Pregrancy Week 5 although-I cannot tell time

It is my fifth week, although I cannot tell time, cannot count, and do not know what time is. Something within me knows what I should be doing at this moment, and does it. It is all very complicated, so I do not worry about it. I simply live in the darkness and warmth, feeling only an insatiable need to feed, to grow. I am becoming aware of another type of warmth that flows over me now and then, but I do not think it will harm me.

I have some type of liquid all around me. It is warm, comfortable, and safe. I would like to taste it, but I have not developed a mouth yet, although I have the shape for one. I am fed through a cord that connects to my abdomen. This also removes what little waste products I create.

None of the internal changes to the embryo is visible on the mother’s outsides, but there have been many. He/she has developed liver, lungs, kidneys and a heart. The head is much bigger than the body, and will scan as a large lump on some scans. It is beginning to excrete waste products occurring from its development. The amniotic sac is filling with fluid to support the embryo’s growth and enlarging as it does to keep it safe and comfortable.

Some women begin to tentatively speak to the embryo in this phase of development. It is encouraged, as it will make bonding later on an easier process. It also makes the baby, so far from delivery, a real part of them. Some think of it as silly, others think the embryo cannot feel the emotions involved, but studies have shown that it will react to the mother’s voice from a very early age.

The hormones are out of kilter and will stay this way for quite some time yet. In fact, they are often out of balance until the baby is born. A person who is not in the habit of crying may find themselves crying at anything and everything and nothing. Cravings for odd combinations of food, or food she has never been interested in may become paramount to her wants.

The oestrogen levels rise, to ensure the embryo is not rejected by the body. Unfortunately it still sometimes happens, but usually not when oestrogen levels are good. This is a part of pregnancy that is not understood, despite much research. At this point, a miscarriage is usually part of the embryo’s make up, not the mother’s.

If one feels something is not quite right with the pregnancy, it is best to discuss these feelings with the health care professional or the doctor. Sometimes it may just need a little reassurance from a trained professional to clear up any nagging doubts. If all one’s tests and scans are normal for the stage of the pregnancy, then one should relax into the pregnancy and enjoy it, nausea and all. Some anxiety is normal, severe fretting is not, nor is it healthy for the mother or the embryo.

The father may be wondering what is going on, with the wife who has happy go lucky and bubbly a nervous crying wreck. He may wonder at the so called ‘baby brain’ syndrome, whereby she is forgetful, vague and dreamy. It is nothing to panic about, unless she is a danger to herself or others, and will eventually go away.