Gestation

Noun

 * 1) The period of time during which an infant animal or human physically develops inside the mother's body until it is born.
 * 2) The process of development of a plan or idea.
 * 3) * 1900, Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, Avon Books, (translated by James Strachey) pg. 149:
 * It was to a conversation with another friend who had for many years been familiar with all my writings during the period of their gestation, just as I had been with his.

Synonyms

 * pregnancy