(by Francis MacNutt)
FIRST MONTH
SIZE 1/4 inch
DEVELOPMENT
Already your child’s heart has started to beat.
A very simple spinal cord， a groove that will close over at four weeks, has started to form.
At four weeks the eyes and ears are beginning to show.
Your child is growing about 1/25 of an inch every day.
SCRIPTURE
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well (Ps. 139:11-14, NIV).
SECOND MONTH
SIZE 11/8 inch
DEVELOPMENT
Your child’s tiny face and its features are now forming.
The head and neck comprise one half the length of your baby’s body (by comparison a newborn’s head is one quar-ter of its body length).
Your child is no longer technically an embryo, but is now a fetus. Everything that is to be found in a fully developed human being is now being established.
The muscles are starting to move and exercise, but the heart has already been beating for a month.
The little limbs are starting to differentiate. The fingers are faintly visible, although the foot still looks like a paddle (because the hands develop faster than the feet).
The internal organs are starting to develop. As his muscles develop, your baby can express his likes and dislikes by kicking and jerking (Week 8), although you may not be able to feel these movements as yet.
SCRIPTURE
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God:
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with you.
(Ps. 139:15-18, NIV)
THIRD MONTH
SIZE 3 inches
1 ounce
DEVELOPMENT
Your child’s arms, hands and fingers-legs, feet and toes -are now fully formed. The nails are beginning to form.
The external ears are now present.
Although the lids are still fused, the eyes are developing fully, and the face is beginning to look human. The lips open and close.
Your doctor may now be able to pick up a faint heartbeat. Blood cells are being produced by the liver and spleen.
SCRIPTURE
Can a woman forget her baby at the breast,
feel no pity for the child she has borne?
Even if she were to forget, I shall not forget you.
Look, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
(Is. 49:15-16, NJB)
FOURTH MONTH
SIZE 7 inches
4 ounces
DEVELOPMENT
Your baby now has a distinct heartbeat.
The gristle is changing to bone, and most of the bones are now distinct in shape. The ribs are clearly visible.
The eyes, ears and nose are continuing to take on a more human appearance. The eyebrows now take shape. Your baby can frown, squint and grimace. The eyes are sensitive to light but can see nothing distinctly.
SCRIPTURE
Thus says Yahweh who made you, who formed you in the womb; He will help you. Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant for I shall pour out water on the thirsty soil and streams on the dry ground. I shall pour out my spirit on your descendants, my blessing on your offspring, and they will spring up among the grass, like willows on the bank of a stream. (Is. 44:2-4, NJB)
FIFTH MONTH
SIZE 10-12 inches
1/2-1 pound
DEVELOPMENT
Notice how fast your baby’s body is growing! The top of your uterus now reaches to your navel. During this month, your baby will grow from about 6 inches long to 10 inches or more.
About this time the mother should be feeling her baby’s first faint kicks.
The eyes are still closed, like a newborn kitten’s. (The eyelids grow together at the beginning of the third month and open again in the seventh.)
Hair is beginning to appear, very short and “trimmed.” Sometimes the thumb will slip into the mouth preparing for sucking.
The ears are nearly complete and your baby is now hearing. It is no longer a silent world for your baby, who can probably hear your voice, but especially your heart and the sounds you make eating and drinking. From outside he can hear Daddy’s voice, the radio, TV, traffic and music. So, if you aren’t already talking to your baby, now is a good time for you and Daddy to start. On the other hand, you should protect your baby, as much as possible, from sudden, violent noise.
SCRIPTURE
I lift up my eyes to the mountains; where is my help to come from? My help comes from Yahweh who made heaven and earth.
May He save your foot from stumbling; may He be your guardian, not fall asleep!
You see He neither sleeps nor slumbers, the guardian of Israel.
Yahweh is your guardian, your shade, Yahweh, at your right hand.
By day the sun will not strike you, nor the moon by night.
Yahweh guards you from all harm, Yahweh guards your life, Yahweh guards your comings and goings, henceforth and forever. (Ps. 121:all, NJB)
SIXTH MONTH
SIZE 11-14 inches
1 pound or more
DEVELOPMENT
Your baby’s eyelashes are forming. The fingernails extend now to the ends of the fingers. Your baby hears clearly and may move its body to the rhythm of your speech. It listens all the time now. The rudiments of language are laid down in the womb, and your baby can respond to music. Studies indicate that babies relax while listening to Mozart and Vivaldi (if you like classical music), but tense up when Beethoven and Brahms are played. (This surprised me, too!) They also react against rock music. How wonderful it would be if you (and your husband) would sing to your child! Even before birth you and your husband can bond with your baby, who will recognize your voices later, after birth. (Recall, too, the examples we gave earlier of people who were able to remember music they heard in utero.) (It may be comforting for you to know that some babies born this early can survive.)
