Your Pregnancy Week-by-Week - 5 Weeks Pregnant
5 Weeks Pregnant
Baby has a tail
What does your tiny embryo look like now, already the size of an orange seed? Currently, with a rudimentary head and a tail, not unlike a tadpole. But don't worry, you won't have a frog in your future.
You're less than eight months out from having in your arms a true prince or princess. As all of this is happening, the levels of hCG hormone in the body are now high enough to validate that you expect a home pregnancy test to be used. To check the positive news and find out your due date, go to your doctor or the hospital.
5 weeks pregnant is how many months?
If you're 5 weeks pregnant, you're in month 2 of your pregnancy. Only 7 months to go!
The heartbeat may be visible
Both major and minor body functions (digestive, circulatory, nervous and so on) and organs, such as the heart, lungs and stomach, have to build from scratch. It takes a lot of growth to become an infant.
The circulatory system, or blood, is the first system to be active, along with its companion organ, the heart, which you might also be able to see beating at the end of the week on an early ultrasound, but it is most usually visible at week 6 or 7.
Your baby's heart is made up of two tiny channels called heart tubes when you're 5 weeks pregnant, and they are still hard at work. Your baby will have a completely functioning heart as those tubes merge, but he/she almost definitely already has his hold on yours!
Your Body at Week 5
hCG and home pregnancy tests
You may have missed your cycle by now, one of the most visible indicators that you are pregnant. The day has come to pee on a stick (good news since you probably need to go more often anyway Whoo hoo the the amount of hCG, the pregnancy-announcer hormone, is high enough in the urine at 5 weeks pregnant to be measured by a home pregnancy test. That means you can affirm what you're already suspicious of!
When the fact that you're going to be a mom sinks in, this news will undoubtedly evoke a combo platter of feelings ranging from pure excitement to sheer fear. Mood shifts are natural, like Overdrive PMS, so don't panic if you have them.
Early pregnancy signs
There will be other effects of early pregnancy too. Like the feeling of weakness that might have washed over you. And those delicate breasts. Or you might have noticed the mild bout of nausea when you smelled a dish that wouldn't usually trouble you. It's hard work to develop an infant, even one no larger than an orange seed, and your body responds in kind.
Pregnancy hormones kick in
Huge amounts of hormones are being mass-produced this week, chemical signals that accumulate in the body and function together to induce physical changes.
These include estrogen, which retains progesterone and hCG levels up to where they need to be; progesterone, which preserves the role of the placenta, stops the uterine smooth muscles from contracting, and promotes the development of breast tissue; and hCG, which protects the corpus luteum until the placenta takes over at around 10 weeks and controls the amount of progesterone needed.
And do not be surprised if you find that sometimes these hormones take over your life!