Calcium is being stored, and fetal bones are hardening. Baby exercises by kicking and stretching. It sucks its thumb, hiccups, and may cry. All four senses are now used, the eyelids open and close, eyes look around, the baby can taste, touch and the mother's voice is recognized. Fat begins to be deposited and baby starts to really gain weight.
Baby is about fifteen inches long and weighs around three pounds.
The skin begins to thicken with a layer of fat stored underneath for insulation and nourishment. By the end of this month baby is about eighteen inches long and weighs around five to five and a half pounds, almost doubling its weight. In the ninth month, the baby's quarters become so cramped that it can only turn from side to side and most babies have now settle into a head-down position. About a week before birth, growth is stopped and changes in the mother's hormonal balance aids in the onset of labor and birth. At forty weeks baby will be full term and measure nineteen to twenty-one inches in length and weigh six to nine pounds.