Go to the doctor to confirm the good news and figure out your due date. It takes a lot of developing to become a baby — all the major and minor bodily systems digestive, circulatory, nervous and so on and organs, like the heart, lungs and stomach, have to form from scratch. The first system to be operational is the circulatory system , or blood — along with its companion organ, the heart, which you may even be able to see beating on an early ultrasound toward the end of the week, though it's more commonly visible at week 6 or 7.
When you're 5 weeks pregnant, your baby's heart is made up of two tiny channels called heart tubes and they're already hard at work. When those tubes fuse together, your baby will have a fully functioning heart, though he almost certainly has his grip on yours already! Also in the works this week are several other organs, including the neural tube — the precursor to your baby's brain and spinal cord — which hasn't yet sealed.
But by next week, that open-door policy is over. By now you should have missed your period — one of the more obvious indications that you're pregnant. It's time to pee on a stick good news since you probably need to go more often anyway , because at 5 weeks pregnant the level of hCG, the pregnancy-announcer hormone, in your urine is high enough to be detected by a home pregnancy test.
This news will probably elicit a combo platter of emotions ranging from sheer joy to sheer terror as the reality that you're going to be a mom sets in. Mood swings are totally normal — kind of like PMS on overdrive — so don't worry if you're having them. There'll be other early pregnancy signs, too.
Like that sense of exhaustion that may have washed over you. And those tender breasts. Or that slight bout of nausea you might have felt when you smelled a dish that normally doesn't bother you. Growing a baby — even one no larger than an orange seed — is hard work, and your body is responding in kind. Large quantities of hormones — chemical signals that circulate in your body and work together to cause physical changes — are being mass-produced this week. Among them are estrogen, which keeps the levels of progesterone and hCG up where they need to be; progesterone, which maintains the function of the placenta, keeps the smooth muscles of the uterus from contracting, and stimulates breast tissue growth; and hCG, which support the corpus luteum until the placenta takes over at about 10 weeks and regulates the amount of progesterone necessary.
Have you or your partner been bursting to spread the good news about your expectant status ever since that home pregnancy test turned positive?
Not sure when the best time is to grab a megaphone or a telephone Only you can make the call, so to speak, on that one. Some women and their partners if they have them can't wait to tell their friends they're pregnant — if they could, they'd shout it from the highest mountain or make the announcement go viral — while others prefer to keep their happy news on the DL until after the third month, when the risk of miscarriage greatly decreases.
Still others wish that they could stay mum about becoming a mom or dad Talk to loved ones for advice, and remember, it's your little secret for as long as you choose.
Learn more about spreading the news. You're off litter-box duty for the duration of your pregnancy. You also shouldn't eat raw or undercooked meat or feed it to your cat, and you shouldn't play in or clean out a child's sandbox, which could be used as a litter box by local outdoor kitties.
Ask your partner, a friend or a relative to help out. Teeth cleanings are a good thing — especially because about 40 percent of the pregnant set have periodontal disease, which ups their chance of preeclampsia a pregnancy complication that's characterized by high blood pressure.
Dental X-rays should be saved until after baby arrives, though, unless the risk of not having one done outweighs the relatively small risk of radiation to the fetus. Other foods to avoid include hot dogs and deli meats , which can harbor nitrates and nitrites. You should also cut back on caffeine and stop drinking alcohol if you haven't already. Need to quell a queasy stomach? Try noshing on a snack that's rich in protein and complex carbs, like whole wheat crackers and cheese or some granola and yogurt.
Or skip the solids and sip on soup or a smoothie. This is very disappointing! The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:. Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More. With Family Sharing set up, up to six family members can use this app.
App Store Preview. Screenshots iPad iPhone. Description Do you ever wonder what your future baby would look like? The mix of genes present on chromosomes, approximately 30, of them , will, for example, determine:.
Hair and eye color are each determined by a set of genes that dictate the combination of pigment. This can make the hair, eyes, and skin lighter or darker. Start with family photo albums from both parents. There you can see what hair color is predominant, whether baldness skipped a generation, and if blue eyes showed up occasionally to brown-eyed parents. Your baby inherits genes from both parents. Some of them will be dominant and some recessive.
How does that apply to eye color? For example, if you have brown eyes and mostly everyone in your family has brown eyes, that points to a strong or dominant version of a brown eye color gene or set of genes. Suppose the other parent has blue eyes and his or her extended family does, too. Your baby will likely have brown eyes because that color is usually dominant.
The blue eye genes will not be lost, though. They can manifest down the road in your grandchildren, should a certain mix of genes from parents occur. In the same way, if both you and your partner have brown eyes but have had blue-eyed ancestors check the family album! As your baby grows, you may notice that their hair becomes darker. It has to do with some of the pigment production slowing down.
