Week 5

I entered my 5th week of pregnancy on Friday. Here's what happening with me and the baby right now.


How your baby's growing:

Deep in your uterus your embryo is growing at a furious pace. At this point he's about the size of a sesame seed, and he looks more like a tiny tadpole than a human. He's now made up of three layers — the ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm — that will later form his organs and tissues. The cells are forming for his major organs, including his kidneys and liver, and his neural tube is beginning to develop. This neural tube — from which your baby's brain, spinal cord, nerves, and backbone will sprout — develops in the top layer, called the ectoderm. This layer will also give rise to his skin, hair, nails, mammary and sweat glands, and tooth enamel. His heart and circulatory system begin to form in the middle layer, or mesoderm. (This week, in fact, his tiny heart begins to divide into chambers and beat and pump blood.) The mesoderm will also form your baby's muscles, cartilage, bone, and subcutaneous (under skin) tissue. The third layer, or endoderm, will house his lungs, intestines, and rudimentary urinary system, as well as his thyroid, liver, and pancreas. In the meantime, the primitive placenta and umbilical cord, which deliver nourishment and oxygen to your baby, are already on the job.

How your life's changing:

Pregnancy symptoms may surface this week if they haven't already. If you're like most women, you'll notice nausea (and not just in the morning), sore breasts, fatigue, and frequent urination. All are normal, all are annoying, but the upside is that they're all a part of being pregnant and won't last forever. The outside world won't see any sign of the dramatic developments taking place inside you — except maybe that you're turning down that glass of wine with dinner. It's a good idea to avoid alcohol throughout your pregnancy since no one knows exactly how much — or how little — alcohol can harm a developing baby.

You'll also want to continue or start an exercise routine. Exercise helps you develop good muscle tone, strength, and endurance; plus, it helps you manage the extra weight you'll be carrying and get ready for the physical rigors of labor. You'll also find that bouncing back after you give birth will be easier if you've already established a workout routine. Choose a safe, moderately vigorous activity you like (walking and swimming are fine choices for pregnant women).

How I'm doing:

I'm feeling pretty normal right now. I'm eating a little more often than usual and I'm tired but still not feeling sick. All of my regular clothes still fit me fine and I expect that they will for at least another month or two. No signs of morning sickness yet--hopefully that's a good thing. My mom says she never really got sick so hopefully that's a good sign for me. We're leaving for Chicago on Friday for a little over a week. We'll be going to Scott's cousin Rick's wedding. We're excited to see him and the whole Chicago clan while we're there. Hopefully morning sickness will stay away for another two weeks at least.

4 weeks

How your baby's growing:
This week marks the beginning of the embryonic period. From now until ten weeks, all of your baby's organs will begin to develop and function. As a result, this is the time when she'll be the most vulnerable to anything that might interfere with her development. Right now your baby is an embryo consisting of two layers: the epiblast and the hypoblast, from which all her organs and body parts will develop. The primitive placenta is also made up of two layers at this point. Its cells are tunneling into the lining of your uterus, creating spaces for your blood to flow into so that the developed placenta can provide nutrients and oxygen to your growing baby when it starts to function at the end of this week. Also present now are the amniotic sac that will house your baby, the amniotic fluid that will cushion her as she grows, and the yolk sac that produces your baby's red blood cells and helps deliver nutrients to her until the placenta is ready to take over this duty.

How your life's changing:

This week, you should be able to find out if you're pregnant. How will you know for sure? Take a home pregnancy test; they're no different from the tests used in most practitioner's offices. If the test is positive, call your practitioner's office and schedule your first prenatal appointment. Many practitioners won't see you until you're at least 8 weeks along, but if you're taking any medications — prescription or over-the-counter — ask now whether it's safe to keep taking them, and alert your caregiver to any other issues of concern. You should already be taking a prenatal vitamin, but be sure to start now if you aren't. The next five weeks are critical to your baby's development. The rudimentary versions of the placenta and umbilical cord, which deliver nourishment and oxygen to your baby, are already functioning. Your baby is now exposed, via the placenta, to what you take into your body, so make sure it's healthy.

How I'm doing:

So far I'm feeling pretty normal. I'm occasionally feeling a little "off" but not nauseous yet. I'm fearing that will come soon enough though. I'm hungrier and more tired pretty much all of the time too. I can also occasionally feel cramping in my stomach like I've been doing a lot of sit-ups. Of course I've been taking my prenatal vitamins for the last 3 months.

We're already getting anxious to find out what the sex is and still about 15 more weeks to go until we'll find out.

Welcome to our baby blog!

Welcome!

Since so many of you are so far away (and even the people close by probably still feel too far away), we've decided to create a blog for this baby. We'd like to share ultrasound pictures, pictures of the growing belly, updates on doctor's appointments, weekly updates on the baby's development, and just general musings of the new parents-to-be. We hope that you'll enjoy this as much as we will and will feel more connected to our journey regardless of how far away you are.

The positive test

I found out I was pregnant on the morning of August 17, 2007. I took a pregnancy test first thing in the morning. The 2nd ("you're pregnant") line came up immediately indicating that the pregnancy hormone HCG was present. Scott was still sleeping soundly at this point and was quite shocked to be woken up to this news. We were ecstatic but it took a while to sink in--and it's still sinking in. I had thought there was a chance I was pregnant but wasn't very hopeful so I was very glad to see that 2nd line.


I immediately made an appointment with my regular primary care physician to get a confirmatory test. The appointment was scheduled for the afternoon of Monday, August 20, 2007 which seemed like an awfully long time to wait. At the appointment, the pregnancy was confirmed as expected, through another urine test. My doctor then passed me off to the OB/Gyn clinic at UCLA. My first appointment with my OB will be on Friday, September 14, 2007 at 8:30 AM. We'll also get our first peak at the baby at this time during our first ultrasound. Be sure to check back then for baby's first portrait.