From the 1st moment that the cells start to divide and create an embryo, fetal development and the stages of pregnancy progress in a longtime sequence. When the egg is fertilized, a zygote develops. In this first stage, which takes place during the first two weeks of the pregnancy, the cells multiply and develop. The subsequent segment of fetal development and the stages of pregnancy happens when the zygote becomes an embryo. During week three, the embryo starts to develop the buds that may become the arms and legs of the fetus. The digestive tract also has basic beginnings at this time. 

By the 5th week of fetal development and the stages of pregnancy, the facial features have started to form. The embryo has now begun to produce hormones and the presence of these hormones stop the mother’s menstrual cycle. When the embryo becomes about an in. 

long, about the sixth week of the fetal development and the stages of pregnancy, the brain has started to develop its component parts ; facial features, toes and fingers are obvious and a heartbeat can be detected in an ultrasound test. During the n ext many weeks, the organs continue to develop and the features become more discernible. The genitalia form, although they can not be distinguished at this time in an ultrasound. Bones are beginning to form and the muscles can contract. By the end of the 1st trimester, the fetus is approximately three inches in length and weighs only about an ounce. During the 2nd trimester of fetal development and the stages of pregnancy, the fetus continues to develop the traits that make it recognizable as a human baby. Development has progressed to the point that the fetus will begin to move a touch ; it is in this time that a ma will begin to feel movement. As this period progresses, the fetus will develop waking and sleeping cycles the ma will soon be ready to detect and recognize. At about the 24th week, a routinely developed fetus is about twelve inches long and weighs about 2 pounds. It would be able to survive, with the help of current medical technology, if it were delivered. In the last weeks of fetal development and the stages of pregnancy, or the 3rd trimester, the bones are developed, though they are still pliable. The fetus can inhale, exhale, and even cry. The eyelids open and the lungs continue to develop till the time of birth. The fetus gains in size and moves less because there is less room to maneuver. Almost all of the movement occurs as the fetus shifts its position in preparation for birth. At the age of thirty weeks, the fetus would be little and considered premature, but it could be capable of living on its own if it were delivered. The fetus is regarded absolutely developed at the age of 38 weeks and would be fully capable of living on its own if delivered, though the normal delivery date is thought to be at the end of the 40th week.

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