(0-18) Development 1

Development (0-18)
Alba A. Pilarte
Salt Lake Community College, Psychology 1100

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Abstract

Ms. Kristofferson plans to have a child, she has been happily unmarried for years and
feels its time to have a child of her own. She lives in the outskirts of New York City. The ToBe mother is a teacher in the local school in which she has been planning to become the
principle at. Her life is going according to plan and she has no known health issues. She
decides gets inseminated with the sperm of a donor. In the first month the sperm fertilizes the
mothers egg, which takes place in Ms. Kristoffersons fallopian tube. If the egg isn't fertilized
within 12 hours, it dies. when the sperm and the ovum connect, they create a new cell. The
zygote carries 46 chromosomes in total, 23 from the sperm and 23 from the egg. The features
are determined when fertilizing with information from the DNA. The gender for example is
determined by a chromosome from the donors sperm. After fertilization the cell splits after 24
hours, then keeps dividing. The journey along the fallopian tube continuous for 4 days. The
embryo enters into the womb wall and is covered by its lining, that begins six days after
fertilization and completes in a week. "By 25 days the heart beats, and the body continues to
develop, arms and legs begin to form, by thirty days the baby has a brain, eyes, ears, mouth,
kidneys, liver, umbilical cord and a heart pumping blood"

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At two months fingers begin to appear, followed by toes. The eyes develop retinas and lens.
The ears continue to develop. Movements begin at seven weeks which helps the skeleton and
muscles. At three months the eyes are closed for protection from week 10 to the 6th month.
Gender is now visible. The fetus develops response to touch. By 12 weeks it starts to gain
perception of pain sensation. At the fourth and fifth month the heart pumps 30 liters of blood
per day. From the fourth month the fetus responds to sound, From the 16th week it responds to
light, it is alert and responsive.
Fifth month to birth the baby will gain weight, creating fat beneath the skin. The fetus has
been shown to show behavioral states and rapid eye movement. In the last weeks the fetus lies
head downwards to prepare for birth. Ms. Kristoffersons uterus contracts to eject the baby,
contractions become more frequent as the baby is pushed through the cervix. A cry starts the
lungs and the umbilical cord is cut.
When the child is born Ms. Kristofferson feels utmost happiness and the next day takes the
baby home. His name is Alfred. Little Alfie feels uncertain about the world to which he is now
a part of and because of this uncertainty he turns to his mother Ms. Kristofferson for love and
nurturing which she gives a little too much of, because of this Alfred develops trust in Ms.
Kristofferson. This trust Vs. Mistrust occurs in the first year after Alfred is born.

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Between 1 to 3 years Alfred becomes more independent. He walks, talks, plays with toys
and knows what he wants to eat and what he does not want to eat or play with. His mother
begins to take him to a daycare until she gets out of work, she notices that Alfreds speech and
mobility has increased since he has been attending and in which he has been discovering his
abilities and limitations and as Ms. Kristofferson encourages these abilities Alfred becomes
more confident in himself.
From ages 3 to 5 Alfreds care takers tell Ms. Kristofferson that Alfred is a leader, that he
initiates the games they play and because of this Alfred is lively and develops fast. Ms.
Kristofferson decides to move to London when she gets a job offering with higher pay at an
institution. Alfred notices the change but thinks nothing of it.
As he reaches the ages of five to twelve Alfred remembers there being a big change in his life,
the moving, he speaks to his mother about it, he unconsciously feels the need to go back to
New York and explore the city which was left behind, not only this but he begins to wonder
where his father is and why he never knew him, his mother Ms. Kristofferson never addressed
this with her son Alfred, she did not feel the need to but knew that she would have to explain
some day and this was it, she told him. As Alfred learned to read and write, he writes about his
life to get through some of the rough spots. Ms. Kristofferson notices her sons low self-

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esteem, she encourages him to join a football team and he does, he as well as his mother feel
pride in his football accomplishments.
Alfred begins to look at the world in a different way, this occurs between the ages of 12-18.
He is one of the best football players and is most certainly going to obtain a scholarship.
Alfred thinks about his preferences when he transitions into an adult, the type of house he
would like to have along with family. Alfreds never had any physical insecurities, although he
has had been to a psychologist a couple of times due to anxiety which occurred after Ms.
Kristofferson told him about the way he way he was put into this world, the shrink tells him
that his anxiety will not last for long but many come back.
Alfreds life takes an unexpected turn when his mother marries a couple of months after he
turns 17, he does not feel the need to separate his mother from this man, on the contrary not
having any siblings or a father led Alfred to taking the role of a man and taking care of his
mother, he felt relieve when she married as he would not feel guilt when leaving to start his
life, he wouldnt have liked the thought of leaving his mother alone.
Ms. Kristofferson felt the same way, gladly. She felt proud of the man she had created and was
proud of the life choices he made. Alfred went on with his life after graduating from high
school and obtaining a full ride scholarship to the University of London.