SCRIPTURE
… The angel answered, “Your cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.” Mary said, “You see before you the Lord’s servant, let it happen to me as you have said.” And the angel left her.
Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into the hill country to a town in Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, “Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honored with a visit from the mother of my Lord? Look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy” (Lk. 1:36-44, NJB).
SEVENTH ΜΟΝΤΗ
SIZE 14-17 inches
2-3 pounds
DEVELOPMENT
There is now a special reason to thank God, because your baby, if born this month, has a good chance of surviving. The eyelids are now separating and the eyes open. These last three months of pregnancy are especially important for intrauterine bonding. The fetus may be able to feel the mother’s emotions, as well as to sense them, so the mother’s attitudes toward her baby and toward life become increasingly crucial. Her religious faith will prove especially lifegiving at this stage. On the other hand, the shock of parents fighting may be picked up by the fetus, just as their love and a peaceful, supportive relationship can help provide a spiritual, emotional security for their unborn child. Within a fraction of a second of the mother’s experiencing strong fear, the baby’s heart starts pounding twice as fast. If the mother is occasionally fearful and angry, this will help her unborn child, but if she is angry, bitter or fearful over a prolonged period, then it will prove harmful. So, take whatever steps you need to provide as loving and peaceful an environment as you can for yourself and, in consequence, for your child.
If something should happen over which you have little control, for instance, if there is a tragedy in your family or if you find you are basically unhappy about leaving your job, then ask for prayer, to free you in relation to these events and to moderate your emotional response to them.
Sometime between the sixth and eighth months your baby will develop the ability to remember experiences.
Your child’s sleeping patterns after birth will be influenced by your own sleeping patterns at present.
SCRIPTURE
How blessed are all who fear Yahweh,
who walk in his ways!
Your own labors will yield you a living,
happy and prosperous will you be.
Your wife a fruitful vine
in the inner places of your house.
Your children round your table
like shoots of an olive tree.
Such are the blessings that fall
on those who fear Yahweh.
May Yahweh bless you from Zion!
May you see Jerusalem prosper
all the days of your life,
and live to see your children’s children!
(Ps. 128:1-5, NJB).
EIGHTH MONTH
SIZE 16-18 inches
4-5 pounds
DEVELOPMENT
During this month your baby; will grow another two pounds or more. If born now it will have a very good chance of survival. By the thirty-second week the neural circuits in your baby’s brain will be as advanced as a newborn’s. Therefore, your baby has a good deal of conscious awareness. The sleeping and waking states are now distinct.
SCRIPTURE
Always be joyful, then, in the Lord; I repeat, be joyful. Let your good sense be obvious to everybody. The Lord is near. Never worry about anything; but tell God all your desires of every kind in prayer and petition shot through with gratitude, and the peace of God which is beyond our understanding will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. Finally let your minds be filled with everything that is true, everything that is honorable, everything that is upright and pure, everything that we love and admire with whatever is good and praiseworthy. (Ph. 4:4-8, NJB).
NINTH MONTH
SIZE at birth: 20 inches, on the average
7 pounds, on the average
DEVELOPMENT
In this, the last month, all your baby’s systems are simply continuing to grow to the point where he can survive and thrive at birth. Now is a good time to pray without anxiety that everything goes well in the actual birth process. If you are going to give birth using a natural method, practice with your husband (or partner) until the process the breathing and all becomes second nature. Above all, ask Jesus to fill you with great joy and anticipation of all that is about to take place!
SCRIPTURE
At this time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?” So he called a little child to him whom he set among them. Then he said, “In truth I tell you, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. Anyone who welcomes one little child like this in my name welcomes me” (Mt. 18:1-5, NJB).
A woman in childbirth suffers, because her time has come; but when she has given birth to the child she forgets the suffering in her joy that a human being has been born into the world. So it is with you: you are sad now, but I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy, and that joy no one shall take from you (Jn. 16:21-22, NJB).
Praying for Your Unborn Child, A practical and inspirational guide for parents-to-be
Francis MacNutt and Judith MacNutt
