Date of ultrasound: 10 November 2001

A mere 2.5 weeks ago the good doctor couldn’t even find me to determine my age. Remember that 5.2 mm black sac? Look at how it has increased to ten times its size! And oh finally, there I am…blissfully floating in amniotic fluid. My measurement at this stage is 1.2 cm. I am now at 7 weeks!

I am not even called a fetus yet. Mom likes to be scientifically accurate at all times – so she calls me her little “booger,” her euphemism for “embryo.” And oh, my heart has already started beating, she saw it on the monitor! Her first thought was, how could that little booger be alive? It’s so small! Not a bad feat, huh?

In the know:

The lenses of the baby’s (embryo’s?) eyes continue to form. The surface layer of the baby’s skin will be formed this month. The tongue is recognizable and the nasal pits are beginning to form. The lymphatic system (the system that filters out bacteria and other foreign particles) is beginning to develop. A second nonfunctional set of kidneys appears. The arms still look like flippers. The gonads are presents but have not yet developed into ovaries (if the baby is a girl) or testes (if the baby is a boy). In eight more days, the baby will be twice as long as it is now.