GROWTH FROM TWENTY SIX TO TWENTY NINE WEEKS

How does baby grow this month? Check out the following growth milestones:

1. By the end of this month baby weighs around 2 to 2-1/2 pounds and measures around fourteen inches long.
2. During this month baby has a growth spurt, gaining around a pound.
3. Fat deposits smooth out some of the previous wrinkles, giving baby a more filled out appearance, but he is still much skinnier than he will be at birth.
4. Baby is getting stronger! His limbs are longer, stronger, and these delightful little kicks make more of an impression in your abdomen.
5. Baby's eyelids open. Baby can now see, hear, smell, and taste.
6. Baby's bone marrow now takes over from the spleen as the major site of red blood cell production.
7. At this stage, baby moves vigorously and responds to touch and sound.
8. Baby gets smarter as major changes occur throughout her nervous system. Nerve fibers are clothed in a fatty layer called myelin that allows nerve impulses to travel faster.
9. Cells lining the rapidly budding alveoli (air sacs in baby's lungs) begin to secrete a soapy substance called surfactant that keeps these air sacs from collapsing—similar to the substance that keeps the soap bubble expanded. Depending on how well developed are the alveoli and surfactant secretion, if baby were born now, she may be able to sustain air breathing and life outside the womb.
10. Before the seventh month, most babies choose to lie in the breech position because it's easier for them to rest comfortably in the pear-shaped uterus, but most will flip to the head-down position by 34 weeks.