6 weeks and counting...

Our little sweet pea is 6 weeks old today. The tiny little heart that's just begun beating showed up on my very first ultrasound today.

Our little Sweet Pea Lam Bear ;-)

You're six weeks and one day old today, however you are measuring at 5 weeks and 6 days.  Catch up little baby, we want you to stick around! We already love you so much and cannot wait to meet you and kiss your sweet face!  You're my little sweet pea, perfectly sized and with a growing heartbeat.  Keep growing little seed, I want to meet you!

 

This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears that I'll be spending so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. If I could see inside my uterus, I would find an oversize head and dark spots where my baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as my own — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, my baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a pea in a pod.

The baby's jaw, cheeks, chin, eyes, ears, and nose are beginning to form what will eventually become one adorable face. In addition, baby's kidneys, liver, and lungs are developing, and heart is now beating 80 times a minute (and getting faster every day). 

At 6 weeks pregnant, the baby's placenta is developing and won't be ready to take over its role for a few more weeks. Until the placenta is mature enough, the yolk sac (a balloon-like structure that is as big as the baby) is providing my little sweet pea with his or her nourishment. The yolk sac will start to disappear completely when the placenta is ready – around 9 or 10 weeks of gestation. 

At this point in fetal development, your baby's hands and feet are connected with a layer of webbing. They don't be separate and distinct for several more weeks. From pregnancy week 6 onward, your baby is undergoing dramatic change. He or she is developing all of his or her major organs (heart, lungs, brains, liver, stomach, etc.). 

It's been a tough past 4 weeks.  I can barely stay awake most of the time.  I sleep every chance I get and have not felt guilty at all for doing so!  Also, I'm really hungry and moody and my boobs feel like they got into a fight, all sore and swollen.

Next week, you'll be this much cuter!