The 6th Week of Pregnancy

The woman continues her development during the 6^th week. So is the tiny baby inside begin developing and manifesting more physical features.

The mom may observe a basic change in emotional balance. One day she may be feeling moody and the next day may just be the opposite as she may display a joyful disposition. These emotional swings are largely attributed to hormone fluctuations taking place in the pregnant woman. These changes show big things that are about to happen in her life as she continues her week by week journey to her pregnancy.

Physically, the pregnant mom may now start gaining added pounds. However, there are other pregnant women who may actually lose weight. Other conspicuous changes in the body are the tenderness of the breasts, the darkening of the areola and swelling also of the breast.

There are occasions that spotting can be seen or the spots of blood seen in your underwear or the toilet issue that you used after urinating, can occur. This occurrence may be true to at least one fourth of pregnant women. However, if the spotting is something that you worry about and you also experience cramping, don't hesitate to call your health care provider to give you the proper advice. Some bleeding may be an initial sign of miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy. Pregnant women at this point may also experience heartburn.

On the other hand, the baby, as tiny as he is, is developing in a progressive manner. There are, however, different levels of development in each baby, but these differences are essentially slight. The baby's size at this point is ½ of an inch or just the size of a lentil bean. However, his features are starting to take shape. The baby has an oversize head and in it, dark spots can be seen where his eyes and nostrils will be forming. Likewise, his jaw and palate are forming. Small depressions on the sides of the head are the baby's emerging ears, while protruding buds are his arms and legs. The fingers and toes will later form from the buds of webbed-like structure. The baby's heart is also beating at 100 to 160 times per minute and blood is now circulating throughout the body. Apart from the eyes, nose, mouth and ears, the baby's lungs and intestines are developing. The brain continues to develop to its complex parts including the pituitary gland. This is also true with the muscles and bones.

Woman's and Baby's Needs

The woman now needs to have her first prenatal visit at this moment if she has not done it yet. The examination will include a complete physical and thorough medical history. Urine samples are needed to check for chicken pox, urinary tract infections and reveal if your sugar levels are normal. Presence of these ailments will affect you and your developing baby. Likewise, blood samples are needed to check on problems such as anemia and diseases including measles, chicken pox, hepatitis B and sexually-transmitted diseases as well as for HIV examinations. The blood screening is also needed to check on the RH (Rhesus) factor of both mother and baby. If this problem is left undetected, this will have adverse effects to the baby and to the pregnancy of the mother.

To sum it all, the mother goes to the transition of pregnancy in a wonderful but very precarious situation. By this time, she needs to have the adequate knowledge and the correct health care if she wants to breeze through her pregnancy in a more secure manner.