Pregnancy Week 6 – I am now six weeks old

I am now six weeks old. I have developed fast during the last week. My heart and brain have appeared, and my heart is beating. Alarmingly quickly for anyone watching it, but it needs to and is not in any danger.

Mom is still going through hormonal changes, and more physical ones. Fatigue is one which she suffers from a lot. The family needs to ensure this person rests frequently, and does not stress out. A little stress is no problem, but lack of sleep and starving oneself are serious problems. The body goes into survival mode, and often will attack the foetus for draining it. She should begin to take folic acid, if her health care provider suggests it.

The foetus is still only very tiny, about 1.5 millimetres or 0.059 inches in length, but it is now starting to develop its own hormones. These will eventually inform the parent what to expect to happen. For the moment, the embryo is content to just begin manufacturing hormone bases and rudimentary blood cells.

“ With the heart beating this week

With the baby giving it tongue in cheek

The mother and the little growing baby

Enter the fifth week of pregnancy.”  (BibleHealth.com/stages of -pregnancy-week-by-week/fifth week-of-pregnancy).

This is a little rhyme that describes very simply what stage the baby is at, when he/she is at the fifth week.

My father is slowly coming to terms with my appearance in his life, but he is still bewildered as to how, although he knows. He is worried about all the changes going on in the mother’s body and her odd emotions, and is only half reassured when it is explained it is perfectly normal.

He may do one of two things. Retreat, or try to do everything for the mother to be and be too protective. But, even if he does retreat, he will still usually keep a wary eye poked around the corner. It takes longer for a man to accept a pregnancy. Even a male who has longed for this day usually wonders if it is really true until well into the pregnancy.

I am not worried about my father. He is a part of me, but has nothing to actually do with me. He will become familiar when I am born, but that is a long time away, and I am too busy to concern myself with him.

Things may be a little odd in the household around this time. Excitement and expectation abound. Plans are tentatively made. A name for the child may be chosen, no matter what sex, or a nickname, and both parents begin talking to the woman’s stomach naturally.

There are two styles of thought at this early stage whether or not the child can actually hear or feel speech. One says that the vibration carries through the abdomen and the embryo senses it, understanding what is going on later in its development. The other says that the emotion in the woman’s tone carries as a vibration to the foetus. Others say it is only imagination. If so, then it is good imagination, for it forms a bond that cannot be described with the child.