Week by week pregnancy guide: You and your baby at Week 4

How Big is Your Baby?

This is the week that marks the beginning of your baby’s embryonic period even if your baby is still microscopic.

Your Baby’s Development

• The amniotic sac is now present. This will be home to your baby until the time of the birth. Also present is the yolk sac which will produce your baby’s red blood cells. The yolk sac is also responsible for delivering all nutrients to him till the placenta is developed and ready to take over this function.
• This is the beginning of major activity for him. From now onwards, for the next six weeks, all of his organs will begin to develop (and some of them will even begin functioning!)

Pregnancy Symptoms

• You will probably be taking a home pregnancy test to confirm your suspicions of being pregnant–not all women find out about their pregnancy this early on. Just remember that for the most accurate results you must wait for at least a week after your expected period.
• You may not yet be feeling much different yet, but brace yourself for morning sickness in the very near future.
• You may experience some bloating, due to the increased levels of progesterone, the pregnancy hormone.
• There might be some mild cramps and perhaps a bit of bleeding, this is because your baby travels up the fallopian tube and implants himself to the wall of your uterus.
• Your fluctuating hormones could be causing mood swings.

Pregnancy Care

• Once you confirm your pregnancy you need to stop smoking and absolutely limit the intake of alcohol and caffeine.
• Avoid unpasteurised soft cheeses such as camembert and brie, as well as undercooked meats and soft-boiled eggs to avoid e-coli and salmonella infections.
• Avoid fish with high mercury levels such as shark, swordfish and king mackerel.

Your Checklist

• If the home test is positive, you need to call and fix your first prenatal visit to your gynaecologist.
• You need to make a list of any medications that you might be taking, whether prescription or over the counter and check with your doctor if it is safe to continue with them.
• You need to pay a lot more attention to what you are eating and begin taking prenatal vitamins.

Your next week: 5 weeks pregnant

What are your pregnancy concerns, mum? Leave us a comment below!