The Baby Boom

The Beginning

Cell growth is a process that is highly dependent on doubling. Each one of us starts out as a single cell, barely visible by the naked eye. This little cell collection is called an embryo, and it starts out only about 1/10 of a millimeter in size.

Growing and Multiplying

Before long, this cell splits into two, and each of the new cells split into two more cells, and after about a week, the embryo has doubled in size!

By week 3 it has doubled again. At week 4 the embryo is already about 4 mm in size. Cell growth continues as all the cells split and double in number. By week 10 the embryo is 30mm(1.2 inches), which increases to 3.2 inches by week 14, and 6 inches by week 18.

Remarkable Doubling Results

In only 37 weeks, we get a fully formed baby around 20 inches in length. This is the miracle of cell growth and doubling! We might start out as only 1 cell 1/10 of a millimeter in size, but with the power of doubling we end up with the 6 trillion cells that make up a 20 inch newborn baby.