Week 14 Wrap Up

Time is really flying now. In two hours, we begin week 15 already. Wow. That's three and a half months in. As we wrap up week 14, the baby's facial features are passing some key points of development. Cheeks and the bridge of the nose take shape and the development of lanugo. Lanugo is that fine hair that grows all over the baby we briefly discussed in a previous post. These fine hairs grow in swirl patterns that follow the grain of the skin. They will later give way to fingerprints. Prior to birth, the baby will shed the lanugo and it will be replaced by thicker, coarser hair. The baby's thyroid has reached a critical point where it can now join into the hormone production of the child. The boy/girl developments continue as well. If we have a boy, the prostate appears. And if we have a girl, the egg filled ovaries descend from the abdomen into the pelvis. The embryo's soft cartilage is now being replaced all over by a soft chalky bone material that will later develop into solid bone. On to week 15 a host of new milestones!!!