Apples & Oranges: Using Fruit& Veggies to Determine the Size of Baby
Using fruit and vegetables to help determine the size of your developing baby has been around for quite some time. Here is a breakdown of the general equivalent size of your developing baby week by week.
Apples & Oranges
This seems to be the latest trend to help new mothers understand the growing changes their baby is going through as it develops in the womb. It is actually a quite interesting concept and easy to follow. The fetus is compared to the size, weight and length of a fruit or vegetable at weekly intervals, making it an easy to understand process for the expectant mother. With charts and graphs you can track your baby's development from embryo to full term!
Here is how it works:
Four weeks – now officially an embryo, about the size of a poppy seed.
Five weeks – about the size of a sesame seed.
Six weeks – a lentil, about one-fourth inch long.
Seven weeks – about the size of a small blueberry.
Eight weeks – a kidney bean or cranberry, webbed fingers and toes.
Nine weeks– a grape or cherry.
Ten weeks – green olive, eyes and eyelids are developing.
Eleven weeks – about the size of a brussel sprout.
Twelve weeks – lime, fingernails, toenails, and bones are forming.
Thirteen weeks – as long as a pea pod, vocal cords developing.
Fourteen weeks – lemon, internal organs formed and will continue to mature.
Fifteen weeks – apple, muscles controlled by brain, able to move.
Sixteen weeks – avocado, able to suck his or her thumb!
Seventeen weeks – pear, weight 140g, length 13cm head to bottom, can now hiccup.
Eighteen weeks – bell pepper, now has fingerprints.
Nineteen weeks – heirloom tomato, about 6.2 inches and 8.47 oz.
The Halfway Point
Twenty weeks – HALFWAY THERE! – About as long as a small banana, sprouting some hair, will now be measured full length.
Twenty-one weeks – as long as a carrot.
Twenty-two weeks – spaghetti squash, the lungs are developing.
Twenty-three weeks – eggplant, beginning to recognize your voice.
Twenty-four weeks – long as an ear of corn, practicing breathing.
Twenty-five weeks – acorn squash, can stick out his tongue!
Twenty-six weeks – length of zucchini, eyebrows, eyelashes and more hair.
Twenty-seven weeks – cauliflower, can differentiate between voices.
Twenty-eight weeks – kabocha squash, beginning to blink.
Twenty-nine weeks – butternut squash.
Thirty weeks – large cabbage, sleeping and waking cycles.
Thirty-one weeks – coconut, 16.18 inches and 3.31 lbs.
Thirty-two weeks – Napa cabbage, beginning to have a preference for certain foods.
Thirty-three weeks – pineapple, 17.20 inches and 4.23 lbs.
Thirty-four weeks – cantaloupe, bones developed, moving around more.
Thirty-five weeks – honeydew melon, now upside down, preparing for birth.
Thirty-six weeks – romaine lettuce, liver and kidneys are working well.
Thirty-seven weeks – winter melon, inhaling, exhaling.
Thirty-eight weeks – pumpkin, learning to swallow.
Thirty-nine weeks – mini watermelon, able to flex his or her limbs.
Forty weeks – watermelon, time to wait until baby is ready to meet the world!
By now you have everything ready for baby's arrival and you are anxiously watching the calendar. Your due date has come and it is up to baby. They will give you advance notice when it's time. Make sure your cell phone stays charged, there is gas is in the car, and the car seat is properly installed. Try to relax and think about the fact that the leg cramps, contractions, pelvic pressure and frequent urination are about to come to an end. In the meantime, nature has alleviated most of your anxiety and fear of childbirth and replaced it with the thought that you are so over being pregnant and are mentally prepared to give birth.
As an afterthought, as you go through the fruit and vegetable sizes of your growing baby, why not incorporate each weeks' produce into your diet to keep you and baby extra healthy, while awakening their taste buds?