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You are now in the half way of your first trimester at week seven. You are now literally one month and three weeks pregnant. So you now have about seven months and one week left to complete your exciting journey of pregnancy.
The umbilical cord which connects the baby and the placenta is fully formed. It supplies nutrients and oxygen to your baby and removes waste products.Â
The mucus plug develops this week. It is a collection of mucus formed in the cervical canal and settles at the cervix entrance. It protects your baby and the uterus from bacterial infections.
Hands and feet are developing!
Your baby is growing. Your little one’s hands and feet are sprouting, and they look more like small paddles.
The umbilical cord which connects the baby and the placenta is fully formed. It supplies nutrients and oxygen to your baby and removes waste products.Â
The mucus plug develops this week. It is a collection of mucus formed in the cervical canal and settles at the cervix entrance. It protects your baby and the uterus from bacterial infections.
Your baby is growing. Your little one’s hands and feet, which look more like small paddles, are sprouting.
At week seven, the upper limb has begun to take shape. The distal part of your baby’s primitive limbs broadens initially. The broadened part will later begin to divide. The division at this stage is incomplete. This makes your baby’s fingers become notched. The hands are now like paddles with about four patches in between. Towards the end of the seventh week, the upper limb bones will gradually form. The process of this formation is called ossification.
Your baby’s digestive system is gradually taking shape. By this time, your baby has a liver, esophagus, and an organ called the pancreas. At week seven, the intestine, which entered the umbilical cord earlier, is still in the umbilical cord. The abdomen is still not large enough to contain the digestive system.
Your baby’s body becomes more and more straightened. The head is still larger than the rest of the body. This is because your baby’s brain is still developing and new brain cells are forming every day.Â
Your baby’s facial features are becoming more and more pronounced. It is beginning to look more like normal human facial features. Facial features such as the eyes and eyelids are now visible. The ears are also now visible but are not in the right position. The ears at this stage do not look exactly like a normal human ear.Â
Your baby’s heart is still busy at this stage. It has began to pump blood from the fourth week of pregnancy and an ultrasound scan will be able to detect the heartbeat.
At week seven, your baby is very little and measures about 0.51 inches in length with a weight of around 1.1 grams
Your baby is still very small. Although your uterus is enlarging but it is yet to leave the pelvis. So there would be no baby bump yet.
At 7 weeks pregnant, you have about 33 more weeks to complete your pregnancy journey.
At week 7, you will start to notice changes in your breasts. They might be tender and sensitive, which is caused by the levels of estrogen and progesterone. Also, food aversions during pregnancy are common. It is funny how your favourite food makes you feel nauseous during this time. this is due to high levels of the HCG hormone.
Food aversion and food cravings
Avoiding certain food and craving for some is normal at this stage. You may sometimes crave weird food and unhealthy food combinations.
Even though Your baby is still very small. Your uterus is enlarged and it is still in the pelvis where its pressing against the bladder. This makes it difficult for the bladder to expand fully when its full, leading to frequent urination.
You may experience fatigue this week due to the effect of progesterone. Progesterone is a pregnancy hormone that helps the uterus grow and prepares it for pregnancy. This hormone causes more tiredness than usual. Feeling dizzy and an increased urge to sleep is some of the symptoms this week.
The hormone changes in your body increase your chances of becoming Constipated this week. Your bowel doesn’t work as hard to squeeze out waste as it used to due to relaxation by the progesterone. This slows down your body’s process to absorb nutrients and water from the food you consume. The more the food remains in your bowel, the more time it takes your large intestine to absorb moisture out of it. Thus, the waste dries out and becomes hard to pass out.
You may feel slight pain in your breast. Do not worry as this is associated with the flooding of pregnancy hormones in your body.
This is a side effect of being nauseous. Feeling nauseous would make you want to swallow less saliva, causing you to spit much more frequently.
Food aversions and food cravings
Avoiding certain food and craving for some is normal at this stage. You may sometimes crave weird food and unhealthy food combinations.
Even though Your baby is still very small. Your uterus is enlarged and it is still in the pelvis where its pressing against the bladder. This makes it difficult for the bladder to expand fully when its full, leading to frequent urination.
You may experience fatigue this week due to the effect of progesterone. Progesterone is a pregnancy hormone that helps the uterus grow and prepares it for pregnancy. This hormone causes more tiredness than usual. Feeling dizzy and an increased urge to sleep is some of the symptoms this week.
The hormone changes in your body increase your chances of becoming Constipated this week. Your bowel doesn’t work as hard to squeeze out waste as it used to due to relaxation by the progesterone. This slows down your body’s process to absorb nutrients and water from the food you consume. The more the food remains in your bowel, the more time it takes your large intestine to absorb moisture out of it. Thus, the waste dries out and becomes hard to pass out.
You may feel slight pain in your breast. Do not worry as this is associated with the flooding of pregnancy hormones in your body.
This is a side effect of being nauseous. Feeling nauseous would make you want to swallow less saliva, causing you to spit much more frequently.
Most women will have their first prenatal visits by week seven or eight. During this visit, you will be asked some questions. This is called history taking. These questions will help your caregiver know how best to take care of you. Questions about previous pregnancies and their results will be asked of you.Â
Your height and weight are also measured during this visit. The figures gotten will be used to calculate your BMI. Your urine and blood samples are also taken for some other tests. Your blood pressure is checked and you may be as well booked for your first ultrasound scan.
Your prenatal visits give you opportunities to be educated by your caregiver on how to go about your pregnancy and care for your baby.
Healthy meals will provide enough nourishment for you and your baby. This might be a little bit difficult for some women who regularly crave junks. Healthy meals will keep you on the right weight for pregnancy. Being underweight or overweight may cause harm to you and your baby.
Drinking lots of water helps with constipation, as well as the issue of bloating. Drinking enough water will keep you hydrated during this period of pregnancy.
Take all vitamins, supplements, and other medication prescribed for you by your obstetrician or midwife. It is also important that you stop all medications advised against by the midwife or obstetrician. Some medications might disrupt the normal development of your baby. Others may cause a miscarriage.
Activities such as drinking, smoking, or handling cat faeces may be harmful to your baby at this early stage. it would be best to avoid these activities to prevent miscarriage and abnormal development of your baby’s organs.
 Miscarriage: Early medical care is important to avoid miscarriage during this week. Miscarriage may occur without you noticing. This is one reason why medical care/checkup is very important.
Ectopic pregnancy: Having an ectopic pregnancy at this stage is now much more dangerous. The more advanced the pregnancy becomes, the higher the probability of a rupture. An ultrasound scan will easily detect this. Most women will not have any symptoms before a rupture occurs. A rupture is bad for the fallopian tube and endangers a woman’s life.
Urinary Tract Infection: From the sixth week of pregnancy, you become more prone to getting a Urinary tract infection. Holding your urine when you have the urge to pee, increases your chances of coming down with a UTI. A burning sensation during urinating is a sign of a UTI. If you notice this, your caregiver should be immediately notified.
Excessive vomiting and nausea: This is called hyperemesis gravidarum. It may occur if a woman is having multiple babies. It may also occur in a condition called a molar pregnancy. A molar pregnancy is an abnormal pregnancy where there is no baby. Please note that the vomiting you think is excessive may not be excessive, but to be on the safe side, Please consult your caregiver if you think that you vomit too much.Â
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