Six Weeks, Two Days - The Seventh Week

I figure while I'm online I'll do my developmental update. Here's the update on me. I think I have morning sickness. Still no real urge to vomit, but I feel nauseous almost constantly, or at least as soon as my stomach starts to get empty. It's a double edge sword. When I start to get hungry (about every 2 hours) I also start to feel nauseous and then lose any desire for food. The key is to eat as soon as I start to get hungry before I get nauseous. Today is the worst I've felt. I ate about a half a sleeve of crackers in the car on the way home. Crackers help too. It'll be interesting to see if this gets worse and how I'll feel when I have to go to work. Ok, on to the physical development stuff. Again from the three sources used last week plus About.com

The Baby
Your baby has an incredible growth spurt this week! At the beginning of the 7th week, the crown-to-rump length of your growing baby is 0.16 to 0.2 inch. This is about the size of the BB pellet. By the end of teh week, your baby has more than doubled in size, to 0.44 to .52 inch. Leg buds are beginning to appear as short fins. Arm buds have grown longer; they have divided into a hand segment and an arm-shoulder segment. The hand and foot have a digital plate where the fingers and toes will develo/ The heart bulges from the body. By this time, it has diveded into right and left heart chambers. The primary bronchi are present. The cerebral hemisphers, which make up the brain, are also growing. Eyes and notstrils are developing. Intestines are developing, an the appendix is present. The pancreas, which produces teh hormone insulin, is also present. Part of the intestine bulges into the umbilical cord. Later in your baby's development, it will return to the abdomen.

Technically your baby is still considered an embryo. That's because he has something of a small tail, which will disappear in the next few weeks. But that's the only thing getting smaller. The heart and brain are becoming more complicated, the eyelid folds are forming, and the tip of the nose is present.

Facial features are visible, including a mouth and tongue. The eyes have a retina and lens. The major muscle system is developed, and the unborn child practices moving. The child has its own blood type, distinct from the mother's. These blood cells are produced by the liver now instead of the yolk sac.

The hand plates become present this week, and the baby is about 7-9 mm CRL by the end of the week. The genital tubercle is present, but you can't distinguish girls from boys by sight at this point. Nasal pits are forming. Your baby will actually go through 3 sets of kidneys, very rapidly as they develop during this period. This week the second of such sets will form. With a transvaginal ultrasound, one study shows that 100% of the ultrasounds will be show a fetal pole with heart motion.

The Mom
Although you are probably quite anxious to show the world you're pregnant, there still may be little change. Changes will come soon, though. Changes are occurring gradually. You still probably wont' "show," and people won't be able to tell you're pregnant unless you tell them. You may be gaining weight throughout your body, but you should have gained only a couple of pounds this early in your pregnancy. If you haven't gained weight or if you have lost a couple of pounds, it isn't unusual. It will go the other direction in the weeks to come. You may still experience morning sickness and other symptoms of early pregnancy.

You're in the throes of the first trimester, when many women complain of common pregnancy aches and pains. Keeping food down may be next to impossible, thanks to morning sickness, caused in part by the pregnancy hormones in your body. You may also need to use the bathroom a lot more often than usual — your growing uterus is pressing on your bladder, and hormones are affecting the balance of fluid in your body. These symptoms should diminish as your pregnancy continues.

You may have symptoms ... nausea or queasiness, odd tastes in your mouth, bigger, more sensitive breasts, moodiness... or you may not. Some women have already gained weight, though others, due to morning sickness , may have actually lost weight. Both are common and normal.

Your face may break out due to the changes in hormones. So even though you may feel like a teenager again, you are not alone.