Just how far along is 20 weeks?!
To illustrate how far along a 20 week pregnancy is, we are posting this photograph of (the very much alive and well) baby Samuel taken by Michael Clancy (Copyright michaelclancy.com/Used with Permission).
Just 2 weeks under this age, parents have no rights to the remains of their child in many of our United States.
During a spina bifida corrective procedure at twenty-one weeks in utero, Samuel thrusts his tiny hand out of the surgical opening of his mother’s uterus. As the doctor lifts his hand, Samuel reacts to the touch and squeezes the doctor’s finger.
At 10 weeks of gestation, a baby’s knee joints have formed; the heart, hands and feet are almost completely developed.
Facial features become apparent. The nervous system is responsive and many of the internal organs begin to function.
Twenty tiny baby teeth are forming in the gums.
By 12 weeks the vocal chords are complete, and the child can and does sometimes cry (silently). The brain is fully formed, and the child can feel pain. The baby may even suck his thumb. The eyelids now cover the eyes, and will remain shut until the seventh month to protect the delicate optical nerve fibers.
