Welcome to Week 7 of Your Pregnancy!

What’s Happening During Week 7 ?

At this stage of your pregnancy your baby continues to grow rapidly. The umbilical cord, containing two arteries and one vein is clearly visible. Nutrients and oxygen rich blood pass from the amazing placenta to your baby by way of a single vein. The waste products and deoxygenated blood are sent back to your placenta by way of two arteries.

Although your placenta acts as a filter it cannot stop everything and things such as alcohol, nicotine and certain medications can cross over to reach your baby. It takes about 30 seconds for a red blood cell to make the trip from the mother’s circulation to the embryo’s tiny body via the placenta and umbilical cord.  The volume of blood will increase as baby increases in size.

Your Baby’s Growth

Your baby’s brain is continuing to develop and become more complex with spaces and passages necessary for the circulation of spinal fluid. Your baby’s cranium is still transparent. Your baby’s face is becoming more defined this week. Veins smaller than a hair lie beneath the parchment thin skin.

The mouth, nostrils, ear depressions and even colour in the irises of the eyes are now visible. The lens of the eye is beginning to form as well as a partial eye lid fold. The middle portions of the ears are connecting externally.

Your baby’s hands and feet are taking shape. The arm buds that sprouted only last week have already developed into a upper portion and a hand portion which resembles a little paddle. Your baby is about 1/3 of an inch in length. The only thing getting smaller is the tail which will soon be gone.

The embryo is surrounded by the amniotic sac that lies within the gestational or chorionic sac. The baby and the amnion that surrounds him or her grow at the same rate but the amnion will fill with fluid and be pushed away. The yolk sac does not increase in size. In an early ultrasound examination the amnion will not likely be seen until this week 7 and measures equal to the CRL.

Morning Sickness?

By now your uterus has doubled in size and you may be experiencing morning sickness.

There may be more than one specific cause of morning sickness. Common culprits that cause morning sickness include estrogen, progesterone and HcG. Progesterone is a hormone that relaxes the stomach leading to excess stomach acid and can cause morning sickness. Estrogen levels at this time have increased dramatically and the presence of HcG is also thought to be a cause.

Physiological changes which take place in early pregnancy can affect the way the body metabolizes carbohydrates. There is also thought that nature creates morning sickness as the body’s way of letting mom know she needs to change her diet. It’s believed that morning sickness may warn Mom’s to keep away from eating foods that might be dangerous to the baby.

Some Moms only experience mild forms of morning sickness while other severe and still others with no symptoms at all. Don’t worry every pregnancy is different.

Saltine crackers are always recommended as a morning sickness cure – because most of the time, they work by quickly absorbing stomach acid which can cause the nauseated feeling experienced with morning sickness.