Cute Babies

These are not worms, but they are active sperms which are swimming around the human egg, ready for fertilisation. Do you know that during sexual intercourse, about 500 million sperm are introduced into the vagina? Out of these millions of sperm, only one sperm is needed to fertilise the egg. Out of the millions of sperm which are being produced, only the fastest swimming sperm can penetrate the fertilise the waiting egg. This seemingly simple process involves a vast network of chemical controls, and if even one of these becomes disturbed, the chances of fertilisation are reduced.

Inside the ovary, a tiny pink follicle nurtures the immature egg for two weeks until it is the size of a pea and mature enough to be released. The beginning of Life starts as soon as a sperm gets to penetrate the egg, which is being released from the ovary during ovulation. The mature egg is known to be waiting at the outer part of the Fallopian tube of the woman's womb. Six hours after fertilisation, there is an explosion of life, and the now-human egg begins its four-day journey to the uterus.

At the uterus, cell division takes place and the embryo become visible to the naked eye soon. Inside the woman's womb, the embryo enlarges day by day, obtaining his food or nutrients from his mother, through the placenta and umbilical cord. The placenta acts as the lung, the liver and the kidney of the fetus.





The growth and development of the baby is an astonishing and prodigious event. From a single cell, growth occurs over a mere 266 days. At the end of this time, a new human being has formed, which is 8 million times heavier than the original fertilized cell. The cells have developed and differentiated to form special tissues and organs, all of which are co-ordinated and working, so that the child can breathe, digest food, move its muscles, hear sounds, taste flavours, react to stimuli, and develop further. A most wondrous growth which you can see from the picture below. All babies are just so cute. More pictures of babies can be found at Baby Photo Gallery together with useful information, such as articles, videos and much resources about pregnancy and parenting, as well as babies' health and more at gurgle.com.