5 Weeks Pregnant

At 5 week pregnancy, you may notice the first symptoms of pregnancy – if not, don’t worry

Not all women start to feel pregnant this early on. Some experience a twinge of nausea or breast tenderness, while others notice no changes. Of course, it’s natural to long for “proof” that your pregnancy is progressing, even if that happens to be morning sickness. But a lack of symptoms doesn’t mean something is wrong; it’s all really happening and your baby is going through some critical stages of development.

Embryo at 6th Weeks Pregnancy

1.The yolk sac still provides the majority of your baby’s nourishment.

2.Small pits on either side of the baby’s head represent the first signs of the developing eyes.

3.The embryo measures 4mm from crown to rump.

4.These pharyngeal arches will develop into various structures in the head and neck, including the lower jaw and larynx.

5.Your baby’s heart is making its first fluttering beats.

6.Tiny buds that will grow into arms and legs have started to sprout.

7.A curved tail-like extension has developed.

8.The umbilical cord contains blood vessels to and from the developing placenta, but they do not yet supply all of your baby’s nutrients.

9.Chorionic villi form more branches as the placenta continues to develop.

10.The baby’s head folds forwards over the body.

Taking huge developmental strides as of now, your baby is the size of the pea and soon will you will be able to hear his or her heartbeat on vaginal ultrasound with almost 160 beats per minute – double the speed of your heartbeat.

Your baby’s Development When 5 Weeks Pregnant

With your baby’s facial features forming and visible protruding buds, which will soon become his or her arms and legs, there is so much of amazing transformation taking place at your uterus.

Your baby’s head is going to take shape while by now you might be experiencing full-blown pregnancy symptoms. The fold of tissues on the top of your baby’s head is developing and soon will become his or her jaw, cheeks and chin, which will soon become your angel’s face. You are also going to witness little indentations on both sides of the head, which are your baby’s ear canals in the making. Small dots on the face will make you kid’s eyes and button sort of nose in a few weeks.

Closely resembling a C-shaped curvature, your baby resembles like a tadpole and is the size of a nail head, which is around 10 to 13 mm in size. This measurement can be made by your healthcare provider by calculating the length from the crown to rump, also called as crown-rump length.

Apart from this, your baby’s development is going to include making of his or her neural tube closure, limbs, kidney, liver and pituitary gland formation. Your baby is going to get a formation of diaphragm, along with heart dividing into four chambers and pumping blood to form larynx, and bronchi. As of now, the umbilical is going to house itself in intestines for now, soon moving permanently towards your abdomen.

At this stage of the sixth week of pregnancy, soon your baby is going to make its first movements, which will be so gentle that they can’t exactly be felt or noticed by the mommy-to-be.

Changes in you while 5 Weeks Pregnant

At this stage, you might find yourself developing a split personality trait – as you might feel emotional one minute, joyous on another and may be moody at the very next. A totally unsettling state, these symptoms are totally normal as ricocheting of emotions are often caused because of sea-saw of hormones. But even if we keep hormones aside, you are about to witness one of the biggest milestones of your life, and why wouldn’t you be emotional about the same, right?

During this period, i.e. right after the implantation of fertilised egg, your body will begin to release the hormone, called human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) – a hormone used to detect pregnancy. This will help in regulatingestreogen and progesterone in the body.

The estrogen is responsible for the foetal organ development in your child’s development and placenta growth and mammary gland growth in your body. All this will affect the lactation post the birth of your baby. The progesterone will continue to rise all throughout your pregnancy and will only stop when you have given a birth to the baby. It is because of progesterone that you have an increase in the blood flow, leading to a formation of placenta and stimulating the growth and development of the baby. 

It is because of these two hormones that your body might suffer from some unpleasant pregnancy symptoms, such as mood swings and morning sickness.

You might also witness slight spots of blood in your underpants because bleeding is relatively common in early pregnancy. You might also feel morning sickness, food cravings, weight gain, tender breast, nausea and fatigue. These symptoms occur because of the kind of changes and the speed at which your baby is growing inside of you. Many women tend to gain a minimum of 5 pounds only in the first six weeks of pregnancy, while others might be losing weight due to fatigue, morning sickness and nausea. In either of the cases, there is nothing to worry as every pregnancy is different and so its effects on mothers-to-be.

Right about at the sixth week of pregnancy, your list of to-dos is about to grow from here. This is because form now on you will have to prepare a good schedule of making your prenatal visits to a trusted healthcare provider. He or she should be able to not only confirm your pregnancy, but also evaluate your health further. You might be asked to go pap smear, blood tests (such as Rh factor, iron levels, blood type and possible genetic related diseases testing) and urine test to calculate the level of glucose (sugar) in your body, along with bacteria, protein and red and white blood cells.

