New life is a wonderful thing, and creating babies is something that many men and women look forward to. Becoming parents can be a beautiful time in their lives! But before you take that big step, it helps to know exactly how to go about the process. The more you know about what is happening inside your body – both before you try to get pregnant and while you try to conceive – the better prepared you will be to create a happy, healthy pregnancy. Here’s how it works.
How Are Babies Made?
Making a baby starts with two key things: Eggs and sperm. In a woman’s ovaries, there are hundreds of thousands of tiny eggs, waiting to make the trip down the fallopian tubes and into the uterus. These eggs are an integral part of a woman’s body – in fact, when a baby girl is born, her body contains millions of eggs. By the time a woman is old enough to conceive, that number has dropped to several hundred thousand eggs.
The Female Part: Release of the Egg
Most women release one egg per menstrual cycle, but sometimes your body might release more, and some months it might not release any at all. During the release, the ovaries release the mature egg – or eggs – and they are immediately sucked up by the fallopian tubes. These tiny tubes are where the magic really happens. The egg moves through the fallopian tubes, waiting to be fertilized. This is known as ovulation.
Most eggs will live for about 24 hours after ovulation. That’s why many women make a point of tracking their ovulation with various products, such as ovulation testing kits. When you begin to ovulate, it is important to have sex, because the sperm needs time to get to the egg before it dies.
The Male Part: Producing Sperm
On the other side of the equation is the male, and the sperm he provides. The man’s body is continuously producing new sperm, at the rate of millions. In fact, a man releases about 40 million sperm with each ejaculation! The amount of sperm produced is necessary for many reasons: First, sperm can only live for a few days before they die and must be replaced with new ones. Second, sperm must be able to swim hard and fast up the fallopian tubes, and that means only the strongest ones make the trip. And finally, those millions of sperm increase the odds of pregnancy happening – it’s nature’s ‘insurance’ to keep the human race going.
The sperm is created in the testicles. The sperm must be kept at 36 degrees Celsius in order to stay viable, and that explains why the testicles are outside the body – this temperature is about four degrees below body temperature. Each testicle has a small tube inside, and that’s where the sperm wait for ejaculation. Right before ejaculation, some of that sperm mixes with semen, which helps it get near the uterus. The job of the sperm is to swim toward the uterus, into the fallopian tubes, find the egg there, and penetrate it.
How the Egg is Fertilized
How are babies made, to some kind, equals to the question: how is the egg fertilized. Once the egg moves into the fallopian tube, it is ready for fertilization. Your body has been preparing for this by building up a lining in the uterus – if you don’t get pregnant, that lining is shed as your menstrual period. If you do get pregnant, the lining stays where it is to nourish the new baby.
When you have sex and your body is ready for pregnancy, several things happen inside you. When a man ejaculates, his body sends semen into yours, and that semen has millions of sperm inside. When a man ejaculates, semen is pushed out at about 10 mph. That helps ensure that the semen gets close to the cervix, and then get past the cervical mucus to the uterus.
Those sperm begin swimming toward the entrance of your uterus. The millions of them are suddenly in a race against time and each other. Many are held back by the cervical mucus, but some of the strongest ones get through. Once they are through, they go into the fallopian tubes and search for the egg. This is a big job – they have to move into the fallopian tubes, which takes a great deal of time. Most sperm can move about 2.5 centimeters every 15 minutes, so the journey can take a while. The good news is that sperm can live in your body for up to seven days, so if you haven’t ovulated yet, there is still an opportunity to get pregnant.
Once they find the egg, the most viable ones fight frantically to get inside. Finally a single sperm penetrates the egg and fertilizes it.
Making of a Baby—After Fertilization
Once the egg is fertilized, several things happen. The moment the sperm gets through the outer shell, the egg changes, preventing other sperm from entering. The egg then continues the journey down the fallopian tubes. You aren’t technically pregnant yet – that doesn’t happen until the egg, now known as a blastocyst, implants in the wall of the uterus. That might take another three days after the actual fertilization.
But as soon as fertilization happens, things begin to change in your body. The egg and sperm produce cells that grow at an unbelievable rate. This is the start of what will soon become your baby. After the blastocyst implants in the lining of the uterus, it starts to grow even faster.
Sometimes things don’t go well, however. The blastocyst might implant too early, in the fallopian tube. This is known as an ectopic pregnancy, and it requires medical attention, because a baby cannot grow outside of the uterus. However, prompt medical attention can help ensure that the fallopian tube is not damaged, and you can try again. In other cases, there might be something wrong with the egg or the sperm. Your body might then simply expel the fertilized egg, and you will have your period – and then you can start trying again next month.
But in most cases, things are just fine. Assuming all goes well, you will miss your next period, and then you will soon have a positive line on a pregnancy test. Congratulations! Hope you enjoyed the process of how are babies made.
