10 amazing facts about your unborn baby
Your newborn baby may start off the size of a spec of sugar but in those short 40 weeks (which obviously we know, feels like a longer to you), it’s incredible how much your precious cargo develops. We’ve put together 10 fascinating facts to remind you of all the amazing things that are happening inside your tummy.
Your baby is growing more bones than you
By the time baby is born, he or she will have developed 300 bones in its teeny tiny body!
Your baby is a ball of hair
Every baby develops hair, called lanugo all over the body to create a temperature-regulating layer however unless your baby is born prematurely, it will shed the hair before birth and eat it! Pooing it out after birth!!
Your baby’s heart is amazing
It usually takes just four weeks for your baby’s heart to develop after conception. It starts as a tiny cluster of cells that can only be detected by an ultrasound.
Your unborn can already cry
That’s right, your baby is getting his/her practise in early. From about week 26, babies begin to cry. Don’t worry it doesn’t mean your baby is upset, crying is a natural communication for babies and they’re just making sure their lungs are polished for their big arrival into the world.
Your baby is already your number one fan
Although babies can’t laugh when they are in the womb, from about 32 weeks they begin to respond to their mum’s laughter by bouncing up and down. Awwww.
You might be a little scary though
From about 23 weeks an unborn baby can be startled by sudden noises, such as mum’s sneezing, the hoover and a recent study found mobile phones ringing can even startle or annoy your baby!
Your baby is already learning a language
Babies pick up the rhythms and intonations of their mother’s language in the womb. Experts claim you can even spot the difference between the developing languages of babies from their gurgles. Even more precious – research shows that your little one will remember stories if she hears them over and over again (so it’s really never too early to start reading to them!).
Your baby is already a dreamer
From about four weeks after conception your baby will start to sleep but more interesting the REM sleep waves associated with the eye movements of dreams, have been identified by 30 weeks after conception, making it possible that your baby could be dreaming in the womb, however, their dreams would just be filled with lots of light and some sound. No nightmares or freaky stories that we are all subjected too when we close our eyes at night.
Your baby smells what you smell
Smell is one of the first senses your unborn develops. Research has shown from about 28 weeks, your baby can smell the same things as you, as smell crosses the amniotic fluid. Their sense of smell is so strong at this stage, that they can be seen cringing and agitating when they are exposed to unpleasant smells, a major one being cigarette smoke.
Your baby already has a sweet tooth
From about 15 weeks babies have shown a preference to sweet flavours by swallowing more fluid when it’s sweet and less when the amniotic fluid is bitter. The fight against sugar has already begun!
maternity & infant
Originally posted 2017-10-11 15:41:02.