Baby: Week 17
You may have lost your tail, but you’re going to look funny again - this time you get a wax coating!
You measure about 14.2cm long from crown to rump and weigh about 240g.[1] You may have lost your tail, but you’re going to look funny again - this time you get a wax coating!
Perhaps it sounds strange, but it’s just what you needs. Have you ever sat in a bathtub for an hour, only to find your skin is wrinkled like a prune? Well, imagine how wrinkled you’d be after sitting in the bathtub (or amniotic fluid) for forty weeks! Mother nature knows that you need the waxy covering to protect the skin. This is called the vernix caseosa.[ii]
Gallery
