1. A
baby begins life as a single cell, barely visible
to the naked eye. Before birth baby becomes 2
hundred million cells which weigh 6 billion times
more than the fertilized egg.
2. Despite numerous research and attempts to separate
X and Y chromosomes, to date no one has succeeded.
Mother Nature still remains the only force able
to determine the sex of an embryo at the very
moment of conception.
3. Each egg chooses the sperm it mates i.e. the
egg opens its shell and welcomes the sperm it
is attracted to.
4. Even at the embryonic stage the human being
is a vertebrate
5. Although genes may provide the blueprint for
basic brain development, the final location, pathway
and interrelationships of individual neurons are
to a greater extent determined by early nutrition,
maternal well being and moods, and the avoidance
of toxins such as alcohol or cigarette smoke.
6. Genes determine about 60% of brain development;
environment in the uterus determines about 30%
and 10% is influenced by your diet.
7. You need 75,000 calories to create a baby,
of which sufficient amount are already stored
as fat in your body to get you through the first
trimester without the need to increase your calories.
8. Findings show that more than one male cell
can enter the egg but only the first to reach
the female nucleus can complete fertilization.
9. Maternal feelings and moods are linked to hormones
and neurotransmitters that travel through the
bloodstream and across the placenta to the developing
brain of the fetus. These findings show that maternal
emotions and thoughts directly contribute to the
wiring of the brain.
10. By the end of the first month the embryo completes
the period of relatively greatest size increase
and greatest physical change of a lifetime. A
month old embryo is ten thousand times larger
than a fertilized egg. By the end of the second
month it will resemble a tiny baby
11. Unborn babies feel pain as powerfully as those
outside the womb
12. Recent studies show brain cells develop in
utero grow in response to external sounds, especially
when brain maturation is rapid from week 24 onwards.
13. Scientists find that depressed mothers had
babies who cried excessively and were difficult
to manage. Elevated level of the stress hormones
from the mother reaches the bloodstream of the
unborn child. The greater the depression, the
more irritable the baby.
14. Research shows that male offspring predominates
over the female; for every 100 girls born in the
world, 106 boys are born.
15. A 7th week embryo has the features and all
the internal organs of the future adult although
it is only an inch long.
16. At 28 days the three primary parts of the
brain have already formed
17. At 2 months the palm prints and foot prints
are permanently marked on the fetus's skin
18. The fetal heart beats for the very first time
between days 22-25 after fertilization.
19. The appearance of the first bone cells between
days 46-48 mark the beginning of the fetal stage.
20. Vocal cords are completed in the third month
but because there is no air, no sounds can be
produced. The baby cannot cry aloud until birth
although she is capable of crying long before
being born.
21. By the 4th month the unborn child's capacity
to explore is tremendous: she plays with her umbilical
cord, sucks her thumb and a month later is able
to shield her ears with her hands in reaction
to loud sounds.
22. At 6 months after conception, the unborn child
is a human being in terms of sensing, feeling,
awareness and remembering.
23. A fetus's immune system begins to work by
the 5th month of pregnancy (though it will take
a long time to be fully mature).
24. A well established fact points to male fetuses
being more prone to suffer from hazards of pregnancy
such as placenta previa, premature rupture of
membranes, prematurity and suffering from low
birth weight more frequently than female fetuses
25. In the 6th month the buds for the permanent
teeth form high in the gums behind the milk teeth
26. At least fifty thousand neurons are produced
during each second of intrauterine life. At birth
your baby will have 100 billion ready-to-use neurons.
27. Twins may share the placenta but most twins
have individual amniotic sacs.
28. Crown to rump measurements are considered
an accurate method to determine fetal age because
fetuses grow at a very predictable rate in the
first trimester. This can be obtained as early
as 7 weeks of pregnancy.
29. At 6 weeks fetal heart beats at 125 beats
per minute (bpm); at 7 weeks it beats at 150 bpm
and at 8 weeks the rate is 175 bpm. At 16 weeks
the rate settles to between 120-160 bpm (twice
the adult heart rate) for the remaining months
of pregnancy.
30. Fetal hands develop prior to the feet. Researchers
link this to use: babies learn to use their hands
to hold things for example much before they learn
to walk. Alternative theory suggests that hands
being sense organs develop along with other sense
organs i.e. eyes and ears before feet development.
31. Premature babies have a lot of vernix on their
skins while overdue babies have almost none.
32. Babies shed cells into the amniotic fluid
from week 16. These cells contain information
about their chromosomes and can be used to test
for abnormalities
33. Between weeks 28 and 32 your baby is capable
of feeling and remembering
34. Dreaming encourages fetal brain development
and that is why babies spend the majority of their
time sleeping.
35. Maternal genetic influence accounts for almost
entirely the baby's birth weight; fathers have
very little to do with it. The heavier and taller
the mother the bigger will be the baby's birth
weight.
36. Boy babies are bigger than girl babies.
37. Second babies are bigger than first-borns.
38. Babies lung are the last major organ to mature;
it does not occur until at least 34 weeks of pregnancy
39. In the final three months in the womb, your
baby receives immunizations against a variety
of illnesses from his mother's blood in the form
of antibodies and to some extent from the amniotic
fluid which he swallows.
40. The placenta provides gamma globulin, another
disease-fighting substance to both mother and
baby.
41. Labor is thought to be triggered by hormonal
signals coming from the mother, the baby and the
placenta.
42. Baby's condition at birth mirrors the mother's.
If she has a hard time with labor so will he.
If she is wide awake the baby will be too.
43. The first breaths of air are the hardest in
life. The effort put in is comparable to blowing
up a rubber balloon.
44. During labor the maternal temperature is about
99.0°F. The temperature rises to about 99.3°F
with an epidural or spinal anesthetic.
45. 75% of all babies are born within 11 days
of the assigned 266 days.
