By week 5 in your pregnancy, there’s no denying it as a whole month has passed. You’re passing all at-home pregnancy tests, you’ve missed your period, and you’ve begun to experience the pregnancy symptoms – breast tenderness, fatigue, and nausea or morning sickness. It’s an important part of the pregnancy. In the 5th week, ultrasounds will begin to show conclusively that there’s a baby in there.
Symptoms and Body Changes at 5 Weeks
So you’re experiencing all the pregnancy symptoms, and the pregnancy tests show that HCG levels in your body are high enough to confirm that you are pregnant. But with the higher hormone levels come feelings that are raging out of control.
You’re not quite showing yet, but you feel bloated. Your abdomen won’t begin rising until about 14 weeks, but the pressure will increase and make you feel like you need to use the restroom more often. Most people won’t be able to tell by looking at you that you’re pregnant, but you’ll know.
Baby’s Development
By week 5 in your pregnancy, your baby is growing rapidly. By the end of the fifth week, it looks like a tadpole, tail included, and is about the size of an orange seed or 1 – 5 mm in length.
During this week, your baby’s vital organs are growing; the heart, central nervous system, bones, and muscles are forming quickly from this point on. Plus, the skeleton begins to take shape.
Your baby’s heart is quickly developing, as it begins to separate into four chambers and starts pumping blood. Some ultrasounds will be able to pick up on the heartbeat as early as five weeks.
The neural tube, which eventually becomes the brain and spinal cord, begins to form. The placenta develops, and through the placenta and umbilical cord, your baby receives nourishment. The eyes, ears, nose, mouth, fingers, and toes also begin to show.
Pregnancy Week 5 Tips
You’re definitely pregnant, and if you and your partner have not shared the news with anyone, this could be a great time to start discussing that. Remember that this is a crucial time in your life, and if you haven’t stopped your bad habits or changed your lifestyle, now’s the time to do so.
The fifth week brings crucial development stages in your baby, and if your habits (drinking, smoking, drugs, medications, etc.) do not change, then you could be risking your baby’s health.
Contact your local health department for resources to help you quit.
A month and a half in, do you know what to expect during your 6th week of pregnancy?