Week 31

Due to the deposits of white fat underneath the skin baby’s skin is no longer red but pinkish. Her body is yet to create the elevated levels of the dark skin pigment called melanin and it may not be until about a year before we get to see what shade baby will be.

Her finger nails may reach the end of the hands and her eye iris can now dilate and contract in response to light.

Growth begins to slow a teeny bit, and the brain goes through a period of rapid development.
Up until this point baby’s brain was smooth. Now, due to rapid growth, those wrinkles that are completely normal on the surface of the brain, are beginning to develop. Brain scans have shown that foetuses have periods of dream sleep around the month eight. (I wonder what she dreams about?)

The only major organ left to fully develop, apart from the brain, is the lungs. The alveoli of the lungs cover themselves with a new cell layer. This in turn secrets a liquid that allows the lungs to retract completely after the first intake of air at birth.

Baby’s still-developing immune system has gained substantial strength over the past few weeks getting her in full gear to face our disease-ridden world.
A large majority of a child's immune strength will be later derived from exposure to breast milk as well as the outside elements.

Her cute little head (which could already be covered with luscious locks or just peach fuzz), is still soft because the skull bones have not yet fused together.
As much as that sounds a little too vulnerable, the soft spot of the skull (called the fontanelle) allows for a much smoother passage through the birth canal during labour.
In addition to this, it also facilitates brain growth by allowing the skull cavity to increase in volume as those folds in the brain continue to develop.

The posterior fontanelle usually closes during the first several months of an infant’s life. Hooray for the fontanelle!