Nutrition for You When 5 Weeks Pregnant

• Recipe to ease morning sickness: Morning sickness is one of the most problematic aspect of this stage of pregnancy. In order to relieve it, you must eat small, but frequent, meals on daily basis. Make sure to not lie down right after eating and totally cut down on spicy and greasy foods. Instead, keep handful of foods that satiate you and make you feel good right next to your bed. Guzzle down on plenty of fluids and keep odour-triggering substances at bay. Lastly, you can also sip up on neem tea or ginger tea in order to soothe the harsh effects of morning sickness.
• Follow fatigue-fighting tips and tricks: Take frequent naps even during the day as it will help in motoring you to help combat fatigue. This will be an important aspect even after your baby is born. Make sure to hit your sack early at night and drink up on a lot of fluids during the daytime, while skipping caffeine and guzzling down fruits and fruit juices for an energy boost.
• Combat constipation: To fight constipation, increase your fluid intake and start consuming a minimum of 10 cups of fluids every day. Load up on fresh, both in cooked and raw form, vegetables and fruits. Also make it a point toe exercise often as it helps in preventing constipation.
• Iron up: Did you know that by the end of your pregnancy, you will have as much as 50 percent of more blood circulating through your body? This clearly means that you need to have more of 50 percent iron intake in the form of prenatal vitamins and supplements. 
• Go smoke and alcohol free: This is the time to totally give up on your smoking and drinking habits as they might pump up your risk of miscarriage and other sort of pregnancy complications. These hazardous activities might also lead your baby to be born with abnormal facial features, low birth weight, learning disabilities and many such health problems.

Nutrition for Baby

• Importance of taking a supplement: If you have had a home pregnancy test and know that you are already pregnant, then already start taking in your supplements as this is the time you shouldn’t be missing on the critical development of your baby. You can start by taking in over-the-counter folic acid supplements.
• Eat well and drink plenty of water: Eating nutritious meals all throughout your pregnancy is important and so is drinking enough liquids. This is because dehydration can lead to serious complications during pregnancy. If drinking plain water isn’t how you roll, then drink water with a bit of lemon in it.

Common Worries When 5 Weeks Pregnancy

• Learn about your odds of carrying twins: This is because if you are having twins, then your body’s development is going to be a tad bit different. Twins mostly run in families. Also, you are most likely to have twins if you have undergone any sort of fertility treatments. It is believed that on an average 20 to 25 percent of women who undergo IVF or any sort of fertility drug treatment, have the chances of carrying more than one baby.
• Frequent urination: If you are most of the time just visiting washrooms to pee, then frequent urination is one aspect that is surely going to cause you a lot of problem, especially at night when you want your peaceful forty winks. This happens not only because of the spike in hCG hormone but also because your kidney is becoming more and more efficient at getting rid of body waste. Though there is nothing in particular you can do to ease frequent washroom visits, while peeing you must lean forward in order to ensure your bladder is completely emptied each time. Face a painful sensation when peeing? Do consult your doctor as this is not at all normal and might be a sign of urinary tract infection.
• Got grey hair? Steer clear of dying your hair at this stage: This is because it can not only pose risk with pregnancy complications, but it can also be a futile job as you skin will be absorbing very little of the chemicals, thus not lending too much colour onto the hair. It is best advisable to stay away dying hair upto the first three months of pregnancy.
• Heartburns and indigestion: They are mostly common during pregnancy as the top muscles of the stomach are preventing digestive juices from backing up relaxes. You can minimise these symptoms only by eating small meals all throughout the day and not wearing clothes that are too tight around your belly.

What do the Experts Suggest at 5th Weeks Pregnancy?

“In the 6th week of pregnancy, a woman probably dealswith many changes, like mood swings, nausea, fatigue, frequent urination, morning sickness, intense food cravings, tender breast and darkening of arota, along withweight gain, bloating,cystic fibrosis symptoms like burning and scalding.During 6th week of pregnancy, it is advisable that a woman should take rest, if she is having food craving then take healthy snack like seasonal fruits, dry fruits etc. At this stage, women have to deal with frequent urination so take less fluid in later part of day so that they can have adequate rest in evening.”

Dr.Sadhna Singhal, Sr consultant in Obs&Gynae at Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute, New Delhi

Seasonal Pregnancy Care 

Summer –A great time for outdoor exercises, summer season is great for reaping cardio benefits. You must walk outside during early morning or late evening or perform some light water aerobic exercises as it is especially beneficial for delivering more oxygen to the mother’s tissues and muscles, further resulting in better-functioning placenta. Make sure to wear comfortable bra, good quality sports shoe and carry a water bottle with you.

Monsoon –Battle the monsoon by wearing clothes that don’t chaff or discomfort you. Try not chomping on sour foods and drinks during monsoon as this can cause stomach problems.

Winter –In winters, eating Indian gooseberry (amla) is something always recommended by the doctor. You can also consume a bit of saffron tea in order to dial up your immunity levels. Eat sweets prepared at home by mixing sesame seeds and jiggery, as this will not only keep your body warm during winter, but will jiggery also acts as a great substitute for sugar.

Care during seasonal changes – Whenever you suffer from any sort of fluid leaking from your vagina, vaginal bleeding, severe pelvic pain, fever higher than 104-degree F or severe headaches, then you must visit your doctor immediately. Get a few urine tests done along with checking your weight and blood pressure levels to ward off any sort of complications during pregnancy.