Listen to your heart, baby

The little athlete is getting stronger: tiny muscles are being formed this week. But it will take at least another month or two before you can feel the baby’s kicks. Though you can listen to the heart of your child if you do an ultrasound with a Doppler this week (this is a special device that allows you to evaluate the blood flow and amplifies the sound, like a subwoofer). The baby's heart has become quite similar to a human’s: it has divided into four chambers, and its valves have begun to form. Do not worry if the doctor does not succeed in catching the sound of the heartbeat of your child with Doppler. It simply means that the shy baby is hiding in the corner of your uterus or is lying backward, which prevents the Doppler from finding its target. In a few weeks, you will surely hear this wonderful sound!

If you could look at the baby’s head in detail, you would see that it straightened and became more round. The baby has tiny ears, a nose with nostrils, a mouth is already clearly visible, and teeth start to form in the gums. The eyes are also ready, but they won’t open until around the 27th week.

All major organs are almost formed, and the placenta has developed enough to take over most of the hormone production. The baby is already about the size of an olive and plans to “eat well” and gain weight thoroughly in the near future ? And yeah, this is the last week it’s called an embryo — next week, it will carry the proud name of FETUS.

Measuring baby:
Height (crown-to-rump) 0.87-1.18 in. (2.2–3 cm)