You are 14 weeks and 6 days

The neural tube, the basis of your baby's spinal cord, formed in the very early weeks, and now the spinal cord is fully formed.

176 days until your due date

Nerves from the spinal cord link to each set of vertebrae, but as your baby lengthens, the cord doesn't grow as fast as the spine, so its lower tip ends up at the mid-lumbar level, halfway between the hips and the lowest rib.

Below that level, the nerves leaving the cord lengthen so they still exit between the lowest vertebrae. In adulthood the cord ends slightly higher than in a newborn. Because it doesn't fill the whole spinal canal, a fluid-filled space fills the lower part.

By the end of this week, your baby can use fat for energy, although that's not an important source yet, because glucose crossing the placenta meets most of her energy needs. Free fatty acids from your blood easily cross the placenta and are used for organ growth, building cell walls, forming the insulating myelin sheaths around nerves, and much more.

Your baby gets cholesterol through the placenta and also makes it herself, so your cholesterol level has little to do with hers. Her level needs to be high so she can make fat, especially in the early months.

Explainer

Inside the fetus

All the internal organs are now in place: the skull, spine, and rib cage are formed, the lungs are protected inside the rib cage, and the kidneys lie below them.

Ask a Doctor

When can my baby first suck his thumb?

Scans have shown babies sucking their thumbs as early as 12–14 weeks, but at this stage it's probably a reflex, because the brain has no conscious control over movement until much later in pregnancy.

Some research suggests that a baby who prefers sucking, say, his right thumb will prefer to lie with his head turned to the right after birth, and that this preference could predict whether he'll be right- or left-handed.

As a matter of fact

Tuning in to TV

Your baby could be tuning in to your favorite TV show!

Researchers compared babies of mothers who watched the Australian soap Neighbours during pregnancy with babies of mothers who didn't. After birth, the babies who'd heard the theme tune in the uterus went quiet and "paid attention" to it, while the others ignored it.

This is general information based on NHS guidance, not medical advice, and every pregnancy is different. Talk to your midwife or GP about anything that worries you. If your baby's movements slow down or change, or you have bleeding, severe pain or leaking fluid, call your maternity unit straight away. In an emergency, call 999.