In general, if you have darker hair, there may be a gene for blond or dark that you carry. Your baby is as happy as a clam in your womb, as his well-developed limbs continue to explore by curling, flexing, and kicking.
And as his hair, nails and eyebrows continue to sprout, your fetus is looking remarkably more and more like Mom and Dad every day. Part of your baby's growth spurt at this point is likely because his stomach is now equipped to start absorbing energy-boosting nutrients from the amniotic fluid he's swallowing in there.
Most of your baby's nourishment is still coming directly from the placenta, though. Your baby's previously see-through skin will now become opaque. However, it will remain wrinkly, red, and covered in vernix until more fat helps to fill it out. Also this week, he's fine-tuning his sense of touch thanks to maturing brain cells and nerve endings. Your baby may experiment with these newfound skills by feeling his face or anything else he can get his hands on.
This week, your baby's eyebrows start growing and hair will start sprouting on the scalp, but this varies -- your baby may grow a thick head of dark hair or he may enter the world bald. Billions of brain cells will develop in your baby's brain over the next couple of weeks. These will control all of your baby's movements and sensory, and basic life functions like breathing.
Also around this time, some major changes are happening with your baby's lungs. Surfactant is being produced, a substance that enables the air sacs to inflate and the lungs to fully expand. Right now he's still breathing amniotic fluid, but when he's born he'll be ready for air. You might notice that your baby is very busy during the next few weeks.
Right now she's small enough to have plenty of room to move and groove in your belly. She may even respond to your soothing voice or the rubbing of your belly by calming down, while loud sounds or a tap on your belly could cause her to become alert. Also, because the balance-controlling inner ear has developed, your baby can finally tell if she's upside down or right side up, so moving around takes on new meaning. Your baby's first bowel movement has been forming in the large intestine.
The thick, dark poop is called meconium and it's typically excreted shortly after he's born. Occasionally babies pass this stool before they're born, which means it must be suctioned after birth to clear it from the lungs. Your baby has settled into a distinct sleep-wake pattern. You may notice that sometimes he's very active and kicking or punching, and other times he sleeps. If you're lucky, these patterns will mimic yours. Your baby has been hiccuping every once in a while for several weeks, and now you might actually feel these baby hiccups, which are triggered by the involuntary movements of his diaphragm.
In adults, this is followed by the quick closure of our vocal cords, which is what makes that familiar "hic" sound. But because your baby's trachea is filled with fluid instead of air, his fetal hiccups don't make a sound.
They will make your belly jump though, which is fun to see and feel! Until now, your baby's eyelids have been fused shut, but this week he'll begin to open and close his eyes. What's more, his irises are now filled with pigment. Even if you could peek at the color of his peepers now, though, they might not stay that color, as a baby's eyes can change up until he's 6 months to 1 year old especially if your little guy is born with baby blues.
Your baby is getting stronger by the minute. This week, her pushes, kicks, and rolls will likely occur more frequently -- and forcefully. So don't be surprised if you feel an extra-strong karate chop or two! Around this time, the part of your baby's brain associated with intelligence and personality becomes far more complex.
You can get to know your baby by paying attention to how she reacts to different foods, sounds, and lights. From this point on your baby will gain about a half pound each week.
All that baby weight is for more than filling out his chubby cheeks. Now that all of his major body systems are in place and functioning, he needs padding to protect and insulate his organs. His built-up fat tissue will also help him regulate his body temperature after birth and provide the energy he needs.
Because your baby is adding fat and growing bigger, you might find his movements become less frequent -- it's getting harder for him to maneuver. But if you're not feeling any jabs or the occasional kick, tell your health care provider.
Your baby is gaining more weight than height at this point. Because she's too big to stretch out, she's now forced into the fetal position, which she'll stay in until birth. This this week also boasts some exciting reproductive developments.
Having a boy? His testicles are moving through the groin on their way into the scrotum. And if you've got a girl in there, her clitoris is already relatively formed. That said, you can breathe a sigh of relief for this week's important milestone. Almost all babies born at this stage or later survive and go on to have very healthy, normal lives. By this time all of his major organs are fully functioning except the lungs, which need just a bit more time to mature completely. Your baby doesn't have much elbow room these days -- and, happily, that's probably going to mean fewer elbow jabs to the ribs for you.
Because space in your uterus is running out, your baby becomes less active at this point in the pregnancy. You may also notice that her movements are affected by your daily routine -- how much and when you eat, what position you are in and sounds from the world outside can all affect your baby's activity level.
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