Your Pregnancy Week by Week 5

Week 5

Baby: Your baby is still tiny, but its heart, brain, spinal cord, muscle, and bones are beginning to develop. The placenta, which nourishes your baby, and the amniotic sac, which provides a warm and safe environment where your baby can move easily, are still forming, too. The umbilical cord forms and connects your baby to your blood supply.

Mom-to-be: You might suspect by now that you're pregnant. You may also notice some early symptoms of pregnancy.

*Feeling nauseous (called morning sickness, although it can happen at any time of day or night)

*Tingling or soreness in your breasts and darkening of your nipples

*Needing to pee more often

*Feeling more tired than usual

Tip of the Week: You'll want to schedule a visit to your ob-gyn as soon as you suspect you're pregnant. Starting prenatal care early and keeping up with your appointments is a large step toward having a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.

Week 6

Baby: Your baby is shaped like a tadpole, and it's about the size of a BB pellet. The eyes and limb buds are forming. During an ultrasound, your doctor may be able to hear a heartbeat. Between days 17 and 56 is a vulnerable time, because that's when the baby is most susceptible to anything that can affect normal growth.

Mom-to-be: You may have gained a few pounds by now. Or if you're having morning sickness you may have lost weight -- that's normal, too. You may start noticing some changes in your body: clothes getting a little tighter around your waist, fuller legs and breasts. With a pelvic exam, your doctor will notice a change in the size of your uterus.

Tip of the Week: Follow good prenatal habits each day, like eating healthfully and taking prenatal vitamins. If you haven't already, stop smoking and drinking alcohol.

Week 7

Baby: Your baby is growing. Limb buds appear that will grow into hands and feet. Many parts continue to develop: heart, lungs, intestines, appendix, brain, spinal cord, nostrils, mouth, and eyes.

Mom-to-be: You're still not "showing," but by now you're really feeling the changes in your body. You may still have morning sickness, and your breasts probably still feel tingly and tender.

Tip of the Week: Never let your stomach get completely empty -- that will help you from feeling queasy. Keep snacks on hand around the clock, and eat lots of little meals rather than three big ones. To prevent a drop in blood sugar, eat some protein, like adding cheese to crackers.

Week 8

Baby: Your baby is now about in its sixth week of development. It's a big week for growth. Eyelid folds and ears are forming. Your baby develops little webbed fingers and toes and can even swim around in your womb.

Mom-to-be: Your blood volume is increasing, and your heart is pumping 50% more blood per minute for your baby. Common symptoms for this week are moodiness and queasiness from certain smells.

Tip of the Week: Wear a supportive bra. Good breast support during pregnancy will help you feel more comfortable and prevent future sagging. Exercises to keep your chest muscles toned can be useful, too.

What's Happening Inside You?

Your baby's facial features continue to develop. Each ear begins as a little fold of skin at the side of the head. Tiny buds that eventually grow into arms and legs are forming. So are fingers and toes.

6 Weeks       

The neural tube (brain, spinal cord, and other nerve tissue) is well formed. The digestive tract and sensory organs begin to develop. Bone starts to replace cartilage.

Your Pregnancy Week by Week: Weeks 1-4

If you are newly pregnant or trying to conceive, you have many questions about what to expect. How will your body change? What's happening inside you? Our week-by-week guide will help you through your nine months of pregnancy so you can be a smarter, more confident, more prepared mom-to-be. Each week offers information about your body and the baby's as well as helpful advice you can use throughout your pregnancy. Let's start with a peek inside the womb.

Weeks 1 and 2

Baby: Your baby is still just a glimmer in your eye. It’s difficult to know exactly when conception occurred, so doctors calculate your due date from the beginning of your last menstrual cycle. That’s right -- for calculation purposes, you’re “pregnant” before you even conceive!

Mom-to-be: At the beginning of your period, about 20 eggs called ova occupy fluid-filled sacs called follicles. If you typically have your period every 28 days, then about 14 days later, you ovulate: One of these follicles releases an egg, and it travels down your fallopian tube where it awaits fertilization. This time -- 14 days after your period started and a day or so longer -- is when you're the most fertile. If you want to get pregnant, this is the best time to try. Once the egg is fertilized, it moves into the uterus.

Don't be disappointed if you don't get pregnant the first time. Each month, women have a 25% chance of getting pregnant, so you may need to try more than once.

Tip for the Week: Make sure you've scheduled a preconception visit with your ob-gyn to determine risks of genetic diseases and environmental hazards as well as learn about necessary lifestyle changes to ensure a healthy pregnancy and baby. Most important, make sure you've started taking 0.4 milligrams, or 400 micrograms, of folic acid a day. Folic acid taken a few months before conception has been shown to dramatically reduce such neural tube defects as spina bifida.

Week 3

Baby: Congratulations! If your egg and your partner's sperm have joined successfully, your embryo is really there, although it's very small -- about the size of the head of a pin. It doesn't look like a fetus or baby; it's just a group of about 100 cells multiplying and growing rapidly. The outer layer of cells will become the placenta, and the inner layer will become the embryo.

Mom-to-be: You won't notice any changes in your body at this point. Remember, you haven't even missed your period yet.

Tip for the Week: Can't wait to find out? Take a home pregnancy test. They're about as reliable as a urine test or blood test done in the doctor's office -- and you get results immediately. To ensure accuracy, read the directions carefully and make sure all the supplies you use are clean.

Week 4

Baby: Now that your egg is fertilized, it burrows into the lining of your uterus. This is called implantation.

Mom-to-be: You're probably expecting your period this week, and if it doesn't occur, it might be one of the first signs that you're pregnant. You may also notice light spotting as the embryo implants itself in your uterus. You might not feel any different yet, but the amniotic cavity, which will be filled with fluid, and the placenta, which will bring oxygen and nutrients to nourish your baby, are forming in your uterus.

Tip for the Week: Try to eat healthfully, which means choosing a variety of foods from recommended food groups and drinking at least six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. But you don't really need to "eat for two"; you only need an extra 300 calories per day while you're pregnant. And don't worry if your food intake drops in the beginning because of morning sickness. If you've been eating right already, your baby will get what it needs.

What's Happening Inside You?

end of first month

The fertilized egg grows, and a water-tight sac forms around it, gradually filling with fluid. This is called the amniotic sac, and it helps cushion the growing embryo.

The placenta also develops. It is a round, flat organ that transfers nutrients from you to the baby and transfers baby’s wastes.

A primitive face takes form with large dark circles for eyes. The mouth, lower jaw, and throat are developing. Blood cells are taking shape, and circulation will begin.

By the end of the first month, your baby is about 1/4 inch long --smaller than a grain of rice.

Source: http://www.webmd.com