(cheerful music)
- At half a pound and six inches long,
your baby is about the
size of a juicy mango
and that's pretty sweet.
On the development docket this week,
a total baby body wrap.
Your little one gets a head-to-toe coating
of vernix caseosa,
a white, cheesy-looking substance
made of lanugo, that downy hair,
oil from his glands and dead skin cells.
Maybe not a recipe for your
favorite spa treatment,
but just the right one for your fetus.
This waterproof mixture
protects your baby's skin
from his 24/7 bath, the amniotic fluid,
and lubricates the birth canal.
Without it, baby would look
positively pruny at birth
and would have a much tougher time
getting out the door.
But don't be surprised if
you see vernix remnants
on your newborn right after delivery,
especially if he makes an early debut.
On the looks side, your baby's
monkey-like appearance of yester-week
is yesterday's news
now that his legs have
gone through a growth spurt
and are finally in proportion to his arms.
Those longer legs, coupled with the
strengthening of cartilage into bone,
will make your little one's
kicks and jabs more powerful.
Add to that the newly formed neurons
that are sending better
commanding messages
from the brain to the
muscles, and you've got a
formula for stronger, meaner
and more controlled movements,
allowing your acrobat to take his body
for some serious test drives,
and for you to start feeling them.
In the coming weeks,
you'll experience plenty of flutters,
kicks, jabs, twitches,
stretches and punches,
and no matter when you begin feeling them
or what they feel like,
all your baby's movements
are bound to be moving.
(upbeat music)
