Most women get to confirm that they are pregnant in the 4th week of their pregnancy when they miss their periods. Positive home pregnancy test kit followed by a positive blood test by a doctor is how women confirm their pregnancy. But if the pregnancy kits are still giving you negative results and you have tried kits of different sensitivities, they might finally turn positive this week.
By the 5th week of pregnancy, the hCG levels can be easily detected by most of the pregnancy kits. However, if the test result is still negative and you are sure that you are experiencing pregnancy symptoms, a doctor can provide the right advice. If you’ve already confirmed the pregnancy last week or this week, the only thing that you need to worry about is the pregnancy symptoms. Around the 4th-5th-week, the hormone production is very rapid and this can take you through several excruciating symptoms, especially if you are pregnant with twins.
However, a lot of women don’t really feel a lot of symptoms in the 5th week. This is completely normal too. So, what can you expect this week? How will the baby grow in the 5th week of pregnancy? All of this and much more in this post!
Baby’s Development in the 5th Week
Until now, your baby was only going through a very basic stage of development. It went from being a blastocyte to being a ball of cells before turning into an embryo. In the 5th week, this embryo got divided into three different sections with the top section belonging to the neural system and the brain and the remaining two sections belonging to other important organs like the heart, lungs, and intestines.
While the embryo develops in many different ways, the most important development is the baby getting a heartbeat and beginning of blood circulation. Yes, while the heart and the circulatory network still have a lot of development remaining, the heartbeat begins around the 5th week.
In the initial months of pregnancy, the heartbeat of the baby is way faster than that of a normal human being. This can be checked through an ultrasound. However, an ultrasound is not really required in the 5th week. If your obstetrician believes that you’ll be having a normal pregnancy, your first ultrasound would probably be around the 12th week.
But while the heartbeat is very fast now, it’ll normalize month-by-month and will get completely normal by the time of birth. Apart from the heart, heartbeat and blood circulation, even the development of the spinal cord and the brain are in full swing in the 5th week. While most organs might not really look like what they will be in future, they do start functioning around this week.
Physical Changes in Women in 5th Week of Pregnancy
If you are in the 5th week of your pregnancy, physical changes are not really something you should be worried about. However, as you might have started craving for some types of food or might be experiencing food aversions, you might gain or lose some weight around the 5th week. However, this is the actual body weight and nothing related to pregnancy. You’ll only start showing around the end of 1st trimester.
When you do start gaining weight, make sure that you consult your doctor about it as based on your BMI, the doctor would recommend how much weight you should be gaining in the following weeks of pregnancy. But weight gain is one of the most uneven aspects of the pregnancy. In the majority of the cases, the weight gain, weight loss and even maintaining the same weight is normal in the initial weeks.
Signs of 5th Week Pregnancy
As the hormone levels are already very high by the 5th week of pregnancy, you can experience many different symptoms. The severity or mildness of these symptoms significantly differs between two pregnant women. Even if this is not your first pregnancy, the symptoms of this pregnancy can be very different from the previous one.
It is generally the women who are pregnant with twins experience more severe symptoms. However, this is not necessary. It is possible that a woman with singleton pregnancy experiences more severe symptoms that a woman who is pregnant with twins.
Some of the most common ones are-
- Fatigue
- Morning sickness
- Sore or tender breasts
- Spotting
- Cramps
- Frequent urination
Tips for 5th Week Pregnancy
As the baby has already started growing through a very important phase of development, you need to make sure that it receives all the nutrients that it needs to keep up with the growth. Moreover, you too have started experiencing the symptoms and its time that you start being extra careful with yourself. Some tips that you can follow in the 5th week of your pregnancy are-
- Talk to your doctor about the type of foods that you should consume and avoid
- Avoid alcohol and smoking
- Limit caffeine intake
- Continue taking the prenatal supplements
- Exercise regularly but nothing too strenuous
Conclusion
You might have confirmed your pregnancy last week or at least this week. Now that you know you know you are pregnant, you should not leave any stone unturned to ensure that you provide as much care and attention to your baby and yourself.
If you’ve already selected an obstetrician which you should have done by now, you can fix an appointment for an initial consultation. Make sure that you ask about anything and everything that you want to know, especially if it is your first pregnancy. You can visit the obstetrician with your partner so that he too can get all his queries answered.
Pregnancy Checklist at 5 Weeks Pregnant
- Visit an obstetrician if the pregnancy test results are still negative but you’ve started experiencing the symptoms
- Switch to a healthy diet and prefer home-cooked food
- Consult your doctor if you are on some kind of medication
- You might let your family know that you are pregnant
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