From Lime To Lemon Lanugo

WEEK

14

According to the careful calculations of the Babycenter fruitmeter, the baby is now the length of a lemon -- the yellow fruit that they put in drinks, etc. This is significant progress, because a lemon is obviously bigger than a lime (even a large lime).


Fruit comparisons are becoming old hat, but there is something new about the baby's development this week: lanugo. This is the layer of fine hairs which cover the baby's body. Apparently, the baby will shed the lanugo during weeks 37-40 in favor of vellus hair, the peach fuzz that will remain after birth.

My younger brother was the king of peach fuzz. He had blond peach fuzz on the back of his neck that grew 4 or 5 times faster than the darker hair on his head. He usually kept his hair short, and by the time he needed another haircut, his peach fuzz would be nearly twice as long as the rest of his hair. It twisted and curled all over the place. It was wicked. Now he has impossibly coarse curly hair that obscures everything, which is sad. He can grow a mean goatee, though.

Babycenter also notes that the mother may begin to show a little bit. This is because it becomes harder to conceal progressively larger pieces of fruit in your abdomen without someone noticing. Bigger fruit = bigger tummy. I hope you understand this concept, because I really can't explain it any clearer than that.