The 5th Week of Pregnancy

The woman is more certain of her pregnancy at this point of pregnancy. If she has not taken her pregnancy test yet, she may be better to do this at this point in time, to be sure about her condition. Essentially, this period is still considered an early stage of pregnancy.

Reckoning Pregnancy

Although pregnancy is a constant process, still a lot of confusion exists as to when pregnancy should be calculated. A lot of women do not know when they conceived, so this gives them some troubles. At any rate, pregnancy is always determined from the first day of your last menstrual period (LMP). From this reckoning, your pregnancy will last around 40 weeks.

Physical Manifestations at Week 5

Changes in the woman's body are not yet very discernable at this point of pregnancy. Even the most conversant expert could not easily tell that a woman is on her 5^th week of pregnancy by just looking at her body. This is so because there are no big changes that could be seen in the size of the woman's abdomen yet. However, at the 5^th week, you may already be seeing some early symptoms of pregnancy. Morning sickness becomes an occurrence that can happen at anytime whether in the morning time of the day, throughout the day or at night. Nausea and vomiting are also the symptoms as well as frequent urination. At this point, fatigue and tiring so easily can also be experienced. You can also feel tenderness in the breast, tingling of the nipples and sometimes you feel bloated as in the feeling of the coming of a late and heavy period.

Development of the Baby

By the time of 5^th week, the baby now starts developing some vital body parts. Among these are: the heart, central nervous system (the brain and spinal chord) bones and even muscles. By this time, the baby's skeleton is also starting to form. The heart now also begins to form into two individual chambers and actually start to pump blood. The baby's heart is now beating at a steady rhythm and some structures that will become the eyes and ears are forming. The baby still doesn't look as the baby at all but just like a tadpole.

During the 5^th week, the placenta and umbilical chord are also developing. But the placenta on this early stage is still known as the primitive placenta. By the end of the 5^th week, the earliest blood elements and vessels have already formed in the baby and the placenta is also fast developing. The heart is also developing rapidly and the circulation now starts its functions. Thus, the circulatory system is the first functioning organ system. The baby, however, is still very tiny at this point, just about ¼ of an inch long.

In summary, every woman has a unique way on how her body responses to pregnancy. This is also true with the rate and size at which the baby forms. At week 5, and up to the 6^th week of pregnancy, it is common for the woman to begin experiencing the signs of being pregnant. However, many also go through it without having noticed these signs at all. There are a lot of informative books and guides available to help the pregnant mom deal with inevitable experiences concerning her pregnancy.