The Inside Story: Your Baby in Week Eight

By the end of your 2nd month of pregnancy, your baby will measure just under 1 inch, and he will weigh in at half an ounce. Yet his central nervous system and major organs will be nearly complete. His heart has four chambers, and by now his heart rate is probably a good, strong 160 beats per minute. That's a rate that you'd achieve only after a sweaty workout!

Your baby's head is more upright now, but it's still nearly the same size as his body. And his skin, although formed, is still nearly transparent. Although the genitals may start to show, it's still impossible to tell whether your child is a boy or a girl by looking at an ultrasound picture. The baby's eye structures are complete, he has tiny earlobes, and his wrist, elbow, and knee joints are visible. All in all your baby finally looks like what he is: a miniature human being. In medical terms he has graduated from an embryo to a fetus, and soon he will begin to stir.

Originally published in You & Your Baby: Pregnancy.

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