• Approximate length 15 to 16 inches, weight 3 to 4 pounds.
• He is able to use all five of his senses, hearing sounds and seeing bright lights in his mother’s environment, and tasting, touching, and even smelling the amniotic fluid surrounding him.
• His toenails have grown and are completely formed.

Source: Valley Medical Center, Weekly Parenting Email

• His growth in height or length will be slower from this point on, but he will continue to gain weight.
• His skin still looks red and wrinkled, but as he accumulates more fat, his skin will become increasingly flesh colored and smooth.
• Lanugo, the fine hair covering his body since the fifth month of pregnancy, is beginning to disappear.
• Sometime between now and birth, his testes will have completely descended.

Source: Valley Medical Center, Weekly Parenting Email

• Approximate length 14.5 inches, weight 2 to 2.5 pounds.
• His bone marrow has taken over red blood cell production.
• His eyes are opening and closing, and he is turning his head and practicing “looking” movements.
• He is very active, and movements can be felt outside the abdomen; expect about 10 movements to occur every 12 hours. Some doctors advise monitoring and counting his movements.
• The convolutions, wrinkles or “gyri” on the surface of the brain appear as it continues rapid growth and contains more brain cells.

Source: Valley Medical Center, Weekly Parenting Email

Diane and I had our first baby class on Thursday. It was a 2 1/2 hour class that went over the fundamentals of what will happen in the hospital after the baby is born and what to expect in the following 24 hours. We will learn about the actual delivery in a later class. Basically, Mason will look like a conehead for the first 24 hours of his life. I will be cutting the umbilical cord, just so you all know. But after I responded with an enthusiastic ‘YES’ to a question on if I would be participating in such an action, the teacher told us the details of what it would be like when I cut the cord; I’ll need a strong stomach and goggles :?. She said the cord is a lot like gristle, and it will take a good 3 tries to cut through it - not to mention blood will be squirting. So, I guess I won’t be holding the camcorder at the same time. There will definitely be stories to post from that experience. We will also get to help with his first bath. We learned a lot of information…much more than is possible to put here. So, if you want to know more, just post a comment and we’ll give you a response.

• He has eyelashes on his eyelids, his eyes can move in their sockets, and he can distinguish light and dark, but he cannot discern specific objects yet.
• His senses are becoming fine-tuned and more responsive to light, sound, taste, smell, and touch.
• His skin is becoming smoother as body fat accumulates beneath the skin.
• His brain is developing further, and he can direct breathing movements.

Source: Valley Medical Center, Weekly Parenting Email