Pregnancy Week 5

How big is your baby? Your baby hasn’t grown a great deal in size since last week and will now measure about 0.05 inches, which is about 1.25mm. This however does not mean that your baby is not changing and developing. There is in fact lots of development which is taking place. At this stage, the amniotic sac is about the size of a grape. Your baby’s development During this week a plate, which will later become your babys heart, will start to develop as well as the central nervous system, muscles and bone formation will also begin to take some shape. Your babys facial features will also begin to start taking shape, although this happens over a long period of time. Facial features begin to form in week 5 and should be completed around week 9. This development starts off with five tissue folds which accumulate at the base of the head. These folds will form the chin, cheeks, upper jaw and the ears. Your development There will still be some time before you begin to show that you are pregnant, so although you are not looking pregnant you certainly are starting to feel the effects of being pregnant. Many women will begin to feel their first pregnancy symptoms around about now, although some of the symptoms can also be misleading. However a combination of the symptoms and a late period is usually a sign that you are indeed pregnant. Lets look at the more common pregnancy symptoms: Nausea and Vomiting – Morning Sickness Nausea and vomiting, also referred to as morning sickness, may come as early as 1 week into your pregnancy, but it will not only occur in the morning. As of yet there is no explanation as to why pregnant women feel this or even a solution as to how to prevent it, although your best method of prevention is to eat smaller meals more frequently Fatigue Your body is going through some major hormonal changes. HCG levels alone will go from 0 – 250,000 mIU/ml in just twelve weeks. Your temperature will also be higher due to the amount of progesterone circulating through your body which will also make you feel a little sluggish. Frequent urination Your pregnancy will cause the uterus to swell and it will start to enlarge for the growing fetus immediately. The uterus will then apply pressure on your bladder making you feel the need for more frequent urination. Many women start to feel this symptom within a week or two after pregnancy has occurred.

Sensitive breasts Your breasts may become extremely tender, swollen and start to enlarge already. Many times the veins within the breast will become more visible. These symptoms are due to increasing amount of the HCG hormone that begins at implantation. Did You Know? Back in the “olden days” before pregnancy tests were invented, people devised all sorts of methods to determine if a woman was pregnant, and it was said that the saliva from a pregnant woman would make a goat vomit.