Download SCRIPT OF THE VIDEO Within a week of conception, your fertilized

SCRIPT OF THE VIDEO
1.
Within a week of conception, your fertilized egg, known as a blastocyst, will make its way to your
uterus. The egg is about the size of a pen tip. In days, the cells in the egg arrange themselves
into groupings. The inner cell mass will become your baby. The outer cells will become the
amniotic sac and placenta. The blastocyst then sheds its protective casing in a process called
hatching, and burrows into the lush uterine wall. Around week 5, your developing baby is the size
of a sesame seed. The cells that once formed the blastocyst's inner cell mass begin organizing
and arranging, giving shape to the young embryo and forming primitive organs. Your baby's brain
and spinal cord are visible through his translucent skin. Right around this time, your baby's
circulatory system also forms and his heart begins to beat. Your baby looks more like a tiny
tadpole than a human. He's drawing nutrients and oxygen through the newly formed placenta and
umbilical cord. By week 9, the embryonic tail is gone. Your baby's looking more human every day,
with protruding limbs and fingers, a defined nose, mouth, and eyes, and tiny earlobes. Your new
resident is about the size of a grape and weighs a fraction of an ounce. It's hard to believe how
rapidly one cell evolves in such a short time into the unmistakable body of a baby.
2.
At ten weeks and barely the size of a kumquat, your baby is entering the fetal stage of
development. His facial features are defined, and his tooth buds are forming. Over the next
weeks, his tissues and organs will rapidly grow and mature. The webbing is gone between his
fingers and toes, and his nailsand fingerprints are developing. Your baby can open and close his
fists and curl his toes. Thanks to his developing muscles and reflexes, he's now moving his limbs
and kicking up a storm. If this is your first baby, though, you likely won't feel his flutters until 18
to 20 weeks. Through translucent skin, his vital organs are visible and functioning, including his
growing brain, nervous system, intestines, and liver, which is making red blood cells in place of
the disappearing yolk sac. The umbilical cord is working hard now. One vein delivers oxygen and
nutrient-rich blood to your baby. Two arteries then carry the blood away. Around week 12, the
kidneys have begun producing urine, which your baby will soon start excreting into the amniotic
fluid. He'll swallow the fluid, and the process will begin again. By week 14, your baby's eyes and
ears have moved into place, and he can squint, frown, and grimace. You're now beginning the
second trimester of pregnancy, which many women say is when they feel their best.
3.
Between 15 and 20 weeks, your baby will more than double in size. As his body grows, his
nervous system is rapidly maturing. His nerves are connecting his brain to the rest of his body –
travelling from the brain through the brainstem and down the spine, and beginning to extend into
his torso and limbs. Your baby's skeleton is changing too. The soft cartilage is starting to harden
into bone. This happens first in the arms and legs. Sensory development is picking up speed. Your
baby's brain is designating special areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. At this stage,
your baby may be able to hear your heartbeat and voice, so read aloud or sing a happy tune. Your
baby may even be sucking his thumb now. At about 18 weeks, you'll start to experience one of
the most exciting parts of pregnancy: feeling your baby's movements. His flexing arms and legs
may feel like gentle flutters at first. They'll become even stronger and more frequent in the
weeks ahead. At 20 weeks, your baby weighs a little more than 10 ounces and measures about 10
inches from head to heel (about the length of a banana). This week is a big milestone – the
halfway point in your pregnancy.
4.
Between 21 and 27 weeks, your baby's sense of touch is developing, along with his unique
fingerprints. When you rub or gently press on your belly, you may feel your baby squirm or kick in
response. He can feel his own face now, as well as anything within his reach, including the
umbilical cord. He'll keep experimenting with and refining his sense of touch. Around 23 weeks,
your baby can swallow. Soon after, you may notice fetal hiccups. Don't worry, hiccups are a
normal part of development, and it's common for your baby to have them several times a day. His
lungs are also forming millions of tiny branches, called bronchioles. Incredibly, your baby is
already practicing breathing by inhaling and moving small amounts of amniotic fluid in and out of
his lungs. At 24 weeks, a baby is capable of surviving outside the uterus with significant medical
help. At 27 weeks, your baby's eyelids may open as a reflex, but he can't see yet His lips are
formed, and he now has tiny taste buds on his tongue. He weighs nearly 2 pounds and is about 14
and a half inches long. Now there's just one more trimester to go!
5.
You and your baby are beginning your last trimester together. At 28 weeks, your baby weighs
just over 2 pounds. He'll more than triple his weight between now and birth, and build a layer of
fat that will help keep him warm outside the womb. Your baby's skeleton is hardening. The bones
in his head have not yet fused together, which will allow them to slightly overlap as his head
passes through the snug space of the birth canal. Billions of neurons have developed and are
firing in your baby's brain, creating essential connections that will help him learn in and outside
the womb. Your baby can open his eyes now and see the light that filters through your womb. He
can hear, too, so go ahead and talk or sing to your baby. As your due date nears, your baby will
shed small bits of vernix caseosa, the white "cheesy" substance that covers his entire body and
protects his skin from the amniotic fluid he's floating in. Your baby swallows some of these bits,
along with other secretions, which pass through his digestive system to become his first bowel
movement. At 37 weeks, your baby's skin is pink and soft. He's looking less like a wrinkled alien
and more like a baby. He's gaining nearly one ounce a day and weighs about 6 pounds. He's now
considered full-term. In preparation for birth, most babies will turn so their head is facing
downward. Your baby will stay that way, head resting in your pelvic area, as he gets ready to
greet the world.
6.
In the weeks before birth, your body slows down production of the hormone progesterone while
increasing production of other hormones – including prostaglandins, which soften the cervix, and
oxytocin, which triggers the uterine muscles to contract. True labor contractions are rhythmic
and painful, and grow consistently stronger. As the long vertical muscle bands of the uterus
tighten, they pull the cervix open. The strong muscles at the top of the uterus push down and
release, guiding your baby toward the cervix. The mucus plug, a collection of thickened cervical
mucus that's sealed your cervix shut for nine months, may be expelled days before or in the
midst of labor. When the amniotic sac ruptures, your water has broken. It can feel like a trickle or
a gush of fluid. Your cervix will begin opening and thinning, known as dilation and effacement.
Once you reach about 4 centimeters, your body will move into active labor. In active labor,
contractions become stronger and closer together. At 8 centimeters, you enter what many
consider the most painful part of labor – transition. By 10 centimeters, you're fully dilated and
may feel the urge to push. This is your signal that the second stage of labor has begun. Your
baby will move down with each contraction. The three separate soft bones of his head will
temporarily overlap so he can pass through the snug birth canal. Your baby's scalp will come into
view. When the widest part of his head is visible, your baby is "crowning." With several more
pushes, your baby's face, shoulders, and body will emerge. In the third and final stage of labor,
your placenta detaches and is expelled. With your baby's first breath, the incredible journey of
birth is complete.