Sign in to view and manage your purchase items
Sign InWeek 26 — Eyes Wide Open
Overall Pregnancy
Your Baby is About
head of lettuce
At about 35cm and 760 grams — the size of a head of lettuce — your baby opens their eyes for the first time this week. The retinas are developing and your baby can now detect and respond to light and dark. Brain activity is ramping up, with more conscious awareness and responsiveness to the outside world. Lung development continues, with more surfactant being produced daily.
You're approaching the end of the second trimester, and prenatal visits will start becoming more frequent from Week 28 onward — every two weeks instead of monthly. This is also when your provider will likely confirm the baby's position, though there's still plenty of time and room for the baby to flip around. If you haven't done the glucose tolerance test yet, it needs to happen very soon.
When your baby opens their eyes for the first time this week, the irises — the coloured part — are likely a slate blue or grey, regardless of what colour their eyes will eventually be. That's because the melanin (pigment) in the irises hasn't fully developed yet. Permanent eye colour doesn't fully appear until several weeks or months after birth, and in some babies, it keeps changing for the first year.
Start researching your postnatal options now — parental leave policies, childcare options, and any financial support you may be entitled to. The admin involved can be surprisingly complex and time-sensitive. The earlier you understand what you're entitled to and what you need to apply for, the less stressful it is when you're running on newborn sleep.
DHA supplementation in the third trimester is linked to better visual and cognitive development. If you're not eating oily fish twice a week, a DHA supplement (algae-based if you're vegetarian) is worth discussing with your provider.
Now is the time to research and apply for parental leave at work — leaving it until after the birth means added stress at the worst possible time.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider for guidance specific to your situation. Read full disclaimer