Today we are booked into the Royal Hospital for Women for a tour of the maternity area to help us decide what sort of care we want for the rest of the pregnancy. I know I’ll have to make a decision on this before the end of the appointment with a midwife on July 23, and I thought it might be just that little bit easier if we have seen what we’re choosing. I don’t know that it will change our minds from what we chose last time, but will be nice to be a bit more informed.
Info from Birth.com.au:
You are now 9 weeks pregnant (49 days after conception), which is the beginning of week 10. Many women are now choosing their caregiver and their baby’s birthplace.
Science no longer refers to your baby as an ’embryo’. They are now called a ‘foetus’, which is a Latin word meaning ‘young one’. Your baby now measures more than 2.5 cm from crown to rump and the webbing between their fingers and toes has now disappeared, creating separate digits. Your baby’s nail beds are starting to form, but actual nails will not be present until they are about 20 weeks.
Your baby’s heart now has 4 distinct chambers as well as the valves within their aorta and pulmonary blood vessels. These direct blood flow ‘one way’ to and from their body and lungs. The yolk sac has now disappeared and your baby’s blood is being produced by their liver. Their blood production will eventually be taken over by their bone marrow, once their bones fully mature. Your baby’s lungs are growing, as the ‘bronchi’ branch out, spreading through their chest.
Your baby is now developing elbows, knees, wrists and ankles. Their bones are initially soft and flexible (made of cartilage) and muscle tissue is now forming between their skin and bones. Your baby’s neck is more developed, allowing them to slightly lift and turn their head! Your baby may now be able to touch their own face with their hand (the beginnings of thumb sucking!)
Your baby now has an anus and their ovaries or testes are well developed. However, both sexes look the same at this early stage because their external sex organs are just beginning to form.
