel your baby move and tell the doctor or midwife. The date can be used to check your expected date of delivery.

Weeks 23-30 (fig15)

The baby is now moving about vigorously and responds to touch and sound. A very loud noise close by may make it jump and kick. At this time you can read a book for baby to hear. From this time onward you must try not to loose your temper and try to talk pleasant things all the time. Baby is also swallowing small amount of the amniotic fluid in which it is floating, and passing tiny amounts of urine back into the fluid. Sometimes the baby may get hiccups. The baby may also begin to follow a pattern for waking and sleeping.Very often this is a different pattern from yours and when you go to bed at night, the baby wakes up and starts kicking.

The baby's heartbeat can now be heard through a stethoscope.Somebody may even be able to hear it by putting an ear to your abdomen but you have to find the right place.

The baby is now covered in a white, greasy substance called vernix. It is thought that this may be to protect the baby's skin as it floats in the amniotic fluid. The vernix mostly disappears before birth.

At around twenty-six weeks the baby's eyelids open for the first time. The eyes are almost blue or dark blue. It is not until some weeks after birth that the eyes become the colour that will stay, although some babies do have brown eyes at birth.
At twenty-eight weeks, the baby is called 'viable'. This greatly differs to country to country. This means that the baby is now thought to have a good chance of survival if born. However even in Sri Lanka this is true in few places Many babies born before this time cannot live because their lungs and other vital organs are not developed well enough, although the care that can now be given in Special Care Baby Units means that more and more babies born very early do survive in the western world.
