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Your baby's skin begins to form in Week 15 of your pregnancy, starting out as a nearly transparent covering. A couple of weeks later, your baby is beginning to sock away stores of fat beneath the skin. That fat will provide crucial energy to keep your baby warm after birth.

By Week 19, your baby's ultra-fine skin is covered with a protective white coating called vernix. Under that are fine, downy hairs called lanugo. A week later, your baby's skin is thickening and beginning to differentiate into layers.

By Week 23, your baby is beginning to look like, well, a baby. The skin is less transparent and the fat production kicks into overdrive....

Your baby's skin begins to form in Week 15 of your pregnancy, starting out as a nearly transparent covering. A couple of weeks later, your baby is beginning to sock away stores of fat beneath the skin. That fat will provide crucial energy to keep your baby warm after birth.

By Week 19, your baby's ultra-fine skin is covered with a protective white coating called vernix. Under that are fine, downy hairs called lanugo. A week later, your baby's skin is thickening and beginning to differentiate into layers.

By Week 23, your baby is beginning to look like, well, a baby. The skin is less transparent and the fat production kicks into overdrive.

As the third trimester progresses, the lanugo falls off. This usually happens in Week 32, but the hair can sometimes linger until after the baby is born. Two weeks later, the vernix on your baby's skin grows thicker. At birth, you often can see traces of this pasty, white coating, particularly under the arms, behind the ears and in the groin area.

In the coming weeks, the baby continues to store fat under his or her skin and gains the baby face everyone will swoon over when he makes an appearance.

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