

Vagina: A tube-like structure surrounded by muscles. During pregnancy, this organ holds and nourishes the fetus. Uterus: A muscular organ in the female pelvis. During pregnancy, ultrasound can be used to check the fetus. Ultrasound Exam: A test in which sound waves are used to examine inner parts of the body. They are referred to as first, second, or third. Trimesters: The 3-month periods of time in pregnancy. Testicles: Paired male organs that make sperm and the male sex hormone testosterone. This substance helps keep the lungs elastic and keeps them from collapsing. Surfactant: A substance made by cells in the lungs. Sperm: A cell made in the male testicles that can fertilize a female egg. Scrotum: The external genital sac in the male that contains the testicles. Its physical substrate, the thalamo-cortical complex that provides consciousness with its highly elaborate content, begins to be in place between the 24th and 28th week of gestation. Placenta: An organ that provides nutrients to and takes waste away from the fetus. Oxygen: An element that we breathe in to sustain life. The LMP is used to estimate the date of delivery.

Last Menstrual Period (LMP): The date of the first day of the last menstrual period before pregnancy. Lanugo: Soft, downy hair that covers the fetus’s body. In Vitro Fertilization (IVF): A procedure in which an egg is removed from a woman’s ovary, fertilized in a laboratory with the man’s sperm, and then transferred to the woman’s uterus to achieve a pregnancy. Hormones: Substances made in the body that control the function of cells or organs. Gestational Age: How far along a woman is in her pregnancy, usually reported in weeks and days. Genitals: The sexual or reproductive organs. Also called the ovum.Įmbryo: The stage of development that starts at fertilization (joining of an egg and sperm) and lasts up to 8 weeks.įallopian Tube: One of a pair of tubes through which an egg travels from the ovary to the uterus.įertilization: A multistep process that joins the egg and the sperm.įetus: The stage of human development beyond 8 completed weeks after fertilization. Cells are the building blocks for all parts of the body.Įgg: The female reproductive cell made in and released from the ovaries. If a sound is especially loud, the unborn baby may jump in reaction to it. Inorganic mercury, on the other hand, does not easily pass biological barriers.

The neural tube has formed which will give rise to the brain. 5 Months: Each side of the brain now has a billion nerve cells. A single human fetus brain with Kallmanns syndrome has been studied. Cell: The smallest unit of a structure in the body. Fertilization age is the actual age of the fetus.
