Find out about common health problems in pregnancy. You may feel stomach pain or cramps from time to time. These are usually nothing to worry about, and can be caused by constipation, wind or your ligaments growing as your womb gets bigger. But if you have stomach pain that does not go away, is severe or you also have bleeding or other symptoms, you need to see your midwife or doctor.
Find out when to get help for stomach pain in pregnancy. Make sure you find out about all the health things you should know when you're pregnant , such as stopping smoking, avoiding alcohol, getting exercise and having a healthy diet. Antenatal screening tests are offered by the NHS in pregnancy to check if a baby has a higher chance of having a health condition, such as Down's syndrome.
It's up to you whether to have screening tests or not. Find out what antenatal screening is and what's involved to help you decide what's best for you. So what's going on in your womb this week? Your embryo may be minuscule, but trust us: Super-important developments are already under way.
This week the embryo splits into two parts. One half will become the placenta, a special tissue that delivers must-have nutrients and oxygen to your baby throughout your entire pregnancy. In the other half, the embryo itself continues to grow, and a sheet of cells has just begun to create the neural tube, where your baby's brain, spinal cord and backbone will ultimately form. This week, your baby's ticker will start beating for the first time!
Neither you nor your doctor can hear it yet, but it may be possible to see the movement on an ultrasound. And your little one has been really busy growing!
The embryo now has three distinct layers: the outer ectoderm, which will form the nervous system, ears, eyes, inner ear and many connective tissues; the endoderm, or inner layer, which will grow into internal organs like the lungs, intestines and bladder; and the middle mesoderm, which will eventually make way for the heart and circulatory system.
In the weeks to come, the mesoderm will also evolve into bones, muscles, kidneys and reproductive organs. By the end of this week your baby will have tripled in size! His heart is now beating with a regular rhythm.
It's still too faint to be picked up by your doctor's stethoscope, but if you have an ultrasound at some point over the next few weeks it will probably be visible as a tiny, pulsing dot in the middle of his mini body. Fun fact: From now until birth , your child's heart will beat about times a minute -- twice the average adult rate. Also this week, your baby's brain hemispheres are forming -- and brain waves can now be recorded.
Your baby is already developing amazingly distinct facial features. Dark spots mark the areas where her eyes and nostrils will be, and a little mouth and ears are starting to form, too.
Your baby's brain is also growing more complex; if you could take a peek, it would be clearly visible inside the transparent skull. In fact, nerve cells in your baby's brain are growing at an amazing rate -- , cells per minute!
And she's started to move in small, jerky motions, although you won't feel these movements until about your fourth month of pregnancy. Your baby's growth spurt continues: In the last two weeks he has quadrupled in size. As he gets bigger, his delicate facial features are becoming more refined, with his ears, upper lip, and the teeny tip of his nose all clearly visible. His eyelids will also take shape for the first time this week and his heart is growing stronger by the day.
Even though you still have to wait another eight weeks to find out if your new addition will be a boy or a girl, this week, your baby gets the goods she'll need to, well, make her own baby one day. That's right -- reproductive organs are beginning to form now, along with some other key organs, like the pancreas and gallbladder.
At this point your baby has doubled in size and her head, which is about half the length of her entire body, is tucked down toward her chest. Her tiny fingers are growing longer, and the ends are slightly enlarged right now -- this is where those unique fingerprints will ultimately form. Up until now your baby was classified as an embryo, but by the end of this week he will be a fetus and lots of changes are on the way.
Paddle-like, or webbed, hands and feet will now separate into fingers and toes, bones will begin to harden and his kidneys are now producing urine. Most impressive? At this point your baby's brain is developing at astounding rates -- nearly , neurons are forming every minute! The end of the embryonic stage also marks a turning point for development dangers -- your baby is much less susceptible to them now.
Did you know your baby can breathe underwater? She's doing it right now. At weeks 10 and 11, the fetus will start to inhale and exhale small amounts of amniotic fluid, which helps your baby's lungs to grow and develop. Also this week, your baby's ears are scooting up to the sides of his head. Sure, your baby's head is still disproportionally large compared to the rest of his body, but this will even out as he continues to grow and develop in the womb. As your baby's muscles start to bulk up at this stage, he's getting busy stretching and kicking.
When you put your hand on your belly, your baby will likely wiggle in response because his reflexes are starting to develop -- though it's too early to feel his movements. He'll also start to open and close his fingers, curl his toes, and jerk and kick his arms and legs.
Your baby is constantly getting bigger and cuter, and his face is looking more human-like every day. His ears have moved up from his neck into place and his eyes -- which are looking more and more like your baby blues or browns, or greens -- have moved from the sides of the head to the front of the face. Up until now, his head has been outpacing his body, but now his body is growing faster.
