EMBRYONIC AND FETAL GROWTH

During ovulation, an egg is released from the ovary and moves into a tube called the oviduct. At conception, the sperm and egg combine within the oviduct to form a zygote. The genes from each parent combine into pairs and the zygote possesses a new, unique genome that every cell into which it divides will inherit.

Over the course of the first seven days, the zygote divides into a hollow ball of cells as it moves through the oviduct toward the uterus. By the seventh day, it becomes embedded in the uterine wall. At this point it is called an embryo. The heart of the embryo heart by day 23; its brainwaves can be recorded at day 40; in the seventh week it begins sucking, touching its face, hiccupping, frowning and making various other spontaneous movements.

At eight weeks, all organ systems are present and functioning at which point the growing organism is called a fetus. Out of 4,500 body structures present in the adult, 4,000 are present at this eight-week point. The fetus has a firm grip, sucks its thumb, and somersaults by four months; in the beginning of the sixth month it nestles into position to sleep, stretches upon waking and can hear.²

At the turn of the third trimester, a dramatic increase in the likelihood that the infant will survive outside the womb if born prematurely takes place—from 15 percent at 23 weeks to 79 percent at 25 weeks.³ In the last half of this trimester, rapid growth takes place, especially in the skeletal system. Infants born six weeks prematurely have only half the calcium and phosphorus laid down as infants carried to term.⁴

None of this growth and development can take place without nutrients. Fats and carbohydrates fuel the growth. Fats and cholesterol form cell membranes. Amino acids form structural proteins and enzymes. Vitamins and minerals act as cofactors for those enzymes or as regulators of the entire process of growth. These nutrients are uniquely supplied by the mother’s diet.