How the Fetus Grows and Changes in the Last Three Months
Change is almost synonymic with pregnancy. While little is going on outside apart from the growth of the bump, inside the changes keep increasing, especially in the last trimester. Can we follow all of them at different stages of the fetus’ development? It could make an overwhelming story, how we start on our way to this life, how the whole mankind has been developing to become what it is. No matter how many children are born, the process remains one of the greatest Earth’s miracles.
This long nine-month development is, in fact, an extremely complicated and arduous work. Think of all those elements of the human body, many of them ever so small, and how they relate and function together. It seems to be nothing short of magic. That is what makes pregnancy so wonderful, even considering bouts of sickness, tiredness and other not-so-pleasant symptoms.
Young moms are usually very interested in what is going on inside them, how the fetus is growing. There are nine months to go, and so many things to do, always some new development! This article will tell you about some exciting changes the baby will go through in his last three months inside the mother.
They can hear everything
Yes, babies acquire their full hearing abilities while being inside. By the end of the last trimester, their hearing is just perfect. That is especially important and wonderful for those parents who believe in talking to their yet-unborn babies – you should know they can hear your voices. You can’t expect them to understand your conversation – or even distinguish between individual sounds – but what they can do is learn to recognize familiar voices, so they get to know their parents even before the birth.
The bones and muscles keep strengthening
In the animal world, it is a known thing when an animal baby is born, it is almost ready to walk about. They don’t have to be small animals, at that – a little horse will try to get up and move on its legs. Unfortunately, people are not up to the feat. Yet during their last weeks in the womb, they are getting perceptibly stronger. At this time the bones get harder and the muscles gain strength. This is a highly important development stage for the growth of a healthy child that will be able to use his body properly.
They become responsive to light and sound
Now that you can be sure the fetus hears and recognizes your voices when you address it directly, you can also guess it is responsive to other sounds and shows it by beginning to move. And you will be right. So when you get talking or switch on music, and the baby kicks almost immediately, it is likely to be their reaction to whatever sounds they can hear. This makes for a marvelous parental experience to know that your baby reacts involuntarily to changes in his mother’s environment.
Nails are growing on hands and feet
Some parents rather wonder when babies develop nails on their fingers and toes. There are those who believe it takes place earlier, but actually not until the final trimester, at the latest stages. So their nails are very tiny and soft when they come out. Nevertheless, those fragile nails need regular clipping soon after the birth. The parents should do well to undertake the procedure while the baby is fast asleep – they don’t need to know what you are doing to them armed with a pair of shiny nail clippers that snip away.
The baby gets a taste of your meals
This may be unexpected, yet in the last three months of pregnancy, the baby becomes able to taste all the food that finds its way into the mother. It can feel a little weird, but it’s a proven fact and probably one of the most important developments of the third trimester. By the way, this is why women are always advised to keep to healthy eating habits when pregnant, though it’s only one of the reasons. Other reasons are mindful of the mother’s benefit, while this one is for the baby’s sake. Since you can make the baby grow accustomed to some tastes, it would be better if they responded to those of vegetables and fruit, wouldn’t it?
Tactile development is proceeding fast
The development of all human senses is a long story going on even after the birth of an individual. The last few weeks are devoted (among other things) to developing the sense of touch. Of course, it is only the beginning of the process, at the age of three-four months they will start to feel the difference between various textures, and their tactile sensations provide them with a lot of entertainment. Some textures will feel pleasant to the touch, others might prove irritating. It is beneficial to develop in little children interest in fabrics and handmade fabric toys.
Kicking will increase significantly
By the third trimester babies have already been kicking for a while, but now it is going to be much more frequent and pronounced. Mothers are in for quite a lot of kicking: the baby has grown bigger and stronger, so it becomes way more active. What was fluttery and soft will now feel very real and hard, leaving no doubt that it is moving with all its might. But right before delivery kicking may become softer again.
The baby starts to “dance” to music
Parents often play music, especially for their coming children. That is actually a good idea to send your yet-unborn signals from the world they are coming into before you can fondle him or play with him. It’s great to imagine both of you enjoying your favorite songs. Now that you are well into the third trimester you can be sure babies hear what is going on around you. Of course, they don’t know it is music or what the songs are about, but the fact remains you are sharing your stuff with them – and they may respond by moving and kicking to show they know what you are doing!
There may be hair already growing
Babies are different in this respect – some begin to grow hair when still a bump, others are born hairless and start from there. Why does it happen this way is not quite clear; but if a baby starts growing hair, it will be during the last few months. So you are not supposed to know whether the baby will come out complete with strands of hair or with a smooth hairless skull. But if your baby displays hair at birth, it doesn’t follow he will retain its color. The color is apt to change, so black hair can fade away soon, while light brown can acquire a more darkish hue.
The eyesight becomes better
Human eyesight isn’t as we know it from birth. A newborn baby is able to see black and white only, with colors slowly but surely sorting themselves out. Before long they will see the world as we do. But the initial stages of eyesight begin to develop while you are moving into the third trimester. They don’t have that much to see, of course, so they can’t know anything but when it is darker or lighter. Nor can they distinguish shapes or forms. Yet they’re being able to see at all is fairly marvelous in itself.
The ability to blink appears
Since we know now that after the first six months the baby is already able to see a little bit (although his full ability will develop only later on), he is beginning to use his eyes. Therefore he needs eye protection and learns to blink about the same time. To think what changes related to the child’s eyesight abilities are fast developing during the last stage – it is something miraculous. Imagine your baby blinking inside you! What wonder!
The lungs are getting completely finished
One of the last organs your baby develops is lungs, which is understandable and isn’t going to happen until the very last stage. We can hardly imagine what complex processes build up to create the necessary organs. Here the baby arrives at the hugely important final step that provides for the health of the baby when it comes out. Fortunately, the humankind has designed sophisticated technology that can help undeveloped babies born before due time to complete the processes. The headway we have made to protect the health of both mothers and babies is staggering.
The baby tries breathing
Once the baby’s lungs developed to the fullest extent, he has approached the state of almost complete readiness for his arrival in our world. But there are some lesser milestones to reach before great work is done. In an attempt to begin putting his lungs to use, the baby tries to imitate breathing as one of the final steps. These motions are of extreme importance for a truly awesome result of nine months of progress when the baby comes out to rejoice his long-expecting family.
