All About Pregnancy Week 4

Pregnancy week 4 is a critical time in the development of your baby and also at a critical time for you.  In fact, may not even realize you are pregnant by week 4, but this is the week when you’ll probably notice
that your period is absent, and you may begin to feel very tired and perhaps a bit nauseous.

Nausea is a common side effect of pregnancy week 4.  This is the time when the egg has borrowed deep
into the lining of your uterus, and that tiny baby is beginning to grow at a great rate.  In fact, by the end of week three, the fertilized egg has turned into an embryo, but it is during pregnancy week 4 that you begin to feel the early signs of pregnancy.

In week 4 of pregnancy, your body is beginning to form the placenta and amniotic sac. Symptoms like abdominal pressure and tender breasts may appear this week, and as the cluster of cells that will soon become your baby burrows into your uterine lining, you may also spot some implantation bleeding.

Pregnancy week 4

4 is the week, which represents some of the fastest development of your embryo.  A faint heartbeat has begun while the umbilical cord is also developing during Pregnancy Week 4.  Psychologically, in this weeks there is an important connection between the mother and the baby, as the mother begins to
understand what she carries within, and that she is providing nutrition, growth and health for the young embryo.

Your baby at 4 weeks

In weeks 4 to 5 of early pregnancy, the embryo grows and develops within the lining of your womb.

The outer cells reach out to form links with your blood supply. The inner cells form into 2, and then later into 3 layers.

Each of these layers will grow to be different parts of your baby’s body:

• the inner layer becomes the breathing and digestive systems, including the lungs, stomach, gut and bladder
• the middle layer becomes the heart, blood vessels, muscles and bones
• the outer layer becomes the brain and nervous system, the eye lenses, tooth enamel, skin and nails

In these early weeks of pregnancy, the embryo is attached to a tiny yolk sac that provides nourishment.

In pregnancy week 4 the embryo begins to experience the development of a tiny ears and eyes, tiny little arms and legs and if you could see what was happening in your womb, you would realize a little person is developing right inside of you.

Most Dramatic Changes

But some of the most dramatic changes of pregnancy week 4 are actually happening to you, the mom, because this is generally the time when pregnancy morning sickness symptoms begin.  There are various,
morning sickness symptoms, which include Pregnancy nausea, tiredness, vomiting, and several other unpleasant effects.

Not all women will experience pregnancy Morning sickness symptoms like  these in pregnancy week 4, but over half of women do.

The big risk

A rick to you as a mother, and indeed for your developing child, is not the feeling of  nausea that you get, but the vomiting which can cause you to lose a great deal of fluid and can lead to dehydration, endangering both your life and the life of your child.

Be sure to visit the Painfree Childbirth Program Page, and Mark E Wilkins, Ph.D to know more about this popular program for eliminating fear and discomfort of labor pain from your childbirth.

Above all,
even if you are experiencing pregnancy morning sickness symptoms, embrace
pregnancy week 4 as a critical and wonderful stage in the development of both
your unborn child, and yourself!