Pregnancy Calendar

What to expect in the fifth week of pregnancy and what symptoms may accompany it? What are the standards for the size of the gestational sac and embryo? Should we worry about ovarian pain or brown spotting in the 5th week of pregnancy? 

The fifth week of pregnancy is primarily the time of the first medical examinations, which can 100 percent. confirm pregnancy, and often also determine the approximate date of delivery. Although the symptoms at week 5 are becoming more and more characteristic, you should not worry about their absence.

Pregnancy test at week 5

It is possible to detect pregnancy in the 5th week with the help of Blood tests - hCG beta test. This is a more accurate and reliable test than a self-conducted urine pregnancy test - allows you to confirm pregnancy just 7 days after fertilization.

• The hCG beta test measures the level of one of the 2 components of the chorionic gonadotropin
• Chorionic gonadotrophin is a hormone that is mainly produced during pregnancy - in a certain amount. 
• In the 5th week of pregnancy, the level of beta hCG in the blood may reach as high as 7 mIU / ml.
• In a woman who is not pregnant, the norm of beta hCG concentration in the blood plasma is less than 5 mIU / ml. 

Accordingly, the result of the blood test above 5 mIU / ml beta hCG allows you to easily confirm pregnancy.

5th week of pregnancy: ultrasound and gynecological examination 

The 5th week of pregnancy begins the second month of pregnancy - then you can visit a doctor, get a cytology (especially if it was not there before), and perform the first blood pregnancy tests. However, nothing will happen if the expectant mother surrenders to them a little later. First, traditional gynecological examination allows you to see the loosening of the vagina, which is one of the symptoms of pregnancy at this stage. You can also make Vaginal ultrasound - The 5th week of pregnancy does not mean, however, that you can see the embryo itself - its size, i.e. approx. 2 mm at the end of week 5, for it does not yet allow it. But surrounding him the pregnancy vesicle should be clearly visible during the vaginal ultrasound in the 5th week. 

If the expectant mother remembers the date of the beginning of the last menstruation and gives it during the follow-up visit with vaginal ultrasound, in the 5th week of pregnancy, she may know the approximate date of your birth, calculated by the doctor. See you it is too early for an ultrasound scan through the abdominal wallSo when you go to the ultrasound room in the 5th week, you need to be prepared for it a bit less comfortable - vaginal. The size of the embryo in the 5th week of pregnancy does not allow it to be seen on a computer screen.

Fifth week of pregnancy - follicle size (normal)

The pregnancy bubble should already be in the uterine cavity. The outer layer of cells is made up of a trophoblast, and in the middle it is embryo and yolk sac. It was so named by association with egg yolk - contains the most valuable minerals and trace elements needed for further development. 

Follicle size norms in the 5th week of pregnancy they are important because they allow to assess the degree of embryo development. At the beginning In the 5th week, the follicle is 5 mm in size, and at the end of the week it is about 1,1 cm (the embryo itself may reach a size of approx. 5 mm by the end of the 2th week). In addition, the norms for the follicle in the 5th week of pregnancy and the following weeks allow us to assess the gestational age very accurately, if it cannot be calculated otherwise.

It is worth adding that the date of delivery is most often determined by the gynecologist based on the date of the last menstruation. It also means that in women who are menstruating irregularly, the baby may be born a little later or earlier. The expectant mother can expect the actual age of pregnancy and a more precise date of delivery to be determined after the gynecologist makes the measurements of the baby, which is performed during the first trimester ultrasound. The age of pregnancy is still monitored and compared with the current development of the fetus also during ultrasound examinations in the second and third trimester.

What happens to the embryo in the 5th week of pregnancy?

At this stage, the most important organs are formed day by day and the embryo grows very rapidly. By the end of the fifth week, if you had taken a picture of it under very high magnification, you would have seen it limb buds and the outline of the head of the embryo with blindfolds. At this stage, the spine begins to form and important organs such as brain and heart.

It happens, although it is not necessarily the case at the end of the 5th week of pregnancy, you can already check your heart functionwhich takes up work as the first organ of the embryo. 

Does the 5th week of pregnancy mean nausea?

It is from the fifth week of pregnancy the symptoms become so characteristic that it is usually impossible to overlook them. Previously, many of them were psychosomatic in nature. For fear of pregnancy or the desire to actually get pregnant, any abdominal pain or fatigue is interpreted as some symptom of a different condition. In the 5th week of pregnancy, the accompanying ailments are rather difficult to confuse with something. However, this doesn't mean that the lack of any symptoms is a concern - some mums-to-be may not feel them.

The symptoms of the 5th week of pregnancy are primarily mentioned nausea, not only in the morning - they can appear around the clock. Often it is nausea that makes a woman or those around her become aware of the pregnancy. Hormonal changes cause the muscles of the lower esophagus to relax, which makes you feel sick and can cause heartburn. The lack of nausea is certainly nothing to worry about - the expectant mother should rather be glad that she is not troubled by one of the more burdensome symptoms of pregnancy. 

Other symptoms at week 5: due to hormonal changes

The hormones produced by a pregnant woman's body also redirect some of the blood to the abdomen, where it is needed most now. As a result, another symptom of pregnancy at week 5 is drop in blood pressurewhich may make you feel sleepy.

The possible symptom is moreover than usual swelling of the body. This also applies to the torso, although the abdomen itself - in terms of size - remains the same. The size of the embryo in the 5th week of pregnancy does not affect the figure in any way. Breasts however, they may appear to be enlarged due to water accumulating in the body. For this reason, as well as due to hormonal changes, they may feel painful or hypersensitive to touch.

Ovarian pain and spotting in the 5th week of pregnancy

One of the rarer but not very pleasant symptoms belongs pain in the ovaries or lower abdomen. In pregnancy, such feelings are quite an individual matter - in the initial stages, the pain in this area is associated with the implantation of the embryo in the uterine wall. Remember that fertilization means changes in the functioning of the entire female body, including the ovaries - because ovulation is lost and the production of hormones is "switched" for the needs of pregnancy.. Therefore, slight ovarian pain in pregnancy - in the initial stage, which includes the fifth week - is not a disturbing symptom. You should talk to your doctor about more serious ailments (especially severe cramping pains in the lower abdomen) during the first visit during pregnancy.

Ovarian pain is not the only symptom that worries many women in their 5th week of pregnancy. Brown spotting this is the second frequently mentioned problem. This is actually the last moment when it can be expected, because the implantation of the embryo in the uterus usually takes place no later than in the 5th week of pregnancy. Spotting occurs as a result of damage to a blood vessel in the endometrium during implantation. Pinkish or brown spotting in pregnancy at week 5 should therefore not be a cause for concern. A disturbing symptom occurs when the outflowing blood has a vivid red color. 

5 weeks pregnant: what to watch out for? 

Although in the 5th week of pregnancy the size of the embryo does not allow it to be seen even on vaginal ultrasound, it is a time of intensive development for it. During this period, a pregnant woman should especially avoid substances that could be toxic to the child and its shaping organs. It means more than just that resignation from stimulants, but also taking care of the quality and purity of food and avoiding contact with strong chemicals (such as vapors of paints, adhesives).

Consultation:

Ph.D. n. med. prof. IMID Tadeusz Issat - Head of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic at the Institute of Mother and Child;

Maria Krowicka-Wasyl - resident physician in the course of specialization in gynecology and obstetrics, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Institute of Mother and Child.