Week 5 of Pregnancy: Your Baby Is the Size of a Sesame Seed; Brain, Spine, and Heart Forming in Embryo. Some women pick up normal symptoms like nausea, tiredness, or tenderness of the breasts and urinating a lot, while some women get nothing until they do a test. This is also a good time to start on prenatal vitamins and schedule your first-ever appointment for a prenatal visit.
To this day, I can remember the moment that I took that pregnancy test only to find out two lines appeared. I was five weeks pregnant, and I just started Googling everything I could find about what the hell was happening inside my own body. If you find yourself at that same moment right now, excited and apprehensive all at once, this breakdown of what to expect when you’re five weeks pregnant provides everything from how your growing baby is developing in those early days — along with the symptoms you may or may not experience.
What Happens at 5 Weeks Pregnant?
The embryonic period is when your baby’s organs start to really develop, and at five weeks pregnant, this is all beginning. This is from the date of your last period, so this means that camps count you as only about three weeks pregnant.
Your levels of the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which causes those positive pregnancy test results, are also increasing this week. It also contributes to many of the very initial symptoms you might begin experiencing, such as nausea and fatigue.
This was the week, for me, that reality began to set in. Excitement — yes, but also the near-constant urge to take a nap by 2 p.m.
5 Weeks Pregnant Symptoms
No two pregnancies are the same, but some key signs usually appear in week five.
Common Early Pregnancy Symptoms
- Nausea: As the name suggests, ‘morning sickness’, but it can hit any time during the day. It’s caused by increased hCG and estrogen.
- Fatigue: Your body has to work harder in your first trimester, which leads to extreme tiredness even when you sleep 8 hours a day.
- Changes in your breasts: Either a good change or a bad one can make breasts sore, swollen, or strangely sensitive
- Having to pee more often: Blood rushes to your kidneys, and you have to pee even more.
I personally didn’t get the nausea until a week or so later, closer to week six, but the fatigue came on strong immediately. This is when you should listen to your body, and if you are feeling pooped, rest when possible.
What Does Your Baby Look Like at 5 Weeks Pregnant?
At five weeks, your baby is still an embryo and undergoing rapid, foundational development. Your neural tube — the precursor to your brain and spinal cord — is budding out. It’s also developing a heart that will start beating in the next week or so.
Amazing to think that something so tiny is already doing its part to build a whole human.
How Big Is the Baby at 5 Weeks Pregnant?
At this stage, your baby is 0.05 inches (about 1 to 2 millimetres) long—about the size of a sesame seed. It’s hard to believe this little speck of life will one day be a full-term baby; every intricate system in the body stems from these tiny beginnings.
5 Weeks Pregnant Belly: Can You See a Baby Bump?
At five weeks, you won’t have a noticeable baby bump. Your uterus is still about the size of an orange, and any changes to your midsection at this stage are much more likely to be a result of bloating rather than a proper bump. A genuine baby belly will not present itself until the second trimester — but your body type also determines this, and whether you are pregnant for the first time or not.
What to Do at 5 Weeks Pregnant
Early setting of limits to form some good habits you’ll take through your pregnancy.
- Prenatal vitamins: Try to find a vitamin with folic acid that contributes to the healthy development of the neural tube.
- Consume a balanced, healthy diet. Eat whole foods: Start consuming whole(and green they must be unless it’s fruit) foods, sources of lean protein, and lots of fruit and vegetables.
- Hydration: Hydration is important to increase blood volume and might be useful to reduce the sense of fatigue.
- No alcohol and stop smoking– both hamper your growth for the baby
- Go to sleep: Your body is working overtime behind the scenes, so get as much sleep as possible without shaming yourself for sleeping in.
Foods to Eat and Avoid at 5 Weeks Pregnant
While your baby is the size of a poppy seed, there are some big changes in store for you during week 5. Now is the best time to focus on a balanced diet that supplies (6) all of the nutrients your whole body needs. Try to make every dinner a meal with lots of vegetation meals, a few whole-grain foods (grains), lean protein, and a dairy or non-dairy calcium source. Folate is one of the most important nutrients in your arsenal during pregnancy — especially early on, since it plays a major role in fetal development) Lentils, beans, and leafy green veggies are all naturally high sources.
Furthermore, foods that we must eat but be extra careful during pregnancy are also for the reason of avoiding foodborne illnesses or too much mercury exposure. Do not eat raw or undercooked meat, fish, seafood, and eggs; use only pasteurized dairy Products. Some fish such as swordfish, shark, and king mackerel are inherently high, but we ask you to stay away from those too during pregnancy. If you eat deli-style or similar ready-to-eat meats — like poultry and those in a meat tray, heat before serving until steaming hot.
You do not necessarily have to cut out coffee, but caffeine consumption must be monitored. Most healthcare professionals recommend restricting caffeine intake to less than 200 mg per day during pregnancy. Different types and serving sizes may give coffee different contents of caffeine, so check the serving size together with its content as a rule. Caffeine is not only present in coffee, but also in tea, energy drinks, and chocolate, as well as some soft drinks.
Do You Need an Ultrasound at 5 Weeks Pregnant?
You might not require an ultrasound at 5 weeks pregnant. An embryo is incredibly tiny at this point, so not much may appear on ultrasound. Most healthy pregnancies don’t need an ultrasound until a little later, when the pregnancy is clearer.
However, your health care provider might recommend an early ultrasound if you have bleeding or pain in the abdomen (tummy) or pelvis, a history of complications during pregnancy (or suspicion of one), and to see how far along the pregnancy is when these dates are unclear.
The presence or absence, at 5 weeks, of an embryo with a heartbeat does not point to there being something wrong. Most likely, your doctor will order a follow-up ultrasound in about a week or so to assess if everything is moving along as it should.
Is It Safe to Have Sex During 5 Weeks of Pregnancy?
Many women often have concerns regarding sexual intercourse when pregnant, wondering if sex is safe during and after the fifth week of pregnancy. Sex early in pregnancy isn’t harmful to your baby and won’t cause a miscarriage.
The baby is still quite small at 5 weeks and nestled away within the protective uterus. Because of the protective roles played by both the cervix and uterus with surrounding tissues, intercourse does not normally come in direct contact with the baby.
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