His legs still need to grow longer, but this week his arms will lengthen to be proportionate with his body, and he'll be able to stick his thumb in his mouth. Also by now, all of your baby's essential organs and systems have formed.
The roof of your baby's tiny mouth is fully formed now, and her constant sucking reflexes are helping to create full, cherubic cheeks.
If you're having a boy, the prostate is forming, and if you're having a girl, her ovaries are moving down into her pelvis. Lanugo, your baby's first ultrafine, downy hair, now covers his back, shoulders, ears, and forehead.
It helps him retain body heat, but once he gains enough fat to do the job, this hair will fall off -- probably before birth. Facial expressions are your baby's newest trick -- he can frown, squint, grimace and wince. Don't worry -- he's just flexing his facial muscles, not indicating his mood.
Your baby's delicate skeleton continues to harden from rubbery cartilage to bone. Even so, his bones will remain somewhat flexible for an easier trip through the birth canal. The umbilical cord has fully matured with one vein and two arteries that are protected by Wharton's jelly a thick substance that makes the cord slippery so it can move freely around your baby.
By the way, if you're having a girl, hundreds of thousands of eggs are forming in her ovaries this week -- your future grandchildren! Finally, your baby's arms, legs, and trunk have caught up to the size of his head. Baby starts plumping up this week, as body fat is deposited under his skin and sweat glands develop. Also worth noting: The placenta is almost as big as your baby. It provides vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, and oxygen, along with removing waste and filtering carbon dioxide.
Do you and your partner talk to your baby? Well, with the bones and nerves in her ears now developed enough to function, she can hear all sorts of sounds -- including blood coursing through the umbilical cord, your growling tummy, and your heartbeat.
In fact, sudden or loud noises may startle her. Go ahead and sing, tell stories or play music for your baby now. Even though your baby doesn't understand what these sounds are now, eventually she'll recognize your voice better than any other. Vernix caseosa begins to coat the skin. The greasy, cheese-like white coating helps regulate body temperature and protects your baby's skin while it's submerged in amniotic fluid.
By the time your baby is born, most of the vernix will be gone. Your baby's heartbeat is growing stronger now and it's about twice as fast as yours.
Your baby is as happy as a clam in your womb, as his well-developed limbs continue to explore by curling, flexing, and kicking. And as his hair, nails and eyebrows continue to sprout, your fetus is looking remarkably more and more like Mom and Dad every day. Part of your baby's growth spurt at this point is likely because his stomach is now equipped to start absorbing energy-boosting nutrients from the amniotic fluid he's swallowing in there.
Most of your baby's nourishment is still coming directly from the placenta, though. The external genitals appeared in week 9, and now, by week 12, have fully differentiated into male or female genitals. By week 12 the eyes have moved to the front of the face and the eyelids remain closed together. Your baby may suck its thumb now. By 14 weeks your baby will be about cm long.
Its body is now covered with a layer of fine hair called lanugo. By 16 weeks its face is becoming more human in appearance, although the chin is small and the mouth is quite wide.
Between 16 and 24 weeks you should feel your baby move for the first time — it may at first feel like butterflies.
The rapid growth that your baby has been experiencing now begins to slow a little. By week 20 your baby measures about 18 centimetres from crown to rump and is half as long as it will be when born. The legs are now in proportion with the body and the fingernails are well developed. Faint eyebrows are visible. At this stage, you will feel your baby moving about a lot, often when you lie down. The eyelids are fused until weeks 25 to 26 when they open. The skin is wrinkled, red and thin with little underlying fat.
The skin is covered with a waxy substance called vernix, which protects it while it is floating in the uterus. The body is well muscled, but still thin. The baby has become better proportioned, with the size of the body catching up with the size of the head. By 28 weeks lanugo hair has almost gone and hair is present on the head. Fat is being deposited under the skin. Your baby is becoming plumper. By 30 weeks the toenails are present and by 32 weeks the fingernails have reached the ends of the fingers.
By about 32 weeks the baby will have settled into a downward position as there is no longer enough room left in the womb for it to move about freely. The lanugo hair that had covered your baby has now mostly disappeared, although some hair may remain low on the forehead, in front of the ears and down the centre of the back. The toenails should have reached the tips of the toes. By full-term, your baby should weigh about 2.
These are just average figures, though, and there can be wide variation in the measurements. So now, 38 weeks after conception, your baby has all its organs and body systems ready for the big moment when it is born into the world. Pregnancy week by week updated 10 July NHS Choices. Your pregnancy week by week reviewed 22 Jul Skip to content. How doctors date your pregnancy The average pregnancy lasts for 38 weeks from the date you conceive this is called conception.
First month After the egg has been fertilised by the sperm, it starts to divide into more cells. Author: myDr.
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