Pregnancy Week 5

Written by Lone Parenting Advisor

Pregnancy week 5 shows no visible signs through your appearance and your regular menstrual period is one week late. Contemplation of whether you are pregnant or not is beginning to cross your mind. You should be certain at this stage of pregnancy however some women who have had irregular menstrual periods might not have realised that you are indeed pregnant.

The size of the embryo is now about 5mm in length and bears more resemblance to a tadpole than of a baby, but the expected growth this week will change the appearance of the embryo.

The expectant mother should now start to include Folic acid in her diet if she is to have a healthy baby. Folic acid is vital for the growth and development of the neural tube and a lack of folic acid can lead to a defected neural tube.

Foetal Development

The embryo now has a fully functioning heart which is already pumping the formed blood supply around the developing cells. The heart is in early stages of developing and is separating into the chambers which complete the process, but the beating rhythm is irregular at the moment and will later stabilise as the development matures.

The neural tube which has almost fully developed will close this week over the top of the brain and spinal cord connecting them in the process. The first signs of major organs also begin their development during pregnancy week 5 with the initial kidney and liver starting to form.

Tiny buds begin to protrude from the upper and lower body of the embryo which will carry on growing to eventually form the limbs that will become the arms, legs, hands and feet of the baby. The intestines and appendix are already developing rapidly and are in the correct position.

The stalk extends in length and begins to create veins and arteries within the tube that will become the umbilical cord. The umbilical cord as well as carrying vital nutrition and oxygen to the growing embryo will also dispose of unwanted carbon dioxide from the baby to the mother. The carbon dioxide (and many other substance like alcohol, nicotine and drugs) will be filtered out through the placenta.

The opening for the mouth has started to develop in very early stages along with the neck and the jaw line. Facial features are also forming with features like eye retina and nostrils becoming evident.

Ultrasound

Detection of the pregnancy at week 5 is more visible as the embryo has developed. The embryo is seen as a sac and will be curled up in the shape of the letter C making measurements from head to toe quite difficult and a heart beat is hard to detect at this stage.

Ultrasonographers make a CRL (Crown to Rump Length) measurement of the embryo, which means that the embryo is literally measured from the Crown of the head to the base of the back. This CRL should be around 2mm to 4mm.