Wow, another week has passed and I'm still surprised to be here. Usually things have gone wrong by now, but so far so good - except for the usual pregnancy symptoms which are causing me some grief and making me uncomfortable most of the time these days, but I'm not complaining!
At 26 weeks the babies should be about 36cm. According to one site they should weigh a little more than 760g (however we know ours are porkies at 963g which is 2lbs and 2ozs this week!).
Their eyes begin to open around now and their response to sound grows more consistent towards the end of the seventh month, when the network of nerves to their ears are complete. They also continue to take small breaths and although they are only breathing in fluid and not air, it's still good practice for when they are born.
According to another site, air sacks are developing in their lungs, which means it just might be possible for them to take a breath at the end of this week. The air sacks (technically called alveoli) will continue to grow for the next nine years. The membrane that keeps the alveoli separate from the blood vessels is now thin enough to allow for that oxygen–carbon dioxide exchange we call breathing. Other highlights this week:
The retina completes the development of its normal layers this week which means their eyes are now fully developed. The eye colour of all babies in mother’s womb is blue and will change later in life. Some babies are born with a darker shade of blue and others are born with a lighter blue shade. They will now start putting on fat layers till the time of birth. Presently they are still lean.
Brainwaves for the auditory and visual systems are detectable this week. That means their brain is registering things like sound and light. They can't understand what any of it means yet though!
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