Day 1 – your life began at the moment of conception

Day 7 – you implanted in your mother’s uterus

Day 10 – your mother’s menstrual period stopped

Day 18 – your heart began to beat

Day 21 – you pumped your own blood, with your own blood type, through a separate, closed circulatory system

Day 28 – your eye, ear and respiratory system began to form

Day 42 – your brainwaves were recorded; your skeleton was complete, your reflexes were present

7 weeks – you sucked your thumb

8 weeks – all your body systems were present

9 weeks – you squinted, swallowed, moved your tongue, and made a fist

11 weeks – all of your body systems worked; you breathed spontaneously; your fingernails were present

12 weeks – you weighed one ounce

16 weeks – your genital organs were clearly differentiated; you grasped with your hands, swam, kicked, turned, somersaulted (still not felt by your mother)

18 weeks – your vocal cords worked and you could cry

20 weeks – you had hair on your head; you weighed one pound and were 12 inches long)

The New England Journal of Medicine reported that:

• 15 percent of babies born premature at 23 week survive*
• 56 percent of babies born premature at 24 weeks survive*
• 79 percent of babies born premature at 25 weeks survive*